The Thames Star. THURSDAY, DEC. 6, 1917. AMERICAN INFLEXIBLE RESOLVE

Thames Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 18467, 6 December 1917, Page 2

The Thames Star.

THURSDAY, DEC. 6, 1917. AMERICAN INFLEXIBLE RESOLVE

(Dm B»ar JHotto

'With malice towards none ; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right . . . .—Linooin

"We caimot talk peace till Germany is thoroughly beaten." So cays ■President Wilson in. his latest massage to Coug'ress. This declaration its not only a wholesome one, ib isl tilliety- It servesi to clear the air when it is thick with rumours of 'peace, obscured by pacific vapourings, and darkened by pusillanimous counisdk .such as •&$& contained in Lord Lan-sdowne's recent deliverance. Since President Wilson^ advocated a peace without victory, and thereby heartened the pacifists in their desire) top a truce which would only lead to a further Avar, he has entirely changed his altitude. lie is now the strong iirnf man where j previously he had been justly regarded as weak, timorous, aud vacillating 1. The reasons for the change isi to be found in his belated discovery that Germany is not to be trusted, that her treaties are mere scraps of paper,, and that, her word is of no value. Mr. Wilson now realises that peace can only come when Germany possesses rulers that can be trusted, and also when she is prepared to make reparation for the wrongs she has inflicted upon •suffering humanity. America, he declares, is bound to resent the in: tolerable wrongs planned against her. All talk of peace is out of the questliow unlil Germany ia beaten, and to that end America will use all her resources in men and money. Nothing isi going to - turn America from this (righteous, purpose. Brave and acceptable words. The Kaiser some time ago declared that after the war he would "stand no nonsense from Anmrica." After the ed, the Kaiser will probably have leisure to reflect upon the nonsense of such an utterance. It dame from the lips of a so-called super-man, puffed up with a sense of self-im-portance and' gloating over the imaginary prospect of a epeedy end-

ing of the war in his favour. It! was of a piece with his referen: j to England's "contemptibly littid army," a remark William of Hohenzolleni' has had ample time to repent of since it was made, if he ever does repent. President Wilson's mess&ge shows fhe Kaiser that bis threat has no weight. The shaking ofithe Imperial fist, the frown, upon the Imperial brow., or the scornful utteranc© of the Imperial tongue does not paralyse American- efforts, and render that nation limp and fearful. She does not scare "worth a cent" at any sign of Imperial displeasure. On, the contrary, such nianifeh'tations only serve to stiffen America's ideterminatiion to teach this braggart a greatly needed lesson. The United States of America are a. different, proposition from the small neutral countries that Kaiser Wilhelm is accustomed to bully, brow-beat, and outrage with impunity. He cannot yet realise this, but he is about to be undeceived. And when, the realisation does come, it will be a sorrowful day for Kaiser Wilhelm. :