A Frenchman, Louis Guetant, delegate from Lyon to the Society for the Rights of Man, recently made this statement:
"If we once look upon events without prejudice, with complete independence and frankness, without bothering about which camp chance placed us in at birth, the following is forced upon our attention first of all: The War of 1914 is a consequence of the War 1870. For, ever since that earlier date, the idea of revenge, more or less veiled, has never left us.
"The War of 1870, however, was prepared and declared by the French Government. The French Empire, indeed, needed it very badly in order to contend against interior troubles and its steadily growing unpopularity with the public. Even Gambetta, the wild tribune of the opposition, exclaimed: If the empire brings us the left bank of the Rhine, I shall become reconciled with it! Thus, it was a war of conquest; nobody bothered about what the conquered populations might have to say about it. We shall bend their will to ours! Thus it is written in the law of the victor!
"And now, suddenly, the opportunity for doing this was to escape France. In view of the political difficulties and dangers of war caused by his candidacy, Prince Leopold declared himself ready to withdraw. That is bad! Without a pretext there can be no war!
"It was the same with France as with the milkmaid and the broken pitcher in the fable, only instead of 'Farewell, calf, cow, pig, hens,' it was Farewell, bloody profits, glory, victory, left bank of the Rhine, even Belgium!'—for the latter, too, lay on that left bank of the Rhine which France coveted. No, that would have been too hard, the disillusionment would have been too great, the opportunity must be created anew. The entire chauvinistic press, the entire clan of boasters set_to work and soon found @ way. Gramont,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.