Both imported in Original Bottles by Sole Agent: S. ROTTER & Ca.
219 Avenue clu Roi Albert, House 2 to have much to say when the time comes for peace to be negotiated. The fact that that will be the case is heartily welcomed and recognized by the Allies, for it is apparent that it is only by an extensive common agreement, reached around a table at which all the principal countries of the world,—belligerent or not,—shall be seated, inspired with the desire that justice shall be done in a better atmosphere than that which prevailed at Versailles, that an effective and lasting peace can be assured. If the United States, again to use President Roosevelt's words, are to "strive with other nations to encourage the kind of peace that will lighten the troubles of the world," then American interest in this war can never be purely academic. Its causes, the manner in which it is waged, and the question as to who is to be the victor, are all matters which the United States cannot afford to ignore. That the United States can follow a modified form of isolationism is plain; that they cannot afford complete isolation is even plainer, and President Roosevelt has left no room for doubt as to the manner in which the United States will be expected by history to assume the burdens incumbent upon their greatness as a nation.
Thus, while there must remain neutrality to the United States, while they may not have to take active part in present hostilities, they cannot remain cold to the struggle which is proceeding, nor the issue involved. It is a plain one now. The only point is whether democracy shall be permitted to survive in Europe, or whether it shall go down before the hideous creation which denies those it dominates those principles of freedom for which the European democracies have put up centuries of struggle. France and Great Britain have staked their very existence as democracies on this struggle, forced upon them by the use of tyrannous might in the rape of smaller countries, whose right to exist independently cannot be denied even by those who are suppressing them. Defeat for the Allies would mean the subjection of Europe to a system of helotry which alone can satisfy the irrational ambitions of the coterie of irresponsibles at present dominating the welfare of Germany. That is a matter which the people of the United States cannot regard dispassionately, for, as the President says, they "must, as a united people, keep ablaze the flames of human liberty, reason, democracy and fair play." Those are the things for which the Allies stand and are fighting. Americans cannot remain uninterested when these principles are threatened in Fürope and while they. may remain completely neutral in fact, spiritually they, or at least an overwhelming proportion. of them, have already made their judgment which ranges them at least in sympathy in line with the Allies. That fact is apparent in every line of the President's message which deals with the world situation, for in it are condemnation of military aggression, enunciation of the principles for which the Allies stand, and the desire for a just peace. It is to be hoped that the next twelve months will see the realization of his wish: "May the year 1940 be pointed to by posterity as another period when democracy justified its existence as the best instrument of government yet devised by mankind." That is nothing less than an expression of the desire that the European democracies will succeed in their fight.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.