A GREAT SPEECH

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2781, 27 May 1916, Page 8

A GREAT SPEECH

WHAT THE WAR MEANS TO THE WORLD PLAIN WORDS TO NEUTRALS THE DUTY OF RUMANIA . 'l'he Bucharest journal "La Eoumanie" has published in pamphlet form the text of the remarkable speech delivered iu the Rumanian Chamber of Deputies ou Deveinber 1G and 17 by M. Take Jonesco, louder of the National Democratic Party, ami forennst among the important proEntente section of liis countrymen, portions of this moat brilliant and statesmanlike address, translated from the French text, aw gliLii below Messieurs les Deputes,— The debates on uio Address this .year, . both in tlie Senate and in the Chamber, iiro without precedent iu tho history of our Parliament, and very probably will never be paralleled.

In ail our long history there has never beon a time ot greater gravity, or one richer in possibilities, or ono more overwhelming for us by its very grandeur, than tho time through which the world is now.passing; and naturally it alieefcs ourselves, afreets us more closely, indeed, than it affects ethers. The Dawn of a Now World. ' Shall we inquire, gentlemen, what is cue meaning oi that which is happening around us? Is this merely iv war iilio all other wars? Is it just one oil thoso numberless. historical incidents which at first eight seem to bs important,., but, as ono realises later, were of no more than passing-interest? Ur are wo indeed face to iaco with ono of those great upheavals (boiileversements) which, occurring Jiut -rarely, make the end of one world and tho beginning of ' another? . Contem-poraries,-gentlemen'seldom.realise the importance of the times iu which they live. In their wars they count tho" slain by the thousand, the money lost by the million; but rarely do they.take into account the far-off consequences of these happenings, obliged as they are by the necessities of life to go on living their everyday existence amidst tho tragedy all arounu. Those who lived in the time of Jesus Christ had no idea of how''the history of humanity was to be affected by the 'coining of Christianity. During the barbaric invasions nobody took into account what .transformations they involved. Nobody knew that therefrom might result tho death of civilisation for a thousand years.' If people had realised the mcaniug of these'things they would have made better, defenco against them.. At the time of the French Revolution people had no idea of the tremendous consequences' it was to bring, cf tho- far distance they would reach. To-day; gentlemen, I think -we are coufronted not with an ordinary war which will simply involve a certain change of. frontiers," with things, after that, very much as. they were before. We are faced by. a catastrophe involving the whole of the human race; we have before our eyes the declining twilight of one world, preceding the dawn of another and a new. (Cheers.) ' '

If it be otherwise, there is no understanding that- which we see; happening. They don't feel this the short-sighted people—short-sighted for no other xeason than one which. Balfour analysed so well oh the day when he retired from tho direction of the Unionist Party. - On that occasion he said to his committee: . "At sixty-four I am not an old man. Indeed, I can hardly have begun to get old, otherwise I should not realise that 1 have already reached that age. Nevertheless, I feel that it would' bo a sin., if J were to continue to be leader of my party."- . . ■ Why, gentlemen ? There comes to aman an age when he is 110 longer adaptable to new ideas, to new. currents. So true .is this that a member of this Chamber said to me one. day that since reaching fifty he had no longer cared to read, for had he continued to do so it would have .been useless. (Laughter.) .. Of- course, this gentleman was exaggerating, but the fact remains that after a certain age a man censes to be adaptable, and that the .more ,he becomes unadaptable to new ideas the more his authority increases; for that is tho way of the world. Tho old politician carries more weight than the young.; Thus, Mr. Balfour remarked: "I am less adaptable, but I have more authority; therefore, I havo become all obstacle to the way of the. progress of the State; and it is time 1 left the control of (the parly to others, who do not consider Ithings in the light of their ancient prejudices;" as did M. Carp the other - day in his fine speech. (Cheers.) He tried to cut up this great tragedy into slices. He was at pains to unravel the thread of this wholesale conflict of humanity, and in it ho discovered a case of France versus Germauy, a case of Germany versus England, a case of Germany versus . Russia, and I know not how many cases in addition! And to each he ascribed somo small, ephemeral cause..

France is working miracles which have won our admiration, and she oilers to uie world tho spectacle of' a people held to be "flighty" transformed into a people the most determined that ever was—apd'all for the sake of-recovering t!ie lost provinces! Germany, is making her efforts in order to create a colonial dominion. England can show to the rest of the world ■her-'four millions of volunteers, -enrolled 'for that' military service which was hitherto despised. England, unassailable in any quarter, is spending millions on millions and risking the Empire She has built up after centuries of ''sacrifice, fimply to avoid the rivalry of Germany, which she could have done in so many other ways!' No, gentlemen. "So narrow a. view of things cannot be true. When a large number of rations consent to make the sacrifice's that are now being made with so much .firmness, with such lightness of heart, and with so great a determination not to stop short of victory —a victory which shall smash our adversaries—then there must inevitably be working beneath all this, something still more profound, something more than a question of colonies, something more than a matter of commercial rivalry, something more than that which is involved in fourteen thousand square metre* of Alsace-Lorraine. " And there is something else. Here we.have the last fight made by, the forces of reaction against the principle of "national'sovereignty, both in its internal and external relations., (Prolonged cheers.) Germany and a Universal Hegemony, And note, gentlemen, how grave, is the problem with which humanity is faced today! You see Italy, instead of accepting a gratuitous increase of territory, throwing, herself of l;ar own free will into the horrors,of war. And it vs not alone the peoples of Europe who are throbbing with excitement to-day. Have you never asked yourselves What these new nations Are doins: in the great conflict—the young Republics founded by the Anglo-Saxons across the ocean? Why is it that tfe sea Canada,: Australia, New Zealand enrolling from 7 to 8 per er-iit. of their populations as volunteers for the front? Ts it for love of the Motherland? Sentiment does not move humanity to. such a degree as that. How ,is it tho conscience of the United States of America nas Irecome uneasy? Out of love for Ei't:l«i>d? Nothing of" the sort, gentlemen. To attack Great Britain has always i>ce:i r<cognised. as a-wife and popular note by orators in the United Slates; it is known as "twisting the. British lion's tail." V>'l:v, then, is it disturbed, tlih ■lwMici-n.y of a br.ndred .million souls, engaged in making the most glomus experiment ir-iagiii-ablc; tho creation of a civilisation'with- 1 out, prejudices, with no class distinctions, with no monarchy, ,no militarism, no hindrance of any sort—a civilisation basi ed solely on nationalist sovereignty carried to its extremes): limits? M. A. C. C'ouza: There yon have a very dangerous theory. ' / 11. Take Jones'!'): Why, gentlemen? This entire movement rnn lia-vc but one . explanation, namely, that wo are , confronted with a transformation of tho human race, a transformation which expresses itself in the form of a general massacre. .Ifc is a, struggle between two .worlds, and we shall see which of the two will succeed in obtaining the mnstery. Were it otherwise, this war would .not be possible, and it would not be waged with the fury that distinguishes it from all others. Gentlemen, tho truth is that in this

which was most certainly provoked by the Germans, wo see the last attempt made by a single people to secure for Ti- k universal hegemony. It the German' soldier were to win today the first result would bo'that the same military force, which is the greatest 111 the world, would also be the greatest naval force, and there would be no morq independence, no more liberty for anyone in the world, not even for the great American democracy. If ever the day should come when one and the samo State had domination not only on land, but also on sea—the day on which the Soman L'mpiro S «°}'l<l he reconstituted in conformity with the affirmation onco made hv tho Lmperor Wilhelm that the timo would come when all men would be happy to ' call themselves German, just as formerly one exclaimed joyously Civis roninmia sum—then the free life of each one of ua would be at an end.

Weil, and what is the basis of this attempt that is being made!'' Is it founded on sonio higher state of civilisation? Is it justified by a superiority of such a nature that it should have the right to dominate the whole world, with the rest of lis content to run behind the conqueror in his triumphal car?. Ton will have noticed that 11. Stere. who was compelled, of course, to deal with this subject—he did so very superficially, by the way—in his speech could do no more than declare that it wonld ba an-injustice to deny the Germans credit for their contribution to the common treasuro' of human civilisation. But who over dreamed of denying them their due share of credit? >

And what, after all, is this contribution of Germany's? Is it of finer quality than that produced by France, for instance, or than that of Italy, or than that furnished by tho Anglo-Saxon races? Is there aisingle hypothesis among all the hypotheses forming the basis and tho poetry or science; is there one of all the discoveries which have contributed to the progress—the material progress—of modern life; is there one among all tho ideas that have roused the world to enthusiasm; is there one of-all the creations ■ < urt which would be. lost if we were to remove Germany's contribution ? No gentlemen the treasure possessed bv theihuuian race would remain intact, a little reduced to be sure, but in no wise diminished in quality. It would remain as it was 1, ore \ ' <£ rol °nged cheers.) What is there in the assets of Germnay to set against the extraordinary productions of our nen-latin civilisation? One thing alone there is that is characteristic in Germanic culture, and that is its political organisation, which to lis is a puzzle. ■HOW is it possible, to reconcile an ultramodern economic organisation with a political organisation dating from the middle age>. how reconcile a teaching to generalised a material well-being 'bo highly developed, with""a political system which enables one man to declare, "My will is the highest Jaw," or "I owe. niy power not to the assent of the German people, but solely to the Divine mission with whicn I have been entrusted on earth"? buch are the characteristics of German civilisation, of the far-famed luilttir. And, gentlemen, tlmt springs, unhappily, from the manner in which the.unity of Germany has been formed. If this" German unity had sprung from the Liberal movement of 1848, a preat new'nation would have been added to the existing Liberal nations of Europe. But German unification is the product of Prussian "caporalism," with regard to which a very intelligent Teuton holding a uigh position remarked to me five or nix months ago; "You are right, all you eay is true; there i 3 nothing more antipathetic than Prussian 'caporalism,' but it is invincible, and we aro forced to accept it. just as we accept the Deluge, or the locust, just as wo accept, in fact, all the ills that Fate may send us." But, gentlemen, that is not the for.t. Wliilo jr. Diamandy was speaking of the Batllo of the Marno someone replied-tlmt it was just an engagement liko any other. To which I retort; It was not a battle, it was an historic moment, it was the proof tlmt even the brute force of "caporalism," in a State in which one man can proclaim that; the highest law is his own will, may be vanquished by the armies of a democratic Republic wherein abuse. of liberty was mistaken by fools for moral declino and loss of "virtue. (Prolonged-cheers.)

How Did the War Arise? And now, jrohtlomon, how did the war originate ? What was the state of things before this wpr,'before—shall I .call-it?— this human earthquake? After the French Revolution two new dogmas'camc into the litjlit: One was national sovereignty in . the internal life of all States, the other was a like "supreinacy in international relations. One after another, all the races, so far as was compatible witli' the state of their civilisation, adopted this novel doctrine, and one after another' those forces which 6tood in contradiction thereto everywhere declined,', and furthermore, national sovereignty transported into international relations had . succeeded in obtaining recognition and was the principle of nationalities. / For the principle of nationalities is simply the right of each community of men, conscious of being bound by the memories of the past, by the interests _ of the ipresont, by the 'aspirations of their, own souls, to lead' a life free and without restraint, be their numbers ■what they may, no matter how largo or how small the extent of their territory, and despite all the abuses brought about by conquest, oven though, centuries should havo passed since ■ that -conquest, as in the case of the Magyar conquest over tha ultramontane Rumanians. ■ (Prolonged cheers.)- ' This principle of national sovereignty leads -straight- to the" diminution of monarchical power in.liVjsu States where the forms of mediaevalisra still linger. Tt leads to the. suppression of Austria, which is • a conglomeration of different peoples having no oilier bond between them sfllre the" monarchy, and this a monarchy based on the ancient idea that it is not the nation that chooses its dynasty, but rather the dynasty that creates the nation. It leads straight to tho definite abolition of Turkey, of which, when it shall have disappeared, its historian must record tha't it will havo left to humanity 710 memory of its more than four-century-long domination, a domination which to-day—the day, as I hope, of its definite decline—crowns itself, like Nero sotting lire to Itome, with the massacre of a million .'Armenians, slaughtered without the allies of, Turkey so much as raising a_ -'finger to prevent this, the greatest ignominy of our time. (Cheers.) But; beyond this principle of national sovereignty there was something else that was making progress in ' Europe. Like it or not, there is no disguising it ! I mean the theory of "the greatest good of tho greatest number" by means of the participation of the greatest 'number in the greatest part of the good things of the earth. This theory, gentlemen, was everywhere in the ascendant'. This was the atmosphere we all breathed, some with satisfaction, others in spite of themselves, but we all breathed it. In face of this great movement of the new world, which would have led, ii' not to tho ttnal disappearance of warfare, at least awl certainly to a prolonged period of peace, to an improvement in the relationsl.ietweeu the races, to what is called Utopia, but a Utopia in which it was necessary to havo full faith, because lAe bluest of blue skies is essential if we are to soar, we helpless humans. (Cheers.) tn face of this movement there had nevertheless remained one State which represented'its exact opposite, a State,, which, founded on conquest, has never hesitated to proclaim the right of the strongest as the only right, which lias embraced to tlic point of frenzy the worship of brute force, which regards as a mere sentimentalist,\as one useless in political life, anyone who should dare to speak of justice, of law, of respect for one's signature, for nil that constitutes the moral treasure ol uj nso-Latius. (Prolonged cheers.) And something else had' happened in Europe. By great good luck it; chanced that on tho'throno of another land, which also is an. autocratic land, where likewise tho will of af singlo man settles everything; there should bo found another dreamer, a Nicholas-, but. a Nicholas who. instead of trying to play tho part of Nicholas I—who, as you know, was .tho gendarme of European reaction, and in ISIS went so far as to save the Hab'=l,uri!s solely in obedieneo to the principlo of l'ordre primo tout—actually proposed, the limitation of armaments, which means a, diminution of human suffering, or, in other words, « step in the direction of Justice. This man is Nicholas 11. ' And who was it that, opposed Hiis idea, eentleino'i? Was it England, on whom day bv day Austrians and Germans call down "Divine punishment- because they say she provoked the war? Was it En!?' laud, who had nothing to gain by the war, and everything to lose? Was it she who opposed tho restriction of arma-

ments? No, the opposition came from Germany! And thus humanity, instead pf advancing towards disarmament, marched straight towards the madness of armaments unlimited, so that it became evident either that thrones must be overturned or that, in order to make an end of the old .world once und for all, blood must flt>w like water, and the victims be numbered by millions. (Cheers.) How Will the War End? And if such is the meaning of the war now raging, how can it be supposed that, it can end with the customary peace, the sort of peaie in which so many goldlaecd, decorated plenipotentiaries will dis.ctss a lot of. nothings around a green cloth? Can one imagine that it will end like a duel with button-tipped foils, in which the swordsman hit exclaims "touche!" and after shaking hands and putting the weapons in their case, the two adversaries go oil and drink to each other's health? No, gentlemen, to-day it is a war of nations rather than a war of armies; the conscience of all the. races is awakened,this war must and will go on until ono ot the two sidc9 shall have been crushed ]n such a manner that the victor shall be able to impose his rule upon the vanquished. No other peace will bo acceptable to the nations. If Germany is victorious her rule will be the rule of the mailed fist, the reien of a single people chosen by Gocl; if the. others win—and they wrll—'the law thfiv will impose will be the law of justice, in order that the whole world may oujov* cheers) v^Sa^oll, (Pronged Suc iUn tho'ljroMeni'. But you will aok me: nliat! Is Germany to disappear?" nh» can imagine any such thing? It is Austria that might and should vanish away. /Cheers.) Austria ought to have disappeared lonp ago. when she has vanished from 'sight a general sigh of relief will be heard; everyone will -be glad that at last she lias paid the price of centuries of wickedness, for you may search the pages of her history through and through, and you shall not find that she has done gocKi to anyone of any sort, while many and many have been the sufferers from her treachery anil her brutality. Tt'hat would I not give to anj-ono who should point out to me a single good action ever done by this Monarchy?. (Cheere.) Aud things being as they are, gentlemen, can you doubt on which side victory will rest? I forget who it was said just now that it was childish' to intro--5 &srtssg uals, like peoples, ; pay the price of the offences they commit against morality In the ono case punishment follows immediate!}, m the other case it is delayedbut there would be uo order in the uniof a moial la * -

Neutrals and Neutrality. 11, geiUkiuen, lJlt . pruwtm is as i see IV; it tiiß events' tui-uugii wnicji , ,uf BrO , M * ha ™ "rtaipiS to deauulo tiiem, how can one talit oi neutrality; i s tnero a single Stats' till ougnuut the world which Will not bo r U . uot bo-rrauslormea I.tu, thue is not one. But note this diftcieiice: .Uierc arc some States which !!!',. i lOl,ll " le consequences of the 1 without power to have then- say because tiiuy let, tlieir sword rust in' its sutbbard; others there are which, while' buttu-ing no ]e*s severely from the offects or the, contact, -will ut least have a hearing; their utteraiico wili be cither f" ° f X ( , CoJ,f ltt*ror. who decides, or M ,i ( vanquished, who, having done h s duty may rightly claim the respect' ot tne victor. (Cheers.) n.in ll L t ''® wll ° su PP° s «s that we can remain uidoinniileii in tho midst of f. c .o«vulsiou is simply hiding the truth tiom himself. Indemnified ? No But it might well happen that others decided on oui fate witnout troubling to consult Iw a n"' 111 ie IV^ differcrica between tho policy of neutrality and tlw policy ol action. (Cheers.) 1 have heard talk of yet another course ?i 1 ' i S ll ach ,°"' th ! lt 'wWoh. M. Stelian teiined the policy of the carrion crow; others have styled it tho policy of the w -'i - oiicy wllic ' l taffies yth the ono side and with the other, deceiving both, which lies in wait watch"lg tor lU opportunity, unhampered by sort of morn I guidance, without inquiring ni which direction its duty lies Knowing nought of the demands of honour' and, according to the turn of the scales this way or that, induco \ou— even yon-to administer tho coup de to tne expiring combatant, in order the more conveniently to rifle his pockets. (J. lotonged cheers from the Ooiiositiou benches.)

Political action of tills kind is not only unworthy of a people which has displayed so many virtues throughout tho poucy, ior the reason that it never succeeds. When tlie universe lias teen turned .upside-down, ns now, when so many centuries, but believe me, it is a stupid sacrifices have been patientlv endured, yon may be sure the victors and'the vanquished—knowing full well that others have been lurking in the darkness like hyenas—will in the end clasp hands like .bravo men, who respect one another, and the punishment will be for the cowards. (Cheers.) 1 , Gentlemen, I know of easea in which', in normal circumstances, this hyonrilike pol-* icy may have been pursued, but I know of no case ,in history in which a. nation has announced beforehand that it intend<?d to ploy tho hyena's part. That is the height, of incapacity, combined with tho height of immorality. . (Prolonged cheers.)

And as regards ourselves. Do you not realise the perils of such a poliov for us Rumanian.;, a policy which., t feel eoiv. .vineed, is not the policv of'the Government? It cannot be, for Rumania is incapable of producing a Govormnent, which should adopt methods of «o base akiiul.. (Prolonged cheers.)