ntier of
freedom was moving forward.

Surely the tide had turned. And surely it had been America's God-given
opportunity to play the big part she did play. The German was now on the
run. Suspicious whisperings of peace began to be heard in neutral
countries. They had a decided German accent. Germany saw defeat staring
her in the face and now, having failed to win in the field, she sought
to win by a bluff at the peace table.

The mailed fist having failed, Germany now resorted to cunning. The
mailed fist was now an open palm that itched to press in brotherhood the
hands of the Allies. But it was the same fist that struck down the peace
of the world in 1914. It was the same Germany that had ravished and
outraged Belgium. It was the same Germany that had tried to murder
France. It was the same Germany that had covered America with her net of
spies and had sought to bring war to our borders with Mexico and Japan.
It was the same Germany that had ruthlessly destroyed the lives of women
and children, American citizens, non-combatants, riding the free seas
under the protection of the Stars and Stripes. It was the same Germany
that had drugged Russia with her corrupting propaganda and had throttled
the voice of Russian democracy. This Germany, this unrepentant
Germany--this unpunished Germany, launched her drive for peace.

Germany was willing to make any concessions to bring about negotiations
that would save her from a defeat in the field. There was one thing,
however, that Germany wanted to save from the ruin she had brought down
upon herself. That thing was the German army and its strong auxiliary,
the German navy. Neither one of them had been destroyed. The army was in
general retreat and the navy was locked up in the Baltic, but both of
them remained in existence as menaces to the future peace of the world.
With these two forces of might, Germany could have given up her booty of
war, offered reparation for her transgressions and drawn back behind the
Rhine to await the coming of another _Der Tag_ when she could send them
once more crashing across friendly borders and cruising the seven seas
on missions of piracy.

Germany was in the position of a bully, who without provocation and
without warning had struck down from behind a man who had not been
prepared to defend himself. The victim's movements had been impeded by a
heavy overcoat. He had been utterly and entirely unprepared for the
onslaught. The bully had struck