THE RUSSIAN SITUATION 



371 



And, mark you, this evil, this menace 

 under which we are now suffering, is not 

 one which diminishes with the growth of 

 knowledge and the progress of material 

 civilization, but, on the contrary, it in- 

 creases with them. 



When I was young we used to flatter 

 ourselves that progress inevitably meant 

 peace, and that growth of knowledge 

 was always accompanied, as its natural 

 fruit, by the growth of good will among 

 the nations of the earth. Unhappily, we 

 know better now, and we know there is 

 such a thing in the world as a power 

 which can with unvarying persistency 

 focus all the resources of knowledge and 

 of civilization into the one great task of 

 making itself the moral and material 

 master of the world. 



It is against that danger that we, the 



free peoples of western civilization, have 

 banded ourselves together. It is in that 

 great cause that we are going to fight, 

 and are now fighting this very moment, 

 side by side. 



In that cause we shall surely conquer, 

 and our children will look back to this 

 fateful date as the one day from which 

 democracies can feel secure that their 

 progress, their civilization, their rivalry, 

 if need be, will be conducted, not on 

 German lines, but in that friendly and 

 Christian spirit which really befits the 

 age in which we live. 



Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, I 

 beg most sincerely to repeat again how 

 heartily I thank you for the cordial wel- 

 come which you have given us today, and 

 to repeat my profound sense of the sig- 

 nificance of this unique meeting. 



THE RUSSIAN SITUATION AND ITS 

 SIGNIFICANCE TO AMERICA 



By Stanley Washburn 



NOW that America has entered the 

 world war and, in spirit if not 

 by treaty, has become one of the 

 Allies who are engaged in this incom- 

 parable conflict for the idea of world 

 democracy, it becomes of' fundamental 

 importance that we, as a people, realize, 

 and at once, the factors in this war with 

 which and through which we must work 

 in order that by our united effort we may 

 consummate the sacrifice of blood and 

 treasure by the achievement of an en- 

 during peace in Europe and throughout 

 the world. 



Of France, our traditional friend, we 

 know much. Our realization of what 

 England has done in the war is, for the 

 first time, receiving the appreciation 

 which is its due. 



Of far and distant Russia there seems 

 to be apparently little known in America. 

 The world is aware in a general way that 

 the Russians have made huge sacrifices 

 and have been fighting an uphill battle 

 on the far eastern front. 



At this time, when we must in so large 

 a measure depend on the cooperation and 

 assistance of the great Republic, it is im- 

 portant that it should be realized exactly 

 what Russia has contributed to the war 

 and what her remaining in the war until 

 the end means to the Allies, and to 

 America in particular. For this reason 

 I wish to trace briefly Russia's part in 

 this conflict and what it has represented. 



To understand the almost insur- 

 mountable handicaps under which the 

 Russians have been laboring, it is neces- 

 sary to appreciate the nature and impor- 

 tance of the German influence in Russia, 

 which for the last few decades has be- 

 come such a vital menace to the inde- 

 pendence of the Russian people. 



TEUTON INFLUENCES IN RUSSIA 



After the Franco-Prussian War, when 

 the new economic and industrial era be- 

 gan to develop in the Teuton Empire, it 

 was but natural that the Germans should 

 look to Russia for their most important 



