3 
As  a  fighting  man  the  "Sank"  is  a  hugla  success  but  when  there 
is  no  longer  any  fighting  to  be  done  he  has  absolutely  no  use 
for  the  army  and  the  sooner  he  can  get  away  from  it,  the  happier 
he  is.  .  Perhaps  it  is  just  as  well  that  way. 
Well,  it  hardly  seems  possible  that  the  war  is  over.  I  have 
just  finished  reading  "The  Pour  Horsemen  of  the  Apocalypse"  which 
you  may  also  have  read  and  as  a  war  story  it  brings  one  back  in 
mind  to  the  days, only  so  recently  gone,  when  we  all  said  to 
ourselves,  "The  G-ermans  must  be  beaten"  How  we -used  to  scan  the 
newspapers  for  the  big  news  every  day  hoping  to  find  the  indic¬ 
ations  of  a  real  smashing  big  victory  instead  of  a  lot  of  "strat¬ 
egic  retreats"  on  one  side  or  the  other. 
Now  we  have  the  victory  and  the  foe  is  utterly  demoralized, 
beyond  our  wildest  dreams.  The  Kaiser  has  fled  from  the  wrath 
of  his  own  people.  His  government  is  in  fragments.  Now  they 
cry  to  us  for  help  to  keep  them  from  starvation.  "Hoy;  are  the 
Mighty  fallen"! 
It  is  almost  unbelievable  that  it  should  come  to  an  end  so 
suddenly,  That  all  these  years  of  bloodshed  and  trial  are  a 
thing  of  the  past  and  that  s&ips  may  again  show  their  lights  at 
sea.  And  while  we  rejoice  that  it  is  true,  I  cannot  help  the 
-feeling  that  those  who  have  the  responsibility  for  the  final 
settlement  of  the  war  and  the  restoration  of  peace  must  not  be 
tender  hearted. 
I  have  not  much  confidence  in  Wilson,  either  as  a  historian 
or  as  a  diplomat.  He  has  been  tooeasy  with  the  G-ermans  all  along 
and  has  apparently  failed  to  appreciate  their  ingrained  brute 
nature.  I  am  afraid  he  will  be  inclined  to  treat  them  too 
leniently  and  -to  draw  his  fine  distinctions  between  the  Kaisers 
government  and  the  "German  people"  To  me  they  are  one  and  the 
same.  The  things  that  those  devils  have  done  to  vromen  and  children 
and  other  helpless  ones,  were  done  from  bred-in- the-bone  love 
of  lust  and  cruelty  and  no  peace  v/ill  be  worth  having  unless  it 
it  is  built  upon  the  plan  of  absolute  extermination  of  German 
"Kultur".  .  It  was  not  governmental  or  military  orders  that 
produced  "frightfulness"  but  because  the  Germans  themselves  wanted 
it  and  gloried  in  it. 
I  feel,  however,  that  -while  the  British  and  the  French  are 
giving  the  President  uhe  gloved  hand  now, they  will  not  stand  for 
any  schoolmaster  theories  when  it  comes  i3migimfam  to  brass  tacks. 
I  am  sure  that  the  British  at  least  will  know  hov/  to  deal  with 
the  matter  and  thank  God  for  British  obstinacy.  Of  course  France 
has  the  most  at  stake  and  cannot  risk  another  v/ar  for  generations 
to  come  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  nation  that 
has  produced  the  greatest  generals  will  not  lack  for  statesmanship 
in  the  final  settlement. 
You  v/ill  see  from  this  that  I  am  not  an  admired^of  the 
President.  Perhaps  that  is  due  to  my  predudice  as  a  Republican. 
