LA FOLLETTE PEACE RESOLUTION

...and Whpreas the German chancellor, speaking for one Imperial German Government on the 17th day of May, 1917, made the following official declaration in the Reichstag: "We did not go to war, and we are not fighting now against almost the whole world, in order to make conquests, but only to secure our existence, and firmly to establish the future of the nation...

...and Whereas the Imperial Reichstag, representing the great majority of the German people did on the 19th day of July...

...and Whereas the people have a 'right to know with certainty for what end their blood is to be shed and their treasure expended...

...and Whereas there has recently emanated from official and unofficial sources, both in this country and abroad, statements indicating that we are to continue in the war until a peace is obtained which gives to the entente allies, or some of them, punitive damages and territorial advantages as a result of the war...

...and that the United States will not contribute to the efforts of any European government to annex new territory or to enforce indemnities and favoring the creation of a common fund to be provided by all belligerents out of which to assist in the restoration of portions of couutries most seriously devastated by war...

...That resolution has been misrepresented both as to its terms and purpose...

...It is here printed in full: Whereas the provisional Government of Russia did, on the 19th day of May, 1917, declare in favor of "peace without annexation or indemnities on the basis of the rights of nations to decide their own destiny...

...proclaimed by President Wilson on the 22d day of January, 1917, as the only possible peace that can be enduring...

...and Whereas duly organized bodies of loyal citizens of Great Britain representing millions of other citizens, many of whom are eminent in official life and exert a wide influence upon public opinion, have declared that— "A stage in the war has been reached when the democracies of all the belligerent countries are beginning to work toward a peace based on tho same general principles...

...1917, by a vote of 2U to 116, pass resolutions in favor of peace, "without forced acquisition of territory and without political, economic, and financial violations" and declaring for "a mutual understanding and lasting reconciliation among the nations and the creation of international juridical organizations...

...and Whereas one and all of these declarations bespeak a. willingness to adopt the doctrine of "a peace without victory...

...and Whereas there is naturally a widely expressed demand coming from the people of our own country for some declaration of the purpose and object for which the United States is expending, in the first year of the war, from thirteen to seventeen billions of money, and raising by draft and otherwise an army of 2,-000,000 men ostensibly for service in foreign countries...

...and Whereas in this free Government Congress, in whom the war-making power resides under the constitution, is charged primarily with the responsibility of deciding upon the objects of the war at its commencement or at any time during its existence: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That the Constitution vests in the Congress as the accredited and lawful representatives of the people full authority to determine and to declare definitely the objects and purposes for which this Government shall continue to participate in the European war...

...Resolved further, That the Congress hereby declares that this Government will not contribute to the efforts of any belligerent for the purpose of prolonging the war to annex new territory, either in Europe or outside of Europe, nor to enforce the payment of indemnities to recover the expenses of the war...

...It also provided that Congress shall declare for a public restatement of the Allies' peace terms disavowing any advantages in the way of indemnities, territorial acquisitions or commercial privileges by which one nation shall strengthen its power abroad at the expense of another nation...

...and Whereas the above principles are those by which the respective warring Coyeraments of Europe profess common willingness to be bound and are principles to which the United States subscribes...

...La Follette Peace Resolution AUGUST 11, I introduced in the United States Senate a Concurrent Resolution declaring that tho Constitution vests in Congress the right to determine and announce the objects and purposes for which this government shall continue to participate in the European war...

...and Whereas on behalf of Great Britain on the 23d day of May, 1917, Lord Robert Cecil, as one of the ministers of the present Government, replying in the House of Commons, declared that— "Our aims and aspirations are dictated solely by our determination to secure a peace founded on national liberty and international amity, and that all imperialistic aims baaed on force and conquest are completely absent from our program...

...and Whereas the people of this country do .not know the terms of the secret treaties or agreements existing among the entente allies, defining the advantages, if any, either in the way of indemnities or territorial acquisitions or commercial privileges, which each is expected to receive as a result of the war...

...but the Congress does hereby declare in favor of the creation of a common fund to be provided by all the belligerent nations to assist in the restoration of the portions of territory in any of the countries most seriously devastated by the war, and for the establishment of an international commis: allotment of the common tuu Resolved further, That Congress declares that there should be a public restatement of the Allies' peace terms, based on a disavowal of any advantages, either in the way of indemnities, territorial acquisitions, commercial privileges, or economic prerogatives, by means of which one nation shall strengthen its power abroad at the expense of another nation, as wholly incompatible with the establishment of a durable peace in the world...