THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL OF AMERICA

[The People's Council of America for Democracy and Terms of Peace grew out of a series of Conferences held in New York the end of May, 1917, and was formally organized in Chicago, Sept. 1st and 2nd. Its objects are]

II. OBJECTS

To strive for a speedy democratic and general peace based upon the principles of

No forcible annexations,

No punitive indemnities,

Free development of all nationalities and an international organization for the maintenance of world peace, including disarmament.

To defend our constitutional rights of free speech, free press, peaceful assemblage and the right to petition the government and to secure democratic control of foreign policies and a popular referendum of all questions of war and peace, and to work for the repeal of the conscription laws.

To uphold the civil and political rights of the workers, to prevent deterioration of their economic standards and the suspension or abrogation of labor laws; to demand that none of the revenue required for the prosecution of the war shall come from the taxation of the necessities of life.

Report on Peace Terms

The People's Council of America for Democracy and Terms of Peace at its constituent assembly reaffirms the declaration of its organizing committee in favor of a speedy, universal and durable peace, to be brought about by international agreement, not by the crushing of either group of

warring powers, and to rest on these democratic primary bases: No forcible annexations, no punitive indemnities, freedom of development for all peoples.

Such a peace cannot be secured by secret negotiations carried on over the heads of the peoples or behind their backs. It must rest upon the people's will, freely expressed in all countries. It will be brought about by the victory of the great popular movements which are to-day gaining strength in France and Germany, in Britain and Russia, in Italy and in the United States.

The more clearly it is demonstrated in this country that the American people desire a peace without conquest, without tribute, without imperialistic aggrandizement, the sooner will the reactionary rulers of Germany be compelled to yield to the powerful and growing movement in Germany in favor of such a peace.

A peace without forcible annexations does not necessarily mean the perpetuation of political boundaries just as they existed before the war. It does mean that the war map cannot be made the basis of readjustment. We repudiate the so-called right of conquest. We declare that no people i should be transferred from one sovereignty to another without their own consent or against their will.

A peace without punitive indemnities does not exclude repayment of contributions levied during the war or restoration of the ravaged lands, so far as the restoration is possible. There is not one of the peoples that would go on fighting another day if this were the question at issue. But we condemn every project, whether on the one side or the other, for the enrichment of one set of nations at the expense of the other, whether by the taking of money tribute or the annexation of colonies.

A peace consistent with freedom of development for all nationalities does not necessarily mean the multiplication of politically independent states. The questions of independence or autonomy, of centralized or decentralized administrations, are questions which can in any case be justly and lastingly decided only by the will of the peoples concerned.

The peace we aim at is not a mere cessation of hostilities, but a removal of the great causes of the war. For that end we declare for:

1. Simultaneous, progressive disarmament, leading to the complete abandonment of national armies and navies.

2. Agreement for the arbitration or adjudication of all disputes among nations.

3. International agreement for equality of civil and political rights for the various racial and national minorities in all countries.

4. Abandonment of the imperialistic policies hitherto pursued in greater or less degree by all the great nations, in rivalry with one another, for the monopolistic control of the seas and waterways, of foreign markets, of sources of food stuffs and raw materials, and of opportunities for the exploitation of backward peoples.

Conscious that we express the will and desire of the great mass of the American people, we join with growing millions in every country of the world in urging the immediate calling of a general peace conference, including representatives of the peoples as well as of the governments.

Resolution on International Peace Conference

Whereas the President of the United States has declared himself against the achievement of a military victory over the German people, and in his reply to the Pope has refused to agree to any arrangement by the Allied governments for a trade war to follow the close of hostilities, and whereas the German Social Democracy has expressed its approval of the President's statement and has declared its determination to work for the further democratization of Germany and the reconstruction of the world in harmony with the program of the organized democracies of Russia, England, France and America, thus removing the last obstacle to the assembly of the peace conference of the representatives of all governments involved in the war, therefore, be it

Resolved, that the People's Council of America call upon the President of the United States to encourage congresses

of peoples' representatives to meet and formulate their opinions, and be it further resolved, that we demand that the President immediately take the initiative in calling a conference to settle by negotiation the issues presented by the war, and that we demand the cessation of hostilities while armistice be arranged.

[Bulletin of the People's Council of America, Vol. I, No. 6, Sept. 25, 1917.]

RESOLUTIONS OF THE AMERICAN ALLIANCE

FOR LABOR AND DEMOCRACY

[The American Alliance for Labor and Democracy met at Minneapolis, Sept. 6. It was presided over by Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor. Resolutions were unanimously adopted condemning the efforts of pacifists. The war aims of the United States were presented in the following resolutions, unanimously adopted.]

Since the United States entered the war the President has upon three notable occasions clearly and explicitly set forth the American aim, the objects which must be attained by any peace to which the United States can agree. We refer, especially to the war message of April 2, 1917, the note to Russia on May 26, and the reply to his Holiness the Pope, dated Aug. 27, 1917. The war objects stated by the President in these historic documents were as follows:

1. Recognition of the rights and liberties of small nations.

2. Recognition of the principle that government derives its just power from the consent of the governed.

3. Reparation for wrongs done and the erection of adequate safeguards to prevent their being committed again. 4. No indemnities except as payment for manifest wrongs. 5. No people to be forced under sovereignty under which it does not wish to live.

6. No territory to change hands except for the purpose of securing those who inhabit it a fair chance of life and liberty.

7. No readjustments of power except such as will tend to secure the future peace of the world and the future welfare and happiness of its people.