In this article the reader will find the appeal made to the people by the president of the Lithuanian Alliance of America. As we understand, the president of the Lithuanian Alliance of America did not do the right thing by making an appeal to the people without informing all Lithuanian newspapers. The president and his officers are taking upon themselves a little too much in calling the general convention of the Lithuanian Alliance of America.

Not long ago, a question was raised in the Lithuanian press about the convention of the Alliance. A suggestion was made by one of the newspapers that all political factions should be summoned for this general convention, where very vital national problems can be discussed by various political groups of this organization.

At the general convention of the L. A. A. , when all political factions are present, we can discuss our problem of how to help, and what means to use in order to help Lithuania, our fatherland, which is devastated by the armies of Russia and Germany.

2

The officers of the National Alliance, for some unknown reason, did not want to wait for a general convention of the Lithuanian Alliance of America. The way they are handling this affair, we may not see the convention. Now, we do not know for sure whether this general convention will be held or not.

Moreover, we do not know what is going on at the present time, and what they are doing about this convention. They got ahead of all of us and, most likely, they already have decided whether or not they will call a general convention. And if there is a convention, it will represent only the national group, being thus just a political convention. Such is the opinion of F. Zivatkausko.

Their conduct is unethical, and they will never get support from all the Lithuanians in America, if they continue using these unethical methods and keep on discriminating against other political factions in the same organization. We cannot see the reason why they did that, without consulting the people and other branches of the organization.

3

This is a very important moment for us to act together and help our brothers a cross the sea, who are suffering from the wounds of the war. We know the condition in Lithuania, and we must help our people right now. There is still a chance to help them before the war spreads all over Europe.

The war has just started, and we still have a chance to send contributions to Lithuania and help our brothers and sisters, who are in dire need. If we wait any longer we may not have an other chance to help our people across the sea. In a couple of weeks we may not be able to communicate with our people.

The war in Europe is spreading rapidly, and the communications may be cut off any day this month. Time is too valuable and too short, and we cannot afford to lose the time in holding conventions, while our people across the sea are almost starving. We are confused now, because we have not any definite plan to go by so as to do our work more efficiently.

To work without any plan is bad enough, and to work according to a bad plan, which is 4not properly prepared, is still worse. The officers of the alliance are the ones, who have bad plans, which in reality is much worse than the absence of any plans. If you cannot have good plans, it is best not to have any at all.

Now, they want all the Lithuanians in America to send their contributions for the relief to Lithuanians to the central office of the National Alliance. They are not asking for contributions, but they are demanding it, and you cannot refuse under any circumstances. Moreover, they do not want to recognize the rights to carry a Lithuanian name, if one dares not fulfill their demands. They are not only demanding contributions from all the Lithuanians, but they are demanding that the contributions should be sent to the Lithuanian Alliance of America.

It is possible that the officers of the Lithuanian Alliance of America did not realize what they were doing when they made an appeal only to a certain group of people and ignored the other group. Perhaps they did not realize the outcome when they made such an insistent demand, and at the same time ignored other people.

As we understand, those who think of helping Lithuania by other means than by financial 5contributions will be scorned and insulted. And those people, who will make their contributions, will be scorned if they will not send them through the Lithuanian Alliance of America. As it seems, this situation will not be a very pleasant one for some of us. This sounds like a threat from the Lithuanian Alliance of America.

Their statements are imperative, and they want the people to do things as they dictate, instead of asking them kindly to co-operate. They say that all Lithuanians should be unanimous and work in unity to help Lithuania, our fatherland. But they are not trying to make them unanimous by creating harmony, first among our people, for only then you can expect unity and unanimous support from them.

Under such circumstances they cannot accomplish anything worthwhile, they only will make things much worse than they were before. Their bad conduct was the reason that caused the altercations and disagreements among our people. We will never have harmony and strong unity among our people if we do not treat them like human beings, Also, we must never demand that people do things, but we must ask then kindly and 6politely to do things or help somebody.

We want to add a few words about Lithuania, our fatherland, where our brothers and sisters are suffering the hardships, poverty, and horrors of war. Who caused this blood shed in Europe? There is no secret about the war and what caused it; we all know that national hatred was nursed for many years in every nation of Europe. This spirit of hatred was inculcated in every young man in every country of Europe, and the result of nursing this spirit of hatred is the war, which is going on now in Europe, the slaughter of innocent people by the thousands.

If Frenchmen and Englishmen had not been trained to look on the Germans as malefactors; if Germans had not looked at the Russians with the same hatred; and if the Russians had not looked at the Germans in the same way, these countries would not have sent their people to war to kill each other. The hatred and fury of various nations creates madness and forces civilized European nations into bloody wars. This hatred caused the war, and as a result of it, our brothers and sisters have to suffer the horrors connected with it.

7

The officers of the Lithuanian Alliance of America have not a single word to condemn the cause of our nation's misfortunes. They did not condemn the cause that brought misfortunes upon our nation, but they are spreading the seeds of hatred among our people; the very same seeds of hatred that caused the war in Europe, which makes our brothers shed their blood for no reason at all.

The national group of the Lithuanian Alliance of America has always preached the spirit of brotherhood as something to be applied only to a certain group of people. They quote a certain statement, which originally was meant in a general sense; for example: In order to maintain a good spirit of brotherhood," one must love his neighbors as he loves himself. This statement is correct if it is applied in a general sense, without any discrimination against other nationalities. But they see in all Europe's sea of blood and tears only Lithuanian blood and tears.

We, socialists, cannot reason the same way as the national group does. We know that the oppressors of Lithuania are not the working classes of Russia and Germany.

8

We separate those who are blood suckers, such as the Tsar of Russia and the Kaiser of Germany, from the working classes. These working classes are suffering the horrors of war as much as we do, and they hate the war just as much as we do. The Lithuanian working classes should go hand in hand with the workers of Russia and Germany and form a common front against suffering and misery, which was brought upon them by this terrible war.

As socialists, we are not egoists, as are the nationalists; we are not spreading the spirit of hatred, when we are seeking aid for our unfortunate fatherland, Lithuania. We like to see peace among all nations in Europe, and we say: "Let there be an end to all wars in the future."