TOPICS OF THE DAY'
THE PEACE PROPOSALS.
ERMA.NY is said to be in dire need of peace, and the jf- combined manceuvres of Germany and Austria during the past few days are good evidence that this is so. What is Germany willing to do in order to secure this peace which she so greatly desires and requires! The answer unhappily is very brief and very explicit. Germany and Austria are willing to do nothing at all that counts for merit. They are unwilling to satisfy any of the conditions which have been formulated on behalf of humanity, decency, and good faith. If Germany cared to say, and to prove by her actions, that she had at last reached the conviction that war as an instrument of policy does not pay, and is moreover a crime, she could have peace to-morrow. The issue remains, as it has been since the beginning of the war, one between honesty and dishonesty, between justice and violent crime. The Kaiser was perfectly right in declaring that the war will decide between conflicting world-ideas. Till the German " world-idea " is changed there is no possibility of peace. The proposal for a non-binding Conference which Austria has sent to us through the Swedish Legation must be recognized as an im- portant event in itself, as it is the first attempt of one of the belligerents to approach the other side directly. He would indeed be an inhuman monster who refused to consider any sort of &mere effort towards ending the present indescribable sufferings of the world, but before there can be a Conference, even a non-binding Conference, there must be an agreed basis of discussion. The essential point, therefore—even if we admit, which we do not, that a Conference will be at any stage desirable or necessary—is to discover whether any basis exists.
This may be done most easily by comparing the very clear statement of War Aims which President Wilson made in January of this year, and the statement of War Aims which his just been put forward by the German Vice-Chancellor, Herr von Payer. President Wilson mentioned fourteen essential points. Among these were : an absolutely impartial adjustment of Colonial claims, the interests of the peoples concerned having equal weight with the claims of the Govern- ment whose title is to be determined • all Russian territory to be evacuated and Russia given full opportunity for self- development ; the complete restoration of Belgium in full and free sovereignty ; all French territory to be freed and Alsace- Lorraine to be restored ; the readjustment of the Italian frontiers on lines of nationality ; the peoples of Austria- Hungary to be allowed to develop autonomously ; Ruman'a, Serbia, and Montenegro to be evacuated, Serbia to be given access to the sea and the relations of the Balkan States to be settled on lines of allegiance and nationality; • non-Turkish nationalities in the Ottoman Empire to be assured of autono- mom development, and the Dardanelles to be permanently free ; and Poland to be independent. As for the statement of German aims by Herr von Payer (who has always repre- sented himself to be a particularly strong "Liberal "), it is much the fullest yet put forward by Germany. In the true German manner, Herr von Payer adopts the phraseology which he thinks likely to appeal to a man of President Wilson's mind, and expresses his dislike of a "peace by conquest." Ger- many does not aim at the "acquisition of peoples, land, treasure, and glory." So much for the language in which the peace terms are framed. But what of the terms themselves ? Germany, so far from recognizing the rights of peoples to determine their future, declares that the destiny of Poland, Finland, and the Baltic Provinces has nothing whatever to do with anybody but Germany. Germany has made peace with these countries, and will "never permit any one to meddle with her in this matter." Meddling, again, will not be per- mitted with the annihilating peace which Germany has im- posed upon Rumania. If these stipulations are recognized, the territorial possessions," says Herr von Payer, which existed before the war can be everywhere restored." This means incidentally that Germany is to have all her colonies back once naore, to enslave the native populations, to massacre them when they are too numerous in the manner described in another of our leading articles, to steal their cattle, and to flay into ribbons the backs of those who are bold enough to protest. The case of Belgium, that unhappy " pawn, " is dealt with in the offer which Germany has just made to the Belgians of a separate peace. Belgium will graciously be allowed to consider herself out of the war. if she accepts a few trifling conditions which may mean little in form but would mean much in practice. Germany, in fact, would insist on retaining a considerable hold, both economic and military, over Belgium. Yet all the time there is no word of apology to Belgium or any offer of reparation. The proposal of Germany to take no further military action in Murmansk and Eastern Karelia if the Allies will evacuate that corner of Russia hardly deserves mention, because it has no special bearing upon the question of peace. There is nothing to thank Germany for in the suggestion, because she has in truth no troops to send to that part of the world.
A few sophists who prefer to deal in subtleties rather than in plain meanings, and who prefer to build their arguments on obscurities and unlikelihoods rather than on what is obvious, are duly informing us that the Austrian proposal for a Confer- ence is worthy of respect. They are suddenly seized with a desire to eat their own words and attribute wonderful merits to secret diplomacy. But in our opinion the only possible answer was given by President Wilson, Mr. Balfour, and M. Clemenceau. The pretence that Austria is morally in advance of Germany, and should be encouraged to drag her partner along better paths, breaks down upon examination. It is suggested that Austria made her peace proposal without the consent of Germany. Nothing could be further from probability. Austria would not dare to do such a thing with- out the sanction of her powerful neighbour. The official Nord,deutsche Zeitung has indeed acknowledged that the Austrian proposal had the approval of the German Govern- ment. Moreover, Admiral von Hintze, the German Foreiga Secretary, and Talaat Pasha have recently visited Vienna. They did not go there for nothing. The peace proposal is the result. Naturally the Pan-Germans, and those Germans who dare not openly resist the Pan-Germans, affect to be very angry at what has happened. But that need not surprise us. It has long been the practice of Germany when flying kites to pretend that she is not at the end of the string if the kite comes to disaster. To sum up, Germany no doubt wants peace very badly, but she still hopes to get a highly profitable and very sinister peace. She hopes that if peace conversations begin a kind of enervation will set in among the Allied armies, and that they will never again be able to carry on the war with the same united resolution. She hopes to do once more what Frederick the Great did with consummate success, and what was actually done with success in this war at Brest-Litovsk. It is a very good thing to end wars by negotiation when the wars concern some purely mundane interests and not the highest principles of life. Thus the Crimean War was very rightly ended when the rivals were, so to speak, tired of fighting. It was a proper end to a war which ought never to have been begun. But the present war is unique in its objects as it was in its origin. Though the Austrian Note with unconscious humour has talked about a rapprochement between the " conceptions " of the Central Powers and those of President Wilson, there is as yet not the faintest sign of such a rapprochement. Germany, after a great deal of talk about the wisdom of the policy of no in- demnities, is bleeding Russia to the extent of three hundred million pounds by means of a Supplementary Treaty to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. That sort of cynicism and wicked- ness is worlds, nay, universes, apart from President Wilson's conCeption of " a new international order." It becomes more clear than ever that we Allies must settle our terms in detail and impose them on Germany.
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