A PRO-GERMAN NOTE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2959, 23 December 1916, Page 8

A PRO-GERMAN NOTE

Even from the brief summary cabled yesterday' it coutd be seen that the American Peace Note constituted an in-defensible departure from correct neutrality.' N6w that the; full text of. the 'document is available, all that, can besaid:is that! President -Wilson- has acted in-this matter precisely as he might have been expected to act if he had been, .Germany's obedient servant. . The -demand'- stated in the Note is a German demand, it is backed by Germa,n arguments, and Me. , Lansing frankly admits, on behalf of' his. chief,-, that "thp.;P.resident .siders. : the-questioii-;of --peace may' best ; be .'considered; - connection: with other proposals which:'- hi£rai the same view."-, That is to say, the German proposal, which the members of the Entente have imam- . mously spurned. It is stated in the Note that "we (the President and' his advisers),were.somewhat embarrassed . to'offer . it (the peace sug--gestion) at this particular time, because it may seem to have been prompted by the recent .overtures from the-Central Powers. .It is not suggested by them. . .. ."' But is it not manifest that the American Note will be universally rogardedas seconding and endorsing the German proposal, and that its authors were fully aware'of the fact ;-_when they framed and dispatched it? TEe Note is pervaded throughout by an insufferable tone of.Pecksniffian hypocrisy. • It professes a concern for the _ welfare of human-- • ity which, official, America either did not feel or studiously concealed in _ the-,days when-, the Allies were painfully making, head -against the almost overwhelming assault of the German legions. It is difficult."to write calmly about the President's statement that "the objects which" the belligerent statesmen on both sides have in mind are virtually the same. , . . side desires to secure the rights and privileges of weak peoples • and small States against aggression, .and also to' secure tho rigbts and privileges of tho great belligerents." A grosser insult could not well- be 1 imagined to tho nations which are now dealing, as the champions of civilisation' with an enemy of the human race', who has trampled small nations under foot, and subjected their populations to unspeakable outrage. It is an insult, however, that dishonours only the man and Government by whom it is cast. On strictly practical grounds the gravest exception - is to'be taken to one of the later passages in the Sjote, that in" which it is remarked: If tho contest must continuo towards undefined ends by slow attrition -untiL one'group is exhausted, if millions of human lives-must continue-to bo ofl'ered until tfne side has 110 more to! offer, if resentment must be kindled wlvioh Jvill never fool, the hopes for peace- will' be rendered vain and idlo, and the lifp of tho entiro world profoundly affected. . lii these statements, it will bo observed, ' President : Wilson denies by .'.implication, thab £ho;; Allies are'

capable of inflicting decisive defeat upon their -The idea is one upon which, the Germans themselves ■are.continually -harping. Only yesterday the Berlin Lokal Anzeiger was quoted as saying:

If Mr. Lloyd George means to postpone satisfying Europe's desire-for peace until the Entente Powers are victorious it means eternal war, unless the German Army is able to bring it to an earlier termination than Mr. Lloyd George supposes. Happily there, is reason to' believe that President 'Wilson Und the Germans arc in error in this estimate of possibilities, but this does not justify the President in formally endorsing a contention''upon which tho Germans very largely rely in promoting their'peace campaign. If 'nothing'.":else_in: the Note were open to objection, this passage alone would stamp it as an unpardonable departure from neutrality. ■ The messages accompanying the Notx) are so. contradictory that they deserve little ■ attention. .In one a .statement,is. attributed.'to Me. Lan-' sing that America is on the verge of war, and in another the same Minister is quoted as stating that Amcrica has no intention of departing. from- neutrality' at any time'. ■. Another .Washington.dispatch appearing to-day is cast in equally pacific terms, and credits Mr. Wilson with a statement that he ; does not propose peace, not even mediation, and is "merely baking soundings." For the. time being the Note may be regarded as a merely verbal interposition, but in that character it. is in the highest degree mischievous and objectionable. The terms of the Note amply warrant the delight of the German-American Press and the commendations.'it is showering upon Pkesident Wilson. These strictures would not necessarily apply in other circumstances to a more judicious attempt to induoe the belligerents to state the ■terms on which .they are prepared .to.mako peace,-.but, taking the line, he. does, the .President invites a stern rebuke' from the Allies, and a warning- to stand aside and uofc .attempt to interfere between them ?and the crime-sodden' nations'whom they are. leagued ,to bring to iustice.