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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 24, 23 October 1918, Page 4

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>- Ti": ~:-W.\ c; Or. CcnrnnGovornt .p.-nt t./iW;:xv Vvn-aoK's l<ote ! " is evasivs, aiuMiypoeri;- [ tical. It '." ?.!::o mendacious, it endeavours to ticlv-ir.ick tlic rr.E.sibkkt and to cntr.p.y,lc hi:n in furo thcr 'talk by raising irrelevant j- points and starting discussions on u various aspects of the war the consideration of which can serve_ no 11 good purpose at the present Junes' turo. The London Times draws atI I tention to the significant point that !" the word "thesis" is substituted for J! the word "terms" which was used m the first Note. This implies that the d object of the German Government is J- to open up general discussion with 1- the Allies, instead of making a plain ,» declaration of acceptance or nonacceptance of the "terms" laid down :h Tjy the President. "This stamps the ! 9 Note as a deliberate subterfuge and 18 a crooked answer." As regards.-tho - armistice question the German Government takes far too much for granted. President Wilson has not m made any proposal for evacuation. d. What he said was that the Allies >t will not agree to the cessation of 111 hostilities so long as Germany occu- "' pies any of their territory. He did not say that the German troops - would be permitted without molestation to extricate themselves from rn the desperately perilous situation ch in which they now find themselves. & If they want an armistice they must i 3' apply to Marshal Focii for it, and ho will dictate the conditions with- ),', out their assistance. He is the pro--77J per person to decide, and in making,

his decision he will please himself < as to whether tho "actual standard ■ of power of both sides in the field must form the basis of arrangements." The fact that Germany has lost the war. and is suing for - peace must be tha decisive consideration when the timo comes for fixing the i terms of armistice and the "tfVnod of evacuation. This really, means that the fighting must continue until Germany surrenders unconditionally. The only alternative is a process of haggling and compromise, which might" give the enemy a chance of wriggling from the grip of the Allies. These Germans are really very clumsy hypocrites. Do they think that they can fool anybody by their pretended indignation because the reproach of illegal inhuman actions has been cast against the German land and sea forces and against the German people ?. This pose of injured*innocence is as farcical as i the antics of a circus clown. When they thought they were winn''.ig, and therefore did not care what the civilised world thought about their crimes, the Germans pleated oyer their "{rightfulness." They gloried in their shame. They shouted for joy when the news of the torpedoing of the Lusitania \was published, and only the other day a German submarine sank the passenger ship Leinster and treated the helpless victims of this "illegal action" with barbaric cruelty. The record of their inhuman deeds during this war will form one of the blackest pages in the world's history. In the face of known facts—facts that have been ' : established beyond all possibility of reasonable doubt—the German Government has the brazen effrontery to deny that its Navy has ever purposely destroyed lifeboats with passengers, What does Germany expect to gain by disfiguring its Note with such obvious lios?_ The approach of the day of retribution—not any genuine sense of shame or change of heart—is responsible for this desire to make a favourable impression on the world. Germany is not so truculent now. She has ceased to bully and threaten. She merely "trusts that the President will approve of no demand irreconcilable

with the honour of the German people." She only asks for a "peace of justice." _ She will get that. She will get justice, but is not likely to find it to her liking. President Wilson asked for information as to whether the German Chancellor merely spoke for the constituted authorities who have so far conducted the war. The President has declared over and over again that the militarist gang must be overthrown, not bargained with, and that tho Allies can only make peace with genuine representatives of the Gorman people. Prince Maximilian, the new Chancellor,

tried to make the world believe that he was the authoritative mouthpiece of a democratised Germany; but common-sense people naturally wanted to know who put him in the Chancellorship, and who put Hrutlinq out. The German nation Had no say in' the matter. The change was made by the Kaiser and his generals, who wanted a smoothtongued figurehead to conduct the peace campaign. The latest German Note states that the now Government has been formed in complete accordance with the principle of representation based on equal universal direct franchise. But there has beon no change in the German constitution, and no general election has taken plaee. Ministers are still' responsible to the Kaiser alone, and the Reichstag is not in any real sense a representative assembly. It is the same old Reichstag and the same old Kaiser-made Government. And yet President Wilson is asked to believe that he is speaking to a Government which is free from any arbitrary and irresponsible influence. This is what Germany calls a "clear and unequivocal" answer to,the President's question. The whole thing is a sham. The more one examines the Note the less gen-

uino ifc appears. It is to be hoped that the discussion will now cease. The only safe course for the Allies to pursue is to refrain from all argument except the argument of the s\yord. On with the^war until Germany surrenders—and surrenders . unconditionally.