The Dominion WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 1919. PEACE BEFORE EASTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 167, 9 April 1919, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 1919. PEACE BEFORE EASTER

The promise of peace before Easter does not a little to brighten an international outlook otherwise not lacking in portentous aspects. It is only too plain that settlement of the- main issues before the Peace Conference must precede Comprehensive efforts towards the restoration of order in Europe. The menace, of Bolshevism is formidable chiefly because of the unsettled conditions and disorganisation that obtain so widely. Just as the abolition of sanitary measures and precautions in any community would lay it dangerously open to the onset of epidemic disease, famine, the absence of'settled government, and uncertainty regarding the future, combine in many parts of Europe to constitute a state of affairs which in a serious degree favours the activities andmachinations of anti-social wreckers. To what extent the apparent spread of Bolshevism has been exaggerated by those factions in Germany and elsewhere which arc intent on intimidating tho Allied Powers _ and weakening their. resolution it is difficult to say. The remedy, for' the total evil is- in any case tho speediest possible • agreement by the Allies on essential conditions of peace' and vigorous con : ccrted action in bringing about a' better state of affairs. Provided the Allies are enabled to conclude their deliberations in unity and on right lines, publication of the peace terms will immediately pave the way for reconstructive activities all over Europe and'for the determined suppression of real and sham Bolshevism. Those parties in' Central _ Europe which are using Bolshevism as a bogey will no doubt reverse their tactics with all haste as soon as the conditions of peace have been finally settled.- If is. particularly interesting in this conncc-' tion that the members of the American Military Commission which visited Berlin to report on conditions declare that reports of Spartacist risings have been much exaggerated by the German authorities, and are of opinion that an autocratic Government is- not unlikely to bo set- up in Germany after peace has been signed. " Some very gloomy . things havo been said in tho cablegrams of late a,bout events at the Peace Conference, but it ,is now apparent that these comments amount to' unsupported speculation-advanced l at a tirao when all efforts to penetrate the secrecy veiling the inner proceedings of tho Conference had failed. It seems likely that in some of to-da-y's messages, notably tho dispatch of a Daili/ Mail correspondent at Paris, the veil is actually lifted to some extent on these proceedings, and the news as it stands suggests' that highly important progress has been made towards such an agreement as will bo likely to make world peace, secure. That there arc serious obstacles to an agreement on these lines goes ' without saying. It might be inferred, even i'f no late information were available, that much difficulty' would be experienced in .getting France, Italy, and Japan, to completely agree with Britain and America in regard to the war settlement and. guarantees for the future. , France in particular is likely,, and certainly not without reason, to bo exacting in her demands. After the martyrdom she has suffered it is not to be wondered at if she is hard to please now that, the time has come to settle with Germany and build tho world anew. But France is bound to recognise, with other nations, that her future security depends essentially upon the adoption of new and nobler standards in international affairs, and that justice and not revenge must he the keynote; of tho Conference decisions 'unless the world is' to be cast back into tho conditions out of which the . war arose. The same general considerations are bound to heavily influence Italy and Japan, though no' late .information is available in regard to the _ detail aspects of the settlement in which they are most intimately concerned.

The particulars transmitted today indicate that Britain and America .have made an important concession to France in agreeing that the coalmines of the Saar Valley, though they aro situated in a German-populated area, shall be her property in perpetuity. No doubt both English-speaking Powers would havo preferred to avoid any permanent alienation of German natural resources, but in view of the frightful devastation wrought by the Huns in France and their systematic attempts, by the destruction or theft of plant and machinery and in other ways, to permanently ruin some of the greatest Trench industries, the reported decision regarding the Saar coalfields is manifestly just. According to the Daily Mail correspondent already quoted, the Allies have agreed that Rhenish territory is to he occupied for thirty years while reparation payments arc being exacted from Germany, and small British and American forces are to assist the Franco-Belgian army of occupation. Such an arrangement is much to be desired as a demonstration, that the League of Nations is henceforth a force to he reckoned with, and also as an exemplary vindication of the la.w and morality Germany so abominably violated. No doubt there will be some clamour against the establishment of an international garrison in the German frontier zone on the ground that its presence will loud to keep alive thoughts of revenue and the spirit of war. All who honestly face the fad* are bound to recognise, however, that if they abstained .from definitely penal

measures against Germany the. Allies would be, in effect, furthering hoi' crimes and taking a course well calculated to encourage their repetition. It is observed by Count llantzau, who is to head the German Peace Delegation, that justice instead of force must bo established as the basis of international affairs. But the settlement with Germany is an affair in wliichjustico must be backed by force, and it is not justice to turn a tolerant eye on crime and smooth the path of criminals. Nothing is more necessary in the interests of future peace than that the Allies should unitedly brand Germany as a na,tion doomed to expiate crime and, without prejudice, of course, to the. punishment of individual malefactors, the occupation of the■ Rhenish provinces is probably the most effective step that can bo taken in this direction.

The amount of material compensation it is possible to exact from Germany has yet to be determined. If, however, in addition to taking over German transferable wealth, including gold and investments, the Allies impose a levy on German raw. material over a period of thirty years, the total compensation should be substantial in amount even if it falls far short of what might in justice be demanded. Generally' speaking, economic experts' have held out little hope of any 'really substantial indemnity being collected from Germany, and have pointedly emphasised the difficulty of enforcing payment in such a way as not to detrimentally affect Allied industries. Tho war, however, has strikingly falsified ideas that used to pass current in regard to economic and financial questions and 'further enlightenment may be in store. One material fact of which insufficient account is sometimes.taken is that the conditions in which it is proposed to exact reparation from Germany are in all respects extraordinary. France obviously is in a 'position to absorb a vast amount of foreign wealth in reconstructing her ravaged indusand from this standpoint the position of other Allied nations, including Britain,, differs only in de-' gree. It is likely that the final and insurmountable difficulty will be that of making these payments any- 1 thing like adequate in amount. Current news is satisfactory, however, as indicating that the Allies arc' intent on exacting all.possible compensation, and that in this matter and others they have approached near to the agreement which will restore peace to the world. >