THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1917. THE ALLIED REPLY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 239, 5 January 1917, Page 2

THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times

PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1917. THE ALLIED REPLY.

The Official Organ of : The Franklin County Council. The Pukekohe Borough Council. The Tuakau Town Board. The Earaka Road Board. The Manukau County Council. The Raglan County Council. The Wairoa Road Board. The Papakura Town Board. The Waikatu River Board. The Mercer Town Board. The Manurewa Town Board The Manurewa Road Board.

''We nothing extenuate, nor tet down auoht in malice."

The Governments of the Allied Powers have avoided the first of the pitfalls prepared by the Germans by returning a joint answer, and thereby avoiding the speculations that would have ensued throughout the world upon auy real or fancied inconsistencies in the replies. The summarised account of the answer that we have had by cable will meet with the same approval that it had in Paris and in Rome. The Note begins with a protest against the assumption by the Germans that the Allies were responsible for the war, and it is well that this fact should again be made clear in a State paper of this nature, though we do not believe that outside Germany there are two opinions on this matter. It is well also that the reply emphasises the fact that Germany's promise is not a sufficient foundation on which to re-establish peace. That is a point which many pacific people, from President Wilson downwards, consistently ignore, yet which statesmen must constantly bear in mind, for Germany has nothing else to offer, and by her declarations and her actions has shown that her promises are valueless. Belgium will rise up in judgment against Germany as long as memory lasts. The Note goes on to say that the outrages against belligerents and neutral nations demand penalties, reparation and guarantees. We do not know to what extent it dwells on this point, but we should be glad to think that it had been emphasised. We i!o not by any means approve of the constant threats which some

people are anxious to have made; bvit in a document of this kind it leems to us that it should be made telear that offences against the Hague Convention and against ordinary humanity will be punished, and that no offender, however exalted his position, will escape the penalty of his misdeeds. The Note points out that the German offer is intended to justify further crimes, such as deportation of civilians in the occupied districts, and the forced enlistment of inhabitants against their own countries. Such crimes have already been committed, and it is hard to imagine what more can b;> devised or carried out, but in any case Germany is not likely to shrink from them on account of the iniquity they involve The Note then ends by dwelling on the enormity of Germany's offence against Belgium.