THE GERMAN TERMS.

Southland Times, Issue 1347, 13 December 1870, Page 3

THE GERMAN TERMS.

Thd terms thus offered were in reality very moderate, and not more than a fair equivalent for the ,lpss of time incurred by the Germans. Toul was at . that moment in the act of surrendering, and Strasbourg was captured within a few days. But yet it was almost impossible for the Provisional Government to give up Strasbourg, which had become, in the eyes of the populace, the representative city of patriotism. Count Bismarck states that M. Jules Favre has shown an evident desire to speak the truth, but is yet inaccurate. In a : circular despatch he says that "the terms of peace and territorial concessions were only mentioned incidentally. The formation of the new department of the Moselle, with j the arrondisements of Sarrebourg. Chateau-Salins, ~ Sarreguemines, Metz, and Thionville, was designated as answer- < ing to the views of the G-erman GovernI merit. The armistice was the main point considered, and the final proposal, which the Government of National Defence rejected, was the maintenance of the military status quo in and about Paris ; the continuance of hostilities in and about Metz, but limited to a. circle to be strictly defined ; the surrender of the garrison of -Str^aTintigfipljia_pirbMinflea J Q£^gar 1 and the surrender of Toul and BTtsc&e, tnenr garrisons marching out free. The armistice might have been concluded for two or three weeks." 1