The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1916. NO PEACE AT PRESENT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 25, 4 May 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1916. NO PEACE AT PRESENT.

llt is difficult to obtain reliable news ! regarding the actual happenings in Germany, for' while the iron heel ol ; militarism is on the populace very litj tie is allowed to leak out that might hearten the Allies. German thoroughness extends to censorship, and the expression of opinion in a remarkable way, but nevertheless occasionally a glimpse behind the official curtain is gained through Holland. The Amsterdam correspondent of the Daily Express recently stated that there iyere clear and unquestionable signs daily accumulating to show that Germany’s staying powers, colossal as they were, are weakening fast, and that the bitter truth, systematically withheld from tlie German people, is beginning to chiw 11 on them. The dilemma of the Germans at the present juncture is, according to this writer, “Immediate peace or almost immediate ruin.” That peace feelers have been put out

is certain, .lor not many clays U|*o a certain nan statesman let tliau fact be known, but of course, from the Allies point of view , the suggested Gorman terms are simply ridiculous. .Neutral travellers are not always reliable sources of information, because, in the first place, unless their leanings ate decidedly pro-German they would not be likely to travel about much or U> see anything of note. it is certain that many a neutral on leaving (<eimany .has been warned at the frontier that he will not be permitted to return, as long as the war lasts, il it >-s found that be has given any information to newspapers of the Allies. Ihe Amsterdam correspondent qnoteu above says with regard to peace overtures, that while there is no accord whatsoever in Germany about the term:; of peace, everyone agrees that

• U >l > s c peac ' is signed belore the summer of ivm? ends the little that remains of German trade will he wiped out for years. AicmAvhiie the authorities are busy making the people believe that it is unpatriotic to bother about food, ami that so long as the country’s safety demands that every Gorman should live on nothing a day it is treason to ark ami protest foi more. Every neutral IVoni Beilin tell, of the extraordinary scenes occurring, every day in front of the dairy shops,

, when people of every class stand in line 1 for hours to got a half-pound of butter | at- extortionate prices. KvOry neutral | who lias visited German homes' tells ' of the sadness prevailing and of the meagre repast that is eniorced on them, though this, of course, is officially denied by the War Party, who allege plenty of supplies. inconsistently, however the same sources excuse their barbaric piracy on the grounds that the German people are starving, so that the neutral travellers who allege distress and depression us the chief features of internal Ger-* many are probably fairly right. .There can be no r< al doubt but that Germany desires peace, and on very different ; terms to the arrogant and boastful dej mauds of some time ago. A separate peace with individual Powers would also be rushed at. but on tins point the Allies are not likely to weaken. They have suffered too much from the unspeakable atrocities of the Hnn to, give any quarter. Now more than ever the world realises that Germany must be well beaten.