The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1916. THE PEACE WE WANT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 22, 24 August 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1916. THE PEACE WE WANT.

It is' not at all remarkable to find plenty of rumoured peace proposals at this time, for it has been freely preclicted ever since the commencement of the war, that as soon as the .pressure against the Germans made » contraction of their lines imminent; pearo proposals of a sort would : r.;bi produced. The contraction of ■; the' enemy lines is more than imminent—it is an accomplished fact, and that the Central Powers are ready for « speedy peace is undoubted. The only difficulty is, of course, that of terms, for if Germany's desire to call the game a draw at this stage were fitceded to, it would simply mean but t< | few years' waiting and all the horror and .sacrifice over again. The Allien j nations now banded together to crush • German military despotism and fan the freedom of the world against German ambitions, are little likely to withdraw from the great stand they have taken, and the solemn compact) made to see' the fight to a finish, soj that such terms as the Allies mi-.rt eventually dictate may banish from Europe the possibility of Avar for many years at least. It is almost too much to dream that permanent peace caul 1)0 assured for all time, but many; schemes have been put forth which ' I is claimed nmy make such a desirable end possible/Mr H, W. Steed, the' foreign editor of the London Time.-j advocates in the first place the imposition of heavy indemnities upon the Central Powers, and the enforcement of payment by a continuation of thej blockade and the occupation of territory until such time a s payment, h i completed. Subsidiary proposals in elude a rearrangement of European boundaries on a basis of racial and linguistic communities. Alsace and Lorraine must be restored to France; Belgian territory must be re-adjusted in accordance with Belgian require ments; Serbia must be reconstituted on an ethnological basis; Poland ;r.ust he Unified a s a self-governing Stat" under the Russian sceptre; Bohemia, extended to include Moravia, and the Slovak country of north-western Tlungary must become an independent, or at least an autonomous State; Rumania, if site shall have helped effectively in the Allied cause. must be (riven the Humane regions of Hungary and the Bukowina ; Constantinophmu.'t he given to Russia, ami the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles must be opened to shipping; Italy must be given all Italian districts' in the Trentino and the Carnic Alps and on the I Tiiestine littoral and the Istrian coast, and must be allowed to establish naval control in the Adriatic by the possession of I'ola, Lissa, and Yalona. The programme above outlined seem j fair and reasonable enough from our ; standpoint, hut unless some great inI teraal upsetting take s place in Ge ! many and Austria, we may hardly look for its speedy acceptance by til?

enemv. There remains much yet to bo accomplished by force of arms an for Britain and her Allien there must be no relaxation of mighty effort. Tb great armies we have in the lield pus. on with splendid determination gaining strength and power as the days go by. Though our losses are necessarily heavy, the leaders of tho Allied forces do not recklessly throw lives away, and they can afford to play a waiting game. The German policy ot ruthless sacrifice of human life does not seem to alter with all the lessons of the war, but the day must come when the last enemy reserves are driven to their death.