GERMANY'S NEW VOICE

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 218, 19 October 1916, Page 5

GERMANY'S NEW VOICE

DEFENCE, NOT CONQUEST.

Again, in the “Kasseler Zeitung, ” Herr Schiedmann, a Social Democrat leader, is permitted to unbosom himself thus: “One of the main conditions for a happy ending to the war is that the people should not be shaken in thenconviction that the war is one of defence and not of conquest. We must not allow ourselves to be hustled ini a choking quagmire by the annexationists, nor should we forget that it is this very annexation mania that has lost us our colonies and has been the indirect cause of Germany being pletely denied access to the outer seas.” BRITAIN’S NAVY SUPREME. The Stuttgart “Tagnacht” makes an even more astounding admission, namely, that Germany cannot hope to beat England: “So long as the German armies a not yet either in Paris or London, r is silly to waste time discussing the question whether we ought or ought not to make annexations. All that we have hmitherto accomplished is me ly child’s play compared with the task that is still ahead of us. Even though the Russians, the Italians, and the whole of the Continental allies were beaten, England’s naval supremacy would not be destroyed, and we may go so far as to say that, unless a miracle happens, this object will never be realised, not even though the war lasts thirty years. The prolongation of the war can only plunge us into deeper misery, and expose us to the gravest perils.” NO “ENERGETIC PEACE.”

The entry of Rumania into the war seems to have finally shattered all •hopes that the Germans had entertained of a peace on Germany's terim and the Munich "Post" now urges that all that is left for Teutons to strive for is "a free and independent Germany." "We have long watched from afar the approach of a new adherent to the Entente coalition. It is now an accomplished fact, and all the pan-Ger-man projects of an 'energetic peace' are reduced to nil. In the whole oi Germany there is now not one man who does not comprehend that in this fearful war the question has become simply that of our national existence. The German nation must now fight exclusively with the idea of the preservation of a free and independent Germany, and for the happy future of a Europe which but for our staying hand will tear itself to pieces." There is a touch of the familiar arrogant Teutonic egotism in that final sentence, but in view of the admis sions made in its predecessors we can afford to smile at the Huns' notion that Europe will go to the dogs if Germany ceases to be a Power.

TRUCE WITH ENGLAND DEMANDED. The "Vorwaerts," another leading Benin journal, breaks out in this most astonishing strain: "If the central authorities still have any doubts as to the real sentiments of the people in regard to the continuance of this frightful struggle, they should personally attend some of the crowded meeting's that are now beingheld in various parts of the empire. At all of these gatherings the demand for a speedy peace without annexations is received with thunderous cheers. "At one of these gatherings Reich-stag-Deputy Happier declared that the only real guarantees against the repetition of such a catastrophe lay in the disarmament of all States and the establishment of an international compulsory arbitration court. In the meantime, however, he added, a truce with England must be arranged, even though at the sacrifice of some of Germany's chief ambitions."

"UNCONQUERABLE ENGLAND." ASTO CJNDING ADMISSION. LONDON, Sept 6. It is very evident, from articles in German newspapers recently received in England that either the Press of the Fatherland is "getting out of hand," or that it has received hints from high quarters to prepare the pub lie mind for revelations of a most unpleasant character regarding the outcome of the Avar. They admit the defeat at Verdun; they describe it not only as a military defeat, but as a moral defeat, "of which the re-percus-sion is at this moment felt so seriously in the Balkans." They clamour for peace and renounce any ambitions of annexation. A" veritable epidemic of truth-telling has brcr.en out amongst them. The Berlin "Post," for example, makes the following amazing statement with regard to the recent dramatic changes in the German high command: — "Falkenhayn's recall is equivalent to an admission by Germany of the Ge imperial armies, and Verdun now region which comes more than six months after the beginning of this gigantic adventure. "It was said that Falkenhayn would be fully justified in the sacrifice of half a million men if he could capture Verdun H e iias lost the little of the imperial armies,' 1 and eVrdun now represents a military defeat, the ,-onse-

quences of wJfich are now seen in Northern France, in Russia, in tne Trentino, and on the Isonzo.

"It further constitutes a moral defeat of whie& the repercussion is at this moment felt so seriously in lXie Balkans."