The Daily News. MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1917. THE ROUMANIAN ARMISTICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 December 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1917. THE ROUMANIAN ARMISTICE.

The cabled statement in to-day's issue, that the Roumanians have decided to accept an armistice, is not unexpected. With the Russian troops leaving the front in swarms, and arranging to get any peace terms they can from Germany, Roumania had no choice but to make the best terms possible with the enemy. Otherwise she would be completely crushed. It is a humiliating position in which Roumania finds herself, but it is by no fault or wish of hers. Right from the moment she was brought into the war, as the direct result of Russiaa pressure, she has been let down by ths Russians, whose disregard of he.* interests and violations of her rights and claims forms one of the greatest tragedies of the war. Roumania, no doubt, would fight on to the bitter end were she to consult her own feelings, but without aid from the Russians she would be helpless, and this fact must be accepted by the Allies, whose sympathies, no doubt, will be with her in the hour of her humiliation. But any peace that may come out of the armistice will not affect the final settlement. The Allies have declared that the rights of Roumania, Servia and Belgium must be maintained, and the time will come, as surely as night follows day, when they will be in a position to enforce their will upon the enemy. | The Allies are not misled by the mischievous peace vaporings tjhat are current in Russia, and have brought about the military collapse on the eastern front. The- realise a peace that is at all durable tan only come from the complete defeat of the Central Powers, and they are bending their backs to that end. Germany has, it must be admitted, a considerable advantage by the cessation of hostilities on the eastern front, but it can only be temporary, for the Allies have the means, ability, and determination to carry on the war until the enemy cries enough, or is crushed. The enemy is putting up a tremendous fight now on all the fronts, and sparing neither men nor material. It is to be hoped he will continue the pressure, for the sooner will his reserves be exhausted. A later cable states that Germany is offering peace to Roumania on the basis of the cession of the Dobrudja to Bulgaria, and Roumania taking Bessarabia. It is a typically German offer, this handing of other people's territory, like Bessarabia is, to her foe, and placating the hungry Bulgarians with the territory they have been seeking for years. But the Bessarabians have not yet been committed, and the fact that they have formed a separate republic indicates that they dc not intend to cede their territory to another power, if they can help it, Germany is anxious to secure peace on the eastern front, and for that reason will be disposed to grant the best terms she can, both to the Russians and Roumanians, who may, henceforth, be counted out as factors in the war. The defection of our eastern allies is serious; it is no use saying otherwise. The issue will be fought out on the Western front, and the fighting will be on an unparalleled scale. It means, no doubt, prolonging the war, but if the Allies marshal their forces, and put in all their weight, there can be only one end. The Allies are determined to see it through, whatever the cost, and however long it may take.