WAR AIMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 December 1917, Page 4

WAR AIMS.

The grotesque statement which has just been made by the Russian extremist, Trotksy, concerning peaee matters, and the announcement by the Kaiser that he is about to make a "final offer" of peace, will have the effect of drawing attention once more to the war aims of the Allies and the Central Powers. The Allies' aims were recently forcefully restated by Mr. Aaquith at Leeds, when he said: "We are fighting for the peace of the world." Such a peace cannot possibly be evolved from a cessation of hostilities, followed by bargaining and treaties or pacta that would not be worth the paper on which they were recorded. Such a peace Would not be worth many years' purchase if it permitted the reopening of an era of veiled warfare. What the Allies are doing is waging a war against War as represented by Prussian militarism and materialism, and it is only by bringing such a war to a successful conclusion that an acceptable peaee can be obtained. Mr. Asquith pertinently stated at Leeds that for the first time in history we may make an advance to the realism of an ideal to which great men of action in the past have been groping .theirway, and that ideal was the creation of a world-wide polity, uniting the .peoples in a confederation of which Justice will be the base and Liberty the corner stone. Tbe Allies' goal is, and always has -been, to secure development ■of'the peoples of-tbe world, and to prevent thep being trampled under the heel of any strong military power seeking aggrandisement and world domination. The Kaiser, judging by his frequent remarks on the subject, appears to be obsessed with the idea that he is vice-regent of the Deity on earth, and that his are the hands to deal out punishment to the nations or giye rewards to those who bow down and worship him while fulfilling his commands. It is manifest that such a mission precludes the peaceful-development of the peoples of the world in their proper sphere. The first business of* the Allies is to destroy this-menace>of tyranny and oppression—this war pestilence which prevents national development and paralyses international amity. That object accomplished, there must be reparation of the ravages wrought by the enemy, restoration of oceupied territory, and a just! punishment for the terrible crimes committed. Britain is bearing the brunt of this great conflict, but she desires neijther to acquire new territory nor to inijurioualy affect the German democracy, | especially if it should throw off, not only the monstrous system of militarism, but also those by' whom it is fostered for* selfish purposes. What are the war aims of the Central Powers? W-e know what they were when this great war wa&ioreed upon the Allies, but every effort to obtain a straightforward announcement of Germany's war aims has always been met with vague and meaningless phrases. The Russian extremists ■have grandiloquently expressed a determination to bluntly ask Germany what flier war aims are. Trotsky Wuntness bombarding wily German diplomats would be aJ>out as effective as blowing [paper pellets against the hide of a rhin-'-oceros, and this is amply demonstrated by the easy task the Germans had in sowing discord in Russia in order to destroy her military power, and thus make the blatant demagogues as clay in the hands ofttbc pdtter. 01 the/.great forces at wock iii' Germany, militarism—or panGermanism—is supreme, for democracy ,is afcaroly xepreased, even the Socialists being; haK-heartai, *heir pronouncements betag-.thade.4o aider. We have only to compare a grotesque poetical mountsJjgflkjlike a flwtaand

as von Tirpitz to realise how far fipiirt the Russian communists are from the German militarists. Trotsky iusiuls on the pence formula of no annexations and no indemnities. Vou Tirpit'. proclaims that Belgium must be brought under the iron rule of Prussian militarism; that Germany must have an outlet for her commerce not only through Flemish Antwerp, but through French Calais and Boulogne; she must dominate the seas (which is her interpretation of securing the freedom of the seas), and impose such conditions as will guarantee Germany all the raw material that she now lacks. This may be summed up as mean- | ing tljat Germany must be the dominant power to dictate what she requires, and her will must be law. What possible chance would there be of peace under such conditions? Not the smallest fraction. Moreover, France must be deprived of her industrial regions—her coal, her iron and her manufactures—and Germany's colonies must be returned to her, so that she may recreate, stronger than ever, bases from which she can pounce on her prey. Is all the blood and treasure that has been spilt in the present war to end in the raising of militarism to a still higher pedestal than it occupied before f Perish the thought. In the decisive victory of the Allies lies the one hope for the world. Their war against war must be crowned with success, and only then will the world be able to breathe freely, having shaken off the soul-destroying incubus, and placed itself in a position to enjoy in full measure the blessing of freedom. Attempts are being constantly made to misrepresent the Allies' war aims, and even British politicians are not free from this vice, but Mr. Balfour, in his recent speech, has crushingly replied to these unpatriotic busybodies, and reiterated emphatically that the war aims of the Allies are absolutely identical with the war policyenunciated by President Wilson.