The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 4. DIPLOMACY AND PEACE.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 4. DIPLOMACY AND PEACE.

The speech made in the House of Commons on Thursday last by Mr. A. J. Balfour, Foreign Secretary, should set at rest that senseless agitation which has been carried on for some considerable time, relative to the abstention of the Imperial Government from using diplomatic methods for securing peace. Beyong being a useful weapon of criticism, | this absurd demand for diplomatic action is puerile in the extreme, and Mr. Bal- | four convincingly exposed its futility when he remarked that there was only one course for Germany to pursue before diplomacy could be even thought of. She must say "I have sinned," and follow this up by saying, "I will make reparation, ■ and restore, without conditions, what I have taken." Much as Germany wants peace, it is not the peace which the world demands, or there would be no difficulty in coming to terms and stopping the awful carnage, destruction and devastation that is going i: on. We have only to note carefully—or even casually —the latest pronouncement of the German Chancellor on this subject, and it is apparent to.the meanest intellect that there is . .jt a single point on which the slightest hope of a durable peace can be placed. That is the peace for which the Allies are warring against war; otherwise the blood that has been shed and the treasure that has been expended will have been so much criminal waste, that merely paved the way for far greater sacrifices and abominations in the future. The German Chancellor has expressed his preference for diplomatic secrecy over negotiations. That is a perfectly intelligible attitude, in view of Germany's numerous intrigues and diplomatic snares, while the British people and'the Allies prefer President Wilson's method of boldly and publicly stating his views, speaking not only for himself, but for humanity at large, and in the hearing of the world. The German Chancellor's heroics and boastful threats may appeal to the German gallery, but, as Mr. Balfour so aptly remarked, diplomacy was out of court unless some measure of potential agreement existed, making diplomatic conversations fruitful of good results. There is a world-wide longing for peace, but there is also a consensus of opinion amongst thp nations who are Striving for the only acceptable kind;of peace that there must be an end of Prussian militarism before a real peace can be secured. "If England alone were left," Sir F. E. Smith, the Attorney-General, is reported to have said in America, "if all her allies on the European battlefield were forced to retire, England would still continue the conflict by sea rather than submit to the German yoke." We Kussia to acquire a fairly accurate notion of German diplomacy, h Russia being brought to terms by diplomacy? Certainly not. The Germans are making use of their highwayman method of "stand and deliver." They are overrunning Russia, and have announced their intention of continuing hostilities until peace terms are signed. They have the Russians by the throat, and are choking them remorselessly. No portion of Mr. Balfour's speech is more striking than that in which he demonstrated how Britain, "in upholding the balance of power, saved Prussia from destruction, and later helped her to recover her independence against Napoleon, so that it ill became German statesmen to deride Britain's efforts for the balance of power, until German militarism was abolished, and an international court, with executive powers, established for the protection of the weak. It was impossible to ignore the principles underlyfag.the

balance of power. If Baron von Ilcrlling would induce liis countrymen to give up their policy and ambition for world domination, peace would come now and for ever." We may well ask what sort of a Germany it is that is throwing the blame of the war, and its continuance, on Britain? According to the German Chancellor, it is a chivalrous, humanitarian Germany, whose policy in the East is directed to preventing atrocities and devastations, and to upholding humanity. What he meant by fliich a faced, terminological inexactitude would puzzle most people to explain. If we turn to German acts in the West, we find her ''entirely occupied with atrocities and devastations," while if we note her activities on the seas, there is nothing but a foul (rail of unjustifiable murders and outrages. Then, there must also be noted the ravings of the Pan-German press, not /only for the restoration of all her former possessions, but the retention of Belgium and the expansion of her colonial territory. Germany has clearly shown that she is out to get all she can, and by any means that aiv available. While she is determined to have the rest of the civilised world creeping at her feet, it was, said Mr. Balfour, difficult to conduct the diplomatic conversations which must bo a prelude to peace, for to begin negotiations without seeing a way to a successful termination would be the greatest crime against the' future. Mr. Balfour put his case with convincing logic, and the arguments used should appear with telling force to all those who take the trouble to probe the matter in the right way. President Wilson has ably expressed the view,, of the Allies on the peace question, and 'they are such views as the Germans will find it impossible to undermine.