The Daily News. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1918. GERMANY'S PEACE MOVE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1918. GERMANY'S PEACE MOVE.

The breaking of the Hindenburg lino has promptly brought about a German move for peace, and by a coincidence a new Chancellor was installed just prior to this peace move, part of his mission being to outline a nebulous pro;gramfae of political reform bearing some sort of.likeness to. a democratising process, probably intended t& appeal io Americattsym-, fiathies. The Chancellor has rput j forward liis peac&. .feeler on the; ■ heEsife-flf the Austrian Note to Prerfiferit Wilson* so that the Ameri- ; cans* may b&'MDaeif withihc idea itliflt tie- 3?t> , wers!.are quite acCtwd ia-their desire to secure hut itwltt i>6 noticed that Austria makes n&ujy definite proposals up io a .Jjdr&t, while the (Jfermaa Chanccl»tbr reSOrts to generalities, leaving

most tlie Central Powers aim at a basis for negotiations, but it must surely be manifest to them that no cessation of the war can take place until precise and deiin■ite terms of submission are proposed, and the nature of the guarantees for the observance thereof plainly disclosed. Both the Austrian Note and Prince Max's speech are not free from manifest untruths while they abound in special pleading for a cause that has no defence. Once more the Reichstag war aims resolution has been disinterred, and polished up to make it look presentable after being disavowed. This is quite characteristic of German methods. When the outlook is bright we hear only boastings of the dire punishment that will be inflicted on the Allies, and the huge indemnities to be levied to pander to the Teutonic lust of world domination. When the dark days arrive, out comes a hypocritical whine that for the sake of humanity an end should be made to the struggle, and the Allies are charged with lust of blood and slaughter, merely for the sake of self-glorifi-cation. Now that Germany sees the game is up she wants to secure immunity from the treatment she, has dealt out so brutally to her victims; she wants to preserve her towns and terrain from being laid waste, and to protect her people from the fate of the Belgians and other victims, but, above all, Austria and Germany are both bent on prolonging their respective auto-

eratic dynasties, which must surely collapse when the Central Powers suffer their final defeat at the hands of the Allies. That defeat is staring them in the face is beyond any question. Bui garia has caved in, Turkey is tottering on the brink, Austria is sick unto death, and Germany sees the Allied hosts in ever-increasing numbers and strength breaking through the last of her lines of defence, and preparing to invade German soil. Apart from the internal disaffection and suffering, the prospect is pregnant with disaster, and her people cannot, and will not, stand another winter at war. Every day the position grows worse, and brings nearer that, final moment when Germany must face the arbiters of her future destiny. The armistice appeal is made to the American President, but it is reassuring to note that in his speeches President Wilson has gradually but emphatically been hardening up on the question of peace, and he stands committed tok decline any overtures made bF the autocrats who are responsibly for the war and all its teeming horrors. The Allies' war aims have again and again been stated with a clearness and precision that admit of no question. They are fighting for the freedom and security of the nations—great and small—for justice, and for the cause of righteousness, also for putting an end to international warfare, oppression and domination. Germany has frankly a,vowed that international agreements and solemn obligations are merely scraps of paper. We are, therefore, dealing with a national outlaw—a wild beast, thirsting for human blood. The time is coming for peace, but it cannot arrive until sure foundations are prepared for a peace that will endure for all time. The Kaiser's "liberal" terms are only designed to give him breathing time, and to save the skins of the

Hohenzollerns, but thje civilised World lias decided this must be the last war. There can be no half measures, no palliatives; militarism must be thoroughly and permanently uprooted, and the war must go on until thaft end is accomplished. What we have to fear is not the Germans, but the pacifists among the Allies who will play into the hands of the Huns. It cannot be denied that the nations are war weary, but with the end in sight we dare not jettison the principles for which we have been contending without proving traitors to the cause of right and wanton wasters of the flower of our manhood, as well as our financial resources. Mr. Gerard has recorded how the last of the Holienzollerns said: "Alexander, Caesar, Theodoric, Frederick .arid Napoleon aimed at world-dominion; they failed; I shall succeed-" That is viiat the Allies are up against. The

ambition of world conquest ii doomed, because no human person ality is equal to the strain of sucl a burden. "On me,'' declared the Kaiser, "the Spirit of God de scended. lam His weapon, Hii sword, His vice-regent. Woe tc the disobedient. Death to cowards and unbelievers.On the alter oi mad vanity judgment and wisdom have been sacrificed, while to .achieve the,end humanity has been slain in hetaeombs. The Kaiser -has- set the world ablaze against him. Germany must not be negotiated out of Belgium; must not be allowed to march away froir? ithe> scene of her iniquity with colors flying, and, as it were, the honors of war, but must be driven out with ruin and ignominy, and tnust .be made to pay the full price .of every murder that has made men asKamsd of their humanity. "We-Lave. escaped a fate tfaat-is appalling to contemplate. The men iOffJjgßisiPash : not

dear, but they will have died in vain if an ending is not now made to Kaiserism, which, like a beaten bully, is screaming and weaping to escape final punishment; not even vowing repentance, merely trying to hoodwink the Allies, while keeping an agonised clutch on the spoils and loot. To discuss peace terms under such circumstances is to commit national suicide.