The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-28 00:00:00

THE PROSPECTS OF PEACE.

The Berlin correspondent of the Dail!' News, under date
January 25, writes :—lf the French continue to refuse,
even after the fall of Paris, to form a definitive Govern-
ment with which a settlement really pledging the nation
can be come to, the safety of all international relations
in Europe will be seriously imperilled, in spite of
the London Conference. That Count Bismarck
would not lend himself to acknowledge, even in-
directly, the Government of National Defence as a defini-
tive government might always be anticipated ; for he is
obliged to take care not to exclude the possibility of other
Governln —its with which it might be more easy to con-
clude peace. Jules Favre can hardly have doubted that
his attempt would fail, and his letter, which now has
drawn forth such an ironical reply, can hardly have had
any other object than to try if other Powers could
be lured into a commencement of intervention. The
Government of National Defence, if they are not really
confident of being able to drive the German inyasion alto-
gether back, have almost no other gaine left but that of
trying to extend the area of war, by changing
it into a European conflict. As for tiring out
the Germans, so that they will be ready to
abandon the claim of a new frontier, all idea of
it must be given up. The longer the war has lasted the
more the imagination of the people here has become filled
with anticipations of the next war between France and
Germany, and the less has it become possible to speak to
them of any other security but a military one such as the
complete prostration of the adversary is expected to bring
about. The argument on this side is that the war has
shown, even more than was known before, the dangers to
which Southern Germany is exposed on the part of the
French. I repeat that there is no hope of seeing the Ger-
mans wilfully throw away what they believe to
be an opportunity which may never occur again ;
but what, perhaps, is as yet possible is to
divide their opinion about the extent to which they
have to go in incorporating hitherto French soil,
and about the principle to be adopted in drawing
the line, which they ought not to exceed. If the propo-
sition comes from a third party, that what could be
claimed as the best military boundary should not be in-
sisted upon ; and that the former frontier of the German
Empire is to be treated as a thing of the past, on which
no claim ought to be founded ; but that, in deference
to the modern idea of eminently national States,
the frontier of language ought to be made the future
boundary between the sway of France and that
of Germany. To me it seems as if everything nOw
hinges upon some Frenchman of name and influence
having the courage to avow that France cannot expect to
get out of her scrape without letting her former German
subjects become citizens of the present German Empire.
Some neutral Power should make itself the advocate of
these views with the Imperial Government, leaving the
remainder to the German nation. That the moment is
propitious could to-day be seen here at once. The arrival
of Jules Favre, who has evidently correctly understood the
serious part of Bismarck's ironical reply to his insincere
postulate, with proposals for a capitulation of Paris,
meets, on the part of the people here, with a very gaod
reception. "At last"—this is the general remark—" there
is a symptom of returning reason. It is probably owing
to the experiences obtained by the mobilised part of the
National Guard at the sortie of the 19th. Trochu
should have done their will before ! It is their
honour they are fighting for to all appearances, and
honour we will leave to them." But this is just the mood
of mind, in Berlin as well as in Paris, to facilitate nego-
tiations about other things besides conditions of capitula-
tion. The latter will certainly not be very heavy as far
as concerns Paris itself. The besiegers have no
interest in burdening themselves unnecessarily with
keeping the peace inside the city. They may leave
that to the National Guard. They will probably be
content with being put in possession of the forts and
the enceinte, and with getting the promise of the
troops of the Line and the Mobiles to give up fighting.
They cannot wish, though they are prepared for it,
to make prisoners of them also. But then a general,
instead of a local, armistice is at once indicated by the
situation.