The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-24 00:00:00

THE PROPOSED ARMISTICE,

The Times says England has proposed an Armistice—an
Armistice for the convocation of a Constituent Assembly,
and it is vaguely reported from Tours that
the Delegation of the. Government of Defence
is favourably disposed to a pacific arrangement.
It would, perhaps, be difficult to say more, but it would
certainly be difficult to say less than this.
The Governments of France and Germany have both
been for a long time disposed to make Peace, but their
views on the proper conditions of an arrangement have
been irreconcilably opposed to one another. Everything
turns upon the conditions of negotiation. The first ques-
tion that must be asked, when it is said that England has
proposed an Armistice, is, " What conditions have been
recommended by our Government as proper to be accepted
by both belligerents ?" We know that when Count
Bismarck and M. Jules Favre discussed the question at
erri4es each was ready to approve an Armistice, but
they could not agree upon the terms. We did not know
till Saturday what the whole of these terms were. We
thought the surrender of Strasburg, Toul, and Verdun
had been all that was in dispute, but the last Circular
of M. Favre told the world—and it is one of the most
astonishing facts of the war that he did not make the corn-
municationbefore —that the total cessation of hostilities was
to last only 44 hours, that the besieging armies were to be
allowed to forage, while the besieged were denied the
privilege of revictualling, and that Alsace and Lorraine
were not to be allowed to send representatives to the
Constituent Assembly. We need not add another word
to show the paramount importance of conditions in con-
sidering an armistice.
The Standard, commenting on the announcement that
the English Government is endeavouring to bring about
an armistice with a view to the election of a National
Assembly to decide whether the war shall be continued
or not, says it is idle to talk of an armistice until an agree-
ment in substance as to the terms of peace has been arrived
at. If the Prussian Government has withdrawn the demand
for Metz and Strasburg,L orraine and Alsace ; or if, on the
other hand, the Government of the National Defence is
ready to accept these terms ; or if, finally, the neutral
Powers have put their foot down—to speak somewhat
vulgarly—upon the belligerents, and said, " Thar terms
will fairly meet the case. If you, France, will not
accept them, we will have nothing more to say to
you ; and if you, Prussia, will not, you must count
upon our hostility," there may be some chance of an
armistice. Let us, exclaims the Standard, deal with
the last of these assumptions first. Does anybody
believe that the English Government has taken the high-
handed course which a higher law than Count Bis-
marck's doctrine of benevolent neutrality might suggest ?
It could not be expected to undertake such a responsi-
bility alone ; and if we may believe the telegraphic
reports, it has associated with itself in this intervention
the two Powers which practically are without any in-
fluence or power at this moment. An earnest, a genuine
intervention of England and Russia would probably bring
the war to a close upon the morrow it was exerted. But
Russia holds aloof, while England timidly counsels
moderation to the one belligerent and surrender to the
other. If the suggestion of a particular kind of peace has
accompanied the English proposal of an armistice it has
at the best been put forth timidly. It would not
have the slightest chance of success unless it were simply
a record of anagreement to which the two belligerents had