Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-21


BERLIN, October S.-"But by spring
We shall probably have peace. This
remark of one of the most highly
) placed and prominent state ofhc1ais. IN
s conv versa ton with the Associated Press
~eorrespondent may be taken as indie
- alive of the view on the probable du-
ration of the war held in German gov
: eminent quarters. or. at any rate. in
certain influential circles of the gov
eminent. The person quoted occupies
posi.ion which lends much weight to
his opinion on this subject. ard the re-
. mark was made incidentally during
discussion of certain future possibiil-
ties in the Balkan situation.
Pressed tc give 81 reason Tor ms
oninion. the official replied that he
based his expectations LARGELY on the
sound business sense of the British,
. which would lead them to move for
peace as soon as they saw nothing was
to be gained by continuing the war
Behind Strong Entertainments.
1--WE now hold in the west ne con-
tinued, "a strong fortified line inclos-
ing great enclave of French and BEL
. gia1 territory. We shall soon nave
similar line fortified in the east Be
hind these two lines we can SIT uSht
and defy all efforts of our enemies to
break through.
81 have much confidence in the bust
mess sense of the British, and thillk
that when once they have iound the
Dardanelles cannot be forced TINS VIII
lead them to take steps in the dlfec-
tion of peace. ~
The correspondent suggested that
business men usually are unWllilhs 10
,Et hFsy
yantaces of conditions are on the sac
of the other parties to 1t, ana tnat II
was customary in business cifcles 70
have some definite idea of the terms
upon which an agreement "ouia NC
nossirIe before sittinE Gown to draw
ND a contract He asked whether Ihis
.'business' would net lie i5tC.iltasc u Il
the opponents had some oei.ti!t' mo- itoI
marion as to the MAXIMUM t".nt& upon
whicH Germany would be rca1y to dlS-
cuss conditions OF peace
Unwilling to Outline Terms.
The official replied that for Germany
TO mak. statement at t,i: time on
the conditions of peace might posslois
he interprcted as a confession OF weak
ness. and for the present I've preferred
to await overtures from the other SIDE
Since this conversation the CORE
zspoudent of the Associated Press mas
heard similar relnaEhS iioiil o''I 80
Gals The vigor with when the Va
srious political groups and Dig lndus-
trial, commercial and agrlcultrrai or
plantations are pursuing lhe u!scus ,
sion of the tabooed topic OF the alHis.
of the war which, although pub1c dis-
cussion of it in the press is fofoiddeh'
is the absorbing topic IN German 50
ciety-indicates, too, that the govern
ment is giving serious CONSIDERATION ~
the subject of peace This discussion
rIiar uttGTanceS OF IL Nal 4
HeIfferich, secretary of the German I'M
perial treasury, Sir Edward Gray, Or
.fsh foreign secretary, and olher respoii-
sible personages on possible and lmpos-
sih1e conditions of peace give color 70
the suspicion that something may DC
going on behind the curtain.
Such sounding out" If undertaken
AZ the instance of persons in author
zity undoubtedly has been done infor-
mally and in such manner as 10
permit of a disavowal should circum-
stances require
A Guess as to Terms.
No statement whatever as to Ger
zmany's peace conditions can be oo-
tanned nor is it even certain the gov
eminent has reached any formal con-
clusion as to the extent of guaran-
tees for the future security OF Ger
many to which the emperor and the
chancellor have referred repeatedly in
public utterances- Should it be per-
mitted however, to hazard guess, !
based not on any authoritative state
ments, but on personal observations
and deductions and remarks dropped
from, time to time in official circles, |
the Associated Press correspondent
would say Germany's terms at present |
in view include neither the absorption !
of Belgium nor other wholesale an
nexations of the extent demanded by
the blue sky enthusiasts, who seem
bound on adding to Germany pract-
cally everything now occupied by Ger
man armies.
The cardinal point in the desires of