The Washington times., 1915-02-24
NO WAR OF CONQUEST

tion from an excellent source in Ber-
lin, wirelessed to London today, does
not plan an extensive conquest of
Russian territory. In fact it will be
satisfied when it shall have taken
Warsaw and made itself master of
Old Poland. It is explained that the
problem of feeding an alien popula-
tion has already become as large as
Germany wishes to make it.
In the early period of the war Ger
many, and Russia as we'll, found it
advantageous to sweep into alien
territory and carry away livestock,
grain, and whatever else would serve
to maintain people and industry at
home, leaving the people of that ter
ritory to shift for themselves. This
was the course of Germany in Bel
gium and in the early invasion of
Poland; it was the proceeding of
Russia in its incursion of the Cali
clan part of Poland, now an Aus.
trian possession. But that program
does not in the long run strengthen
the corquering power. 1t embit-
ters the people and makes occupa-
tion of the territory the more diff
cult and dangerous. The Poles of
Galicia, ravaged by Russia, have
been driven to the firmer allegiance
to Austria, while the Poles of Po-
land proper have been tied to Rus
sia because they have seen their
country ruined by German armies.
The German concession that there
is to be no great conquest of Rus
sian territory is a bit suggestive,
however, of a new German attitude.
There is little room to doubt that if
the German plans of the early stage
of war had been carried out sue
cessfully, and if France and Poland
had been successfully occupied, Ger
many would have demanded i'm
mense indemnities from France plus
large cession of territory from
Russia. 1t was not until a very late
day that Germany gave the prom
Use to restore Poland.
For Germany, the time is past
when war of conquest is to be con-
sidered, and therefore, today's an
nouncement may be taken as indicat-
ing a new attitude. The economic
pressure on Germany is, according
to wide variety of accounts, get
ting heavy. Conquest and occupation
of alien territory is a difficult and
expensive business. Food is getting
precious and gold is disappearing
from sight in Germany; two signs
that the burden of long war begins
to be felt in every home, no matter
how far from the scene of the fight
ing. Germany is under siege, and
will feel the effects more and more
with every month from now for
ward. The astonishing measures
that have been adopted to retaliate
against England, the frank admis-
sion that Germany is forced to these
because of the danger of starvation,
testify that there is going to be no
magnificent effort at Napoleonic con-
quests. 1t is going to require all
the power and all the resources of
Germany, and of France and Rus
sia as we'll. to carry on the war with
out thought of wide conquests. If
there is any considerable readmst-
ment of the map, it will concern
Turkey and the wide-aung Colonial
possessions that Germany claimed
before the war. Neither the eco
nomic condition of the warning coun-
tries nor the underlying political
conditions will permit a war of con-
quest to be carried on from either
side. Nor will they permit very ex-
tensive rearrangements of frontiers
within the continent of Europe when
the peace conference sits down With