The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-26
WILSON'S NOTE HAS
MADE HIT IN BERLIN
Central Powers Pleased With Presi-
dent Wilson's Friendly Interest
In Move to End War.

ucut WILSON fTtcnuiy IntcTcSt
In Move To End War.
Amsterdam, Dec, 25.--'If the al
lies are willing 10 state their terms
OF peace. We are willing to state ours.
The manner of communicating
them is of secondary consideration,
We will go more than half way 10
bring about an exchange But an
exchange 1t must be, simultaneous
and in good faith.
I'm no circumstances will We lay
our cards open on the table unless
the entente shows its hand at the
sa me time"
Couched in the friendiiest langua ge
at the disposal Of diplomacy. that in
substance will be the central POWERS
answer to President Wilson's note,
according to confidential advices from
Berlin
Outline of Reply.
Alfred Zimmerman GermanyS new
secretary of foreign affairs. las, night
had dinner with Emperor William.
1t is understood that on this occasion
the Kaiser gave the pilot OF his en-
pire's foreign policies a clear outline
of what would be the reply to Presi
dent Wilson's "get-together message"
That reply. however. will not he
Germany's alone. 1t will he the an
swer OF all the central powers, though
the German government may. MS in
the case OF the peace proposal, act as
spokesman.
Rarely since the outbreak OF the
war has the network of telegraph and
radio communication connecting Ber-
lin with Vienna, Budapest, Sofia and
. ~ G "a ~ N nnla hnen a lnaHad' with
official code messages as since the
receipt of the American note. Bust
ness and press kilograms are delayed
several days and the implorations of
newspaper men beseiging the tele-
graph stations are met with the stern
reply:
Wires used by government"
Meanwhile conferences Of world his
toric import are held many times
daily and far into the night, and ID
costing" every phase of President
Wilson's message and discussing the
possibilities it holds.
Has Made a Hit"
Amid the maze of speculative re-
ports and rumors, one thing stands
out clearly as a fact: President Will
sons note has made a decided hit
with the German government. Dis
patches show that official circles there
are taking the document ION its face
value" and that Wilhelmstrasse Is no
sinister move" behind the Presidents
plea for a conciliatory move. as some
of the frebrand editors like Count
Zureventlow charge, On the othe-
hand. 1t Is equally clear that the Ber-
lin government does not regard the
note as backing up the central allies
peace offer or as being inspired by It.
II looks upon the message as actuated
by a sincere desire, expressed indie
pendently from any Of the belliger-
ents, to offer the good offices of the
United States as the greatest and
most influential neutral country in ef-
forts to bring the two sets of belli
gerents together for an exchange OF
views that might be the herald Of
peace.
Late today advices reaches here
from Berlin were to the effect that In
some quarters In the German capital
it is considered not at all unlikely
that President Wilson's suggestions
have opened the way for an exchange
of peace terms by the two sets Of war
ring powers. Too much credit must
not be accorded this possibility how
ever. owing to the manifold difficulties
blocking such a procedure.
AS far the central powers are
concerned. much--pcrhaps all-depends
upon the entente answer to the peace
proposal 1t is expected that the reply
to President Wilson will not be dis
patched until that answer is in the
central allies hands. II 1t leaves the
way open for another communication to
the entente. then 1t Is believed the
central powers will relegate all other
considerations and objections to the
one object: To bring about an in
formal conversation between entente
and central European statesmen or a
regular conference. In that event,
close observers here predict Germany
will make the fat proposition to the
entente to choose their own way of
communicating their terms simuita-
neously with statement OF those of
the central powers.
Thus the United States may be
called upon to act as confidential in
termediary between the beiligerents
and as such pave the way for a gen.
eral peace congress.