Honolulu star-bulletin., 1916-01-25
Berlin. Dec. 9. 1915.

Berlin. Dec. y, 1919,
On about December 1. Mr.. Schneide
mann,> socialist member of the
Reichstag, asked the Government to
inform the house by about December
8 OF its intentions regarding Terms
OF Peace. Count Won Bethmann Holl'
veg, the German Chancellor, in his
reply, said: The press OF the coun
tries with whom we are at war has
expressed much satisfaction and Joy
at the discussion We are to have to-
day, and those countries evidently
have great expectations as to the out
come of this discussion. 1t Is hard
for me to understand the reasons for
these great and joyful expectations
in view of the late Germanic success
in Servia, the opening of the railroad
to Germany's Turkish ally, and the
consequent exposure to attack of the
most vulnerable points OF the British
Empire. These successes and the
whole present situation would seem
to me to make it perfectly proper and
timely for Germany's enemies TO ex-
Dress a desire to enter into negotia'
tons for peace. But our enemies
seem to have misconstrued Mr..
Schneidemann's question into a weak
ening of Germany, or into a disagree
ment of the Citizens of Germany as
to the continuation of the war, be-
cause their newspapers demand, with
naive brutality, that, even now, the
terms of q peace must cover all that,
" hich, since the beginning of the war
our enemies have declared, they are
fighting for, namely:
The breaking up OF the German
Union (Empire) into its component
parts (32 principalities),
The annihilation of the so-called
Prussian Militarism,
The surrender to France not only of
Alsace and Lorraine, but also of all the
German land west of the river Rhine,
The surrender to Serbia Of the Aus,
trian Province Bosnia.
The surrender of other territory,
And many other things favorable to
England and her allies, France, Bel
GUM, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Montene-
gro, Japan, India, Cape Colony, Al
giers, Australia, Canada etc.
The speaker called these demands
"phantastic dreams" as compared with
the actual developments Of the war
during the last few weeks.
He alluded to the fact that England
and her allies had endeavored to Sc
cure for themselves Bulgaria's aid by
offering her as a reward Austro-
Hungarian territory and also neutral
territory, but that the Bulgarian ruler
had lived up to the promises made by
him at the conclusion of the second
Balkan war, in which war Bulgaria
had achieved by far the most, but
had been cheated by Russia out Of the
fruits of her victories. At that time
Servia, through Russia's influence,
was rewarded for being an outpost
against Austro-Hungary, but today
Austro-H Hungarian banners are waving
over the reconquered Bulgarian terri
tories, while Serbia lies waste; an
other victim of the special interests"
of her great allies.
Thanks to the farseeing policies
of King Ferdinand" continued the
Chancellor, Bulgaria now forms the
strong bridge between the firmly
United Germanic Central Powers and
Turkey and the Near East, and when
peace is concluded this bridge will not.
echo with the tread of marching bat
talions, but will lend itself to the
works of peace and civilization. The
which has been strength
ened by fraternity in arms will be
F,,~ n hu
of national products, and the rivalry
between the nations will confine it,
self to that peaceful commerce which
aids the development of countries.
that are striving for progress"
The speaker then mentioned the at
tempt of the English allies to retrieve
their lost prestige in the Balkans with
threats of violence towards Greece.
"The same people who profess to be
waging war against Prussian militar-
ism now threaten the Greek Govern
ment with the might of the British
fleet, which procedure makes it for
all time impossible to pay any further
attention to their hypocritical accusa-
tions regarding Belgium. Why did
not the Westminster Gazette admit
this in 1914, so that the whole world
might have known the truth about Bel
gium from the beginning"
After this attack upon British hypO-
crisy, the Chancellor entered into
statement of the military situation,
setting forth that Germany was hold
ing a strong, far advanced position in
Russia; that the attacks of the French
in an attempt to pierce the German
lines had been shattered, although far
superior forces had been at their dis
posal. Also that Austria presented an
unbroken front against the Italians,
whose only achievement had been the
useless destruction of towns which
they could not take.
As to the territory won by Germany
the Chancellor stated that the econo-
mic life of Belgium was again assert
ing itself and that the Belgian coal
mines were practically as busy as in
times of peace, the previous weeks
output having amounted to 33 millf
ons of tons. and this in spite of the
fact that England prohibited export