Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-08-17

Last week we discussed the inlm
erms of peace which 1t will be posslple
or the allies to offer Germany, terms o.
,eace which, however, must be TO some
lNtent governed by the rule in the case
n Tarquin vs., the Sibyl. The terms are
,ound to become harder the longer nos
ilities are protractea. Those terms the
Germans, or at any rate the ruling ca =. so
lard that they will fight as long as me
peoples subject to them will allow. Ana
10 wonder. The minimum terms OF the
Tiles cannot possibly attract them. Any
,eace offer of the allies must appear like
m invitation to commit suicide, Inc
iumb populations of Germany and AUS
ria, as Carlyle would have called them,
nay be deeply moved by the hope OF a
cessation of hostilities. by the removal OF
he dreadful necessity of sending thelf
men to die in the trenches. by the intense
iesire to have food enough not merely 10
sustain life but to satisfy appetite, ana so
make Wife bearable on the physical side.
There is a vision of the full larder once
more. in the minimum terms of the allies,
10 attract the German masses. And they
alBo will be haunted by the feeling that
II the terms are not accepted now, worse
terms will be offered to them later. e.,
bic.
The German emperor. the heads of the
German army, the German military caste
generally, and the chiefs of the bureau
cratic caste can entertain no such feel
ings. Peace terms such as we sketcled.
.he only terms on which the allies can
contemplate peace, would mean for them
utter ruin. We must, therefore, face the
fact, however disagreeable, that the alb
soluse obligation which compels us to put
minimum terms at least as high as we put
hem last Saturday raises huge obstacles
70 a quick peace. We cannot have it both
ways. II We We're to make a rapid peace,
we should forfeit security-tie thing for
@hich we are fighting. We should lay foun-
aations for another bloody war, we should
be digging our own graves. If, on the other
hand, We insist, as we must, on making
a secure peace, we have nothing to offer
be prepared possibly for another year of
war, probably for at least another six
months of intensive fighting, with all that
mis- means. Happily our people, the
the Italian people. know this. They are
prepared to endure the ills which they
tanhot cure, and which are inherent in
the situation. Necessity has been called
the tyIant's plea. but in the case of the
allies it has become the plea Of liberty,
truth. and humanity.
There is a special and peculiar circum-
stance which is very likely to protract
the present war by weeks, and even by
months. That is the fact which is known
to every German who knows anything
apparently hopelessly beaten. refused to
yield or to accept the terms of peace Of
fered him by his enemies. since those
terms meant for him and his system total
~ '.i,N Slll llINlIlS, HlS
people starving. The lands in many places
lay waste, since there was none to till
them. The enemy had twice entered his
capital; the civil administrator had brok-
en- down; there was no one to collect the
taxes, to try cases in the courts, or even
to keep order: Prussia seemed beaten to
the ground. Yet Frederick fought on, and
finally tired out his assailants. They
grew war-weary at the very moment when
russia seemed, to use Bismarck's phrase,
bled white as veal" and SO in the end
the war was finished by a compromise
which left the king of Prussia with ST.
!esia. the province that he had seized like
e thief IN the night, still in his hands. It
IS true that Prussia was a thing of ruin,
but the cynic tyrant could smile as he
paced the long galleries of the new palace
at Potsdam, that glorious architectural
achievement of a blood soaked epoch in
when the rocco style lowered in a mira
Gle of stateliness and grace. After ali. he
had beaten. Austria. If he had lost half
ms population, he had nearly doubled his
cultlVable acreage. At this moment every
German who In his heart of hearts is be-
ginning to feel the dread of defeat rernem-
bers how Frederick won through When
his plight seemed far worse, and ended IN