Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-10-16
TEUTONS WILL
MAKE PEACE #
ALLIES YIELD
Central Powers Anxious to-
Come to Terms, But Feel
They Have Edge on
Entente Powers.
WOULD LIKE TO DICTATE
Insist Poland Must Be Free
and Belgium and Serbia
Out of It.
ALLIES ACCOMPLISH LITTLE

ALLIES ACCOMPLISH LITTLE
Vienna, Oct, l5.&-With keen
longing for peace, has come persist
ent speculation in the central states
as to the manner in which this bless
ing may be secured. But all thought
on the subject is but the substance
of the person. own wishes. Political
and military circles today are as far
from seeing, definite plan for the
cessation OF the war as they were in
the beginning.
If the fear prevailed in the central
states that peace with honor, and
possibly profit, could not be secured
then thought might run in a different
channel. But the entente has not
shown that it can ultimately realize
its own hopes, is the universal view
held in Austria-Hungary and Ger
many and their allied countries. The
offensive on the Somme, the Russian
attack in Bukowina and in east Ga
licia, the entry into the war OF Rou-
mania and its immediate conse-
quences, the campaign from Saloniki
and the exertiops of the Italians have
all contributed toward the feeling in
the central group that the resistance
met by the entente may yet open
the eyes OF those who must first an
nounce that they will be satisfied
with a peace whose terms will not
have the dismemberment Of central
Europe as basis.
What Teutons Will Take.
The central government are ready
today for peace which would leave
Europe very much as before the war,
with the exception that Poland must
be made an autonomous state. and
that neither Belgium nor Serbia can
again trouble, innocently or purposely,
the quiet Of Europe.
There is here not the faintest in
dication that the entente is inclined
to enter negotiations on that basis.
/ fns Vienna and Berlin, On the other
hand, nobody can yet see why the
central group should make conces-
sions, since they claim to hold trumps
everywhere by the occupation Of
enemy territories so large that the
few advantages gained by the entente
can hardly count.
Had the summer operations driven
the central troops out Of France and
Russia, things would besdifferent,
Fight in the West.
The Somme offensive has merely
shown, according to the people here,
that the steel wall Of the Germans
in the west may be bent, but cannot
be broken, while resistance in the east
has been splendid, numbers consid-
cred. The Italians have again been
obliged to. take breath. So long as
the entente cannot conyice the pub
lie OF the central states that it is gain
ing militarily, the necessity of making
concessions will not break upon the
central European mind.
It is evident that government and
public are one on this subject. There
Is much grumbling about this or that
regulation, but all these things are
ephemeral trlfles compared with the
great objective--that the war must
not be lost.
Russia Vulnerable.
There is no evidence that Russia
would be the first to make peace
Nevertheless, that country is thought
of in this manner. Peace rumors al
ways have Russia in mind. Possibly
this is due to. the belief that Russia
| is, after all, the most vulnerable of the
entente powers. In military circles a
further occupation OF Russian terri,
tory by means OF another German
offensive is accepted as highly feas.
ible. Hindenburg's elevation to chiei
of the general staff of the German
army has revived assertions that dur.
ing the winter there will be another
Russian campaign. n
To conclude peace that will moi
be made at its own cost, the certra
powers feel that their armies musi
retain theirN present proportionate
strength and efficiency; That their
losses must not be greater in proper.
ton than those of the entente forces
Before the British millions had ap'
peared on the scene there was always
the vague fear that things might &c
wrong once they took their place.
y No Decisive Result,
But the Somme operations have
shown that while the British million:
have been of much help to the French
their coming has not been decisive.
1t is argued now that with the large
British forces assimilated in the mill
tary ensemble and with the kouman
ian army a known quantity, furthe1
concessions worth while can come tc
the entente only from its population
growth as more men will reach mill
reservetary age. This quality is no.
peculiar to the central allied states
al out eighteen per 1000 of the popu
lation's males reach military age an
nually, which would mean that Ger
many can count on yearly reserve
of 100000 young men, Austria Hun.
gary about 100000, Bulgaria $1,000
and Turkey 10000.
Superannuation and losses in the
field will more than swallow these
figures; but this is equally true OF the
i 49,. -.