The Washington herald., 1917-08-15
The New Peace Move.

WnclncE luc PAcscht 1AlIc 10
propitious for a peace gesture,
whether It can be projected into the
world now without suspicion Of a
, German taint. are questions which
the Vatican undoubtedly weighed
fully before making the significant
move that Rome announced to the
world yesterday. =
1t catches the United States not un-
awares. but with strong undercur-
rent of feeling that peace talk in this
critical summer OF 1917 is pure
falsetto. a fragrant Teutonic discord.
We have seen the Prussian black
eagle decked out as a dove of peace,
and laughed at the badness of the
disguise. We have seen the new Ger
man chancellor houndering about in
the mesh Of his own empty phrases,
trying to WOO peace by words which
do not even attempt to conceal the
unchanged, untamed aspect Nof Teu-
tonic aggression. Seeing this, we
have cried, enough; We will let peace
and the hope of peace go now, until
Germany has seen the light"
But Germany, supplanting suasion
with intrigue. trying one trick after
another, is hammering away at the
peace idea, because she must have II,
and she knows it. And her ally,
Austria Hungary. bears even more or
hunted look than she does, and is
in a much more chastened frame of
mind. Austria. the immemorial strong
hold of the Catholic Church. has pre-
vailed upon Pope Benedict to use the
vast influence of his great office to
restore peace to the world. So far as
anything in the great international
game of politics now being played is
clear, that much is clear. Vienna and
Rome are working together, and
Vienna is in a mind to accept peace
provided it leaves her with honor and
whole skin" Against imperiaIist
aggression, against the threat of
dismemberment, she will fight with
the Kaiser to the desperate finish
But with Russia renouncing all claims
to any of her Czecho-slavic provinces,
renouncing, also. her ancient ambition
to possess the Bosphorus, it is clear
that a new mood has come over
Austria-Hungary, and it is a mood
which will accept a separate peace if
it is made sufficiently attractive.
This is the one substantial hope Of
the overtures now issuing from Rome.
Vienna has fashioned them, with the
approval Of Berlin, but II they fail
it is quite within the scope of the
situation that she may break her
Prussian puppet wires, and seek peace
on a modified basis-that is, use the
Vatican as an intermediary for a
series of negotiations which will re-
veal the real peace program she has
in mind. The present move is nothing
more than a trial balloon. If the un-
official version of the Roman sug-
gestions are correct. they will not
weather the whitening criticism OF
the entente chancellories for twenty
four hours. Peace on the basis of the
status quo ante is impossible. That
much is assured. If it were not so,
the United States would have no
purpose, no aim in the war. The
status quo ante will never make the
world safe for democracy" or as
sure it from the hideous threat of
future wars.
II His Holiness Pope Benedict can
forsee the future. he can foresee
distinct gain for the cause of his
church, and for the world, by wrestling
Vienna from German tutelage at this
critical juncture of the war. He
knows, as the allied and neutral
world knows, that in that course only
lies the hope of an early peace. a
war-crazed Germany, her lust fol
power unbroken, will not hoist the
white flag before the debacle. Ana
that is yet long way of-unless she
is in far worse shape than her
enemies believe she IS