Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-12-01

was reviewed before the Reichstag to-
day by Count George i. Won licrtlinE.
tho new Imperial German Chancellor.
He declared that Germany WAS ready
to enter into peace negotiations as soon
as tho Russians sent representatives
having fun power to Berlin. The Cham
ccllor said he hoped and wished that
the present efforts would take definite
shape and bring US peace"
German arms. the Chancellor said.
have been uniformly successful, and the
submarine warfare will reach the aim
intended for II. lie said that the ships
sunk Will far outnumbcr those newly
constructed. lie praised the army aud
navy and culosiz"d the home popula-
ton for it's patience and endurance
under great prvations. Political re-
forms would be carried out, but the
fundamental principles of the imperial
constitution cannot and shall not be
changed.
The ReichstaE was packed. The
now state secretaries. the new prussian
minister. the new Bavarian Premier.
tho members OF the reiEninE German
houses. tho Austrian. Turkish and Bull
Earian amba ssadors and all the neutral
ministers were present.
The Imperial Chancellor opened his
speech by asking the loyal cooperation
of the Reichstae. He continued:
PROUDLY BOASTS or
GERMAN SUCCESSES
I'VE are approaching the end of the
year that has been full of far-rcaching
ana decisive events i'll many thcaters
OF the war. ! am proud and thankful
TO say that the arms Of Germany and
her allies have been successful on al
most every occasion and everywhere"
He recalled tina; the Flanders battle
had continued almost without inter
ruption since July, and that the British
army was superior in number and that
several French divisions had taken part
in the fiEht. notwithstanding the loss
OF some villages and farms. the Ger
man frontier remained mistaken and
the enemy was as far as ever from his
object of reaching the Flemish coast
to destroy German C-boat bases. lie
added:
Recognizing the failure OF their at
tacks in Flanders. the British arc now
seeking near Cambrai Il decisive result
The hope which Great Britain placed
upon the wholesale use of tanks has
not been fulfilled. They lie destroyed
on the battle field by successful Ger
man countermcasures. The initial Brit
ish success was parried by the en-
trance OF our reserves.
The French also have had local sue
cesses northeast of Scissors and before
Nerdun, but every stratcgical eXploita-
ton Of these has been prevented by
the German army command. Every
one remembers the events in the east
!, i,t, Id
cobstadt.
The glorious advance Of the armies
of the central powers in Italy holds the
world in suspense even to-day. Over
whelmingly difficult tasks have been
accomplished there by the fighting
strength Of the German and Austro-
Hungarian troops in their Surprisingly
rapid attack and penetration of rough
mountain territory. Italy's army has
lost considerable part Of it's forces
and ut least half of its total war ma
terial. It also has lost stretches OF
land which provided IL with rich sup
plies. 1t has not yet been possible to
collect all the booty. calculated in
money value Mt thousands OF millions
Of marks. which has fallen into our
hands.
VICTORIES IN ITALY
RELIEF TO WESTERN FRONT
Further. the success OF our VIC
tories from the Isonzo to the piave
is an effective relief to our own west
ern front. In the same way this vic
tory also makes itself felt in Macedonia
as the enemy now appears TO be giving
up voluntarily the slight success which
he obtained west Of Lake Ochrida.
From the Sinai Peninsula the Brit
ish are operating against the Turkish
troops in Palestine. and have been able
TO achieve certain initial successes
there. There. however. has been no
influence on the general war situation
from military point of view. In the
theater Of war in Asia Minor and in
1rak. the situation is unchanged"
After declaring that the German war
feet had thoroughly fulfilled the hopes
and expectations placed in it. the
Chancellor continued:
The high seas fleet whose constant
activity often has been yelled from
the public view. deserves the thanks Of
the country. 1t has since its glorious
day off Skaggerak, lately shown anew.
after Il long interval, Inf the capture OF
the islands Of Ocsel, Dago and Moon in
typical cooperation with the army and
in its lately successful fight in the
German blight in the North Sea against
considerable superiority OF forces.
its constant readiness for battle As
a support and reserve il stands behind
our submarine boats. il protects their
places of support and opens out a way
for them into the open sea.
CLAIMS ALLIES ARE UNABLE
TO OvEHPOwER SUBMARINES
The Chancellor then reviewed the
| submarine campaign. which he said Is
the only effective way of battling
against the power of Germany's enemy
and the economic war forced upon her -
He was hopeful OF It's success, and said
that the allies were unable to make
progress against it. either by com
Wandering neutral ships. or building
new ones.
Count Won Iiertling expressed the
wish that the territories formerly UNI
der Russian sway. Poland, Lithuania
and CORTLAND, could have the right OF
choosing their own governments. and
could obtain that political form which
corrcsponded TO their conditions and