New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-27
Brands Answer to Pope
as "Nebulous and
Unctuous"
Urges Lasting Peace
Ex.Premier Asks Whether
Germany Is Ready to
Restore Belgium

LONDON, Sept. 26.--Any peace worth
having cannot be found in a cessation
Of active hostilities, followed by a
process Of territorial bargaining, to be
embodied in protocols and pacts, and
still less in an arrangement imposed
either by victors or vanquished which
sets at defiance the historic traditions
asnirstions and liberties of the peoples
affected
E1.Premier Herbert H. Asquith, who
has recently returned from visit TO
the Western front, made this declara-
ton in addressing mass meeting AT
Leeds tonight. He described the Ger
man reply to the Papal note as tenn
ing with "nebluous and unctuous gen
eralities."
WAS Germany ready to restore
French territory and give Belgium fuli
independence, without letters or reser-
vations| he asked. A definite reply
TO these questions, he said, would De
worth a whole column Of "pious plati-
tudes."
Questions Germany's Purposes
ais there any reason to think that
Germany has learned the lesson OF the
inevitable consequences OF lnterna-
tional spoliation ?" asked Mr.. Asquith.
ais there in the Chancellor's dispatch
or in any recent authoritative decIhra-
ton of the German government any IN
dication that it is prepared not oni! not
10 repeat the crime of II, but 10 take
any practical steps which alone can
open the road TO real and lasting
peace?
as Germany ready to restore what
she then took from France! ls she
ready TO give Belgium complete inde-
pendence, political and economic, with
out letters or reservations, and with as
complete an indemnity as any merely
material compensation can PROVIDE lot
the devastation of her territory, the
sufferings of her people? A DEFINITE
reply TO these questions would be worth
a whole column Of pious platitudes.
Abiding to the necessity OF de-
stroying Prussian militsrism, the for
mer Premier referred to the American
revelations of the German machina-
tions in Bucharest as fresh proof OF
III. brutality and callousness with
which Germany has waged war, and
said that nothing had aroused more
worldwide surprise and CONSERVATION
than the fact that the German nation
applauded with fervor the most bar
barous transgressions of the German
government.
/ Two Aims in War
Passing TO the subject of war aims
he declared:
I'VE are fighting for two aims-one
immediate, the other Interior. The hrst
is, not the restoration OF the status
quo, not a revival of what formerly
was called the balance OF power, but
the substitution for the one and the
other of an international system under
which both great and small states can
( be assured of stable foundation ana
| independent development.
81 assume, as a matter OF course lhe
| evacuation by the enemy OF the occu'
! MED territories of France and Russia
/ i have already referred to Aisace-Lor-
/ raine and Belgium. But wherever you
turn in Central and Eastern Europe
YOU see territorial arrangements when
7 are purely al NliNAai III N'N'A
/ which offend the interests and wishes
| of the populations concerned and winch
/ remain seed plots of potential war.
There are the just claims OF Italy
Rumania and Serbia. There is Poland
| concerning which believe all our peo'
| ple heartily indorse the wise and gen
/ erous words Of President Wilson. The
| cases Of Greece and the Southern Slav'
must also not be forgotten, and wha'
is required is the permanent liquida
| ton Of all these dangerous accounts
.-.--.--- Old Maxim Must Go
Coming TO the second aspect OF an
/ enduring peace, he said:
eve must Danish once for all IRON
( our catalogue of maxims the time
{ worn fallacy that if.you wish for peace
Won must make ready for war am
/ not sentimentalist and do not eXpec'
| the sudden regeneration OF mankind
when in the worlds war Offices the lion
| will lie down with the lamb and inter,
national relations become perpetual
love feast.
"You will not at first, perhaps not
for a long time, be able to dispense
with coercion, military or economic
agt inst the disloyal and recalcitrant
but we may we'll hope that the positive
law. with its forcible restraints, may
gradually recede into the background
and sovereign authority be recognized
10 rest in the common sense of man
kind