New-York tribune., 1918-10-31
"Kdn2erQd "
By Frank II. Simonds
Copyright. 1918. New York Tribune lnc>


since Austria addressed her "most
formidable document" to Serbia,
which demanded, in substance, the sur
render by Serbia of her own internal
freedom, and now, while Serbian armies
are completing the liberation of the little
Slav state, Austria surrenders, with the
frank recognition that the demands of
foreign state with respect to- her own
internal organization must he accepted.
On the military side the terms of an
armistce with Austria are not difficult
to arrange. The evacuation of Italian,
Serbian and Rumanian territory, the oc-
cupation by Italy, pending settlement Of
peace terms, of the Trentino, with the
fortress of Franzenfeste, commanding
the Brenner Pass; the rehabilitation of
the Austrian armies, and the occupation
by Rumania of the passes leading into
that Transylvanian region which must
be Rumanian hereafter-thcs are sufli-
cient guarantees.
But what guarantee is any one to have
that there will remain an Austria with
which to make peace? Paris already
openly asserts that Austria has ceased
to exist. Berlin agrees that Austria is
"disbanoing." President Wilson has rec
ognized the right of the Czecho-Slovaks
and the Jugo-Slavs to follow their own
desires, even if this means secession
from the Hapsburg crown. He has rec
ognzed the right Of Italy to reclaim her
unredeemed lands and sons. He has de-
clared for the restoration of Poland,
which sweeps away Austria's Polish dis
tricts. If he has not made any definite
declaration with respect of the Ruma-
mans, the spirit of his championship of
all the other nationalities covers these
Eastern Latins, who have, besides. the
formal guarantee Of our European allies
AS for the Magyars and the Austrian
Germans, deprived Of their Slav and
Latin subjects, flung back upon their
own proper boundaries and subjects.
what is to become of them? Can they
make peace with the Jugo- -Slavs and the
Czecho Slovaks and substitute a federal
state, quadruple monarchy, for the old
dual system? This is the hope of the
Emperor. This was the purpose of his
pathetic proclamation of liberalization
which just preceded the collapse. But
If the Slavs decline the end of the Haps-
burg empire is come. The Germans can
return to the German empire; the Mag
yars will have to put up with a shrunken
state, smaller than any Of its neighbors.
ni.,4, -
100000 Germans and Magyars to domi-
nate 30,000,000 Slavs and Latins 1t
was a business concern in which the
majority had no control and little voice
But the estate is now to be liquidatcd
The assets are to be evenly divided lust
ly divided. If the firm continues in
business the old minority will dominate;
the former majority will have to sur
render its supremacy. Whether it con-
tinues or not is for tho Slavs to decide.
with the support OF the Western nations
assured to give them fair chance to
decide.
We are most interested to-day in what
the effect of the Austrian surrender will
be in Germany. Yet even this will he
Tor the future incomparably less sienif-
cant than the fact of the Austrian COL
lapse. Austria was no longer able to
help Germany, her surrender has only
moral values, however considerable thew
may be. But the sudden crumblinp of
an ancient empire, its rapid dsintegra-
tlon, It's present approach to dissolu
tion-thls is one of the great facts of
the war
One Of the Great Powers. the most
evil, looking back over all the centuries.
the headquarters Of tyranny and rcac-
ton, Of persecution. political and religi
Gus, seems about to disappear Thirty
millions of slaves are to become free
men; the progress of the French Revo-
luton arrested al the Congress of Vi
emma has been extended More men and
women than were in the North and South
in the Civil War period, population far
greater than that freed by Italian unfit
cation. are suddenly to be emancpated.
This is the great human fact.
Autocracy, tyranny, will fight bitterly
| to save itself from the complete ruin