New-York tribune., 1918-02-01
Lansdowne
NowSupports
Lloyd George
He Urges "CIean" Peace
Early, but Would
Fight for 1t

LONDON. Jan. 31.-The Marquis Of
Lansdowne in an address to-day said
that he concurred entirely with the re-
cent speeches of David Lloyd George,
the British Prime Minister, and Presi-
dent Wilson on peace aims.
II believe all of us are ready to pro
long this war, as terrible as Il is, until
we can get clean peace" said the
leader of the Opposition in the House
Of Lords.
Lord Lansdowne added that The time
for obtaining such peace should not
be too long delayed and that no oppor-
tunty should be neglected to bring it
nearer
Lord Lansdowne was replying to an
address presented BY Earl Loreburn.
former Lord High Chancellor. and
others Of his supporters, including
authors and journalists.
Wants an Early Peace
But it is our DESIRE" Lord Lans-
dowrc said. that the time for obtaining
that clean peace should, if possible, not
be too long delayed, and that no oppor-
tunity should be neglected of bringing
it nearer.
"By a clean peace I mean a peace
which will be honorable and durable"
Continuing, Lord Lansdowne said
there was only one way of getting this
peace, and that was by forming a COM
bination Of great powers, under which
the powers would hold themselves
bound TO refer international disputes
to some kind Of international tribunal.
Sees End os Prussianism
Lord Lansdownc asked If it would
not be true TO add that if the adhesion
of Germany could be obtained to such
ii pact it would mean the negation Of
Prussan miltarism. He said there
would be no room for Prussian militar-
ism inside such combination.
The speaker said he accepted whole
hcartedly The suggestion of Mr. Lloyd
George that territorial questions should
be settled on the basis of national self
determination. The speech OF Count
Won Hertling, the Imperial German
Chancellor. was disappointment to
him, Lord Lans downe added.
81 think nobody would be more sur
prised than Won Hertling." the speaker
said "if he thought we were going to
hand over Gibraltar. Hong Kong and
some other little quarters Of the earth.
Lansdowne's Contention
Lord Lansdowne. referring TO his
peace letter, said he thought he could
claim that it had led to discussion
which had useful results in the coun-
try. Among the reasons which led him
to write the letter was the fact that he
was convinced that great many peo-
pie were pcrpleXed and uneasy because
they did not know clearly the objects
for which the country was asked to
prolong the war. He added:
"They sought and they desired to be
taken into the confidence Of the gov
ernment They We're suspicious, but,
let me say. on the other hand. of those
people that if you can convince them
that your cause is a just one they
will work on and fight on to the
bitter end
There had been from time TO time
different statements of the war aims
they were in broad outline and could
be filled up in different ways according
to the inclination of the readers. He
made no complaint against the gov
ernment, and said that allowances
should be made for all the difficulties
at is unthinkable. altogether remote
from our thoughts" he continued, chat
we should in any way be disloyal to our
allies who have fought so gloriously on
our side in this war"
Lord Lansdowne then expressed con-
currence in the speeches of Premier
Lloyd George and President Wilson,
ana added:
at has been stated that there is no
halfway house between defeat and vic.
tory IL that is so, then what we aro
looking for is complete victory in the
fullest sense of the word"
Lord Lam nsdowne said it was untrue
to say that a victory in the field could
not be really complete victory until
one belligerent had got the other COM
pletely at his mercy. He added that
the Allies had had some glorious sue
cesses in the field. but he did not know
whether any high authority "at this
moment is prepared to tell us that a
crushing, decisive victory in the feld
Is with in sight"