Evening journal., 1918-09-19
A UNITED NATION
From the New York Sun.

The reasons which impelled the
President TO reject peremptorily Aus
tria's invitation TO a peace conference
were as clear TO patriotic intelligence
before the event as after IL. These rea-
sons were set forth with great lucidity
by our neighbor, the Times, no longer
ago than Sunday morning last. In lis
leading editorial article on that day the
Times remarked:
Austria cannot bind Germany. The
request for a conference must come
from the suzerain, not the yassal, If II
is to be entertained
In its editorial article Of Sunday last,
on the morning Of the day when the
text OF the Austrian proposal reached
this country, our esteemed cOntempo-
rary, the Times, continued It's luminous
exposition Of the grounds for rejecting
the invitation TO go into conference
with the enemy:
AS a condition precedent to "a calm
exchange Of views Germany must be
prepared 10 renounce for all time, her
plans for domination in the East. Her
designs Of aggression and dominance in
the West are being attended TO by the
military forces Of Great Britain, France,
Italy and the United states. There she
Is going to be beaten back, in that
quarter she will be made harmless. she
win not control Belgium, nor Holland; 4;
the mouth Of the Rhine will not be
hers. Alsace and Lorraine she will re-
store TO France, Austria will relinqulsh
ltaly's conquered provinces. All this
would be a futile achievement, a vic
tory Of only transitory advantage, II "a
calm exchange Of views and the con
clusion OF peace should leave Germany
i'm a position TO reap the fruits Of her
conduests in the East; TO rebuild her
spent force through her economic and
military domination over the Balkan
States, Turkey, and the former empire
Of the Car"
Again. our nelghbor, the Times, on
Sunday last
There can be no compromise. Mr..
Lloyd George said last Thursday
There are some men who say drop u
and let US have peace by negotiation.
There Is no compromise between free
dom and tyranny, no compromise be-
tween light and darkness. know that
IL is better 90 sacrifice one generation
than TO sacrilc liberty forever That
Is what we are fighting for and Heaven
grant that we fight through TO the end.
Yet one more citation from the Times
Of Sunday last:
when Germany, weakened in man
power, her troops fleeing before the
forces Of the Allies, rapidly augmentlns
and vet 10 be strengthened by American
millions. in sore distress at home. ber
people bitterly complaining and her
statesmen openly acknowledging that
victory is beyond reach, shall make II
known that she Is ready to put by her
criminal ambitions and accept the
worlds decision that she be made pow
erless or her people freed, then with
some fair hope Of profitable result
Baron Burian's proposals for a calm eX-
change Of views may be entertained. IL
must come TO that now or later.
Yesterday, Tuesday morning, in com
menting on the Presidents rejection OF
the invitation Of the Auetro-Hungarian
Government for a preliminary and non
abiding discussion Of peace terms our
noehbor the Times. declared in unmis-
taxable terms. It's support Of the Presi-
dent in his intention to win the war by
victory. not by negotiation:
"The proposal is rejected, 1t remains
for the Allies TO carry on the war with
the utmost vigor. The enemy grows
weaker, his resistance fails. The in
vltation sent forth by Austria is yir-
tually a confession Of defeat. Had the
Allies consented to a conference they
would have proposed their own terms.
They will now impose terms by fore
ing the foe openly TO acknowledge the
defeat TO which he indirectly confesses. |
This country will support every en-
deavor of the President to make our
strength felt at the front, where we
have already done so much 20 turn the
tide OF battle. All our resources are |
pledged TO the cause and to victory"
We have dwelt intentionally and at
considerable length upon the utter /
ances Of the Times on Sunday and on
Tuesday Of this week concerning the
inexpediency of peace negotiations of
the present time with Germany through I
Austria. II we take the quoted words /
Of that newspaper as expressed on |
Sunday and on Tuesday, as representa- /
tive Of its real opinion and allow the
mantle Of a charitable silence TO fall
over certian passages IN its editorial /
article on the intervening day. Monday |
passages which have provoked in
many quarters, comment of most I'M |
favorable and frequently superheated |
description-we have that which we
want to behold, namely, a press unani- |
mously behind the President in the po-
sition he has taken.
With this single exception Of mo-
mentary dissent-an exception, as we
have seen, practically neutralized by