The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-02-15
President Wilson'S Address
Regarded as Stripping the
Mask from Hertling
KAISER WILLIAMS
VIEWS CHANGING
Recent Utterances Show That He Has
Gone Bodily Over to Pan Germans
Hope to Crush Allies Before U. S. Is
a Big Factor in the War

LONDON, Feb. l5.-President Will
son s reply to the speech of Count Won
IIertling, the imperial German chancel-
Tor, is hailed here as going to the root
of the obstacles which the German
statesman seeks to place in the way of
reaching a peace settlement that will
be a world settlement Of durable ma
ture, as opposed to the German chancel-
lor s determination to discuss the fu-
lures of peoples and territory only
with the governments of the nations
directly concerned.
President Wilson insists that all the
parties to this war must Join in the
settlement of every issue. This declara-
ton contains the pith of the contention
of the allied powers The contrast be
tween the two types of settlement is a
broad and deep one On the one hand
IS the congress of Vienna type, with
bargains between individual powers
with lands and peoples and great human
interests treated as pawns. Such settle
mentS have not been efficaciouS in the
past and cannot be expected to have
any future permanently
On the other hand is President Will
son s assistance that in place of such
bargains between individual powers
there must be an arbitral adjustment
between all of them. Nothing settled
by military force, he SAYS, if settled
wrongly is settled at all.
With regards to the president : state
ment that, despite the intimation by
Count Czernin, Mr. Wilson received no
private intimation of the contents of
the Austrian ministers address, the
Vienna Neue Freie Presse quotes Count
Czernin as saying:
DIR. Ellenbogen 5 well meaning ad-
vice to make known my answer, through
a neutral power, to President Wilson is
a somewhat callow digestion OF the
facts | did not speak only for the ears
OF this committee, but also for those
OF Mr. Wilson, and at the very hour |
had the honor TO hold my discourse be
fore You, gentlemen, Mr.. Wilson already
had knowledge of my answer
As to the proposed league of nations.
Count Czernin IS quoted officially as fol-
lows:
at is an open secret that we are adj
vocatea of the idea of an independent
Polish state which should include the
peoples indisputably Polish. | also be-
lieve that we quickly should come to
an understanding with President vii
son IN regard to some of these propos
ais =
The contrast between President Viii
son 3 utteranceS and the Kaiser S boast
full outburst to the effect that everv
German heart must be set on conquest.
Is striking. President Wilson stands ex
actlv where he always has stood His
speech received practically the unani-
nous appreciation of the British press
which did not always find itself in full
agreement with his policies. The atti-
tude of the Kaiser, on the other hand
shows marked change, for he now has
thrown himself into the arms of the
and the Pan German BODY.
Following the signing Of the Ukrain-
ian peace and the collapse of Lenine
and Trotzky the German emperor tells
the world Germany is determined to
achieve military victories which will en-
able her to impose her will upon the
civilized world. This is the voice Of
the dominant power of Germany, tell
ing the world that so far asunder are
the aims of the allies and the central
powers there IS no halfway house at
which they can meet to discuss terms
of peace.
The sole hope of Germany is that
she will be able to deal crushing blow
to the allies before the United States is
able to put its full weight into the
struggle.
A significant revelation of conditions
in the German empire which may have
influenced the Kaiser s attitude was
made i'll the Bavarian chamber of depu-