Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-20
QUESTION OF ARMISTICE
ENTIRELY MILITARY ONE
Must Be Left to Generals in Field-Presideni
Wilson's Fourteen Principles Analysed
and Their Application Discussed.
will have to surrender and we shall

will have to surrender and we shall
have lost nothing.
But if she SurrenderS and agreei
Internationally to those terms which
Marshal F'och must dictate, terms
which cover what he regards as the
necessary military insurance againS,
new German resistance, then the
military aspect of the problem will b
disposed Of Then and only th"u viii
1t be possible for US, the allied ma
tons, to discuss among ourselves the
basis for peace. With Germany We
shall discuss only the details of the
application of those terms, after We
This is where Mr.. Wilson and hii
fourteen points" come in, not a mo.
ment before.
We must be clear about all this
Terms of peace settlement have nothing
in the world to do with an armistice
They do not become matters of discus
sion until the fighting is over and the
military decision had. They cannot bt
mentioned by the enemy until he has
conquered or surrendered. Two con-
testants may agree to truce to endure
while peace is negotiated, but this is
neither an armiStice nor the condition
which now exists. There is no question
OF negotiated peace today. We are
all agreed as to this. We mean to have
military decision and then an abso.
Iulely appllCatlOn OF allle0
peace conditions. Therefore the matter
is still in Foch's hands and must re.
main there until the military phase il
disposed of. After Foch, President vii.
son can participate, but obviously, I'm.
less Foch'S work is done completely
there will be no chance for the Presi.
dent or any one else to begin the con.
struction of peace.
Where Mr. Wilson Comes In.
We may for moment assume thai
Foch has completed his work and that
the Germans have agreed to surrender
Internationally, to evacuate the regions
they have occupied, and have consented
to an allied occupation of the left bank
OF the Rhine. Then we come to the queS.
ton of peace; then the terms of perma.
nent settlement must be fixed by all the
allied nations i'll conference, each with
equal right to be heard and to have its
VIII accepted. Here is the point al
which Mr.. Wilson's fourteen condi.
tons at last arrive
But of these fourteen conditions we
shall see at once that not less than five
have no bearing i'll a peace conference.
we are to meet to fix the conditions
which are to he eXacted of Germany;
they are conditions based upon the deeds
of Germany. and her allies: they have
been summed up as conditions which
must include restitution, restoration and
guarantees. But five of Mr. Wilson's
points concern the organization of in.
ternational society after the war; they
deal with open covenants, freedom Of
navigation, the removal of economic bar.
rlerS between nations, adequate guarau.
tees for the reduction of ornaments and
finally the constitution Of league OF
nations.
These are not matters which ara
properly before conference engaged
task
beaten enemy. We cannot impose
any OF these things upon Germany;
they have no value save as yolun-
tarily accepted principleS-and We
have to impose on Germany at first
many things which will not in the
nature of things be accepted volun.
tarily. We cannot reorganize world
relations at the same time we are
liGuidating this war. To undertake
this would be absurd. One more con.
dition included in Mr.. Wilson's four-
teen, that dealing with colonial res
adjustments. is equally out of the
discussion, and for the same reasons.
We can dicuss y hat disposition we
shall make of German colonies, cer-
tainly. and we shall: but this is an-
other problem entirely.
Eight Points Are Vital.
Now. there are left of Mr. Wilson's
pOllltS e1SHl. which dTc
to be put before the ALI d confer
ence which makes peace terms. These
are: "a The evacuation of Francs
and the ri"htins of the wrong done in
1871: i2) the evacuation of all Rus
sian territory: ca the evacuation OF
Belgian territory and the subsequent
restoration of Belgium. which means
its Naturalization: "a the readjust-
ment of the frontiers of Italy to in-
clude within them the Italians now
under Austrian yoke-r-and by anal
orv. this must include the evacuation
Of Italian territ cries nov in Aus rian
hands; % the besto al of autonomy
upon the subject reople of Austria
Hungary; 90 the evacuation and
r storation of Runlania. Serbia and
h'ontenegro. with the assurance to
Serbia of a free and secure outlet on
the sea and read justmert of Balkan
frontiers on proper lines; % the be-
stow al upon the Turkish fraction OF
the Ottoman empire of q secure SOW
ereignty. and upon the other subject
nationalities Of security and the OPP
portunity for autonomous Develop
ment; (S) an indenendent Polish state
should he erected. including all
regions indisputab.y Polish and pos
sessing secure access to the sea.
Now, through all these terms there
run several clear principles. The
President demands that the Germans
shall retire from all their conquests,
and by Germans he means the central
powers. He asks that in all cases the
conditions of July 1914, should be re-
stored Now, there is no longer any
need to debate this point: the allied
victories have settled the fate of Bel
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