New-York tribune., 1918-02-07
The Easy Road to Peace
Just Stop Fighting and Let Belgium
Be DESTROYED
To the Editor of The Tribune

10 the Editor OF he Tribune.
Sir: In recent address before labor dol.
gates Lloyd George uttered these remar.st.
words: "lf any man standing in my plaza "a.
find an honorable, equitable and Just way ~.
Of this conflict without fighting it through e..
heavens sake let him tell me."
In the light Of this significant utterancs co,n
ing from no less man than the Hon Dav;a
fLloyd George, no one can now brand as t,s;+.
or pacifist any one who offers in good fa;,h
an intelligent peace proposal. Let the viz,
dictive men who at this crucial time mn.
petty party politics above love for their coun
try, and who write and speak not 50 nu.A
perhaps for the sake of patriotism az e.,
the sake Of the first syllable in patriotism.
let such men rant and rage over the war
Sober-minded men have now !ef. these dems.
gogues behind them. Lloyd George desire,
an honorable peace. The better minded mo-,
among the Allies are with him
do not stand in the place Of Lloyd Georp.
but ] can tell him an honorable way out ~
this desolating conflict.
In the first place, we must realize that "a
far as the fighting goes the is about
over All the nations nearly exhausted
and though the war might perhaps be kent
up, no real good would result from It's con.
tinuation
In the second place, i. should be realized
that the one thing above all others tha. de-
lays the coming of peace is this senseles.
striving after victorv-ths foolish endeayor
always more characteristic Of base than os
honorable men and nations, to see who il
boss" There was great wisdom in President
Wilson's words, "Peace without victory" No.
that it IS possible for nations to 20 to war
without side or the other being victo
rious; but the point that should be empha.
sized is that it cannot be determined at oncs
who is the victor. This is the work Of fu.ure
historians. Just as it takes long time TO
determine the true value of great writer's
work, and in most cases a proper estimate Of
his work is not arrived ?. until long after
the writer's death, 1t takes many years to
| determine who has been the real victor in
any war. In the long run. very otter to win
is to lose and to lose is 10 win. Forces and
causes interact, fresh points of view are ar
rived at, and new world purposes values and
relationships are discovered. that hun
dred years after is ended it may be
found either that the, nominal victor and
vanouished the real victor and van
cuished, or that victor and va2q@shed have
exchanged places.
the actual fighting is about over. ard it only
remains to settle outstanding difficulties and
to refiX the boundaries of conquered terri
/ tories. This work will be done il the coun-
Gil chamber The Allies have acquired terri
tory by conquest, and likewise has Germany
The rcadjustments of territorial boundary
lines must be worked out around the peace
table. Each side must make, concessions
and, laying, aside all rancor and hatred ap-
proach the work in the spirit of good will
and fair dealing. Germany must get of
some Of her high horses, but at the same
time it must be realized that Germany needs
q little more land in order to support her
growing population. Surely England, which
| Owns more of the earth's surface than any
ether nation, will not grudge Germany few
| extra square miles
AS for Belgium, that thorn in the flesh os
the world much diplomacy Will be required
to determine her status Bclgium'S sins in
the Congo do not cntitlc her to very grca.
deal of sympathy, but Of course her derehc-
tions in the Congo cannot be considered IN
the council chamber
1t may help little toward solving the Bel
gian difficulty to take into consideration the
fact that Belgium was created to serve as
buffer state against the possible encroach-
ments, not of Germany, but of France.
France has always had an eye on her
To solve the difficulties involved in the
violation of Pelgium's neutrality Will be a
hard nut to crack, but it may help some tow
ard this end If we consider Cd that the
principle of perpetual neutrality is not firmly
established in international law. dating only
from 1915, and 90 that, after all. the history
of all wars shows that the principles Of in
ternational law are more operative in times
CT peace than in times OF war. In war these
principles have always been honored more in
the breach than in the observance. Finally.
Deut ii, 26-35, should also guide the peace
councillors in their deliberations over the
status of Belgium. CHARLES HOOPER.
Seattle, WASH Jan. %, 1918.