The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-01-30
GERMAN PEACE TERMS,
'1oICE RUSSIAN TERRITORY
WOULD BE SEIZED.
"eherai H0nman Outlines Frontier
from View of Central Powers
showing That Amaze Bolsheviki
Dcicgatcs-Plan to Retain Courland
in Its NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Reject
Terms.


Litovsk peace conference have de-
cided unanimously to reject the
terms offered by the Germans. The
decision was announced to the AS
sociated Press tonight by NJ
kameneff, a member of the Russian
delegation.
flnal decision as to peace or war, |
M. Kameneff said, rested with the
congress of soldiers and workren's
delegates which was convened here
tonight
After weeks Of vacillation the Ger
mans at last have made their dc
mands at the peace conference ut
Brest-Litovsk and the Russians have
declined to accede to .hem.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
imperial German chancellor i'm his
many times postponed speech to the
main committee of the reichstag an
nounces that he still hopes that an
early and satisfactory conclusion OF
the Brest-Litovsk conference will be
reached the terms Of the Germans as
enunciated by General Hoffman, one
OF their chief delegates to the peace
conference, SO far form an insuper-
able barrier for the Bolsheviki gov
ernment, which has expressed de-
termination to carry out o policy Of
no annexation and no indemnites.
COurland in it's entirety and all OF
Russia's Baltic provinces are to be re-
tanned by Germany, according to
General Hoffman, in what is termed
as Germany's' last proposal to the
Russians, and the added threat was
given that If the Russians failed to
acquiesce in the demands, further in
roads into their territory would follow
and the important port Of Reval, near
the mouth of the Gulf of Finland,
would be occupied.
In theatrical fashion Hoffman de-
lineated on a map before the aston
ished Russian delegates the new Rus
sian frontier as the Germans intend
it to run-from the shores of the
Gulf of Finland, eastward to the Moon
Sound islands and then to the west
OF Minsk and thence to Brest- Litovs!,
leaving within German boundaries
some of Russia's choicest territory.
Amazed at the audacity of the Ger.
man program the Russian delegates
asked for time to consider the de.
mand. This was grudgingly given.
together with the announcement that
it was the last postponement that
| could be expected. The latest ad-
vices are to the effect that the Rus
slams have unanimously rejected the
German terms.
What the new situation will bring
forth is problematical. With the po-
| litical situation i'm Russia still in tur
moil and with the battleline depleted
Of fighting men through deflections,
it is hardly probable that the Rus
| slams will be able to withstand at the
present moment any great show of
force by the Germans toward the cap.
ture of Reval.
Accounts Of the situation in Aus
| tria cleaned from German newspa-
pers indicate that there is still much
discomfort among the workingmen
and that not all the strikers have re-
turned to work. The Czechs in par
lament have heckled the Austrian
premier and demanded that the mon
archy be made a democratic federal
state of nationalities.
In Germany the unrest of the pop.
ulace also continues but the trium-
phant militarist party is managing to
keep the people in curb. OF great
interest as regards the military sit
uation is the withdrawal of the Aus
tro- German armies along the italian
front from the Piave River westward
The retrograde move was due to the
harassing attacks Of the Italians
reinforced by the French and British
which they have been delivering re-
Gently. The indications are that the
enemy now has given up. for the time
| being, at least, his ambition to drive
out upon theVenetian plain.
On the other fronts the belliger-
ents are keeping up their intensive
bombs rdments on various sectors.