Arizona republican., 1918-06-21
GERMAN PEACE
 OFFERS TERMED
 AS BEING TRAP
Peace by Agreement Plan
 Negatived by House of Commons; Balfour Makes
 Statement of Position
Republican A. p. Leased Wire1


 LONDON, June 20.-Philip Edward Morrell, liberal representing a small pacificist group in the house of com mons today, started a debate on the question of peace by agreement, by moving the following resolution:
 That this house desires that the government will lost not diplomatic opportunity to settle the problem of peace by agreement and that all treaties with allied governments should be revised since, in their present form they are inconsistent with the object for which they were originated and are, therefore, bal rier to a democratic peace'
 Vote Down Motion
 The motion was negative without division.
 In moving his resolution, MT. Mor- rell declared that there was a pas sionate desire for peace in Germany if it could be got with security, but the Germans believed that the allies were unwilling to listen to reasonable terms.
 Philip Snowden, socialist, in sup porting the resolution, asked Secre- tary Balfour to define what he meant by peace offensive"
 Mir Balfour replied he meant any effort under the guise of seeking an honorable termination of the war to divide the allies and discourage in- dividual members of the alliance
 Says Napoleon Outdone
 MT. Balfour declared it was fact that Germany was pursuing her aim of universal domination with per- sistent and elaborate care and fore sight and with a ruthless cold blooded determination which left Napoleonic tradition far behind We never re- jected proposals which we thought had the slightest probability of pro- ducing a reasonable peace and there is no evidence whatever that the | German government has <ever been serious in making such peace offers, | he asserted.
 | Contending that Belgium remained 1 the greatest blow to German honor ! the secretary asked whether Gerhany had ever in any document or speech openly or plainly offered to restore Belgium to absolute political and eco homie independence. He knew of nc such offer. There had been sug- gestions but never a frank avowal.
 Will Listen to Reason
 Certainly" he continued, 'the governments are not going to shut their ear to anything that could be called reasonable suggestions. if sucf suggestions should be made. The treaties were entered into by this country with others as means of ar alliance. By these treaties we stand | Our national honor is bound up 1T them.
 We have the task before us o doing all we. can to restore Russia to full national self consciousness Everybody sympathizes with the diff faculties in which that vast people find themselves"
 Huns Peace Trap Evident
 This was the very last time, saiC the secretary, that the allies wer' likely to make proposals to the cen tral powers, or, so far as he was abl to judge, that the central power were likely to make proposals to tn allies, except for the one purpose o 1, a peace offensive. What the centra , powers apparently wanted to do wa not to propose reasonable terms 10 the alliance as whole, but to offe seemingly extremely favorable, if tha member considered only it's own in , terests and not the interests of thu whole alliance. and thereby disinte grate the members of the alliance some of whom would be perfectl , helpless taken in isolation and wer strong only so long as they Wer , united. He did not blame the cen tral powers for laying such tral he said, but should blame those wh fell into the trap and most of al 7 he blamed his pacificist critics, wh appeared to think it almost crimina not to fall into the trap.