New-York tribune., 1918-03-04
Germans Have Capt
ured 63,SOO Officers
and Men and
Great Booty
Turkey Obtains
important Cities
batoum, Black Sea
Port in Transcau-
casia, Given to
leuton Ally

-"oich - WA London .--
oS reason OF the signing of the peace
treaty with Russia" says the official
communication from Headquarters to-
night, military movements m Groat
Russia have ceased"
Inc Germans in their advance
through Russia have captured. accord
ing to the official communication from,
general headquarters. $500 officers and
$1,000 men, 2,400 guns. 5000 machine
guns, thousands of motor vehicles. 800
locomotives and thousands of railroad
trucks
LONDON, March 3 A bulletin direct
from Petrograd says that the peacc
treaty with Germany has been signed.
1t adds that the Ukrainian army has
occupied Kiev, Gomel and Berdichev.
Earlier dispatches from the Russian
capital said that in the fear that argu-
ment would result in even moro onor
Gus terms the Russian delegation at
brest-Lltovsk had accepted all the Ger
man peace conditions and was about to
sign an agreement, according to tele
gram from the delegates received
Saturday at the Smolny Institute. The
demands already had been increased
they reported
The message, which was addressed
10 premier Lenine and Foreign Minis
ter Trotzky, follows:
AS We anticipated, deliberations on
treaty of peace are absolutely use
less and could only make things worse
IN comparison with the ultimatum of
February 2l. They might even assume
the character of leading to the
presentation of another ultimatum.
To Sign Without Discussion
I'm view of this fact and in conse
quence of the Germans refusal TO
cease military action until pence is
signed we have resolved to sign the
treaty without discussing its contents
and leave after we have attached our
signatures. We therefore have re-
quested train, expecting TO sign to-
The most serious feature Of the
new demands compared with those Of
February p is the following:
" To detach the regions Of Kara
band, hars and Batoum from Russian
territory Oh the preteXt Of the right
OF peoples to Self-determination. -
The new territorial claims upon
Russia are apparently advanced in the
interest Of Turkey. Batoum, a strong
~ fortified seaport on the Black Sea
coast, IN Transcaucasia. about twenty
miles north of the border Of Turkish
Armenia, was one Of the cities ceded
by Turkey to Russia after the Russo
Turkish war Of l977-'7S.
Kars, also in Transcaucasia. 105
miles northeast Of Erzeroum. in Turk
ism Armenia, has been in dispute be
tween the Turks and the Russians for
nearly century, and finally was ceded
to Russia at the same time as was
Batum. The other region mentioned
IS probably that OF karabagh. Trans
caucasia, lying 10 the east of the Kars
region and north Of the Persian border.
according to reports emanating from
Poland and forwarded from Amster-
dam, Leon Trotzky, the Bclshevik For
eign Minister, did not return to the
peace conference al Brest-Litovsk be-
cause Germany objected to MS continu-
ance as Russian delegate. 1t is stated
that Trotzky's resignation will be forth
coming as a result.
dispatch from Brest- -Litovsk, filed
yesterday and forwarded from Amster-
dam, says tnat fresh peace negotiations
with Russia were opened Yesterday al
plenary meeting under the chairman
snip of Minister Won Rosenberg, as
sistant TO the Foreign Secretary
To Make Economic Pacts Later
AS regards the regulation of pol:t
zeal questions, the chairman proposed
that common treaty should be con
cluded between the four Teutonic allies
and Russia, while economic compacts
and legal questions should be dealt with
partly in appendices TO the main treaty
and partly in supplementary treaties
Tor each separate allied power.
he head of the Russian DELEGATION
expressed agreement with this plan.
whereupon the actual negotiations were
begun. The chairman handed the Rus
sian chairman the draft of the main
political treaty drawn up jointly by the
{ tTeutonic) allies and gave detailed
explanation OF the individual treaty
stipulations The drafts for the eco
nomic and legal agreements, with cor
responding explanation, were likewise
communicated. The Russian delegation
reserved determination of its attitude
to the individual points until the ma
uerial in its entirety is laid before it.
The negotiations we're continued in the
afternoon
A telegram from the Russian peace
delegation TO the Council of Commits
saries, received on Saturday, according
to an Exchange Telegraph Petrograd
dispatch. says
THE Germans presumably intend IN
the next few days to press furthe: into
Russia. seiztng more territory ~ order
to dictate further terms. We order
you not to give up anything without