The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1918-01-10
EXPOSED

tended 20 make use Of thu " W
as German agents. am boisft.Nlh
70 tampcr with oarough tnen
elements In bel .Abor and Radiea
Obtain thcf .,gcrent countries. ],
the &c ISSUANCE OF the beihheNk
ar1 nsrs adopted the principle
evtn the language Of the Trotzky
i, irnine group.
! Having adopted this language, tn
Germans hoped and expected that
without further discussion, the Boil
shevih would undertake an assault
upon the Allied countries and endeav
or To bring them to general peac
conference, at which Germany would
be able TO throw off the mask.
Unfortunately for the Germans, th'
Bolshcvili insisted upon seeing th'
German proposals before they appeal
ed to the Allied publics. In this stu
alton, the Germans were compelled u
disclose portion Of their real designs
They were obliged to uncover the fact
that they intended to steal all Rus
sias Baltic seacoast and make Poland
slave of the Hapsburgs.
Once their mask was off, the Ger
mans had lost their game. The Boil
sheviki FASTENED back TO Petrograd
and exposed TO the whole world the
fact as eontrasted with the phrase
Of German peace proposals, and the
whole world was informed that the
Germans were seeking territorial and
economic aggrandizements surprising
any single Napoleonic demand.
And with the exposure the German
case with the Allied publics collapses
Not even the Socialists or the Labor
elements desire to make peace on
German terms which shall add 20,000,-
900 of people to the subject races of
Europe or put Russia's economic fu-
ture at the mercy of Germany. The
real danger in the German peace pro-
posal lay in the fact that before it
was translated into specific demands it
had the appearance of reasonable
and honorable peace move.
But when the world knows that mo
annexation and no indemnity" means
to the German mind the annexation
of 10000 square miles of Russian
territory, containing 20,000,000 of
people; when it discovers "self-defni-
ton Of people, applies only to Rus
sian subjects, and the defining is to be
done under the lash Of German gar
risons, the essential fraud and hypoc-
risy of the whole German performance
are no longer hidden. 1t is at once
plain that Germany is still seeking
war profits, world power and Europ-
can supremacy. 1t is proven that
whatever words the Germans may use,
these words still cover the same pur-
poses of ACKNOWLEDGMENT and con-
quest.
This is the great value Of the re-
cent episode. This is the great service
the Bolsheviki have rendered. No ef-
fort of the German to saddle the Allies
with responsibility for the failure Of
peace proposals can succeed when the
world knows that German peace pro-
posals included vast territorial acquis-
itions and iniquitous economic imposi-
tons. Germany has been compelled to
expose her design in part, and the part
exposed serves to leave no doubt as to
the part not yet revealed.
1t is a curious fact that the world,
that portion of it at war, keeps re-
quiring a new proof of he old truth,
which is the German spirit and pur-
pose. Again and again the spectacle
of the German making peace gestures
seduces war weary public, despite all
past evidence of the true character Of
the German. On the other hand, is it
less curious that at the critical mo-
ment the German always betrays him |
self? Had he but simulated honesty
at Brest-Litovsk he might have fooled
all his enemies. Yet always after long
and skillful preparation German ap-
petite betrays German protestations;
the German cannot, even for the mo-
ment and as device, abandon his
real determination to conquer, to an
mex, to subdue. That is why he failed
At Brest- Litovsk; that is why he failed
a year ago; that is why he rushed into
Belgium and brought Britain into the
war.
When the German talks about
about liberty for small
peoples, about international law, he
loes not mean to acknowledge the
principle, except as it is convenient;
when he talks about "no annexations
md no indemaities" he does not accept
he fact, he merely seizes upon a
,hrase likely to be useful And the
moment the test comes the German
nature asserts itself. and the phrase