The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-10-14
THE GERMAN REPLY.

by President Wilson In his answer to the
first peace note of Prince Macmillan, two
have been met in a more or less satisfac
sorry way by the reply, but the third re-
mains a greater bar to peace than it has
been at any time since the war began.
Reviewing, briefly, the answer made by
President Wilson, it will be remembered
that he refused to discuss an armistice un-
til the enemy abandoned all occupied ter
ritory; that he asked if the enemy accept
ed Internationally the terms laid down,
and he asked whether Prince Macmillan
represented the German people or the Ger
man government which has brought on
this war and which has waged it so ruth
lessly
Of these three points, two have been, in
a measure, disposed of by the reply. The
!, Germans have agreed to evacuate all con-
}quered territory, and have accepted I'M
eonditionally the terms of the President.
If the third point were cleared up, this
I might open the way for the consideration
of an arrnistice Proper guarantees would
! have to be given, of course, that the Ger
Nmans would get out without looting or
destroying property; that they would &C
eept the terms of peace and act in good
1 faith throughout. This could be done by
| permitting the Allies to occupy certain
Aeities as hostages, or by demobiizing the
German army.
/ But the third point is just as far from
being satisfactorily answered as it ever
was. We are in the position of man
who has piece of property for sale. He
receives an offer which is equivalent to
she price he fixed on it, but the wouldbe
purchaser is a notorious bankrupt, known
to be without means, credit or honor. No
{ sane man would turn over valuable prop
erty to such purchaser.
The Allies have peace for sale to Ger
many. She wants it and expresses her
willingness to pay our price for it, but
we have before us a record that places
. the present German government wholly
without the pale of civilization. 1t is i'm
possible to have dealings with the nation
that has perpetrated all the atrocities
credited to the Imperial German govern
ment; which tore up the Belgian treaty as
J "scrap of paper" which signed the in
famous treaty with Russia and broke it
the next day.
Prince Macmillan says he represents
the German people and the majority par
ties of the reichstag, but he was appointed
by the German emperor, and can be re-
moved by him. The kaiser still rules, and
even if he should abdicate, his son would
! be more worthless renegade than the
kaiser himself While the Hohenzolern
family rules Germany as it does today,
there can be no peace with the Hun.
{ Moreover, by the wanton destruction Of
French towns, the Germans have forfeited
even the right to a peace on President
! Wilson s terms. The President would have
been justified in telling them that their
vandalism could not go UNPUBLISHED.
President Wilson S craftsmanship in the
conduct Of the war up to the present has
been mastery. By the sheer force of his
intellect, and his clearness of vision he has
placed himself in a position of world lead
ership. The Forum has every confidence
that he will handle the present situation
in the same splendid way.
But he is dealing with a scotched snake.
It is still capable of lashing about and per-
haps inflicting a dangerous wound, if it
is gwen any le6Wdy. ICS uead must De
crushed, and that head is the great Junk
er" machine which rules Germany today
just as much as it did when the Belgian
treaty was torn up as a scrap Of paper.
We are still some distance from peace.
Even should President Wilson accept
the new note at its face value, all that it
implies is that he will present to the other
allies the German request for an armistice
and a peace conference. France, Great
Britain, Belgium and Italy can be trusted
not to permit the Hun to escape his just
punishment now that he faces certain de-
feat. Even should President Wilson COM
NIT the error of compromising in any way
with the beaten enemy-which The Forum
does not believe he will dove still have
the American Congress and the allied gov
ernments standing between us and a
patched up, inconelusive peace, which
would rob the Allied armies of the fruits
of their victories, and permit the Hun to
escape with whole skin.
The country has followed Woodrow
Wilson whole heartedly into an idealistic
war. It won't follow him into an neon
elusive peace or hasty armistice, and The
Forum doesn't believe it will be called
upon to do So