The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-26


 1 T shall not enlarge upon the distarted | representations of German policy which
 is contained in Mir. Wilson's message,
 but will deal in detail with the points which Mir. Wilson lays down there not less than 14 points, in which he formu-
 iates his peace programme, and I pray your indulgence in dealing with these as briefly as possible.
 OUTLINES POINTS
 "The first point is the demand that there shall be no more secret interna- tionRl agreements. History shows it is
 we, above all others, who would be able
 to agree to the publicity of diplomatic I documents. I recall that our defensive
 alliance with Austria Hungary was known to the whole world from 1888, while the offensive agreement of the
 enemy states first saw the light of puh- iicity during the war through the reve. i lat!ons of the secret Russian archives I The negotiations at Brest-Iitovsk are being conducted with full publicity.
 This proves that we are quite ready to accept this proposal and declare pubMe- | ty of negotiations to be q general po- l litical principle.
 1 "1n his second point Mr. Wilson de-
 mands freedom of shipping on the seas 1 in war and peace. This also is demanded l by Germany as the first and one of the most important requirements for the fu- l ture. IDeTPIOTe there Is Here 1O ulL- erence of opinion. The limitation intro- duced by MT. Wilson at the end which 1 I need not quote textuai1y, is not intelli- sibte but appears superfluous and there- I fore would be best left out"
 l The clause referred to reads: l "As to tho seas, they may be closed 1 in whole or in part by international | action for the enforcement or inter- national covenants.
 i Tt would be, however, highly im-. portant for the freedom of shipping ] in the future if strongly fortified na- l val bases on important international. routes. such as England has at Gibra1-
 tar, Malta, Alden. Hongkong. the Talk i land Island and many other places, 1 were removed. 1 Point three: We, too. are in thorough accord with the removal of economic barriers which interfere with I trade iii superfluous manner. We, too. I condemn economic wars which would | inevitably bear with 1t causes of fl- | ture war-1ilSe complications.
 l Point four: Limitation of arma- | ments As already declared by Us, the | idea of limitation of arn1aments is en- l tirely discussable. The financial posi-. | tion of all European states after the 1 war might most effectively promote | satisfactory solution. (Cries of Hear i Hearf) It is, therefore, clear that ali understanding might be reached with out difficulty on the first four points , of MT. Wilson's programme. COLONIAL POLICY. q now come to the fifth point: Set | clement of all colonial claims and dis putcs Practical realization of Mir. 1 Wilson's principles in the realm of realty will encounter some difficulties 1 in any case. I believe for the pres | ent it may be left for England, which 1 has the greatest colonial empire, to make what she will of this proposal | of her ally. This point of the pro- l gramme also will have to be discussed l in due time on the reconstruction of | tife worlds colonial possession, which we also demand absolutely Point six: The evacuation of Rus
 sian territory. Now that the entente has refused within the period agreed I upon by Russia and the quadruple en- l tente alliance to join in the negotia- | tions, I must in the name of the lat | ter decline to allow any subsequent ! interference. We are dealing here with questions which concern only Russia and the four allied powers. I adhere 1 to the hope that with recognition of | self determination for the peoples on l the western frontier of the former i Russian empire, good relations will be | established both with these peoples l we wish most earnestly return Of order, peace and conditions guaran- teeing the welfare of the country. 1 Point seven: Belgium. My prede- cessors in office repeatedly declared I that at no time did the annexation
 of Belgium to Germany form point | In the programme of German policy. ! The Belgian question belongs to those I questions tha-detaiIs ofsswhich are to ! be settled by negotiations at the peace l conference
 MAKES NO PROMISES "so long as our opponents have not un- reservedly taken the standpoint that the integrity of the allies territory can off, fer the only possible basis of peace dis cussion, I must adhere to the safe plan heretofore always followed and refuse the secession of the Belgian affair from the scope of the entire discussion. Point eight: Occupied parts of France
 are a valuable pawn in our hands. Hero. too, for instance, forcib1e annexation | forms no part of the official German policy. The conditions and methods of procedure of the evacuation which must take account of Germany's vital inter- ests. are to be agreed upon between Ger mary and France. can only again ex- pressly accentuate the fact that there can never be question of dismember- inent of imperial territory
 l Under no fine phrases of any kind shall we permit the enemy again to l take from us territory of the empire I which, with ever increasing intimacy, has | linked itself to Garmanis,n, which has 1 in highly gratifying manner ever and ! increasingly developed in an economic respect, and of whose people more than | S7 per cent speak the German mother tongue.
 AUSTRIAN QUESTION "The questions dealt with by MT. Will
 son under points 9, 10 and Il touch both l the Italian frontier question and ques- tions of tho future development of the
 Austro- Hungarian monarchy and the fu- ' ture of the Balkan states: questions in | which, for the most part, the interests
 of our ally, Austria Hungary, prepon- derate. Where German interests are con
 ccrned we shall defend them most ener- 1 getically.
 1 But I may leave the answer to Mr. l Wilson's proposals on these points in the first place to the Austro- Hungarian foreign minister. Close contact with the
 allied dual monarchy forms the kernel of our present policy, and must be the guiding line in the future. Loyal com radeship in arms, which has stood the test 80 brilliantly in wartime, must con- tiuue to have its effect in peace We shall thus on our part do everything 1 for the attainment of peace by Austria Hungary which takes into account her 1 just claims.
 "The matters touched upon by Mir. Wil- son in point 13 concern our loyal. brave ally, Turkey. I must in nowise forestall t<,ks. .kAs.x I-