Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-29
BY FRANK H. sIMoNDs.

BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.
Author Of ''The World War" '.They Shall
Not Pass"
Copyright, 1918, New York Tribune. Ine.)
President Wilson's prompt and
crushing rejection of the Austrian
peace proposal has stopped the sec
ond German peace offensive in the
enemy's places of assembly. The as
saulting columns never left the hos
tile trenches. In every circumstance
this action of the President was ad-
mirable. and the inspiring fact was
promptly disclosed that Mr.. Wilson
had spoken the will of the country
and that his decision was that OF
the whole American people.
But does the first repulse end the
German offensive; has the initial de-
feat ended the danger? l do not
think any one who recalls the history
of the first German peace Offensive
that of December, 1916-can beheve
this In point of fact. the allied
statesmen of all the nations at war
declined the first German proposal as
promptly and as uncompromisingly
as has the President now. but what
was the result? For more than
year the German maneuver continued;
it procured revolution in Russia, dls-
organization in the allied countries,
a decline in the morale and the
solidarity of the British and french
peoples: it brought the whole allleo
cause to the edge of utter disaster.
It is essential, therefore, to Keep
he NJ
man maneuver as dangerous ana Ger
tain to grow more dangerous IN the
next few months, during which MILL
tary operations will necessarily pause
and the world, resting from battie,
but not from the agonies Of war, Will
have time and reason TO tnlnk ohce
more of peace.
America of One Mind.
Today we are all of US in America
of one mind on the subject of peace.
We are agreed that there can be no
peace by negotiation and no peace OF
any sort until the German army has
been beaten, the military power OF
the German nation broken by defeat;
until we have demonstrated to the
German people that it is not possible
for them by arms to dominate the
world. or, having invoked ruthless
ness and terror, to escape the conse-
quences of these crimes and atroci-
ties which have for more than four
yetrs been the steady concom1tant OF
German advance or retreat.
We are in America, agreed that the
time to talk with the enemy Is Wnen
he is beaten, not before, ana that the
way to talk with him then is by the
imposition upon him of our peace
terms. not by secret oeoate IN prlVa.e
conference. which shall have the
character Of a bargain counter
operation. In this spirit the nation,
not only through the President. but
with the President, answered Aus
tria. We have been long time ar
irving at a sound view of the world
situation, but we have arrived, anu
our voice is unanimous.
But it is necessary at once TO
recognize the character OF the new
danger. There has been too much Will
ingness on the allied side to accept
German conditions as painted by
optimism rather than by accurate re-
port. Failure to understand the facts
at the time of the first German peace
offensive almost involved ruin; 1all-
IRE now will be less costly, perhaps,
but it will be terribly costly; no man
can doubt this.
Hun Doesn't Believe He's Beaten.
And there are certain truths which
are automatic. In the first place we
must put aside the notion that the
German is beaten, or. what is more
important, believes he Is beaten. AT
the close of rather more than four
wears Of war he has conquered the in
dustrial regions of France, occupied
Belgium, demolished the Russian en-
pire and all cohesion in the RUSSIAN
people; he dominates Vienna, Sofia,
Constantinople; he holds SERBIA, con
trolls Rumania; his allied armies are
in Venetia. He has lost some bat
ties this year, his confidence has been
in a measure shaken, but this con-
fidence is shaken only as it applies to
the expected complete victory oy
arms. Defeat in the sense of inva-
sion, of surrender, has not yet been
established as possibility In the
minds of the masses or the German
people.
The only notion Of peace WHICH now
exists in the minds of the German
people is a peace by bargain. Ger
many will pay back some of her
stolen profits provided she can keep
others. The German people demand
of their government that it shall
show it's moderation and generosity
by Offering terms of this sort: the
government is intrenching itself
against criticism at home by putting
Austria up to offer such terms and
then indorsing the proposal OF Inc
view to hold that Germany is ex,
hausted believes herself beaten ana
has offered peace proposals in panic
to escape defeat. This Is not the case.
Character of Peace Move.
On the contrary, the German has
had recourse again to the peace Of
fensive, because his military :,i!1. opera a,,+
badly. This is exactly what he did
in 1916, and now as then his peace
offensive is war offensive, IL Is a
method of winning the war on his
military operations later, just as the
loosing of poison gas and the delivery
of an artillery bombardment are prep
arations for an infantry attack:
The very best way in which to un-
derstand the present German offensive
liz to go back for a moment and ex-
anime the first peace offensive. Then
IT will be realized how completely
the peace agitation is subordinate to
the general and central idea, which is
to win the war; the ena Am merman
campaign they must at once dismiss
two misapprehensions, one, that a
beaten Germany is seeking peace by
surrender to escape defeat and dis
aster: two, that when the German
talks about peace he means peace in
our sense, or means anything but the
use of peace talk to disarm his enemy,
that he may fall upon him again and
destroy him.
Review Of 1915 Effort.
Six days after the fall Of Bucharest
in 1915 the Germans made a peace
proposal. They did it on the morrow
of a great victory. but at the close of
a campaign in which they had been
defeated both at Verdun and at the
Sonma This proposal WAS at once