New-York tribune., 1918-10-15
What an Arn1istice
Is Not
By Frank n. Simonds
Copyright. 1918. New York Tribune Inc

laCCS uIlIillSCdkdDly. we are iH
grave danger Of having the whole stua-
ton befogged, to our great injury and
Germany's enduring benefit, if we per-
NIT ourselves to be confused.
First of all, an armistce is not in any
way related to the making of peace
quiry of beaten contestant for state
ment of those conditions on which he
can obtain freedom from further pun
ishment. 1t is thus military matter
purely and simply. 1t is. in substance,
this statement by the enemy"I have
been beaten; what must / do to escape
further thrashing?"
Above all else, an armistce is not
truce. A truce is an agreement between
two unbeaten contestants to suspend
military operations, either pending the
negotiating of peace or for time COW
cred, for example, by some holy day. as
in the wars of an earlier period A truce
presupposes equal ability on both sides
to resume a conflict which has not yet
reached point where either can claim
the right to impose conditions upon the
other
Now, the response to an arnistice
must be based upon the military circum-
stances which exist In substance, the
party approached through it's military
agent must in the nature Of things say,
II will not permit you to escape the
consequences of your defeat; will not
let you have time to reorganizc your
armies or reach new and better positions
of defence"
And if the request for an armistice
is made of civil government, that gov
ernment, in the nature of things, can
do no more than consQt the military
chief, whose business it is to deal with
military matters, and consult him ais to
what guarantees are indispensable to the
retention of the advantages already ac-
quired as a result of his military sue
cesses. There is not the smallest ques-
tion of peace terms, SO far as the whole
business of seeking and granting an
armistice is concerned.
The answer of the military executive
must be based upon what he knows to
be the minimum guarantees which can
establish and protect his military situa-
ton. In the case of Bulgaria, General
d'Esperey told the Allied governments
that only surrender and rehabilitation
of the Bulgar armies would suffice, and
they accepted this statement, as did the
Bulgarians.
The answer of Foch will be equally
final. He has won great victory lie
is exploiting this victory and our armies
are advancing from the sea to the Meuse.
Cessation Of hostilities now can be per-
mitted only if the Germans are willing to
accept those conditions which translate
into immediate fact what is bound to
be the eventual consequence of recent
military achievement
In all of this there is no room for
any discussion Of the terms of peace.
A man under Indictment may apply for
bail, pending trial, but the sole ques-
ton then raised is one of the security
to be demanded against his appearance
at the trial. Exactly in the same way
we may grant an armistice to Germany,
on the delivery of proper security, but
this has nothing to do with the later
determination of the case between Ger
many and the rest of the world.
Let us put aside all this pestiferous
talk about peace terms at this stage of
the game. If we fail to do this we shall
presently be led away from the main
facts, just as the German hopes The
terms Of To bo I. &1o
nations allied against Germany, in con-
ference. They cannot be framed in ad-
vance of a submission of Germany. We
cannot decide what conditions we intend
to impose upon Germany while Germany
is still in position to resist all terms.
Germany is either beaten or she is
not beaten. If she is beaten then she
must submit. If she is not beaten there
is no way of making her submit except
by beating her. The proof of her sub
mission is her consent to comply with
those conditions which are essential for
the preservation of our military ad-
vantage gained upon the battlefield. If
she won't comply with the conditions of
an armistice, she won't comply with the
conditions of any Allied peace confer
ence.
If Germany is engaged in another
peace offensive, designed to divide her
enemies and thus to escape the conse-
quences of her present defeat; if she is
acting in bad faith, then our only pro-
lection is our army and our generals.
And we cannot know whether she is act
5ng in good or bad faith until she indi-
Gates her willingness to accept condi-
tlons predicated upon military defeat
The thing is so simple that it is in
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