Evening star., 1918-12-01

Landmarks, all the familiar forms OF
government. And while the great
enemy. Germany, was surrendeTlns
and transforming itself, Austria -Ilun-
gary has resolved itself into chaos
of races. At the moment when the
discussion of peace is imminent, we
are not. in the least certain that we
shall have in the case Of the two
larger nations with which We nave
been at war any recognized govern
ment. speaking with the sanction OF
the German people, or any concely-
able group of representatives. col
lectively speaking. for what was
month ago the HapsburG empire.
Where Greatest Difficulty Lies.
And this is the first and greatest
obstacle which lies In the pathway of
the Versailles congress. If Germany
shall now escheW Russian pathways
and find swift and satisfactory meth
DDS of restoring domestic tranquility
and attaining such governmental unity
AZ TO enable her to send to Versailles
delegates speaking for the German
people and authorized and capable of
binding the German people to the
agreements there made, the under
takinGs in the way of territorial ces-
sions and financial reparaIons. then
the task will be simplihed. But what
evidence have We yet to warrant be-
lief thaa this will be possible? More
over. il it is not. how can we. in fact,
achieve reace with our recent enemy
at Versailles?
In the past the beaten nation or
coalition of nations in the great wars
OF history have survived with
their national integrity undestroyed.
France, after 1870. changed from an
empire to republic. but the repre-
Sentatives of the third republic spoke
with full and unquestioned authority.
their signatures to the preliminary
armistice and the defnitive document
Of Frankfort were honored by their
countrymen and unehallenged by thelt
foes When Napoleon aodicated at
ntainebleau in 1S1! his conquerors
placed a. Bourbon on the French
throne and made peace With nira
This peace. for the moment suspended
by the return from Elba. was never
theless repeated in a new treaty OF
Paris after Waterloo and honored
alike by France and her conquerors.
BY contrast after Russia fell and
the bolsheviki rose to power there
was no one with whom the Germans
could satisfactorily conclude peace:
and We had the amazing spectacle OF
Trotsky and his associates quitting
-LitoYsk refusing to sign
treaty which they could not refuse to
accept. Since that time, moreover.
there has been a condition of anarchy
in Russia and no man could or can
clearly understand what is the situa-
ton. German armies have occupied
Russian territory and organized IN
dependent states on old Russian soiI,
but even the Germans recognized long
before they finally yielded to the
western nations. that the settlement
of Brcst-Litovsk was no settlement.
May Be Like Russia.
We have then the clear possibility
that what happened in the case OF
Russia will now occur in the case
of Germany. The revolution in the
former German empire may rapidly
or slowly march to the chaos which
has existed in Russia for more than
Il year and a half. If it does, We can
occupy such portions Of the German
territory as we choose-Germany is
helpless: we can make such provi-
sional arrangements as may please
U.S. but We cannot come at the Ger
man nation. we cannot settle any
thing, we cannot do more than decide
upon such measures as we, the vest
necessary to protect France and Bel
Sium from German revolutionary at
tacks and occupy such German prov
inces as we may feel are sufficient to
serve as guarantees of future pay
lnent by Germany of the claims We
hold against her, when she does
achieve national reintegration.
With respect to Austria, we can
settle the question of the frontiers
between the several nationalities into
solved itself. These several states can
act as nations and accept the terri
torial changes. They, together with
Bulgaria and Turkey, will be def
mite entities, unless they. in turn all
or in part, succumb to socialistic and
bolshevik revolutions, or, declining
allied arbitration. fight among them
selves. or in part, ,Succumb to So
cialistic and fighting.
But it is with Germany that We
must really make peace, for it is the
German who has been our great en-
emy and with him we have to make
the main settlement. And If Ger
many resolves itself into Russian an
tween waiting at the Rhine until an
archy has passed and sending our
armies into Germany to restore order
and reorganize the nation against
its will. This is the problem now be-
fore US in the case Of Russia, and it
seems very far from solution.
Such. then, is the first great OBJ
stacle in the pathway of those who
arctic NEE at Versailles. Nor is it less
clear that. even though Germany
presently achieve national political
refrigeration, such refrigeration as
permits her to send representatives
70 Versailles able and authorized to
speak for q people and nation it
SER capable or observing the deci-
sions accepted by its representatives,
there is bound to be a very consid-
erable loss of time. So far from
prompt settlement and speedy sign
ing of a treaty OF peace, the best
hope must be that, after serious de-
lays. but without temporary ad-
Journment until a new German rev.
olution has passed. Germany will be
able to send delegates having the
same potentialities as those of Brit
ain, France or the United States.
Second Dtmculty Imposing.
So much for the first obstacle. But
there is q. second only less imposing.
At Versailles two things are to be
sought, and they are. by no means
easy to harmonize. We. the conquer
ors Of Germany. are going to impose
upon Germany the sentence of the
civilized. world. We are going to
make her pay for her crimes in two
ways. We are going to deprive her
of certain provinces inhabited by peo-
pie who are1jerman. not by their own
wish. but by the decision Of the sword
in the past. We are going to free the
Danes. the Poles and the Inhabitants
Of Alsace-Lorraine. In addition. we
arc going to compel Germany to pay
anywhere from SIC. coo. .00o. 600 to $20,-