The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-26
Local Data
Text of Won Hertling's Address Before Main
 Reichstag Committee
tcontinued' from page one)

ceived and willed by the exalted allies | thought of it's misuse for aggressive
 aims ever occurred in the course of decades. The defensive alliance be- | tween Germany and the Danube mon
 archy, closely connected by old tra- ! ditions and allied to us by common interest, was to serve especially for
 maintenance of peace.
 l "But Bismarck had, even then, as lie was often reproached for having an ob. session in regard to coalitions after | wards, and events of subsequent time have shown. it was no vision of terror. | Tie danger of hostile coalitions which menaced the allied central powers often
 made it's appearance. By King Edward s isolation policy, the dream of coalitions became . reality. The German empire progressing and growing in strength stood in the way of British imperialism.
 In French lust of revenge and Russian aspirations of expansion this British inl- perialsm found only too ready root. Thus future plans, dangerous for us, were formed.
 GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION The geographical situation of Ger
 many in itself has always brought near to us the danger Of war on two fronts, and now it becomes increasingly visible.
 Between Russia and France, an alliance was concluded whose participants were | twice as numerous as the population of | the German empire and Austria Hungary. Republican France led the Russia of the
 Czar into constructing strategic railways 1 in the Kingdom of Poland. lending bil- | lions, in order to facilitate an advance against us The French republic drew on it's last man for three years of serv- ice. Thus France, with Russia, built up armaments extending to the limit of the capabilities of both, thereby pursuing
 aims which our enemies now term inn perialistic.
 Tt would have been neglect of duty had Germany remained calm spectator of this game, and had we not also en- deavored to create an armament which would protect us against future enemies. may. perhaps, recall that I, as a mem
 Der of the Reiohstag very frequently spoke on these matters, and on the oc- casion of new expenditure on armament pointed out that the German people in consenting to these solely desired to pursue policy of peace and such ne- cessitated armaments as were only need ful, which has imposed us to ward off
 the danger threatening from possible enemy. It does not appear that any regard was paid to these words abroad. : :. ALSACE-LORRAINE s~sv., And Alsace-Lorraine. of which Lloyd George speaks again? He speaks of the wrong Germany did in 1871 to France. Alsace-L Lorraine, you need not be told, But abroad. they still appear to be ig- norant of things. Lorraine com-
 poses as is known for the most part, purely German regions, which, by d century long of violence and illegality.
 were severed from the German empire,
 and until finally in 1779 the French revo- iutlon swallowed up the last hope AL sace-Lorraine then became a Germanized province
 When in the war of 1870 we demanded back the district which had been crirn-
 inally wre7ted from us, that was not A conquisitorial war of foreign territory. but rightly and properly speaking what today is termed disannexation, and this disannexationary was then expressly rec oenized by the French national assem- ply, the constitutional representative of the French people at that time. March ~ SH, by a large majority of votes" QUOTES CARLYLE
 And in England too, gentlemen lan-
 guage quite other than is heard today, has been heard. I can appeal to a clas- sic witness. It is none other than the famous British historian and author Thomas Carlyle, who. in letter to the Times in December, 1870, wrote:
 No people has had such a bad neigh
 Dor as Germany has possessed during
 the last 400 years, in France Germany
 would have been made had not she
 thought of erecting such frontier wall
 between herself and such q neighbor when opportunity offered
 Observe that I have not repeated a
 very hard expression which Carlyle used about France. know of no law of na
 ture. no resolution of heavenly parlfa
 ments. whereby France alone of all
 earthly beings was not obliged to re-
 store stolen territories if the owners from which they had been snatched had an opportunity of reconquering them. And respected English press organs ex- pressed themselves in 8 like sense. I mention, for example, the Daily News. ANSWER TO WILSON
 T now come to President Wilson. Here. too. I recognize that the tone appears to have changed. The unanimous rejec- tion of MT. Wilson's attempt, in reply to the pope's note to SOW discord between the German government and the German people has had it's effect This unani- nous rejection might of itself lead Mir. Wilson on the right path. A beginning to that end has perhaps been made, for there is now at any rate no longer talk about oppression of the German peopIe by an autocratic government, and the ~v< 0lugUNl0lJl m