The Butler weekly times., 1918-01-10

p4ONiu5 Cno ASCCAk uCCluI dllOu VI IAe
British premier, Lloyd George, Presi
dent Wilson recently presented to Con
gress and the world specific decla
ration Of Americas war aims and the
terms ON which it would be possible
to make peace with Germany.
An Answer to Germany.
! The President spoke as follows:
| Gentlemen of the Congress-: Once
more, as repeatedly before, the spokes-
men of the Central Empires have in
dicated their desire to discuss the OBJ
jects of the war and the possible basis
of Il general peace.
"Parleys have been in progress at
| Brest- -LitovsIs between Russian repre-
sentatives and representatives OF the
Central Powers, to which the atten-
ton of all the beliigerents has been
invited, for the purpose of ascertain,
ing whether it may be possible to
extend these parleys into a general
conference with regard to terms OF
peace and settlement.
"I'he Russian representatives pre-
senteu not only Il perfectly definite
statement of the principles upon which
they would be willing to conclude
| peace, but also an equally definite pro
gram Of the concrete application of
| those principles.
"rhe rcpres ntatlves of the Central
Powers. on their part. presented an
outline of settlement which, If much
I tess rtefiniite,, -srru1eu 7EusceTtftbffe
| ;,. thnif'
cific Program OF practical terms was
added
Germans Offered Nothing.
"The German program proposed no
concessions at all, either to soTcr-
eignty of Russia or to the preferences
OF the population with whose fortunes
it dealt, but meant, in a word, that
the Central Empires were to keep
every foot of territory their armed
forces had occupied-every province,
every city, every point of vantage
as a permanent addition to their ter
ritories and their power.
1T is a reasonable conjecture that
the general principles of settlement
which they at first suggested, ori31-
mated with the 1lore liberal states
men Of Germany ana Austria, the men
who have begun to feel the force OF
their own peoples thought and pur-
Dcse. while the concrete terms or ac-
tual Sc; tlcment came from the mill
tarv leaders Who have no thought but
70 Keep what they have got. The ne
gotiations have been broken Oil. The
t,u*%ian representatives Wee sincere
and in earnest They cannot enter
tnin such proposals .of conquest and
loniAlt.on.
German People Have No Voice.
The V hole incident is full Of signi-'
.icn:ire. IL is also full of perr!eNlty.
with whom are the Russian repre-
sentatives dealing?
'IHnr whom are the representatives,
If lne Central Empire speaking?
ARE they speaking for the major
ties cf their respective pariaMents
II for the minority parties, that mill
.ary and imrerialistic minority which
las 50 far dominated their whole pol
cv and controlled the affairs OF Tur-
kew ana of the Balkan states which
,a.re felt obliged to become their as
sociatcs in this war?
ne llUSSltH ltpi ~ AA~~' ~
insisted. very justly, very wisely, and
N the true spirit OF democracy, that
he conferences they have been hold
ng with the Teutonic and Turkish
statesmen should be held within open,
ant closed, doors, and all tre Norld
has been audience to both unrecoh-
,iled nd in open and hopeless CON
tra,iirtion. These are very serious
an;. rl,gnant questions. Upon the an
sver to them depends the peace OF
the vorld
cha!lenae Answered With Candcr.
But whatever the result of the par
leys at BrestLitovsk, whatever the
conclusions of counsel and of purpose
In the utterances of the spokesmen OF
the Central Empires, they have again
attempted to acquaint the world win
thei; objects in the war and have
again challenged their adversarles TO
say what their objects are and what
sort of settlement they would deem
Just and satisfactory.
There is no good reason why tnat
challenge should not be responded to
and RESPONDED to with the utmost
candor. We did not wait for 1t. Not
once, but again and again, we nave
laid our whole thought and purpose be-
fore the world, not in general terms
onlv. but each time with sufficient
definition to make it clear what sort
of definitive terms of settlement must
necessarily spring out of them.
Germany Fears to Be Frank.
within the last week Mr. Lloyd
George has spoken with admirable
candor and in admirable spirit for the
people and government Of Great Bri-
tain. There is no confusion OF coun-
sci among the adversaries of the Cen
tral Powers, no uncertainty of prin-
ciple, no vagueness of detail. The only
secrecy of counsel. the only lack OF
fearless frankness, the only failure to
make definite statement OF the oo'
jects of the war, lies with Germany
and her allies. The issues Of life and
death hang upon these definitions. NO
statesman who has the least concep'
tion of his responsibility ought for a
moment to permit himself to continue
this tragical and appalling outpourine
of blood and treasure unless ne is
sure beyond . peradventure that the