New-York tribune., 1918-02-13
Misinterpretations

The question is: Do the four principles
of peace laid down by the President or
February IL modify the fourteen conditions
of peace laid down on January 8?
1t is understood that the Administration
hotly resents the suggestion that they do
According to c. W. Gilbert, The Tribune's
Washington correspondent, the official in.
depreciation is that the four principles
explain the fourteen conditions and leave
the way open to their modification. Moth
ing has been yet modified.
Nevertheless, as Mr.. Gilbert admits,
there is feeling in some Allied circles
that ground has been yielded. In his own
understanding he adds:
AS things now stand, as a result of the
interchange of views, Germany and Aus
trla have won what will look to the peo-
pies of those two countries like a substan-
tial concession from the President. Instead
of insisting upon the Central Powers Civ
ing up Alsace-Lorraine and the Trentino
the giving up of this territory is ex-
planned to be merely an illustration of the
kind of territorial readjustment the Presi-
dent will insist upon as a condition of
peace
For the Extensively pacifst interpreta-
ton we turn to MIR. Hearst's "American,"
which receives the four principles with
fine enthusiasm and dismisses the fourteen
conditions in contempLuous manner.
thus:
And we are than glad that the
President has definitely repudiatcd the in
depreciation of his former speech to the
Congress, in which he made what mistaken
interpreters insisted were fourteen vital
demands" upon Germany
Until the President spoke yesterday, the
almost unanimous msinterpretation of his
former speech and of those parts which
were sometimes referred to as the "four-
teen commandments" greatly troubled us,
because we feared that the popular inter
rretatlon was the correct interpretation
At this point the possibility occurs to
us that the fourteen conditions were not
rightly interpreted to begin with, and we
turn over file of The Tribune to see what
we did with them ourselves.
We look first at the Presidents speech
at that part of it introducing the four
teen conditions. This is what he said:
All the peoples of the world are in
effect partners in this interest. and for
cur own part we see very clearly that
unless justice be done to others it will
not be done to us. The programme of
the worlds peace, therefore, is our pro-
gramme; and that programme, the only
possible programme we see it, is this:
VouoVed serlotdm the fourteen condi-
taous)
We recall the thrill we felt at that time.
The words "only possible programme" to-
gether with the defnitness of the condi-
tons, made us very positive. Across the
whole front page we wrote in large type:
WILSON PRoCLA1Ms AMER
lCA'S PEACE PLAN TO MAKE ALL
THE WORLD SAFE AND FREE
FOURTEEN DEFINITE AIMS LAID
DOWN."
And on the editorial page we wrote:
I'm very deep sense Mr.. Wilson's words
constitute a second Emancipation proc.
iamation. AS Lincoln freed the slaves Of
'he oouth hait century ago, Mr.. Wilson
now piedges his country to fight for the
liberation of the Belgian and tho Pole ord
suffering populations of Alsace-Iorrairo |
ana the Italian lrredonta the words of +h |
president of the United States are a nrono-
ise Oh freedom after slavery worse a
thousand times than that of the negro"
1t is now clear where the error bepan
we were too positive and too emotional
and read into the speech meaning we
wished 1t to have. So did many others.
We interpreted the programme of four
teen conditions as "pledge"
Mr. Wilson himself now interprets II
as provisional SKETCH"
MIR. Hearst's American" was nearer r;cbt
than we were. For three days it was silent
on the January speech, and then, ignoring
the fourteen conditions, it discussed Mr.. VIII
sons disagreement with Lloyd George in
respect to Russia, the significance of his
sympathy for the Bolsheviki and "the
abandonment of emphasis upon change
of German internal Institutions"
Obviously, the only person competent
to interpret Mr.. Wilson is Mr.. Wilson
himself. At least, The Tribune is proved
incompetent by the last instance 1t would
never have thought to call the programme
of fourteen conditions "a provisional
sketch" and would have expected to be
denounced it it had. Therefore, it will not .