Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-05-22
Secretary Asserts England viii!
Listen to straightforward
Proposals.
OFFER SENT FROM VIENNA
Declares Emperor Charles Made Peace
Move to Both France and England
NO Secrets From Wilson
Germany's Newest Terms
Learned.

| prepared to consider proposals from
| the enemy, provided they are put for.
ward by accredited persons in a
| straightforward manner, Foreign Sec
rotary Balfour declared in the house
| of commons.
| eff any representative of any bel
| ligerent country desires seriously to
| lay before us any proposals." he said,
eve are ready to listen to them"
! The British government was deSir-
| Gus of an honorable termination of the
| war, he added but the peace moves
| of the central powers heretofore had
not been in the interests of fair and
| honorable peace Mr. BalfOur dis.
! cussed at length the peace pleas which
| Emperor Charles of Austria wrote to
| his brother-in-law, Prince SixtuS Of
Bourbon, and which were submitted to
| the French and British governments
| The subject was brought up by the
pacifists and advocates of peace by ne
| gotiation.
"Extended Alsace Not an ISSUE"
Mr. Balfour said the conversations
| which CASTOR Doumerglue, formerly
French premier and foreign minister,
| had with the Russian emperor in 1916
regarding a bigger Alsace-Lorraine
| which France would demand, were not
known to Great Britain until very
much later.
They had no international bearing,
he said. and didn't pledge Great Brit
ain. The British government never
gave the least encouragement to any
such notion.
German Offers Insincere."
The foreign minister also said the
pourparlers over the Austrian emper-
or's letter were not interfered with by
the demand of Rf5nce for an extension
| of territory beyond her boundaries Of
1870.
There was no evidence now or at
| any time, he added, that German gov
eminent circles contemplated the pos
sibility of what 1--WE should regard as
a reasonable peace-a peace which
would secure the freedom of the world
| and freedom for those who are in dan
| ger of German domination"
No Secret From Wilson.
He held no secrets from President
| Wilson, Mr. BalfOur said. Every
| thought he had on the war or the
diplomacy connected with the war was
as open to President Wilson as to any
other human being.
He did not think it possible for
| Great Britain and the United States
= rr-hia
| they were engaged or to deal with the
complicated problems of today with
| out complete confidence, and so far
as he was concerned, complete conf
dence would always be given.
Germanys Newest Terms.
With the French Army in France,
May 17-Germany's conditions Of
peace are clearly stated in a document
found in a Germans trench that was
| recently recaptured by entente allied
troops. A resume of the principal
conditions, as given in an official trans
| lation, reads:
after the enormous sacrifice we
| have made of our blood and property
we exact as necessary minimum to
| the preservation and development OF
Germany the following:
Belgium, especially the Flanders
coast with Antwerp, is to remain IN
der German military, economic, and
political dependence.
Liberty of the seas shall be prop
| erly established for all nations, the
| central powers being allowed a COM
| mercial fleet totaling 17,800,000 TONS
| while that of the allies should amount
to 100000 tons.
Want French Mines.
"Our colonies shall be returned with
| out augmentation.
eve are to have more numerous ana
| stronger naval stations.
| "The Longwy and Briey mine fields
which furnished France its weapons
| for attack, shall become German.
"Readjustments of the frontiers
| particularly in the Vosges, are to De
| fixed according to the military situa-
! tion and the appreciation of the COM
| mandant. Our frontiers must be such
| that their defense is made easier.
Seek Baltic Provinces.
'.,The former German Baltic prov
inces shall be incorporated, their rlch
| soil furnishing new cereal fields fOf
| German peasant emigrants, thus pro-
tecting the empire against the dangers
| of famine.
"Courland, Lithuania Livonia anu
| Esthonia are to be colonized.
"One million eight hundred thou
| sand tons Of Roumanian petrol VIII
/ be at the disposal of Germany.
| "Those nations who attacked peace
| full Germany must pay all war charges
| in raw material, ships, ready money
| and territorial concessions, leaving
Germany with only $780, 00,OoO ma
] tional debt"