Norwich bulletin., 1918-11-14
FACTS AND COMMENT

to the terms offered her she formally adnlts that her armies are beaten, her means of defense gone and her terri tory Tt the mercy of her enemies. Un- der the armtStice the German troops are permitted to withdraw unharmed frem the territory from which they were being driven with fearful loss. The price of this immunity is the com plete evacuation of all territory as far as the Rhine and the maintenance of neutra! strip from IS to 25 miles wide all along the east bank of the river from Holland to Switzerland. The land as far as the Rhine is to he garrison ed by troops of the allies and thus the Germans would never be able to cross to the west and renew the war; while at the principal crossings, namely Ma yence, Coblenz and Cologne. the al- lies are permitted to nnaintain bridge heads on the east side of the river to radius of eighteen miles, thus assJh'- ing to them three broad avenues of entrance to the heart of Germany, should the Germans refuse to accede to any terms that may be imposed on her by the final treaty of peace.
 This strangle hold on German ter ritory might he shaken off in an in- st2nt if the German fleet could but win one great victory over the Anglo American sea forces. In that case the occupying forces would And them
 selves cut off from their bases of sup ply and might even be powerless to defend their own hornelands. So to make it absolutely certain that the great enemy should not win the game with the last card, even that is taken from her unplayed. The great unbeat- en German feet is to be rendered pow | h he Of practically all the modern units, both surface and ander-sea, and the concen- tration and disarmament Of all the other units at the dictation of the all lies. The possibility that the German fleet should be in the hands of mu- tineers and no longer in eoi,trol of the German government is met by the proviso tht should this be the case the allies may occupy Helgoland~as an advanced base for operations against a possibly mut1nous flee..
 Considering these and other equally drastic terms, the question is asked as | to the difference between the present arnlistiee and tho final peace treaty. 1 The answer is that the allies do not | themselves knew tl1e terms of the treaty that will ultimately be impos- ed. Were the intention to strip the hated enemy hare as a winter hedge, the definite treaty could have been at once drawn up and it would have con- | sisted of the two words, "urcendition-
 al surrender" This would have given | the allies the legal right to take every
 thing and anything. But it has not the | intention to punish Germany. She
 has punished herself and will continue 1 to bear the burden of her sins not only | through the long and dreadful winter now before her. but for many genera 1 lions. The purpose of the allies is to 1 make Germany pay for tie damage | she has done in so far as such dam .
 ages can be paid for, and to render | her incapable of ever do.rg the like 1 again. The only things that the con quercrs may not do under the terms l of the armlstice are things that
 civilized nations no longer want to do 1 that is the enslavement of the con l quered popu'ationS and the wanton 1 seizure or destruction of proDerty 1 Reasons of humanity no less than req
 sons of finance, make it true that lands
 occupied by the industrial people art of more value than the same lands lait waste and the same people held in for eign slavery. The terms uf the armis tice provide for the immediate cessa tion of German occupation and destruc tior of the propetty of others; thu terms of the treaty will arrange fo the payment by Germany of all tn, claims for darnases that i1ay be lodg. cd against her Naturally it will take { good many days and weeks to mak'
 out all the items of this long standing account.
 For the remainder of his term a
 president, Mr. Wilson will be withou the support of a democratic congress In the elections of last Tuesday tn, republicans carried both house an( senate. the lftter by the majority o
 two, possibly to be increased to fou
 as a result of an uncertain outcome il
 Idaho, the former by tho substantia
 majority of forty five. Henry Fort
 whc as he hi,nself says was command
 ed to make tl,e race by President Will
 son, was defeated in the Michigan sen
 atorial campaign by Truman N. New berry, formely secretary of the nav under Roosevelt and the irrespressihl J. Hamilton Lewis. the democrat
 whip, lost out in Illinois. Among tn reasons given for the political defea l at the very moment of the military tri ] umph are found MT Wilson's person 5 al appeal to the voters 9f the countr! and a general anxiety a5 to the abil
 1 ity of the democrats 10 harGie the gref
 problems confronting the couutr,
 with the coming of peace Ii will al ! ways be a debatahle question as 1 ! whether the president galned or To: more votes by his attempted dictatio
 to the 'citizens as to how they shoul cast their ballots. Though possibly g gained some votes for his party I
 undoubtedly pained disapproval f. = himself and disa pprobation for tl Y method employed. The presence of {
 many men of mediocre ability in plat
 es of responsibility in tie administr;
 tion is naturally causing anxiety as . the management of the great problen
 that will be up for settlement i'll u d near future One certain incubus tn Il the administration has long carried !" Congressman Kitchin Of North Car Q lima, chairman Of the ways and nlea- ,. committee. Mir. Kitchin was an 0
 and out opponent of the war from t
 very start, and once in he made
 bones about declaring th1S the Nor II had wanted it and the North shou l. pay for it. Such q burden of taxati Ie as the country is now carrying is Il
 doubtedIy not a cause for populari .s of the administration unlucky enou .t to be compelled to impose it. but bU densome as it is, it was not necessa '- for Mr. Kitchin to rub it in on the
 who had to bear the Erea test part of 1t A great Frenchman has s2id that t Y art of taxation consists in getting t pr greatest amount of feathers from
 goose with the least amount of sque; ,l- ing. If this is true definition ,N democratic leader whose place it is T. arrange for the taxes can hardly 1e accused of being an artist.
 r- Though Champ Clark was return
 to congress from his Missouri distr q, he will not be speaker of the n ut house, that place passing under ] B. publican control either to James ar Mann of Illinois, at present the repr
 lican floor leader. or to MT Gillett