New-York tribune., 1918-01-14
By William English Wo'ling, q leader
Of the Socialist rerolt cgan'st
,,o~if, ciS,u


wilson rightly distinguishes between
The iunker government of Germany
and the Liberals in control OF tho
Beichstag. He does not say, and has
never said. that tho American and the
Entente countries would be likely to
listen to the peace \erms of the Ger
man liberals. What he has said is
.his: America cannot trust the Ger
man governments; it might trust tho
German Liberals. But even if the Lib
erals we're in controlaof the German
government President Wilson has
never implied, and could not have i'm
Dlied. that we would be likely to accept
their peace terms. 1t is only necessary
20 mention what some of these Lib
erals proposed to see that their ideas
are in diametrical and complete oppo-
sition to the peace terms of Woodrow
Wilson and Lloyd George.
The very day of the Presidents dec
larstion January s. one of the most
influential of the German Liberals
made long statement in "The Eve
Ming Mail" explaining the very vague
and shadowy peace pronouncement of
the Liberal majority of the German
Reichstag on July 10. Among other
things he suggested that it was essen
,ial chat the form Of the Belgian state
Be cha Sed to suit the German concep-
,ion, that the Belgian Congo be handed
<hot Sho11Y
have nothing to say about the govern
ment of the territories conquered by
Germany, that Alsace-Lorraine should
remain German, that Turkey should
lose no territory and that Serbia
should be reconstructed to suit German
ideas. Schultze- -Gaevernitz who wrote
this article is a radical. The so-called
neacc ideas Of Erzberger, the Catholic
leader and of Scheidemann, the pro-
Kaiser Socialist leader, are equally ag
gressive and undemocratic-as shown
in frequent public statements.
No Revolution Near
Can we not. however, expect from the
German Minority Socialists democratic
peace ideas more or less in accord with
those Of President Wilson? The an
swer is that we cannot. To suppose
iact IN as mad manner as the Boil
shevihi have done in their repeated
predictions that these same German
Minority Socialists would lead the
tatherand into a revolution within a
lew days. The notorious Stockholm
peace conference. as the world now
constant supervision and direction OF
the German Minority Socialists, who
gave IL their full Endorsement. Also
he programme of the Russian Soviet
Council OF Workmen and Soldiers
was elaborated after frequent CONSUL
tations with the German Minority
These programmes are in complete ac-
cord with the previous declarations OF
the Minority Socialists and their lead
ers, but it is better to refer to the
Stockholm and Soviet programme be-
cause these are later dating from the
end OF October.
Let us compare the peace programme
of President Wilson and that OF the
German Minority Socialists point BY
point.
/. President Wilson demands that the
wrong done in Alsace-Lorraine shall be
lighted. The German Minority Soc al
ISIS demand a solution Of this question
which absolutely insures that Alsace-
Lorraine shall remain German. The
Stockholm conference suggests plebi
scite "bosed Oil the voting list at The
latest election before the war" and the
Soviet plebiscite under the German
civil authorties' In view Of the vas
French population driven out by the
German government and the German
colonlsts invited into this territory thi!
would undoubtedly give a German re
suit in the entire district of Alsace
Lorraine if the two provinces were con
sdered together, and certainly in AL
SAGE Il the two provinces were consid
cred separately
. The German Minority Socialists a
the Stockholm conference offered The
italians Of Austria the absurd right OF
"kuitural autonomy only" Presiden
Wilson demands: "a readjustment O.
the frontiers of Italy should be eff
fected along clearly recognizable lines
Of nationality"
g. President Wilson demands Pc
lish state, including all territories Gin
habila.ed by undisputably Polish pop
ulations," which means half of Aus
TRAN Galicia and large sections of Ger
man Poland. In opposition to this, tn,
.1tOtfIDllf CCIltIcUCt NclldAUo al III
dependent Poland, to be carved from
Russia only, while the Polish district
In Austria and Germany are to be sat
ished by the vague gift of "as com
plete an autonomy possible; tn
Russian Soviet echoes the same vie"
4. The German Socialists in tn
Stockholm conference demanded tha
all the Slavic and Rumanian subject
Of Austria Hungary be forced to re
main under that sovereignty and t
accept an underlined Autonomy"
Declaration Is Vague
The Presidents declaration as to tn
peoples Of Austria Hungary, like tha
OF Lloyd George, appears also to b
somewhat vague. The President dc
manded for these nationalitics onl
the freest opportunity of autonomou
development" But the President ha
spoken no word to suggest that he ha
withdrawn his previous discussions c
this same theme. In his staterner
issued thirty days before the Januar
declaration namely, the war messag
to Congress- on December ~. the Pres
dent made the following declaratio
concerning the rulers of Germany an
the peace that we would make wit
them.
They have established power owe
other lands and peoples than their ow
over the great prnpire Of AuStri;