New-York tribune., 1918-11-10

fIEh JuG AIullSt1Cc, WH1Cl III TINS
~ case spells the unconditional sur
"A render Of the Hun war machine,
comes the congress at which de-
Lila Of the peace arc to be determined by
-. victors and imposed upon the van
qushsd.
where shall it be held? Speculative COM
lat based on information from an au-
.A.dtative source indicated last week, ac-
..,aine to The Tribune, that Washington
~ Americas first choice and the second
.hoce Of several of the Allies. France, for
,kvious reasons, would prefer Versailles,
"A there would be ironic justice in shear
.ss from the Hohenzollern the insignia Of
.syId power in the place where he first
strutted as imperial majesty.
who will attond? There is precedent for
..yin9 that the chiefs of state Of all the
.,ji1s will be present in person, for a time
a least, although the actual work will be
rsrformed by the premiers or diplomatic
CONSERVATIVES Of the highest rank.
with the conditions of the peace the
y.nouished have nothing to do. 1t is theirs
N accept and obey, unless they are suf-
seiently adroit to create a breach between
.he nations, which may easily have learned
sy now that only by unity of purpose and
command was the triumph of arms possible;
that only by perfect accord can the peace
DO made lasting.
No less skilful in negotiation than in
arms, 1t is only at the peace table that the
HIM is still to be feared. Always, except
in dealing with the first Napoleon, Prussia
has emerged with gains. This is the secret
Of her growth from the petty Marquisate of
Brspdenburg to so commanding a position
that for time her dream Of world domin-
ion by brute force seemed possible of re-
alization Now that she cannot hope to gain,
she will strive to minimize her losses, to ad-
lust herself to new conditions, as France did
a. the Congress of Vienna, following the
overthrow of Napoleonic rule.
But where France succeeded there is
reason to hope that Prussia will fail. France
had Talleyrand to direct her diplomacy.
Where will Prussia match him? With
aohenlohe, presumed to be still sulking in
Switzerland? With Lichnowsky, the too
truthful Pole?
Either of these men, had they been needed
i've years ago, might have been able to pre-
vent the greatest catastrophe in the history
Of civilization and the ruin Of their coun-
ry. Solitary figures, they have been held
up to the scorn of Mitteleuropa, and the re-
spect in which they are held by civilized
humanity is tempered by the knowledge
tkstcr rrvth trxht d.
potentiaries would be regarded by the Junk
srs u scraps of paper. "A
But as the unique exemplar of whaTi is to
come, wherever the peace conference is to
be held, no matter who is to sit at table,
people are turning tot day TO the records Of
The Congress- Of Vienna, and its aftermath tn.
tho Holy Alliance.
Truly an ecumenical gathering was this
congress, and the Holy Alliance which grew
from It Its theology was far from taking
On the tinge Of Anglicanism, which, as the
witty bishop said, "has nothing to do with
politics Or religion" for it combined both.
Yet never was there a gathering of the
mighty men of the earth which might more
naly have repeated, in the words of the
Msllcan ritual: "We have left undone the
aiaes we ought to have done; we have done
iss things we ought not to have done, and
here is no health in u.s."
Dynastic rights, balance OF power, the di-
Unity that doth hedge king; cant, hum
sus and hypocrsy-thesc were cardinal
principles evolved by the powers that over
threw the first Napoleon Nationality, rep~
1esentatIve government, rcpaxatiou and