New Britain herald., 1918-10-10
FRANCE ELATED BY
PRESIDENTS NOTE
Press Considers It Remarkable
COunter-ThruSt at Prince Max

farlS, oct. lO.-The last paragraph
! of President Wilson'S note made a
! deep impression on Parisians and
! caused much favorable comment, as
it was taken by the population to
! concern directly the Hohenzollern
family and the military party of Ger
many.
The general feeling is that the dip
! lomatic tables have been turned on
| Germany, which tried to place the
Allies in a difficult position and that
Germany now finds herself face to
| face with a great problem which she
attempted to force the Allies to solve
The Journal des Debats says:
This very adroit reply does the
! greatest honor to It's author. 1t coun-
teracts the Germanic calculations.
The Vienna and Berlin cabinets
sought TO place the United States be-
fore a dilemma either to accept the
armisice which would give Germany
time to reconstitute her harasseo
troops or to evoke in Germany by a
refusal of the offer of peace, a pa
t1iotic mOveme nt which would rally
around the new government the
whole nation including the Socialists.
"President Wilson has not allowed
himself 10 be caught in this dilem-
ma. He demands enlightenment, and
lays down a preliminary condition.
President Wilson'S last question
strikes at the very heart of the Ger
man Government. 1t is 8, blow in the
Kaiser's face"
The Temps says:
Like q man who only needs to
consult his conscience, President Will
son has explained himself on the Ger
Will Io1o n
be seen what the German government
will have to say in reply.
Its language, perhaps will permit
Austria Hungary, to whom President
Wilson had wisely abEtained from re-
plying too quickly, to consider itself
no longer one with a faithlescs, law
less Prussia"
The Intransigeant says: 'The re-
Spouse of President Wilson, by it's sin
cerity and good faith, cuts with
single stroke the snares laid by Prince
Max of Baden. President Wilson re-
spends by asking Germany: What
do you mean? Do you accept my
conditions? Do you speak in the
name of the government and the
people?' He requires before any ne
gotiations that Germany evacuate the
invaded territory of France, Belgium,
Serbia. Russia, Poland, Rumania and
Montenegro. This is a like answer to
that given by the Duke of Brunswick
after his defeat at Valny."
Country Shares Sentiment.
T,iberte saws: I'VE know already
that the French government felicitates
itself without reserve. The country
will share this sentiment unanimously.
With high conscience the president
of the United States has compre-
hended that he is not an arbiter but
belligerent. The presidents note also
esta blished what guarantee must first
be given before he and the Allies will
even be able to examine the PROPOSE
ton"
Deputy Marcel Sembat in LIE Heure,
which expresses the socialist view,
says:
THE reply is not a brutal refusal.
The door remains open for ultimate
negotiations, after first accepting the
fourteen points with complete guar
antees."
The significant passage in the note
in which President Wilson refuses to
entertain the possibility Of a cessa-
ton of hostilities and demanding the
immediate withdrawal of the German
troops is interpreted in military circles
as meaning that the Allies will give
the Germans no respite in their re-
treat.
Commandant Miribel, one of the |
best known military critics in France.
expressed the view to the Associated |
Press correspondent in this connection
that the Germans, if they were
harassed and pressed during their re- |
treat to the Mouse, would lose one |
third of their electives and one-half |
of their material, and would find |
themselves comparatively as weak on |
the line of the Mouse as they now are. |
On the other hand, he declared, If |
they were allowed to retreat to the |
powerfully fortified lines of the Mouse
with their armies intact and their line !
shortened by nearly 500 kilometers. |
forty of their divisions would be !
available for maneuvering.