Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-05-08

i
Less than a year ago. in Russia and
subsequently in Italy, we had an admra-
BILE and final example of what German
peace proposals mean. The Germans used
the talk of peace to disorganize and dis
rupt Russia. Temporarily adopting fhe
bolshevik phrase of ''peace without an
nexations and without indemnities.' Ger
man agents and German influences pro-
cured the utter decentralization of the
Russian public and then of the Russian
army.
A few months later the same process
was repeated in the case of Italy. Just as
unmistakably as the German general en-
ployed his artillery and his gas to reduce
the barbed wire entanglements and in
capacitate the enemy troops before an
infantry attack, the German statesmen
and propagandists used the peace discus
sion to break down the Intellectual and
moral dcfenses of the Italian people.
When the propaganda preparation was
complete the army attacked. and we had
the disaster of the Upper lsonzo
Today it is essential to recognize at
the outset of new peace offensive that
it is once more d war measure The
German is using the talk of peace to pre-
pare the way for esnfn new attack IT. ses, by his
Il b
breach in the moral trench lines OF his
foes, as he used his artillery to prepare
the way for his great attack of March Il.
We are, then, bound not to fall into the
trap. We are bound beyond all else to
avoid playing the German game by one
more general and solemn discussion OF
alleged German peace terms. which sud
denly leap from outer darkness to the
headlines and front pages Of all news
papers and become the topic of discussion
of millions Of people. This is exactly what
the German wants to procure; this is the
result which he is seeking and this is
the result which in the past he has, TO
very great extent, succeeded in procur-
ing. to the very great injury of his enc
mics and to his own considerable tenn
porary advantage.
Preparing Greatest Blow.
The German is at present committed to
the greatest offensive of all human his
tory. He is in the midst Of operations
from which he hopes to emerge the mas
ter of the world. He still expects to crush
the British armies in France before the
American troops can arrive in sufficient
numbers to deprive him of the initiative
and the offensive for the balance of the
war.
There is not the smallest warrant for
the belief at the present hour that.
despite obvious delays and temporary
disappointments, the German does not
expect to win his great battle. We are
confident, we on the allied side. because
we have escaped great disaster and
achieved a unity of command and a CO.
ordination of resources which must
give us greater powers for resistance
than ever before. But there is no rea-
son for foolish optimism. The simple
truth is that we have been twice in two
months on the edge of grave disasters
the extent of which it is still unwise to
discuss
The German knows how near he came
to winning the war between March 2l
and April /. He expects to win it now
thanks to the advantage gained in the
tragic ten days. But he is intensely
anxious that his foes should believe
that he has lost hope, that he has aban-
doned his grandiose expectations. and
that he is really suing for peace under
cover of neutral agencies. If he can
establish this idea his next attack will
be an even greater surprise than his
last.
Assails Morale of People.