The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-01-19

Apparently the cover has been SCI
curely clamped down again on the
boiling pot in Germany and linden
burg and Ludendorf are sitting on the
lid. The more liberal elements have
been over-ridden for the present and
the junkers have full sway. The civil
authorities seem to realize that the
prolongation of the war into 1919 is
likely to result in victory for the allies.
But the war lords, drunk with pride
and the IL st of conquest, seem still to
have hopes of bringing the allies to
terms either thru the economic pres
sure of the submarine campaign, the
collapse of Italy or France, the weak
ening of the morale of the masses in
all of the allied countries or some
combination of these influences
How strong is the hope of success
on the part o. the military leaders,
they alone know. Any hope at all
would be enough to keep them fight
ing on to the end. To-accept peace
now on the terms laid down by Presi-
dent Wilson and Premier Lloyd George
would be an acknowledgment of full
and final defeat. The dream of en-
pire would, vanish like a mirage. The
German people would awaken from
the trance in which they have been
held for years by their rulers to the
stern reality of enormous war debts,
ruined business, lost man power, in
absolutely nothing to compensate them
for their sacrifices
The awakened people would demand
an accounting. They would want to
know why their fathers and husbands
and sons had been flung into the
would be no answer. The powers that
BIS in Germany have no heart to face
such an accounting.
If they accept a peace without con-
quests, one that does not establish the
security of their middle Europe empire
and extend their dominion in some
apparent and tangible way the end of
the war will be the beginning of a real
German revolution. A triumphant
Junkerdom can retain its hold on the
popular imagination and the reins of
power. A junkerdom that can show no
trophies of victory will stand out as a
hopeless failure in the eyes of the
people. Its prestige will be brok en-.
The only excuse tor existence that it
has ever attempted to give to the
public will have been swept away and
crucified people will arise en- masse
to take vengeance on those who nailed
them to a futile cross
The kaiserse and Hindenburgs and
Ludendorfs have nothing to gain and
everything to lose by accepting the
allied peace terms. To accept those
terms now means the immediate end
of their day of dominion. If the war
goes on it will at least postpone indef-
initely the accounting, and there is al
ways the possibility of bluffing the al
lies into a premature peace that would
leave the militarists still in the saddle
in Germany with something to show
for the terrible sacrifices the nation
has made. Then too. there is the fur
ther possibility that some unfore-
seen military blunder upon the part of
the British or French commanders, or
some sudden and effective strategic
blow by the German armies may give
the victory to the central powers
OF course these are only remote pos
are possibilities, and even the remotest
chance of success is better than the
certainty of immediate ruin. And, if
worst comes to worst, and Germany
is utterly defeated in 1919 or 1920, the
militarists will at least have the con-
ISOLATION of having postponed their
downfall for two or three years.
Make sure of one thing. The junk
erS will accept no compromise that
does not leave them with the whip
hand. If they cannot win they will at
least fight to the last, and go down
with colors flying.
The possibility of bluffing the allies
into a premature peace seems the
most promising hope for the German
militarists at the present time. They
may have little if any faith in their