Evening star., 1918-01-04
Developments in Russo-Ger-
man Peace ParIey Possibly
Will Force Action.
SLAVS MAKE COUNTER
PROPOSALS TO TEUTONS
Berlin Upholds More Moderate Con.
ferees-Terrible Conditions Pre-.
vail in tie Russian Armies.

By the Associated Press
LONDON, January 4.-Recog-
milton of the Lenine. government
IN Russia by the entente allies is
probable owing to the develop
ments in the Russo-Gernan nepo-
tiatons, according to the Daily
Chronicle, which prints the state
ment IN heavy type. The state-
ment apparently is based on a con-
tribution by a diplomatic cor
respondent, which is printed be-
meath It. The writer says that
owing to the bolshevik discovery
OF German duplicity anything may
happen.
Cites Three Alternatives.
There are" he says. three alter.
natives: The bolsheviki may give way.s
the Germans may give way or there
first is hardly likely, In view of Foreign
Minister Trotzky's declaration. The
second is possible. for the Germans are
past masters in the art of specious COM
promise. But the third Is most prob
able. since the bolsheviki have exhibited
a perspicacity which was hardly ex-
pected in this country.
Russia. the land of boundless sur
prises, may. quite possibly witness a
revival of war; if not in the most active
form. it might. at least. be sullenly
defensive war, necessitating the keep
ing on the frontier of a considerable
German force. 1t would at least pre-.
vent those pleasant and profitable COM
mercial exchanges which Germany
hopes for.
Assuming such a situation and the
consolidation of bolshevik power, pro-
vided failure to extract a peace does
not wreck the Lenine regime. then
recognition of that power as the
that is so, socialist would be the
logical representative of that govern
ment, and Maxim Litvinoff.- who has
been appointed, is a likely enough oc-
cupant of the embassy
Retirement of Buchanan.
Referring to the retirement of Sir
George w. Buchanan. the British ann
bassador to Russia, whose services are
praised highly, the writer says:
in his place probably would be sent
a diplomat in marked sympathy with
the ideas of revolutionary Russia
BE that as it may, we expect shortly
some new statement of policy with
regard to Russia, which, should it
lean toward the latest developments
and democracy, would undoubtedly
strengthen the allied cause in Russia"
Counter Proposals of Teutons.
dispatch to the Daily News from
Petrograd dated Wednesday says:
The Russians now have made coun-
ter proposals to the Teutonic allies
which are under consideration and will
be discussed at the next meeting of
the peace delegates at BreSt-Litovsk
Saturday.
The proposals embody the immedi-
ate evacuation of occupied territory
pending a referendum. the evacuated dis
representatives of the people. who are to
be assisted by the local militia
Germans Are Divided.
Thre were two distinct tendencies
noticeable in the enemy delegation at
the Brest-Litovsk meetings, the Petro-
grad correspondent of the Daily News
says. one was allltNdilOnlSt ana was
represented by Gen. Won Hoffman. A
more moderate view was upheld by
Foreign Secretaries van Kuehlmann and
Czernin.
There We're frequent disputes be-
tween the two tendencies. These were
settled, it is added, by appeals to Ber-
liz. which always supported Won
kuehlmann and Czernin. Gen. Won
Hoffman took the purely military point
of view and complained with great bit
hos P,S
the armistce to agitate among Ger
man soldiers.
According to the correspondent, there
is a belief among the Russian delega-
Russian demands concerning Poland
and Lithuania. so as not to lose the ad-
vantage by seeming to agree with Rus
sia while the entente allies disagree.
The reasons for wishing the negotia-
tions to be continued at Stockholm are
a desire for greater publicity, and this
idea, expressed in bolshevik state
ment:
while we recognize that Stockholm
is not very neutral. il is, anyhow. more
neutral than German headquarters
Teuton Plans Spurned.
The Daily News correspondent was
present at the Smolny Institute. the
bolshevik headquarters, when NJ. Ka-
meneff, one of the Russian peace dele
gates, presented his report on the ne
gotiations at Brest-Litovsk. With
other things. NJ. Kameneffs report
showed. he says. that the Germans at
tempted to bind Russia to their country
bv renewal of the treaty of 1904, which
Emperor Nicholas declined to extend,
resulting in situation which was one
of the causes of the war. Germany
made other proposals, all for the pur-
pose of obtaining a position as the
most favored nation. The Russians
stated that they believed in equality
of trade and that at the very moment
when they We're engaged in socializfng
industry, Matchmaking banks, etc, they
could not subscribe to principles con-
trary to socialism. On this point, the
CORRESPONDENT says, the Germans seem
to have receded from their position
Appalling Army Conditions.
Speeches by soldier delegates de-
scribed the appalling conditions in the
army, which is disorganized. poorly
clothed and starving. Even the artil-
lery horses have died from lack of fod-
der Nevertheless. all the delegates as
serted the soldiers were willing to con-
tfnue the war. notwithstanding these
L.