Arizona republican., 1919-05-09
The Treaty with the Gsrmans

Even the casual reader who may have feared that the peace conference might deal lenientIy with Germany must have been reassured on reading the 10000 word summary of that part of the peace treaty dealing directly that country t had come to be understood that the terms would be severe but no hint of them could have given the impression con veyed by cold type and the cold of Clemenceau informing the German delegates that they were now about to pay the penalty for having set the world on fire.
 The amount of reparaton is fixed by the treaty. That is necessarily left open for two pur- poses. one to determine the amount of the damages and the next to fix of payment which will be Ito the uttermos" as the British have all along demanded Whatever it may be. a heavy burden will rest on the German people for generations
 Tho summary does not precisely describe the new section which included since last Monday to meet the French objection the terms as then fixed but no doubt is left that France is guarded to it's full satisfaction.
 In every clause. so far the summary dscloses Germany is shorn of territory or some privilege or is bound by some restriction We find nothing in the treaty that bears special relation the four teen points, nor the treaty be regarded as a confirmation or elaboration of the armistice.
 The treaty was not meant to humiliate Germany. That is assume that there was in the conference ", modern history have harder or more humiliating terms been imposed upon a conquered people.
 Yet may compare the spirit of the conference with that which peryaded the first Versailles confer ence when Germany ruthlessly set it's heel upon a helpless France and found pleasure in the suffering t produced. There none of this gorificaton in the attitude of the allies toward the German dele gates There the cold anger of Clemenceau against Germany a criminal which had brought sorrow and loss to France His words were as those oC judge still mortified at the crimes of the trembling wretch upon whom he is about to pass sentence.
 In this sentence there is something more than justice There is precaution Perhaps the terms would have been made easier for Germany: perhaps the allies would have pocketed considerable part of their losses and would have accepted them the dead and the billions as incidents of the great war if by so doing they could have been assured that there would be war
 The sentence shows the great distrust of Ger many belief that the world can be safe only so long Germany can be kept crippled and that the treaty proposes, whether not events so dispose, shall be for generations until shall seen whether time can change the German thought and habit them selves the growth of generations
 It is less than three years ago that President Wilson uttered one of those generalizations which have often him the back track; there could be peace with victory; hard huniliating terms could be imposed upon a beaten nation that would not produce ranking that would induce a fiercer war than before The president that time believed that the begerents should compose their differences by agreeing to quit fighting by letting by-gones be by-gones; there were to be no changes of boun- daries, no annexations and indemnites.
 The British and the French the futity of | peace without victory, without the crushing, total defeat Of Germany and the imposition of conditions that would leave Germany powerless to resume To them anything less than that would be the com pounding of felony. They could not believe that the simple failure of Germany in the first instance the world would leave if filled with love for those who had prevented it's Hence we have the treaty which leaves Germany bound and helpless
 We. on our part, went to war against some rather abstract things and with some shadowy objects in view We were fighting only those very indefinite