The Washington herald., 1919-06-16
GERMANS PLEAD
WILSONIAN IDEA
IN TREATY REPLY
Claim League Impossible
Without Presence of
Teutons.
AGREE PREPARATIONS
Refuse to Surrender Any
Subjects for Trial on
War Crimes.

Paris. June 15.--Germany's i'm
portance is independent OF her tenn
porary military and political posi-
ton II she is not admitted I'M
mediately on the signing of peace
sto the league of nations. 1t is i'm
possible to speak of a league of
nations"
This is one Of the points raised
by Germany in her 60.00O-word reply
to the peace treaty in which she
makes a long series of counter-pro-
posals. A summary of that reply was
issued tonight by the Committee Vi
Public Information. on the eve of
the delivery to Count Won Brock
dorn-Rantzau, by the allies. of the
amended pact.
On the whole. the summary covers
little new ground. the main points
Of the German arguments having
been covered in press dispatches
during the last few weeks. Beyond
putting the official stamp on these
dispatches. the summary reveals.
however. some interesting details. 1t
shows. also. that the German reply
was much stronger. both in text
and tenor. of protests and counter
demands than hitherto indicated.
Plead Wilson's II Points.
The main thread of the German
answer is the charge that the orig
inal peace treaty constitutes a
breach of the solemn armistice
agreement. based on the Wilsonian
fourteen points. 1t says the treaty
would mean the complete enslave-
ment of the German people and the
betrayal of all the worlds cher
ished hopes of peace" The right
of self determination. the Germans
assert. has been "wiltully violated
throughout"
IL is difficult to see. Germany
AYERS. how any harsher terms could
have been dictated to the former
imperialistic and irresponsible Gov
ernment. Many speeches of allied
statesmen and of President Wilson
are then quoted as saying the war
was against that government. not
against the German people. In the
words of the summary:
To-day. however. the allied
powers are facing not an irrespon-
sible German government but a
people ruling its own future for it.
self. This has been utterly disre-
garded in the draft treaty"
Call 1t Capitalist Triumph.
The treaty is described as merely a
celebration of the last triumph of i'm
perialist and capitalist tendencies
In another passage the reply says
Germany cannot consent to the bar
tering OF human beings" and later:
The German government declines to
make any reparation in the form of
punishment. and still more emphat-
ically declines to pas on to individual
parts of the population the punishment
intended for the whole of the COM
munity."
Annexation of the Saar district is
called the creation of another Alsace-
Lorraine AS for those provinces Ger
many claims their session without con-
sulting the population would be a new
wrong She admits that according to
present conceptions of right an in
Justice was committed in 1S1 when the
people were not consulted"
Won't Give Up Ex-Kalser.
Acceptance Of the trial of the for
ner Kaiser. and sanction of his ex-
tradition from Holland are fatty re-
fused on the ground that no German
subject can be brought before for
elgn court without established law or
legal basis" Nor will she consent to
the extradition of other subjects ac-
cused of war crimes. but instead pro-
noses an international court of neu-
trails. ito Judge the fact of crime" The
punishment, however, she claims. must
remain with the national courts.
tTrder the head of reparation, the
German reply contains this statement:
Damage for France and Belgium.
GERMANY accepts the obligations TO
nay for all damages sustained by the
civil populations in the occupied parts
of Belgium and France. inasmuch as
she brought upon them the terrors of
var by n branch Of international law
through the violation of neutrality"
The Germans refuse, however. TO
nav reparation to other occupied ter
ritories in Italy. Montenegro. Serbia.
Russia and Poland. on the ground
that no attack in contradiction TO
International Law was involved" She
refuses to pay the costs of the allied
American armies of occupation. con-
sidering this both unnecessary and
uneconomic."
The counter proposals regarding the
payment of reparation are substan-
TALLY as previously reported, Ger.
many offering to issue. four weekl
after peace, government bonds f6r
IS. .0oo. .00o. 900 payable before MAY p,
1896 and in annual payments without
interest. these not to exceed s25g,ooo,
900 a year for the first ten yeavs, the
grand total not to exceed 80. .oce 600 900