New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-05-11
~%HE first reactions to the
peace treaty may he summed
up as follows:

peace treaty MAY ne ouHilieu
4 up as follows:
Germany: Bitter and an
orv, rith call for revenge.
France. Disappointed, but ready
to make the best of 1t.
England: Satisfied, except as to
eogueness Of imden'nities.
America: Enthusiastic approval,
ercept for radicals and German
language press.
Typical Of German opinion is the
declaration of DR.. Theodor Wolff in
the Berlin "Tageblatt," that the
treaty docs not show a trace of
craftsmanship or of President Will
sons principles, but is a brutal,
thoughtless product of thought
less, intoxicated brutality.' DR..
Wolff added that the occupation of
the left bank of the Rhine for ff-
teen years would "within a few
years create imperialism and call
for revenge in Germany"
A correspondent of "The New
York World" cables this description
of popular opinion in Berlin:
thinking Germany is unalter-
ab onvnced that France has tri-
ungAed over President Wilson and
that the peace terms violate the let
ter and spirit of the Wilsonian prin-
cples. The thoughtful are equally
convinced that Germany, temporarily
impotent. can be forced to submit to
what is thus characterized as
'gewaltfrieden,' but that such peace
viii not be permanent, that it is a
mere makcshift and that its terms
are impossible of fulflment and never
can be carried out in full.
The tremendous body of public
opinion fervently believes that this
peace makes another and more ter
rible war inevitable. Not only the
miitarists, Junkers and former Pan
Germans, but the clericals and even
the Democrats see the peace treaty
giving birth to the revanche idea in
Germany, with new and greater 1r
redentas as a congenital menace to
the peace of the world
The defiant conduct and speech of
Count Won Brockdorf- Rantzau at
the peace conference is apparently
in line with home sentiment in Ger
many. The peace treaty will be
signed, all reports indicate, but only
as a dictated peace.
4 Harsh Treaty
In this country all the comment
recognizes the extreme severity of
the peace terms, but upholds them
as just and righteous Typical of
the almost universal view is "The
Richmond Times-Dispatch":
Under the treaty of peace Germany
is stripped to its criminal hide. 1t is
rot ruined or swept off the map. 1t is
left sufficient resources to work out its
own salvation and pay its debts, but
tor generations TO come it will bear q
crushing burden as a reminder of those
bloody years it forced on the world
1t is harsh treaty, it could not be
otherwise and be just, but it is not SO
harsh as the merciless one Germany
was prepared to impose on its enemies
lad not its sword been sheathed in
defeat, dishonor and disgrace, and Ger
many will sign. 1t will whine and
plead, but sign it must"
Only a few suggestions that the
terms may be too harsh have ap-
reared. "The New York Sun
tentatively raises a query as to the
Tropriety Of furnishing unborn Ger
rans:
Admitting that no punishment car
BE- overpunishment for the criminals
guilty Of the greatest crime in the
worlds experience, and that the limo
cen. in Germany must inevitably suf
fer Just as the innocent elsewhere have