Omaha daily bee., 1919-06-28
The Inevitable Surrender
From the New York Times.

The Germans will sign They have acquiesced
as it was plain they must acquiesce, in the terms
dictated by the twenty-odd nations that one
after another were forced to take up arms to de-
fend themselves against German aggression.
Truthful for once, they say that they are yield
ing to force to escape worse fate, and this is
exactly what they are doing. So long as the
Germans had the superior force, the world had
no chance of getting peace that would have
suited the elementary demands OF Justice. That
such peace is now written down, that the Ger
mans sign it, we owe to the utilization OF force
without stint or limit.
But nobody should, probably few will, attach
too much importance to the German decision
| to accept the inevitable This undigmhed yield
ing after repeated vows never, never to yield is
only one incident in the long series which began
with the French. American and British often
sives of July l8 and August of last year, and
came to its elimination in the German submits
sion to armistce terms which took away for
the time being Germany's power to do harm.
The formal ceremony Of signature, which will
take place some time this week in the Hall of
Mirrors, will be an impressive demonstration of
in history for all time as warning to young
and ambitious military empires; but it, too will
be only an incident in the series which began
nearly a year ago, and which will not end for
many years to come. The peace has been &C
copied; it will soon be signed; it remains to be
enforced.
Much that is characteristic of the German
mind may be found in the final efforts to obtain
further mitigation of the terms. These terms,
the Germans have repeatedly asserted, are un-
endurable, literally impossible of fufili,nent.
Germany now undertakes, under duress, to full
fill them. Is it change of opinion as to the
possibility of compliance, or does Germany hope
that the Allies may ascrbe too much merit to
the mere German signature to a document?
The Germans insisted that they would not &C
49, It, "a L. - A.
document which their ENJOYS are about to sign
under duress, to be sure. But they knew they
would have to sign it. Did their tumut and
shoutings up to the very last moment serve the
purpose of calling their protestations of inno-
cence to the attention of History, or will His
are obstnately denying what all the world
knows to be true? In recent note the German
government solemny declines all responsibility
as regards the consequences which may be
threatened against Germany when, as is bound
to happen, the impossibity of carrying out the
specific declaration it declines responsibility for
ANY difficulty which may result from the re-
sstance of the inhabitants in the districts to be
cut off in the East against their separation from
Germany"
If any but Germans had written those lines
we should take it outright declaration
that they did not intend to abide by the treaty;
and that in particular they would continue to
make trouble for Poland But the Germans
are strange race; this may be merely their
tactful way of calling attention to what they re-
gard as their wrongs. In the same way we
might regard the solicitude expressed in the
notes for the Kaiser and other war offenders
The Germans have driven the Kaiser out into
the wilderness with the burden of their sins
upon him; the German people, we have been
assured, abhorred the war from the outset and
would have none of it; if any Germans were
J,1i1f in Cd %lo,,, 1,4 1a,~
Gus neighbors, it must have been the Kaiser
and his officials. So many German digntaries
have in the past few months called Our attention
to the distinction between the old German Gov
eminent and the German people that one is sur
prised at finding the peoples representatives
coming sturdily to the defense of the man whom
they condemned
The incident of Scapa Flow. followed by SINH
lar sinkings OF German warships at Kiel, comes
conveniently to remind us of the difficulties we
are likely to have in the enforcement of just
reparations and the finding of just guarantees
for the future. The Germans are delighted
by the sinking OF the ships; the Berliner Tage-
blatt alone regrets it, since the Allies may add
the value of the lost ships to the indemnity,
and thinks that this may be too much to pay
for "a fine gesture" That is it exactly. To a
German, the destruction of property to be sur
rendered in partial reparaton, destruction &C
complished by taking advantage of the confidence
or the laxity of an enemy, is fine gesture I'm
less we want to have intensive sabotage applied
to the treaty terms, the allied military COM
mands and Reparations Commission will have
to be more alert than were the British naval
authorities at Scapa Flow. We have beaten the
Germans; they have now promised to pay. But
they are the same Germans; the moral reforma-
ton which so many of us hoped for two years
ago seems no nearer than ever. Until it comes,
it is for the Governments and peoples of the
allied nations to see that Germany does not
evade the demands of justice which she now
promises to meet.