Evening star., 1919-06-03

Germans should be permitted to argue
as to the justice or injustice or the
terms, but merely to discuss the ma
chinery and method.
Huns Affect Injured Innocence.
The Germans, on their side, have af-
fected to believe from the beginning
that they were not defeated, and that
| they were entitled to all kinds OF I'M
munities and privileges flowing from
their Interpretation of the fourteen
points. They had assumed from the
beginning to talk in the tone or IN
jured innocence, and to appeal 10
precisely those principles which they
violated during their days OF pros
perity.
The answer which the Germans
/ have now made is both defiance. and
appeal to those elements in allied
| countries which they have always
| succeeded in deceiving. and have in
variably been able to mobilize IN
| their. own interests. They are now
| endeavoring' to save themselves oy
precisely that liberal faction Of the
the beginning.
Wants to Continue Reign Of Terror
| Of peace are certain which demand
| that Germany shall surrender the
| territories which she took by vio-
| lence, provinces inhabited by Poles.
! by Belgians, by French, the booty OF
| successful Prussian war waged for
| aggrandizement from the days Of
| Frederick the Great to those of Will
| liam II. Germany now demands that
| in each of these provinces taken by
| force of arms and ruled by tyranny
| surprising description, there shall be
| instituted a plebiscite, which means
| that the people she has terrorized
| over long years shall be exposed to
| new terrorism under cover of self
| determination.
| Every principle which Germany
i seeks to invoke she seeks to invoke
| with her tongue in her cheek. She is
not discussing the question on its
merits. She is making a final effort
! to escape just sentence by appealing
| jurors She believes that because
| certain Americans and certain Brit
| ish have criticised the terms OF the
| treaty Of peace her present tactics
| will divide her conquerors and enable
her to escape.
Supreme Act in World War.
Thus we have come to the supreme
act alike in the peace conference and
| five years ago that Germany violated
| her own obligations and those bind
| ing upon her as civilized country
and assailed the liberties of the
| her were accessories to that. crime.
| While that criminal procedure pros
| pered they loudly proclaimed the
| German purpose to dominate the
| world and enslave the people of
| neighboring countries. Today they
| pioned and preserved by their enc
| mics to enable them to escape the
J consequences of their crime.
| The German answer is monument OF
hypocrisy and an encyclopaedia OF In
veracity. Its authors have defied the
| governments represented in Paris in the
| last hope Of rousing the people OF enemy
countries against their own governments.
| The maneuver is exactly the maneuyer
Of 1917, when the reichstag declared for
peace without annexation. while the
| government prepared for the spohanon
Of Russia and operations which ended
! in the treaty Of Brest-Litovsk.
Believes Allied Unity Has Ended.
The German believes, as his action
| indicates, that allied unity has ceased
to exist. that allied need Of peace will
compel allied statesmen to abandon the
Just returns of victory and place upon
the shoulders Of their own people the
burdens Of the German ATTACK. There
| is not from one end to the other OF the
4
ton Of the existence OF a new spirit in
Germany. Rather, we see the old spirit
seizing frantically upon the new words
| of their enemies and endeavoring to
pie which survives in this world today
| only because OF the sacrif1ce OF Inc al
lied armies.
new government inspired by new prin-
ciples and led by new men is lie on
~ The German COnten.
tion that they surrendered their
armies that their armies consented to
the armistice because OF willing
ness to accept the fourteen points, Is
a cheap falsehood. The German armies
agreed to the armistice because they
were on the eve of utter destruction.
The fourteen points were kept from
the German people by the German
government to the very end. In the
first week Of November, 1918, the sim
gle concern of German leaders was to
escape the utter destruction Of their
armies which was impending. They
surrendered because they had to-. The
fourteen points was an after thought.
Allies Will Make Few Changes.
Within the next week the allies will
make their answer to Germany. I'm
less all signs fail. this answer will
contain few notifications and none of
| tnem COnSlQeTdDle. II Will DS dCCOIl-
panied by an ultimatum and time
limit. On or before June Is we should
have peace or military operations in
Germany should have begun. If the
| allies consent to further negotiations
now, the conference Of Paris will un-
auestionably be prolonged for many
months This circumstance alone
should and probably will influence the
character Of the answer.
| Germany May Win War Yet.
In sum, Germany has taken her sem