Evening star., 1921-11-03
French Want Guarantees.

French Want Guarantees.
Bear these eight points in mind.
We shall meet. them again. Six
French parliament in turn deems it
necessary to declare its war aims
IN two formal resolutions. These
resolutions asserted 1.-The will of
france, true to her alliances, faithful
er,l 20 ner 10 ideal Of independence and lib
erty Tor all peoples, to pursue the
war until Alsace-Lorraine are re-
stored, crimes are punished, damages
are repaired and guarantees against
further aggression by German mill
tar1sm are secured"
In England. in Italy. in Belgium.
the par1iaments in like terms con-
nrmed the declarations Of their gov
ernments and the instructive desires
OF their peoples. All the European
allies are thus after three years Of
The first that no peace is possible
until victory has been won: the sec
ond, that, victory won, the allies will
demand for themselves and for all
nations the right of self-determina-
eion Tor az peoples. reparations. guar
war aims are clear. They are public.
Henceforth all men know what the
peace of victory will be. Those,
therefore,, who are not satisfied with
tnem can protest. But no protest is
raised except by a. few socialists who
ma these terms too severe.
rave these war aims solemnly pro-
claimed to the world been modified
since: Judge for yourself.
President's Fourteen Points,
On January 6, 1918, the President of
the United States in an address to
the Congress lays down "a program
Tor world peace" which has since be-
come known as the fourteen points,"
Much has been said about them, often
cy those who neither knew when
they were first formulated nor what
they meant. 1t is therefore relevant
to give their substance here, present.
ing them in the same order as the
eight points of January. 1917:
l. Evacuation and restoration Of
Belgium without any Limitation of
her sovereignty.
?. Evacuation of French terri
tory: restoration OF the invaded
regions; reparations of the wrong
done to France in 1871 in the mat
ter Of Alsace-Lorraine.
g.. Evacuation Of Russian terri
tory and settlement leaving her
entirely free to decide her own
fate.
4. Readjustment of the Italian
frontier in accordance with the
principle of nationality.
.: opportunity Of autonomous
development for the peoples Of
T Austria-Hungary.
6. Evacuation and restoration of
Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro,
with access to the sea for Serbia.
7. Limitation of Ottoman sover-
eighty to regions actually Turk
ish; autonomy for all the other
peoples; international guarantees
for the fFeedom of the Dardanelles.
=. An Independent Poland, with
free access to the sea.
>. The creation of league of
nations giving mutual guarantees
Of political Independence and ter
ritorial integrity to great and small
states alike.
70. Impartial adjustment of colo
nial claims
II. Exchange Of guarantees for
the reduction of ornaments
IL. Elimination as far as possi-
Bile of economic barriers; CONNER
cial equality for all nations.
13. Freedom of the seas.
IA. Open diplomacy; no secret
International agreements of any
kind.
Met Only Approval
When on January 9 this. declara-
tion. identical in meaning-especiall
as far as France is concerned-with
the previous declarations of the al
lies. was known to Europe, it met
with nothing but approval and sup
port. Parliaments and press alike
interpreted it as a further pledge of
Americas unity Of purpose, which
every one recognized to be essential
on the eve Of the great battle Of the
spring. Frenchmen saw in it also
the first public recognition of their
right to Alsace-Lorraine. without a
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