PEACE TERMS
Follette, Robert M. La
PEACE TERMS An Editorial by Robert M. La Follette ON January 8th, at 11:30 o'clock A. M. word came from the White House that at 12:30 the President would discuss "our international relations"...
...The answer must rest largely with the people of this country...
...Surely the President's silence upon this point cannot be construed into an approval of the impossible demands of Lloyd George...
...These terms are brought together in this issue of our Magazine, I believe for the first time, in such form that it is possible to compare them and know exactly the points of agreement and the points of difference...
...Freedom of the Seas "Freedom of the seas" means a very simple thing...
...In times of peace the vessels of all nations may freely travel to all parts of the world across the seas, but in time of war, the great superiority of Great Britain's naval power would enable her to control the sea...
...For the purpose of bringing into sharp relief the position of Russia, the President and Lloyd George upon the fundamental terms, I here reproduce in parallel columns the exact language used by each...
...15) Gradual disarmament on land and sea, and the re-establishr-ient of militia to replace standing armies...
...It betokens, perhaps, a better grasp of the problems undertaken...
...4. Freedom of the seas...
...ne must be restored to France, and that the war could not be concluded on any other basis...
...The plain people of all the warring countries were always opposed to this war- lt was thrust uP°n them by their rulers a,d u wil1 simply add to the crimes of the ruling class to further burden a destitute and starving popuF1'0" of anV one of ^e war" ring countries by forr>ne indemnities from them as a condition of peac-- Each country might far better contribute a sm*11 portion of the enormous amount required to c^ntini,i the war as Russia proposes thereby creatFE an international fund to restore the territories Pasted and desolated by the havoc of war...
...This address shows a radical and very important change of position on the part of the President since his message to Congress at the opening of the session in December...
...Their conception of what is right, of what is humane and honorable for them to accept, has been stated with a frankness, a largeness of view, a generosity of spirit, and a universal human sympathy which must challenge the admiration of every friend of mankind...
...Before we can subscribe to the freedom of navigation upon the seas outside of territorial waters alike in peace and in war, we must consid r the matter m re in detail...
...7) Rumania to recover all territory within her previous frontiers, after promising to grant autonomy to the Dobrudja, and to give effect to Article III of the Berlin Convention concerning the equality of the rights of Jews...
...Answer Rests With People Is there in the terms proposed by all the belligerents a possible basis from which to negotiate for an honorable and righteous peace...
...We now know the terms of Great Britain and the other Allies...
...The others have all been put forth very recently and were called out by the necessity of meeting the frank statement of Russia which was published in this country orf the 2nd and 3rd of the present month...
...No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another...
...Russia is frankly the champion of the latter...
...The French peace terms have been several times published and are all included within those stated by Lloyd George...
...10) The people of Austria-Hung^'- whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development...
...Not covered by the President's terms...
...and I believe that the people of the United States would wish me to respond, with utter simplicity and frankness...
...to be settled by a pea e congress composed of delegates chosen by national, representative bodies...
...diplomatics to bind themselves to sign no secret treaties, which are to be declared, by their very nature, null and void...
...but the Congress does hereby declare favor of the creation of a common fund 10 be pro\ided by all the belligerent nations tt' assist in the restoration of the portions of territory in any of the countries most seriously devastated by the war, and for the establishment of *n international commission to decide the allotment of the common fund...
...He there said: "Britain will rule the waves through the war and after the war...
...The President in his reply to the Pope, under date of August 27, 1917, speaking of our attitude said: "We Seek no material advantage of any kind...
...b) Commerce and sailors...
...It implies the right of the people to discuss terms of peace, to express their views on the objects and purposes of the war...
...The President demands abolition of secret diptomacy...
...The peace terms or the German Reichstag were promulgated last July...
...Might it require Austria to renounce her ancient seaport of Trieste, w7hich in 1888 celebrated the five hundredth anniversary of her union with Austria...
...Respecting' Italy, the Russian suggest autonomy for the regions of Trent and Trieste inhabited by Italian population until .. plebiscite is taken...
...The London iimes said the same thing...
...and they have refused to compound their ideals or desert others that they themselves may be safe...
...There is an evident effort on the part of the war press to interpret the President's message of Jan...
...It will be observed further that with the 13th, 14th and 15th propositions of Russia, prohibiting commercial boycotts after the war, forbidding secret treaties, and providing for disarmament on land and sea, the President is in substantial agreement, while Lloyd George is silent...
...I am loath to believe, however, that either would go before the people of their respective countries and contend against the Russian demand in this respect' The 12th proposition of Russia, is that indemnities are to be renounced by all belligerents, though contributions exacted since the war began are to be refunded...
...He proposes l: at t' e wro i s.all be "rigited...
...12) The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees...
...In this connection I call attention to some of the comments of the British press on the President's peace terms...
...The Morning Post of London is also quoted in the same issue of the New York Tribune as saying: "We are compelled to t ieve that certain conditions of the President's speech require modification...
...Who is to say when and precisely how the "wrong" as to Alsace-Lorraine "shall be righted...
...5. Alsace-Lorraine—"reconsidered...
...As much cannot be said for the language of either the President or Lloyd George...
...by the German Reichstag...
...There are two forces in this country as in every other warring country seeking peace...
...This states in President Wilson's classic language the principle for which all those who have been asking for a statement of war aims and terms of peace, have contended since the declaration of war...
...What disposition of Alsace-Lorraine will make peace secure is not suggested...
...Having this knowledge, if we continue to fight the war as an Ally in fact, although no formal treaty exists, if we accede to their terms we shall be in no position to combat them when the war ends, as end it must sometime...
...The Daily Graphic of London, as reported in the New York Tribune of January 11, 1918, said: "With the general tenor of the President's address, there will be heartiest agreement in this country, but it contains one proposition with which Britain cannot under exisling world conditions possibly agree...
...Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired...
...occupied territories restored...
...continue to dominate the sea...
...In his address to the Federation of Labor in Buffalo in November as well as in his address to Congress in December the President was generally understood to express impatience, if not indignation, with all those who migh...
...10) Restoration of Persia and Grec (11) Neutralizaton of all maritime straits leading to inland seas, including the Canals of Suez and Panama...
...And it is claimed by the war press generally, that no avenue is now left open to peace, other than at the end of the years of bloody and devastating war necessary to crush the Central Powers...
...Here are the terms, read them and compare them: Russian Peace Terms (1) The evacuation of all Russian territory occupied by Germany, and ac'jn :ny for Poland and the Lithuanian and Lettish provinces...
...2. Abolition of secret diplomacy...
...3) The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance...
...Taken together they make a composite representation of the views of the political leaders in all of the warring countries...
...What is the real undcrlyinr issue as to Alsace-Lorraine...
...At the present writing negotiations are still proceeding between the German and Russian governments...
...Elsewhere in this number of the Magazine will be found the peace terms proposed by the Bolshevik government of Russia at Brest-Litovsk on the oOth of last month...
...14) Peace condition...
...4) Adeouate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety...
...It will be impossible to restore to their for- mer sovereignty the territories to which I have referred...
...Not covered by the President's terms...
...2) Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action fc- the enforcement of international covenants...
...Disregarding the fervor of this utterance we find on examination it promises only a "reconsideration" of the wrong of '71...
...The President's statement of terms has swept away much of the difficulty that has heretofore obscured the issue...
...Upon this, the President is silent and the statement of Lloyd George clearly means that Germany shall not receive 'back her colonics—in other words that Germany shall be required to give up all territories seized by hei" in the present war, but the territory wrested from her shall not be restored...
...Lloyd George's Peace Terms (4) I am indulging in no reproaches...
...That does not necessarily follow...
...From the omission hi the terms proposed by the President of anything corresponding to the 9th, 10th and 12th terms jiroposed by Russia, it may be argued that the President in these matters supports the contention oi Great Britain...
...5. Disarmament on land and sea...
...5) An independent Poland, comprising all genuinely Polish elements who desire to participate, is an urgent necessity for the stability of Europe, enough we agree with President Wilson that the breaking up of Austria-Hungary ;> no part of our war aims, we feel that unless genuine self-government on true democratic principles is granted those Austria-Hungarian nationalities who have long desired it, it is impossible to hope for the removal of those causes of unrest in that part of Europe which have so long threatened its general peace...
...2) Next comes the restoration of Serbia, Montenegro and the occupied na '.s of France, Italy and Rumania...
...His demands are as follows: 1. German colonies left to conference...
...by Count Czernin, the Austro-Hungary prime minister...
...Taey call to us to say what it is that we desire, in what, if in anything, our purpose and our spirit differ from theirs...
...In brief then, his terms require that the Central Powers after evacuation of all conquered territory and the surrender of all claims to the German colonies and the giving over of a part of the German Empire on the east for the creation of a new Polish Kingdom, the surrender to France of Alsace-Lorraine on the West, and the transfer of certain territory to Italy on the south, without any surrender of the mastery of the seas by Great Britain, or the repudiation of trade war by the Allies...
...On this subject, President Wilson says: "All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, * * * should be righted, in order that peace may once mar* bm made secure in the interest of all...
...9) Germany to receive back her Colonies...
...It is evidence of progress...
...As long as the Allies make demands to which the Central Powers will not and cannot agree, and we fight in union with the Allies on the basis that our cause is identical and inseparable, then their terms are for all intents and purposes our terms, at least so far as prolonging the war is concerned...
...Disarmament to the lowest possible point on land and sea is our demand...
...Thus it appears that freedom of the seas, tho principle for which we have fought since the formation of our government and to enforce which w» entered this war, is demanded by Russia, is agreed to by the Central Powers (see their statement of peace terms on another page of this Magazine) and Great Britain alone demands as she has done for over one hundred years, that she shai...
...What President Wilson says, therefore, is in response proposition by proposition to those advanced by Russia...
...11) of limiting armaments...
...7. Russia and Rumania to take care of themselves...
...Not covered by the President's terms...
...Are the American people to make such enormous sacrifices to insure the fulfillment of terms agreed upon before we entered the war of which we might still be ignorant except for the Russian revolution...
...6) Other contested territory in the Balkans to enjoy temporary autonomy until a plebiscite is taken...
...This is especially true of the Senate, since under the constitution a treaty can only be concluded by the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators present...
...9) There must be reparation for injustice done in violation of international law...
...Lloyd George declares in his statement of January 5th that: "We mean to stand by the French democracy to the death in the demand that they make for the reconsideration of the great wrong of '71 when Alsace-Lorraine was torn way...
...Not covered in Lloyd George's terms...
...If the Central Powers refuse the fair terms of the Russians it will demonstrate that they are seeking selfish advantage at the expense of other nations...
...The President's utterance has, however, been quite generally accepted to mean that Alsace-Lorraine must be restored...
...pwn people...
...b«> yToyj^ed.ljv'.n tr.'.axa$miZT "iYnnnT-i'£) fund...
...freedom of commercial navigation, the cancelling of all charters during war time of enemy ships, and the torpedoing of commercial ships on the high seas to be forbidden by international agreement...
...Here again Lloyd George is diplomatically vague...
...The only purpose of laying these peace terms before the people is so that they may answer that question...
...It ia generally presumed, however, that Lloyd George as spokesman of the Allies meant to say that Alsace-Lor...
...L'ervia, more /er, to have access to the Adriatic...
...Concerning the first part of President Wilson's proposition there can be no dispute, but his statement relating to Alsace-Lorraine is hardly more specific than that of Lloyd George...
...Kesponse to Demand In considering these terms, and especially those advanced by President Wilson, remember that they are made in direct response to the demands of the representatives-, of the Bolshevik government of Russia...
...4) The restoration of Belgium and 'ademnity for damages^ to...
...You will bear in mind of course that none of the governments of the warring countries are bound by the peace terms proposed, though there is little doubt that in each case the terms stated contain the maximum which the respective governments hope to attain...
...That the constitution vests in the Congress as tno accredited and lawful representatives oi tlie People full authority to determine and to declare definitely the objects and purpo.~'3 pr which this Government shall continue to participate in the European War...
...No one can read the Russian peace terms and not be convinced that Russia desires peace without advantage to herself gained at the expense of any other country...
...Not covered in Lloyd George's terms...
...3. Economic war—after peace...
...no country will be capable of paying indemnities that has fought until conquered and crushed...
...A comparative analysis of the President's terms s- stated January 8th with those of Lloyd George, in connection with the circumstances that called them forth, indicates that the President intended his statement not only as a response . i the Russian declaration of peace terms, but that he also intended it as a reply to Lloyd George...
...Resolved further, That Con-ress declares that there should be a public rest, tement of the allied peace terms, based on a disavowal of any advantages, either in the way of indemnities, territorial acquisitions, commercial privileges, or economic prerogatives, by means of which one nation shall strengthen its power abroad at the expense of another nation, as wholly incompatible with the establishment of a durable peace in the world...
...12) All belligerents to renounce war indemnities under any form or disguise whatsoever, and all contributions exacted dnce the bo-ginning of the war to be refunded...
...The trade agreements of the Paris Economic Conference which is recognized to mean "war after war" is not repudiated by the English Premier...
...1) The first requirements always made by th« British and their allies have been the complete restoratic ., Political, territorial and economic, of the independence of Belgium and such reparation as can be made for the devastation of its towns and provinces...
...5) The restoration of Serbia and Montenegro, with indemnity for damages to be taken out of a similar internationui fund...
...Not covered by Lloyd George's terms, but suggestion made in No...
...or why assemblies or newspapers or organizations, or individuals claiming the right to discuss war aims and peace terms, should have been or should be suppressed...
...Serbia accorded free and secure access to tlie sea...
...8) All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restc :ed, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all...
...To the all important principle of freedom of the seas—the principle for whose violation we went to war—Lloyd George is clearly opposed...
...We should also rejoice that the President has -made a public statement of peace terms...
...See (11) of the President's terms, (9) A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of natio.ia.ity...
...The President's Peace Terms (6) The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest co-operation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing, and more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire...
...They offer the basis of discussion and negotiation...
...Not covered by Lloyd ueorge's terms...
...It will be observed that upon the most funda4 mental principles for which we had supposed we were fighting, Lloyd George is either silent or is not in harmony with the objects stated by the President...
...I cannot take the space in this editorial to analyze all the peace terms proposed...
...2. Germany'to relinquish all conquered territory...
...a) On land...
...7) Belgium, the whole wor' 1 will agree, must be <.vacuated and restored, v.ithout any attemnt to limit the sovereignt" which she enjoys in common with all other free n -tions...
...Is it because those provinces contain the richest iron deposits in all Europe...
...But more than that why should we unnecessarily prolong the war when it may be possible to obtain an honorable peace by requiring Great Britain and the Entente Allies to modify their terms in .such a way as to conform to reason and justice...
...8) Autonomy for the regies of Trent and Trieste, inhabited by ItaLan populations, until a plebiscite is taken...
...And England should be compelled to redress tne wrongs of the Boer War, to grant independence to Ireland...
...Proposals of AuK- H-On August 11th, 191''- 1 introduced in the Senate a resolution, which Coi'tained among other things, the following: "Resolved oy the senate (the House of Representatives concurrii'S...
...5th, in answer to the demands of labor...
...There is no longer talk of requiring Germany to modify her form of government before she can be negotiated with...
...Furthermore, the 11th proposition of Russia providing for freedom of the seas in peace as well as in war is approved by the second proposition of the President...
...Is our government to go into the business of righting the wrongs done in Europe half a century ago...
...One is seeking it through the military power, the other through the power of negotiation and diplomacy...
...Evidence- of Progress We should rejoice that these statements of war aims and peace terms, incomplete and even impossible as some of them arc, have been publicly made by certain of the European governments concerned...
...The complete withdrawal of alien armies ;.nd reparation for injustice done is the fundamental condition of a permanent peace...
...Resolved further, That the Congress hereby declares that this Go"ernulP)lt wlu not contribute to the.efforts of any belligerent {"¦•¦ the purpose of prolonging tli° war to annex new territory, either in Euro^t' or outside of Europe, nor to enforce the pavment of indemnities to recover the exoenses ofthe war...
...The President has left ¦no pretense that the German people are savages to whom the hand of friendship may not be extended, or who may not be welcomed into a community of interests with other people in the pursuits of peace...
...His proposition for freednn pf "Tv;~ation cuts at the very roots of Britain's power...
...And the statement on this point in his speecli at Glasgow, June 2!), 1917, in which he t!->en announced terms of peace acceptable to Great Britain has never been withdrawn...
...It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still linger in an age that is dead and gone, which makes it possible tor every nation whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow now or at any other time the objects we have in view...
...Not covered by Lloyd George's terms...
...Although he addressed himself to the English labor organizations, it is everywhere recognized that he spoke officially for the Allies...
...The third proposition of the Russian terms merely says that it shall be left to the people of Alsace-Lorraine to settle their own political destiny Dy tneir own votes...
...I am stating facts to make it clear vhy Britain cannot be held accountable for decisions taken in her absence and concerning which she was not consulted, or her aid invoked...
...nor can it be sani Lhat the Keichii.»6 cr Bn'eshevik representatives can bind their respective countnto...
...In regard to the proposed League of Nations, we again require information and in meantime accept the idea as an aim for the future, with certain reservations...
...The question of Alsace-Lorraine like all the others is dealt with by the Russians simply and sanely, while the statements of the President and Lloyd George thereon are vague and subject to various constructions...
...8th as a mere affirmation of the statement of war aims by the English Premier, Lloyd George on Jan...
...Taken as a whole, Russian terms are very plain and plainly stated...
...by the President of the United States in his address on the 8th of the present month to the joint session of the two houses of Congress...
...On this theory we might be called upon to right the wrongs of the Mexican war, and to satisfy the world that wre are doing all we can for the solution of our own race problem...
...think there was any way left to conclude the war, other than by a decisive and crushing military victory...
...Beside...
...Possibly the door was purposely left open...
...Here is the "acid test" of good faith for all these warring countries, each to surrender for all time the power to interfere with peaceful commerce on the high seas, in war as well as in peace...
...It is the voice of the Russ.ian people...
...Measured by Demand Remember always that it matters little what the President may say or what we may say concerning terms of peace acceptable to us, the duration and intensity of this war is measured by the most extreme demand insisted upon by the most extreme of the Entente Allies...
...The 9th proposition of Russia is in simple, plr.in language, that Germany is to receive back her colonies...
...In some cases it will be observed, while the propositions are numbered differently, that the language of the President and Russia is almost identical...
...The purpose of righting the wrong is not so much to do justice to France but "in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all...
...President Wilson made this very clear in the address referred to when he said: "There is, moreover, a voice calling for these definitions ot principle and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more thrilling and more compelling than any of the many moving voices with which the troubled air of the world is filled...
...I have placed them before the readers of the magazine in such form that all who are interested can analyze them for themselves and draw their own conclusion...
...2) Autonomy for Turkish Armeiuj* (3) Settlement of the question of Alsace-Lorraine by plebiscite, with a guarantee of perfect freedom of vote...
...5) We mean to stand by the French democracy to the death in the demand they make for a reconsideration of the great wrong of '71 when Alsace-Lorraine was torn away...
...In others there are substantial differences and there are significant failures by the President to answer the Bolshevik propositions...
...Upon that principle, Lloyd George i3 silent...
...1) Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of anv kind but diplomacy shall proceed always fiankly and in the public vir.v...
...Are not the interests and the wishes of the inhabitants of this territory to be consulted...
...Wh:.trver tribute is wrung from Germany or any other belligerent, will be paid by the people, not the rule-'s- 11 wi" be Paid bV people who have suffered all thinSs already on account of a war for which they aave no responsibility...
...In his message of January 8th, he says: "No statesman who has the least conception of his responsibility ought for a moment to permit himself to continue this tragical and appalling outpouring of blood and treasure unless he is sure beyond a pcradventure that the objects of the vital sacrifice are part and parcel of the very life of society and that the ,.cople for whom he speaks think them right and imperative as he does...
...The peace conference must not forget our seamen and the se: ices thev have rc lered and the outrages they have suffered for the common cause of freedom...
...Shall the United States be committed to years of foreign war to "right wrongs" of past years o* to readjust boundary lines of Europe or to settle all the complex questions of nationality and race which are the outgrowth ot European history...
...On this also the President is silent, while Lloyd George apparently demands not only indemnities for injuries done bj the Central Powers on land, but that Britain will also require indemnities or damages for her losses at sea...
...Shall we bear the brunt of, it may be, long years of terrible warfare across the seas to determine w' .fher France or Germany shall possess these great ore fields...
...This leads me to summarize the demands of Lloyd George...
...Alsace-Lorraine has been part of Germany, of Austria, of France, and again of Germany...
...4. Italy to have a slice of Austria...
...What action will be taken after reconsideration is not definitely indicated...
...Condition 9 of the President's message of January 8th reads: "A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality...
...This I think is the explanation of the President's unexpected message of January 8th...
...It recognizes the right of the people to know about their own business,—even though that business is war...
...Upon the folloiving, Lloyd George is diplomatically vague or silent: 1. Restoration of Persia and Greece...
...PEACE TERMS An Editorial by Robert M. La Follette ON January 8th, at 11:30 o'clock A. M. word came from the White House that at 12:30 the President would discuss "our international relations" before the two houses of Congress in joint session...
...Othenvise the "Statesmen" may never know,—and the President says he should know beyond a pcradventure,—"that the people for whom lie speaks think * as lie does...
...Can it be supposed that we are to wage a war for material advantage for another government, when we •'"••^ '^••"•"¦^^ advantage for ourselve'We must remember always in dealing with the question of indemnitie''- that ^ people who pay them are not the people who caused the war, or desired the war...
...But nevertheless the President's statement of the terms of peace is entitled to great weifrht, c i-sidering our point of view just as the statements of the representatives of the other countries are also entitled to great weight...
...When you compare the Lloyd George terms with those of Eussia, or even those of the President, the striking differences on those questions in which we are most vitally concerned will be apparent...
...8) Respecting the German colonies, they are held at the disposal of a conference whose decision must have primary regard to the wishes and interests of their native inhabitants...
...Not covered by Lloyd George's terms...
...6) On the same grounds we regard vital the legitimate claims of the Italians for union with those of their own race and tongue...
...Inasmuch as the secret treaties, published by the Russians disclose one made with Italy in 1915, when she entered the war whereby she was promised a large slice of Austria, it might be more difficult than it seems on the surface to determine t..e "legitimate" claim which a "readjustment" of Italian frontiers would necessitate...
...There are no toll gates upon the seas...
...Upon this Lloyd George is tilent, except for a vague suggestion about "limiting wrmaments after the war...
...Who can furnish any satisfactory reason why these terms should not have been stated and discussed as specifically, as openly, and above-board at the time of our entrance into the war, or at any time since, as now...
...The President says further: "The day of secret covenants entered into in the interests of particular governments and likely at some un-looked for moment to upset the peace of the world, are gone...
...Great Britain manifests a disposition to hold out against the demands of the civilized world that henceforth "freedom of the seas" shall be a fact and not merely a phrase...
...Bos ia and Herzegovina to have complete autonomy...
...And finally will not the settlement of the Alsace-Lorraine question be certain to insure a more lasting and a more righteous peace if the whole matter be left to the people of those provinces whose interests after all are paramount...
...We are now in a position to understand the enormous value of the statement of war aims and peace conditions...
...The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy...
...Russia can only be saved by he...
...3. Indemnities from Germany...
...Lloyd George says on this point: "We regard as vital and legitimate claims of the Italians for union with those of their own race and tongue...
...13) All belligerents to renounce definitely any commercial boyc it after the war, or the institution of special customs agreements...
...Both Are Silc.it Th« 10th proposition of Russia requires the restoration of Persia and Greece overrun by the Entente Allies...
...that they should be set forth not vaguely in the form of general principles of "right and justice," that may mean everything or may mean nothing, but that they should be specified with a certainty and definiteness, that brings them within the understanding of the plain people who must bear the brunt of the fighting and the weight of the tax bill...
...We should join with Russia and in truth show by our words as well as our acts that we are seeking no advantages for ourselves out of this war, and that no nation for whose cause we are figthing shall gain by conquest for itself advantage from this war...
...7) While we do not challenge the maintenance of the Turkish Empire in the homeland* of the Turkish race, with its Capital, Constantinople—the passage oetween the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea being internationalized and neutralized—Arabia, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestjna are, in my judgment, entitled to recognition of their separate national conditions...
...Upon this, both the President and Lloyd George are silent...
...And finally, it is a belated acknowledgment that war aims should have from the outset been clearly and frankly stated...
...They will not yield either in principle or in action...
...This the President has repeated in various forms on many occasions...
...11) Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated...
...and by t :e British premier Lloyd George...
...Of course the President cannot bind this country to terms of pea-e any more ths-i the premiers of Austro-Hungary and Great Britain can bind their respective governments...
...With us, the Congress, under our constitution, has the sole power to declare war and provide the means for conducting it, and must necessarily therefore have a deciding vcte in determining the terms of peace...
...No one can read Lloyd George's peace terms and not reach the conclusion that Great Britain and the Allies are seeking great advantages out of this war at the expense of the rest of the world...
...C. Erection in Mesopotamia of some form of government, probably under the protectorate of Great Britain...
...and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality: and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into...
...Nothing could be farther from the truth...
Vol. 10 • January 1918 • No. 1
