THE PEACE PROPOSALS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1078, 17 March 1911, Page 5

THE PEACE PROPOSALS.

AMIABLE PLATITUDES V. VIGILANCE. By Telcgraph-Prc.ss Ass-ociation-Oopyrisht Paris, March 15. The newspaper "Le Temps" says that Sir Edward Grey's speech in favour of Mr. Taft's proposal for an unlimited arbitration treaty between Great Britain and America was richer in words than in substance. Responsible statesmen in France and England have been indulging in amiable platitudes, but the day is coming when they will be obliged to explain why so many affairs have been settled to their prejudice and. without their being consulted. At Constantinople, Potsdam, Peking, Flushing, and elsewhere France and England were apparently . stricken with paralysis. ; ' : ■■"■'LET BRITAIN LEAD. , . . Berlin, March 15, Tho "Taglische Eundschau" (Conservative) ' says- that Sir Edward Grey has j preached fraternity, disarmament, land I arbitration; therefore, let Great Britain j take the lead. . I THE INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK. RUSSIA UPSETS THE BALANCE. In his review of the international situation in the February "Contemporary," Dr. E. J. Dillon says:- ■ Recent disclosures about the RussoGerman agreement, which is still in an embryonic stage, nave let loose a tempest of passion in the. forests" of newspaper leaves throughout the world. For the- political-configuration of Europe is being transformed to our disadvantage. Russia, by shifting her quarters for a moTe comtortable position, has tipped over the beam and upset the nico and precarious balance of European power. And how tho cry is every nation for its own integrity and Austria-Germany for the overlorttship of Europe. Naturally, the Governments of France and Gr.cat Britain do not relish the ferment caused by this unwelcome change, which they imagined they were effectually hindering, ana one cannot well imagine M. Pichon announcing to the Chamber that the Triple Entente had fallen upon evil days. This accordingly discountenanced the warning voices of the "prophets of evil." Assume for a moment that Russia, after the Manchurian, as after the Crimean, campaign, feels herself exhausted and in need of a long period of repose, of recucillement, as Gorchakoff termed it, in order to recuperate her forces, remodel her army, rebuild her navy, and extend her network of railways. Looking aroUnd, she perceives that the only Power capable of hindering her from enjoying that much-needed peace is Austria-Germany, whose armies could sweep the battlefields of the Continent more readily than Ruyter's squadrons swept the seas. It is borne painfully in upon her that if d!ie strikes up a friendly covenant with Aus-tria-Germany she may nurse her forces without let and develop them to her heart's content, whereas if she continues to hold aloof she must be ever on her guard against some dangerous surprise, which she is powerless to ward off or evade. If Holland and Belgium be invited to join the German Federation on the same basis as Bavaria or Wurttemburg; if the independent States of the German and nearly-allied races on the Continent be drawn under the wings of the Teutonic eagle, and Germany's territorial possessions and land and sea forces swell correspondingly, treaties and stipulations being set aside unceremoniously, will not that be a formidable, a repellent set-off t-> tho peace vouchsafed to the ex-mem-bers of the Triple Entente? Of course, all the small States concerned would enter into the federation of their own free will. The circumstance would be one of the feathers in tho cap of the German Kaiser. And what Power would risk a war singlehanded in order to hinder the incorporation or assert, its own right to compensation? In the East analogous advantaegs would be sought for and obtained by the allpowerful militarists. Turkey's goodwill is already assured. The Young Turks have thrown in their lot with the Triple Alliance, moved by considerations which no fair-minded man will blame as unpatriotic. At first, indeed, they groped their way in the dark, and tho guides ivo gave them did not help them to find it. Since the defeat, and still more since tho dissolution of the Triple Entente, they have discovered it. In' Persia, Germany has had oft-rejected claims allowed by Russia, and hencefrrth she will be one of the guardians of the Iranian realm, (be powerful champion of another Mohammedan people. That is part of the concrete upshot of the Potsdam meeting. Did you sleep well last night—or did you have a sharp, torturing headacho? Don't let it. trouble you again. Stearns' Headache Cure presents it.—Ailvt. 21 Scores of men aro just beginning to find out what a fascinating healthful recreation motor-cycling is—and how little it costs. Mounted on a i-cylindcr 5-6 h.p. F.N., you can ride through tho country at express train speed or at a walkingpace. • The F.N. is always easy to start, gives comparatively little trouble, and is most economical both in "oil and petrol consumption as well as in general up. kc«u. E. Reynolds and Co,, Ltd., Whole. *al« Asents, Welhnzton.-Advt.