The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27,1916. THE LATEST PEACE TALK

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2887, 27 September 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27,1916. THE LATEST PEACE TALK

♦ The report that Mr. Gerard, the .American Ambassador at Berlin, is on his way from Germany to the United States on a. peace mission follows with unexpected suddenness on tho prediction contained in a very recent London dispatch to the American Press that Germany was about to' fly another peace kite. This dispatch, which appears to havo been based upon special information, made it abundantly clear to the American public that the Allies do not want mediation, and will not have it. They will tako no part in any peace parleys until they Tiave- thoroughly ancl decisively beaten and broken the Central Powers. President Wilson will do well to listen to tho friends who are advising him to compel Germany to atat© whatever proposals she is prepared to make in a formal document for submission to the Allied Governments. President Wilson refused to intervene by word or deed to save innocent Belgium from being devastated by the Huns, and It would bo monstrously wrong for him to take any action with the object of saving guilty Germany from tho consequences of her abominable crimes. He must know that an indecisive peace would bo a grievous blow to humanity and civilisation. The criminal would cscapo from the punishment that is justly due to him.: and would be left free to mako another attompt on some future occasion to impose his brutal will upon the world. The Gormans realise that they cannot win the present war arid they are anxious to bring the struggle to a closo before a final decision has been reached. The ascendancy of tho Allies is now unquestionable, and their full victory is only a matter, of time. The latest, news shows that, tho British and French have just delivered another smashing blow on the Western froiit; ohat the Russians arc still fighting iorward with overwhelming power; that tho Rumanians have driven tho Austrians from the Carpathian passes;_ that the' pressure of tho Allies in the Balkans is becoming more severo every day; tliat Turkey is staggering to her downfall; and that nothing can prevent the shattering of. German's plans for the creation of a rich Empire in Asia Minor. Would Germany talk of peace as long as the possibility of victory remained! Not for a moment 1 If it is true that she is endeavouring to induce President Wilson to act as mediator) it .may be taken for granted that she realises the desperateness of her , position; but when she finds that the Allies are unalterably -resolved to fight on until they can dictate their o.wn terms the probabilities are that she will continue the struggle until the sword is struck from her hand. The Allies must be prepared for a terribly bitter finish. At last a straight-out admission of the effectiveness of the British blockade has been extracted from a member of the German Government. Dr. Helfferich has just informed a trade deputation that Germany is Buffering heavily from the economic war,- and that "greater sacrifices and deprivations await the people." Tho regulation of food supplies is causing a great deal of discontent. The working classes are becoming very restless and resentful, and rioting has taken place in Berlin, Cologne, Dresden, and other cities. An instructive picture of the internal state of Germany is given in a statement from a well-informed source recently published in tho London Daily News. The writer tells us that a foreign man of business who has been living for many months at the best, hotel in Hamburg recently stated that butter, milk, and sugar were practically unobtainable, and when ho questioned the waiters

their reply was "Damn the English." A chicken cost 275. and a lean eoose £2. Meat was obtainable about once a fortnight, and the potatoes were only fit. to feed pigs. Reliable information regarding the effects of the blockade is to he found in the letters of the people. Friends and relatives tell one another of their hardships and grievances in a variety of phrases, such as these: All day long one must rush about to buy something, and at night one goes to •bed hungry. In the morning there is nothing to eat. Everything is arranged so as just to prevont one dying of hunger, but vory many amongst us have died. The distress in Berlin, is indescribable. We are in despair. England is not so wrong about starving us out. ' Allowing for some exaggeration, there is no doubt at all that a great deal of hardship is suffered, and that the position is getting worse. Tho hopes of the nation are being buoyed up by promises of a good harvest; but the crops have been injured by bad weather, and a "middling" harvest is the best that can be reasonably expected. Yet economic pressure alone will not bring Germany to her knees.' The "wellinformed source" reminds us that "it is only as an accompaniment to military defeat that the privations which we impose on Germany will produce their full effect, hasten the collapse of her resistance, and en-., sure an enduring peace." The German people now realise the futility of hoping for peaco overtures from the Allies. The process of disillusionment is proceeding apace. In an article entitled "At the Tree of Disillusion," Herr Harden reminds his countrymen of tho frightful loss of German lives, and tells them that "in every hour of the day and night £500,000 of German treasure.-is being swallowed up."

Is it the enemy who wants peace? (he asks). On a recent occasion in the French Senate, when such sentiments might well have found espression, not one singlo, solitary voice was raised to that end. Primier Briand never sat so firmly in the saddle. Joffre's star was never more in the ascendant. Tho French aTe meditating over the possibility of the fall of Verdun. But no one dreams of peace. France still believes (or believes again) in victory. That this belief will crumble if Verdun is captured or a bank of the Meuse taken, or the entire city falls, sounds like nothing but a well-meant and flattering fairy tale.

Sinco theso words were written the "danger of the fall of Verdun has vanished. The offensive has passed into the hands of the Allies, and the German armies in France arid Belgium can no longer hold their own. In every theatre of war the Central Towers are in desperate straits. But much as they may yearn for peace there will have to he a good deal more fighting before they are prepared to accept the terms which tho Allies must impose. This fact must 'te kept steadily in mind. The Allies are winning, but they cannot afford to relax their efforts. Germany may make definite peace overtures at any moment now, but thoy arc not likely yet to be of such a nature as could be accepted, and President Wilson no doubt knows this well enough.' Nothing, therefore, is likely to result from Mr. Gerard's visit, even if the surmise lis correct that its object is to seIcurc mediation of the United States President. ;