The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1917. TERMS OF PEACE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2971, 8 January 1917, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1917. TERMS OF PEACE

The message in which an American correspondent in London profcsEOS to partly disclose the terms of the Allied reply to' President Wilson's Peace Note does not bring any unexpected details to light. It is chiefly interesting as the first definite indication that the Allies aro meeting Me. Wilson's request for a> statement of the terms on which thoy are prepared to conclude the war. There was much in the President's Note to warrant a less complaisant reply, but it now seems that the Allies aro prepared to state the main objects they are determined to attain. Any objections to this course which formerly existed havo been modified, if not entirely removed, now that, the Entente, in its firm and resolute reply to Germany's disingenuous peace overture, has made its position and attitude so unmistakably clear. As a matter of fact, though the Allies have not yet issued auy formal and detailed statement of their war objectives, most of the important items which may ho expected to figure in tho list arc matters of common knowledge, and havo cither been authoritatively announced iu detail or rnay.be taken as a matter of course. In its.broader features at least, tho settlement at wnich the Allies aim is known, and it may be added that it will bear the scrutiny of all who are prepared to weigh tho facts and issues involved fairly and justly, with an'cyo to their probable effect upon the future fate and welfare of nations in and beyond Europe. The American correspondent above-mentioned, as has been said, springs no surprises, and his statement of the Allied peace terms does not profess to be complete. In regard to nearly all the items in his list, the correspondent has been anticipated by announcements by one or other of the Allied Governments. The re-establishment and indemnification of Belgium and Serbia, the freeing of Poland and Montenegro, the cession of Constantinople and the Dardanelles to Russia, have all, with other demands, been made the subject of such announcements. ■ Tho correspondent mentions the recovery of French occupied territory and indemnification for its occupation. He makes no mention of the recovery of Al-sace-Lorraine and the restoration to France of her natural frontier along the Rhine. Other matters which he ignores relate to the German colonies, compensation tfor the shipping sunk by German submarines, the punishment of barbarous crimes committed by German and Austrian military and civilian agents, Italian and Rumanian claims to territory now held by Austria, and Britain's probable demand for the cession of territory in Mesopotamia which would tend to safeguard India. These things are mentioned only for the s&ko of emphasising the fact that tho Allied statement to bo submitted to President Wilson (assuming that such a statement is to be transmitted) must cover a great deal more ground than the message on the subject which is published to-day. The publication of the Allied peace terms would further accentuate the moral gulf dividing the two groups of belligerents. Tho moral bankruptcy and degradation of Germany appear even in German utterances like thoso of the newspapers which are quoted to-day as attacking the Imperial Chancellor for having brought discredit upon Germany by his use of the phrase, "scraps of paper"—a phrase in which Germany's infamy is crystallised. On the other hand, the claim of the Allies to bo regarded as the champions of humanity and civilisation appears nowhere more plainly than in the war settlement at which they aim. As far as its terms are knpwn, the proposed "settlement is as different as possible from that which _ a despoiling conqueror would inflict upon his defeated enemies. It is true that great transfers of territory aro proposed, but in every caso the transfer is warranted on grounds of impartial justice. The extension of tho Fronch frontier to tho Rhine will not be an act of spoliation, hut will right a brutal wrong committed by Germany forty-six years ago. Justice and the principle of nationality warrant also tho irredentist hopes of Italy and Rumania and the projected reconstruction of Poland, which, with the possiblo exception of tho expulsion of the Turk, constitutes the biggest question open for settlement in Europe to-day. It will not be claimed that the reunion of Russian, Prussian, and Austrian Poland, and the grant of local autonomy under Russian suzerainty, offers an ideal solution of tho Polish problem. But it is infinitely the best and most promising solution that has offered since Poland was torn asunder in succeeding partitions. Tho issues involved in tho war settlement arc ko varied and cxtensivo that it is impossible to review even their leading details in tho spaco of a single article. But the announced objects of the Allies warrant a claim that no such power-

ful and whole-hearted effort as they are making has over been made before to right national and international wrongs in Europe and further afield, and to lay a sound foundation for future peace. No man can say to-day that the effort will succeed, but it is the more likely 'to succeed sinco there is every reason to belicvo that it is being honestly made by all the nations that are leagued against Germany. What they are attacking is manifestly ovil. Where they propose a change of rule it is in order that kindred people may live united, or, as in the case of Turkey, that a corrupt and decadent tyranny may be ended. As regards the German colonies again, tho moral issue- is clearly drawn. The German colonies were given over not bo much to peaceful development as to warlike preparations which made them a constant menace to their neighbours. If justice determines the matter, Germany will not recover a foot of the colonial possessions she has now lost. No survey, even the most general, of the war settlement problem can ignore that most vital objective of tho Allies —the destruction of Prussian militarism. Tho subject is mentioned, but no new light is thrown upon it, in tho message under notice. Everything that tends to correct abuses and establish national liberty upon secure foundations, in Europo and elsewhere, makes for the overthrow of Prussian militarism, but if, in addition, the Allies are able to enforce such a readjustment of Germany's internal affairs as will lessen or destroy the present domination of Prussia, they will in this also be serving tho ends of justice. Tlie destruction of Prussian militarism and Prussian domination might be the first great step towards the salvation of Germany.