SOUND PEACE OR A SECOND WAR

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 58, 6 September 1916, Page 8

SOUND PEACE OR A SECOND WAR

A WARNING TO THE BRITISH

A vigorous warning is given by "Y.," writing in the.'" '.Fortnightly.' Review, against any conclusion to the war which might lead to a second war.

- He sjiows that certain circumstances might lead to a continuation of or renewal of the honors of war which we all want to see ended. But the longest way may prove to be the shortest way in the <end.

"A cursory examination of the situation in the different scenes of this world-war must suffice to show anyone that an early peace could only be to our disadvantage and the advantage of Germany. She holds in 'her hands substantial acquisitions with which she could barter for advantageous terms that would eventually secure for her many of the objects she felt sure of obtaining When she declared war on her neighbours. If a peace conference were to commence its work at this moment it could not ignore the territories held by Germany and Austria.

_ "There is Belgium, with tbe exception of an''infinitesimal part; there is much of northern industrial France; there, are Roland, Servia, and Montenegro. If Germany offered at the first sitting to restore all of them, there is no conceivable conference or arbitration tribunal—composed, as either would be, of functionaries, lawyers, and financiers—that would not applaud her magnanimity, ancl be extremely indulgent in supporting any counter-claim for damages.

"Yet, if such a peace were concluded, Germany would be beyond all question the triumphant "party, not precisely in the manner of Napoleon deposing old dynasties and substituting his own, but in a thoroughly businesslike style establishing, her oyermastery, and shattering for ever the concordance and mutual confidence of- the Allies. " The admission may riot be palatable, but the war has shown that when it began Germany was the strongest and most formidable Power in the world. If peace were to.be concluded at the moment when she' was still in possession of her temporary spoils that reputation would be confirmed. Unconsciously, perhaps, but effectively, all States would become in some form or other her vassals. The cohesive, cement between them supplied by the desire to smash Germany as the common foe of all having failed to endure to the end, each detached unit would in its turn succumb'to the force, or the material pressure, of those Central European Powers, which are a law unto themselves.

"Let us examine for a moment what Europe would be like on such a supposition. Take, for instance, a restored Belgium. She would recover her 'nominal independence, it" is true, but without .owing.it to her • champions. Her resources are'drained, her prosperity is departed.' .She ..would.-have no:. chance of reviving, them, save by subservience to Germany, for the reputation of France and.England as'her'equals would have been destroyed. Nor would tho position of France be very different. Even if' it "were assumed that Germany left France where she..was in August, 1914, • it..would j mean a -final,: farewell to the .lost.-.provihces, and the conversion of the 'Grand Duchy of Luxemburg into an integral German province. _ "^How" would.England herself fare? Is ..her. naval, .and aerial-superiority on such 'an undiallengable' basis in this age of scientific warfare that she can afford to ignore the rest of the world, and think only of her insular security? "Could England safely attempt to stand alone ? Let us not forget that in the: supposititious circumstances created by an early and precipitate peace, while Germany would be not less hated by the French and Belgians, England would be despised.- Nor would , any consolation be iorthcoming from the side of Russia. At the worst she' could always turn eastwards and become more of an Asiatic and less of a European Power. She, of all the victims not of German might, but of her Allies' weakness and faint-heaa-t----edness, might find compensation in a new scene..

'Such would be something like the aftermath of a peace arranged while Germany retained in her hands the spoil she has. temporarily wrested from her neighbours. If the need of an early peace were to.be admitted at this moment, then its terms could not be otherwise _ than favourable :to Germany Nominally, she would give up much that had never belonged to her; in substance, she would retain tho means of accomplishing her' main purpose at no remote date. She would then be confronted, not by an alliance, but by England alone.. We can well believe that the German Emperor is very desirous to make peace just now, with the aid of the Pope and the American President, and to fool us with the co-opera-tion of his friends and subjects in the financial world of London into the trap of believing .that we have no higher interest or, more pressing need than an early cessation of the war.

"In contradistinction with what would be the moral discomfiture and disgrace of a premature peace negotiated at Germany's convenience and to her summons, let us now. consider the details and, conditions of what we may term a sound peace.

- "Germany has not merely to be driven back on all sides out of, the countries she has ruthlessly invaded and harried, but her military pride and power have to be humbled and destroyed on her own soil. Only then will the Germans admit their defeat. The Rhine Valley must witness some of thoso scenes of war that have desolated the valleys of the Meuso and' the Moselle. Then—and only then—will Germans realise the magnitude of their crimes and iniquities.

"The season for peace talk will only arrive when the Allied armies have wrested from Germany by force of arms allthat she has seized, and have forced their way through her eastern and western boundaries. Then only may it be' permissible to listen to what the German Government has to say on the subject of its future conduct, the compensation it will-offer for the wrongs inflicted on unoffending neighbours, and the guarantees it will be able to provide for the fulfilment of its promises. ''A premature and early peace would mean then a .second war; a war in which Britain would stand alone."