GERMAN PEACE TERMS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 21 May 1915, Page 2

GERMAN PEACE TERMS.

£7,500,000,000 INDEMNITY. *

A picture of Europe completely reorgaiiised; witii Germany and her allies dominating everything and levying upon their fallen rivals a tribute of from 120 to 150 milliards of marks (£6,000,* 000,000 to £7,500,000,000).i5,drawn by Rudolph Martin, formerly Minuter for the Interior of Germany, in a pamphlet' knd." r-^ ■ -•■■;■. ■ >;'•.,;;.. vr. '-'■■■■■';".. ■'-.. The author believes that this huge indemnity will be demanded by Germany when the war ends. •■ He estimates that two years will be required before a decisive issue is arrived at, and that terms of peace.will'be dictated by Germany in London. *The indemnity, according to the au4hor f will be divided among the Germanic allies in the following proportion:—Germany, 16: Austria, 10; Turkey, 4. As Germany at the end of the Franco-Prussian. war made the French pay two and a-half times what it cost to conduct the conflict, so. the writer believes, Germany will make the Allies pay similarly at the end of the present war, and, in addition, 75 milliards of marks, will be demanded for the support of dependents of those killed. The writer sees in his mind's eye Germany firmly established along the pressnt French coast" in a position to control both London and Paris, .and possessed of an air fleet of many thousands of machines and 20,000 airmen. England will be forced to consent to

c construction of a tunnel under the English Channel. Russia he pictures as completely dismembered, its territory ' divided up among neighboring Powers, its coffers depleted to the point of bankruptcy, and its menace to the German Empire for ever gone. Sweden will receive Finland, Germany the Baltic provinces and Poland, Austria the entire south of Russia, including Kieff and Odessa, and Turkey the entire Caucasus. Servia. is to go to Austria-Hungary, Egypt to Turkey, a part of Arabia 60 Rumania, provided the latter allies itself sincerely with Germany and Austria. Not only does Alsace-Lorraine remain German, but Belfort is to join in once more as a German possession. Belgium not only becomes Germany along* with the Congo, but is to pay an indemnity of six and a-quarter milliards of francs within a few years of the close of 4he war. England and France must lose Egyptj India, Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco, and the Suez Canal will permanently remain in the hands of "our ally, Turkey."

. Though Germany's territory will be greatly increased in Europe, it must be laid down as a basic principle, in the writer's opinion, that the electorate eligible to choose the membershio of the controlling Reichstag must be confined to the old boundaries.

Newly-acquired Russian Poland, with its own Legislature in Warsaw, may, perhaps, become an adjunct kingdom, with Prince August William of Prussia as ruler.- The Belgians, he believes, may also form a kingdom and govern themselves. The"' acquired Baltic provinces, as well as the territory, taken from France, can, he thinks, without harm have their own Parliaments and live under the direction of an Imperial Governor-General.

He would establish as one of the most impqrtant basic principles of the governments of the conquered provinces that every young man who,* according to the rules laid down in the German Empire, is capable of bearing arms shall serve in the army. For the Pole he suggests service in Erfurt, and for the Frenchmen from Calais or Belfort, as well as the Belgian, service in Bavaria or Wurtemberg. The garrisons in Poland, France, and Belgium, meanwhile, he believes, should be made up of seasoned Prussian, Saxon, or Bavarian troops. "With the historical example of Luxembourg as a precedent, the writer prescribes that the taxation laws of the Empire shall apply to the conquered territory Wise* as much as the military rules. Early in his pamphlet the writer voices the expression that England must be invaded and London conquered before the Germans can have been considered winners and masters of the situation. No occupation of Paris or Moscow alone can accomplish, the end.

Herr Martin, who for long has been an earnest advocate of the airship as an adjunct to military operations, outlii*es extensive plans for its future use. In France, he says, the German line must be drawn so as to include the cities of Boulogne, Reims, and Belfort, so that an aeroplane can with ease reach Paris within an hour. Such an extensive base for the operations of the 40,000 flyers lie believes are needed is required, Grin any needs nrnch territory near the French capital.