THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1918. MAKING READY FOR PEACE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 1 August 1918, Page 4

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1918. MAKING READY FOR PEACE.

The Allies were very sa-dly unprepared for war when Germany forced hostilities in Europe in 1914, and, though excuses may be made for the lack of ■ preparation because of the Kaiser's lying boast that he was not desirous of war and was a most peaceful monarch, there will be no possible excuse for the Allies if they enter upon any peace that fails to secure all nations against military aggressiveness and against the cunning devices which the Germans so cleverly and unsuspect-* ingly employed in the years preceding the outbreak of. the war. To make preparations for peace by no means indicates a weakening of the nation's determination upon victory, but it removes the serious possibility of important questions being overlooked, or rather decided hastily, at the conclusion of the war. It is well, therefore, that some unanimity should be arrived 'at -on the great questions that will - arise. To New Zealand and Australia the keeping of the Germans out of the Pacific is one of the greatest questions of the war. Our people have no desire to trust the unscrupulous enemy again ; in fact, he can hardly expect it. Of what value would be a promise made by Germany that she would agree to live peaceably in the Pacific in the years to come, and that she would not use Samoa and. New Guinea as bases, military and naval—a constant menace to Australasia? Let any person, who thinks it possible that the Germans would honorably abide by a peace treaty, look at the results of the Brest Litovsk negotiations. "No indemnities, no annexations"—a formula that wa.s originated in Russia after the revolution—was the catch-cry of Count von Hertling and Baron von Kuhlmann. Smoothly did they coax the foolish Russians into their net, and, once having saturated them with the idea that their formula had actually become the basis of the Brest Litovsk peace, the enemy had a comparatively easy task in pursuing his expansion schemes. The main fact to be remem- | bered is that the military caste is the only power in Germany that really counts, and until it has been completely crushed no permanent peace is possible. This caste is extremely difficult to deal with, for it adopts many and varied methods to deceive its enemies. It invites a section of the mightiest navy in the world to celebrate the opening of a Kiel canal and exhibits the finest spirit of goodwill and peace, knowing full well that in two months it will plunge the world into the most frightful conflict in history; it will feign innocence and attempt to lay the blame for the war upon other shoulders; it will sink hospital ships and claim, without the slightest evidence, that the vessels were being used for purposes other than those for which they were set apart; it will make believe that it earnestly desires peace and at the same time commit most horrible outrages upon land and sea. We can easily imagine the methods it will adopt if it has a chance of taking part in the final negotiations for peace. Though cn-.shed upon the battlefield, as we fully believe it will be, the remnants, however email, will endeavor to find a way suitable for their future plans. One of the facts upon which the German military caste will depend

will p* ■•!••■'■!, U*. the iorgetfulne_s oi iu t'li* :iuc.-;. "me musses forget many

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happenings of war time,

and ii* i.nuiy ways it us good for them that they do; hut, if our forgetfulness

and the i'SfitWu'jiis of the time, should cu;;.-:o us to regard the Hun in a >nore favorable light than his hrutal actions during the conflict warrant, it might easily happen that he would secure a pcac. that would not effectively prevent iii:n from restoring himself to even greater military power than hefore the war. It is satisfactory, therej fore, to know that preparations for peac-3 are being made by Britain to secure her future safety, but we hope that the Allies also are arriving at final decisions on the great questions of vital importance to them severally and jointly. We arc at what may be described as the turning point of the war, and we believe that the power of the Allies . i .shortly be shawn. to be superior :o that of the enemy. Germany's plan, once the tide turns definitely against her, will he to escape the best way ■she can. She will endeavor to blind her enemies through her spokesmen, and may even assume the role of tho penitent, at the same time trying to divide the Allies as to their peace terms and commercial relations with herself after the war. It will then he seen how important it is to present a united front on all the great questions arising out of the war. France and Belgium, 11 tho Allies will agree, must be restored and compensated; so. must Serbia, Roumania and Russia. Germany will probably not try to divide the Allies over France and Belgium, but she will perhaps tempt them concerning Serbia and Russia. If the Allies discuss and decide definitely upon such questions now, the Germans will be forced to accept the Allies' terms. The conclusion of a successful and permanent peace demands unity as much as does the prosecution of the war, for the enemy's only military hope for the future after he has been defeated in the field will he to divide the Allies on the principles of peace.