Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1915. WHAT AN INCONCLUSIVE PEACE WOULD MEAN.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 17 July 1915, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1915. WHAT AN INCONCLUSIVE PEACE WOULD MEAN.

SPEAKING at the Hotel des Invalided during the ceremony; connected with, the removal of- the remains of Rouget de Lisle from to the Arc de Triomphe, President Poincare said that since the x French nation had. been compelled to draw, the sword they had not the ..right to ■. sheath, it. before- they -■ had avenged their dead, before victory for the Allies.permitted.then? ,to guard effec,-; tively.aga.inst a .peTicrdical recurrence-of provocations..' Thes.e • words • apply- -to Britain, and epsecially so, as an. inconclusive peace would endanger her future and the future "of the Empire far more than- is the case with any of the European Allies.- Hilaire Belloc> in "Land and Water," reads from recent. German actions the mind of the 'German. 'General Staff. To acquire an hegemony in Europe, :tp eliminate the French from the list of the great neutral Powers, to forbid Russia future influence in the Balkans, to. keep the Italian forces vassals or ally, to ..exploit economically the Turkish territory; in Asia—to do any; of these things, even, in the remote ..future, ! no one of their directing iriinds,. says Mr. Belloo, is-so foolish as to hope. .The' .whole plan '.', ..'carefully matured and de-liberately-prepared, has failed. But this is the point—in one respect, indeed, and a most important one, that plan, may still conceivably be.-pursued. Mr. Belloc means the outlet o.f energy which would concern itself with a special duel against Great Britain: ti|e surpassing of British sea-borne commence by -German; the acquirement of colonial possessions at the expense of Britain; and'the exploitation for the future of thpse particular economic fields,in which England has gained supremacy. As is well known, the most important aim irt the war was to become the.chief Power in Europe. The attack on Britain, would follow, only • as a natural, course. . But, says Mr; Belloc, the-; attack, on Britain has now become the" only feasible part of the national ambition. And it can be pur-' sued at the price of an inconclusive peace. ; This/is the German aim at the present time, and, reviewing- recent events, Mr. Belloc finds that all the useless actions ,iu the military sense, have been taken to-impress neutrals as the best available /and remaining , means' of securing an inconclusive' peaqe. .That, says Mr, Belloc, is the moral of all that crescendo of hoTrificatioh. which has used acid./.poisonous, gases against, the extreme of-the British- line, which has shelled Dunkirk at 20 miles, and yet not shelled Nancy at 15,. which has sunk the Lusitania,, and, which proposes to burn, one after another; : a group. -of civilian habitations; in Britain.- \ •:...,;

, : But is is clear that the neutral nations jare not being easily impressed by ,Gerj.many. ,It is her .pre-war preparations and . organisation, that have. had most effect on- neutral countries, impressions : which the events, of the past ten months are gradually removing. And it is known that Britain has not yet thrown her military force into the balance. The two million troops in Britain will be hurled into the conflict at the strategic point, and at the crucial : momen. Britain now realises the position to the full, and as Germany ntade the war to suit herself, the Allies will claimi the \right of making, a peace to suit themselves. - ■ -