THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 20, 1918. THE RECKONING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17425, 20 September 1918, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 20, 1918. THE RECKONING.

The overtures for peace put forth by the Central Powers through Austria are sharing the fate of similar effort, that preceded them. Germany is finding the Allies more obdurate and uncompromising than she expected. She is finding to her uneasiness that those objectives at which she was wont to scoff as visionary and absurd are regarded by them as by no means unattainable and as the absolutely necessary conditions of a peace that will be worth having. The Allies never faltered in their darkest days in their determination to fight on until the cause of freedom and justice was vindicated, and Germany never made a greater mistake—and she has made many —than in imagining that they would revise their ideals and, forgetting the unforgettable, grasp her outstretched

guilty hand when tho prospects of their success arc so bright as they have bceornc. Tho mood in which they wero invited to the conference table reveals Germany as still at every point the arch-enemy of tho free nations. "With her there can as yet be not the faintest expectation of a satisfactory peace settlement by negotiation. Tho only possible method with such an enemy is to deprive him of the power to do further mischief. Germany is still unconquered, still arrogant, still entirely unrepentant. Only by achieving an absolute victory over her can the Allies hope to reduce her to a humbler frame of mind, such as will fit her to enter again the comity of nations. Rage as Germany may against their conception of justice, it is the only conception that will satisfy the needs of the situation and safeguard the future. Germany gravely deceived herself when she supposed that she could at will withdraw advantageously from the war which she inaugurated, and which, as waged by her, has been an orgy of crime and destruction such as has been unprecedented and such as would a few years ago have been regarded as incredible. This is no ordinary war. The Entente Governments are striving for no ordinary victory and no ordinary peace. They have tried Germany before the bar of international justice, and the verdict of outlawry against the accused Power is irrevocable. Worthy of attention are the words of M. Clemenceau, the French Premier : " The world has witnessed the atrocities of the German soldiers, and will not forget them. There can be no victory unless these criminals are made to pay fully for their terrible crimes. The account will be presented and must be paid. France is looking for peace, but a peace that will give justice to the survivors of the abominable past." M. Clemenoeau has spoken forcibly; but who in reason can wonder at what he has said?. His sentiments will find a deeply responsive echo in the hearts of the Allied peoples, though short-sighted pacifists may remain unconvinced. What he affirms in behalf of France applies in greater or less degree to every nation that is at war with Germany. The reckoning is a long one, but the Allies will have fought largely in vain if they permit it to go unpaid. It is of ,interest to compare with M. Clemenceau's speech the utterances of > General Pau, the distinguished soldier who is at the head of the French mission now visiting the commonwealth. After acknowledging, at a reception in Sydney, the valour of Australian soldiers in France and the practical sympathy of the Australian people for the population of the invaded French provinces, General Pau said: "We come to assure you that victory is certain and that ! chastisement is sure for the enemy." Addressing in more intimate terms members of the French community in Sydney, General Pau told how France had suffered, how nearly 16 per cent, of her population has been mobilised foi war, and how nearly 36 per cent, more of her man-power was serving than was the case with any other belligerent nation. He spoke in quiet, moving terms of the devastation wrought by the invaders, and then, as the 1 report says, the voice of the old general rang out: " This must be paid for. Germany must pay. She must restore to France the riches she has stolen. "We shall make her do this. One thing is certain— punishment will come to the Power that has broken the laws of honour and of right." He would bo a feeble sentimentalist indeed who could detect anything beyond a just indignation and a just demand in such a declaration as this. Is' Germany to evacuate the territories she has occupied and laid waste and to make no reparation for the wrongs she has committed? If ever there was a time at which the Allies should remember all that Germany has done, should have ever before their eyes the full indictment that stands against her, it is when she talks of compromise and of an honourable peace. The devastated soil of France and Belgium, the blood ot thousands of non-combatants, tho crimes of Germany of which the form has been legion—these things call aloud for justice, and only curiously pacifists in Allied communities %annot hear the loudest call of all. ' For point and brevity we can find no better reminder than that offered in the words of Cardinal Bourne: "Do not be misled by some of the pernicious things occasionally said and written about peace. Do not be carried away by the formula of no indemnities or annexations, because justice may demand both, and peace without justice is not worth having." Germany expected to emerge from the war rich in annexations and indemnities. From Russia she has extorted both. The effect of the change in the military situation is seen in the recent statement by the Vice-chancellor, Hen- von Payer, that- Germany was deeply convinced that, as "the innocent party," she was entitled to indemnification, but the prosecution of the war would entail such heavy sacrifices that on calm reflection she preferred to abandon this idea. "We laugh at fools who babble of re. venge," quoth Herr von Payer, but not indefinitely can Germany affect to laugh when the representatives of the Allied Governments talk, like M. Clemenceau, not of revenge, but of justice and the settlement of accounts.