THE ALLIES’ REPLY

Southland Times, Issue 17933, 26 January 1917, Page 5

THE ALLIES’ REPLY

PRESIDENT WILSON’S SPEECH. HOW IT XS INTERPRETED. (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, January 24. Received January 25, 5.25 p.m. Newspapers of both parties interpret President Wilson’s speech as being antagonistic to the Entente. REPLY BY ICR BONAR LAW. TO PRESIDENT WILSON'S SPEECH. WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING POB. (Australian & N.Z. Cable Assn & Reuter) LONDON, January 25. Received January 25, 9.50 p.m. Mr Bonar Law, at Bristol, replying to President Wilson’s speech, declared that the German so-called peace offer was received by the Allies with the only possible reply. He said: “W© believe that the essence of this conflict is a question which is as old as time, namely, the difference between right and wrong. We know this is a war of naked aggression, and that the crimes which accompanied the conduct of the war have been unknown in the world for centuries; but these are small compared with the initial crime of plunging the world into a war by cold-blooded calculation, because those responsible thought it would pay. Our aim coincides with President Wilson’s effort to secure a present and a future peace. It would not be right to regard President Wilson’s effort in regard to a League of Peace altogether utopian; but the subject is not an absolute question for the future, but a question of life and death now.” Proceeding, Mr Bonar Law dwelt on the past efforts to render war impossible or, leastwise, to mitigate the horrors of war. Germany had wholesaiely violated the conventions and pledges thereanent, and no neutral power was able to stop her, and no neutral, indeed, had protested. He added: “So we must take other means to secure a future peace for the world. We rejected the German negotiations and offer, because peace now would mean a peace based on a German victory, which would leave the military machine unbroken and with a halo of success surrounding it. The controllers of that machine would re-preparc for war, choosing a convenient time to begin. What President Wilson is longing for, we are fighting for, our man folk arc risking their lives for, and we mean to secure it.”