THE ENEMY'S VOICE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 699, 8 May 1916, Page 6

THE ENEMY'S VOICE.

GERMANY IN RIGHTEOUS DEFENCE. 'fighting for lasting peace. BETHMANN-HOLLWEG'S SPECIAL j PLEADING. (The following is a resume of the ! speech delivered by the German ChanI cellor, ron Bcthmann Hollweg, at the beginning of April, a lengthy report of I which was sent out. to all neutral conn j tries by' wireless from, Berlin. Cable ! messages gave ua the gist of the Chancellor's speech, in which he declared that the guilt for the further prosecution of the war lay on the Allies, but these extracts, which are taken from the I San Francisco "Examiner's" report, con tain other and fuller statements of the ! German viewpoint.| In his speech, the most comprehensive he has made since the war, began, the Chancellor reviewed the military and political situations, the use of various means of warfaresubmarines in particular—as follows: We fought for our existence and ;for our future. For Germany, and Inol for space in a foreign country, iare Germany's sons bleeding and dying on the battlefield. Everyone among us knows this, and it makes our hearts and nerves strong. This moral force strengthlens our wilt in order not only to i weather the storm, but also to j achieve final victory. j Our enemies wish to destroy united, free Germany. They desire j that Germany shall be again as weak las during past centuries, a prey of all lusts of domination of her neighbours and the scapegoat of Europe, I beaten back forever in the Dominion of economic evolution, even after the i war. That is what our enemies | mean when they speak of definitive destruction of Prussia's military | power. Germany Can Hold Out. And what is our intention? The sense and aim of this war is for us Uhe creation of a Germany so firmly |united, so strongly protected, thai no lone ever will feel the temptation to j annihilate us, that every one in the 'world will concede to us the right of , (rev exercise of our peaceful endeavours. This Germany, and not [the destruction of other races, is |what we wish. Our aim is the lasting rescue of the European continent, whjch is now shaken to its .very foundations. Discussing attempts which he said jwere being made to starve Germany il)f Bethmann-Hollweg continued:— ! I understand that in 1915 our I enemies would not give up this hope. [but. I do not understand how cool j heads, after the experience of 1915, jean cling to it. Our enemies forget j that, thanks to the organising j powers of the whole nation, GcrJniany is equal to the task of the distribution of food supplies. Our enemies forget that in cases in which there is a real shortage the [German nation is able to make use I of moral reserves which enable us I to lower our standard of life, which has risen remarkably during the last idecades. What would if mean, for instance, if the consumption of -meats should temporarily be lowerled to the level of the 70's? Conditions Not Easy. Conditions of life in Germany were not easy, the chancellor continued, but the difficulties were being .met in an admirable fashion by the ! entire nation, especially the. poorer [classes. "We shall not run short of anything in the future, as we have not (lone in the past," he said. j The chancellor declared it was the ; intention of Germany's enemies to 'extend the war to the women and 'children of this nation by starving them, and that for this purpose 'Great Britain and her allies have interfered with the trade of neutrals. He continued:— I The American Note of November : ">. 1915, gave an exact description of ! British violations of the nations' • laws, hut as far as I know if has not .been answered up lo this day. j No fair minded neutral, no niatitor whether he favours us or not, can doubt our right to defend ourselves against this war of starvaItion, which is contrary to international law. No one can ask us lo .permit our arms of defence to be I wrested from our hands. The Fate of Poland. I Regarding the Polish question and the nationalities in general, the I Chancellor said:— Neither Germany nor AustriaIHungary intended to touch the Polish question, but the fate of battles I brought them in contact with it. Now this problem stands before the 1 world and needs to be solved. Germany and Austria-Hungary must and ; will solve it. History will not admit I that after such earthquakes things jwill ever become what they were bej fore. '' Mr Asquith mentions the principle 'of nationality. If he puts himself 1 in fhe position of his tmconquered and unconquerable adversary, can j lie really suppose that Germany ever j shall of her own free will deliver into the hands of reactionary Russia the nations between the Baltic and the Volbynian swamps who have been freed by her and by her allies | —no mailer whether they arc Poles, I Lithuanians, or Lavoniaus? This new Europe in many respects II cannot resemble the past. The blood i which has been shed never will be j repaid, and the wealth which has j been destroyed can only slowly be replaced. But, howsoever, this j Europe may be, it must be for the nations that inhabit it, a land of peaceful labour. The peace which shall end this war shall be a lasting peace. It must nol hear the germ of

new wars, but musl provide for all I peaceful arrangement of European ; questions. j The Old, Old Story. Bcthmann Hollweg declared thai I England wished an end of the war : after peace, but wanted then to conlinue the commercial war with | double violence, adding: "First, the British endeavour to .destroy our military and then our economic policy. Everywhere there lis brutal lust of destruction and of i annihilation and impious will, in an j unbounded lust of domination to ! cripple a nation of 70,000,000 ' people." j The Chancellor then turned to the : subject of eventual conditions of \ peace, after a brief reference to the j entrance of Portugal into the war. He pointed out that in his speech of ' September !) he had declared readiness to enter into discussion of peace, but that then, as now, Germany's j enemies declined, lie added: "Let us suppose 1 suggest to Mr Asquilh to sit down with me at a tabic and examine the possibilities of peace, and Mr Asquith begins with a claim of definitive and complete destruction of Prussia's military power. The conversation would be j ended before it began." "To these peace conditions only one answer would be left, and this answer our sword must give. *Nf our adversaries want to continue the slaughter of human beings and in the devastation of Europe, theirs will be the guilt, and we shall have to stand it as men." The Innocent Victim. As to colonial questions, the Chancellor quoted Bismarck to the effect ! that the fates of colonies were decided on the Continent. He asserted that Germany's enemies now were 'actively engaged in inventing new formulas in order to maintain the I spell of illusion, hatred, and decepj tion which binds them. He con,eluded: Of all the nations in the war only Germany has been threatened by her | enemies and by their responsible spokesmen with annihilation, with partition of her realm, with destruction of her essential political and economic forces, no matter whether they call them Prussianism or militarism, or barbarism. The forces i which before the war bound together the anti-German coalition (were lust of conquest, lust of revenge, and jealousy against German competition in the world's markets. I During the war they have remained 'powerful with the Governments of [our enemies in spite of all defeats. This is still the object and aim of the war alike in Petrograd, Paris, and London. To this we oppose that Germany |in this war had only one aim, namely, to defend herself: to maintain |her existence; to hold her enemies ,back from the German frontiers, and iwhenever their lust of destruction had shown itself, to drive them back ias quickly as possible. j We did not want this war. We felt 'no desire to change our frontiers [when the. war began against our will. We threatened no nation with annihilation of her existence or with \ destruction of her national life. Policy for Belgium. I With respect to the intentions of Germany in the case of Belgium, the Imperial Chancellor said:— We must create real guarantees that Belgium never shall be a Fran-co-British vassal; never shall be used as a military or economic fortilieation against Germany. Also in this respect things cannot be what they were before. Also here Ger;nutny cannot sacrifice the suppressed Flemish race, but must assure for | them sound evolution which corresponds to their rich natural gifts, which is based on their mother tongue and follows their national char- | actcr. I We want neighbours who do not form coalitions against ms, but with I whom we collaborate and who collaborate with us to our mutual advantage. Remembrance of the war still will echo in the sadly-tried Belgian | country, but we shall never allowThat this will be a new source of wars—shall not allow it in our mutual interests.