TEUTONIC DISSENSION

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 896, 23 December 1916, Page 10

TEUTONIC DISSENSION

CAUSE OF THE OFFER. Australian and N.Z. CaMc Association. ROME, December 21. An official of the Vatican, who has returned from Vienna, states that the Teutonic, proposals for peace were ] not spontaneous, but were the result of menacing popular pressure. The Emperor Charles threatened to make a separate peace in the event of Germany refusing to move, and Bulgaria and Turkey made similar threats if Germany remained bellicose. Violent discussions occurred at the Vienna Conference, and angered the Kaiser. He therefore refrained from attending the late Franz Josef's funeral. THE ENTENTE'S REPLY. AWAITED IN BERLIN. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. AMSTERDAM, December 21. Berlin is anxiously awaiting the Entente's formal reply. It is understood that the Kaiser will soon summon Mr Gerard, the American Ambassador, to his headquarters with a view to communicating Germany's terms, and bringing about Spanish and American action towards mediation. PRIME MINISTER'S REPLY. UNANIMOUS ACCEPTANCE. Renter's Telegrams. LONDON, December 21. In the House of Commons, Sir John Simon expressed a desire to voice the whole of the United Kingdom's acceptance of Mr Lloyd George's speech. The German Note did not contain terms lending themselves to consideration, and were in no wise peace proposals. Mr Lloyd George had not slammed the door upon peace. The nation agreed that it would be an unpardonable crime to allow the war to continue one unnecessary hour, but also that it would be the deepest treachery by fighting or otherwise, to falter in securing the essentially defensive and unaggressive objects for which we entered the war.

IN MESOPOTAMIA.

BRITISH ACTIVITY.

A., and 3Jj. Cable Association and Renter. LONDON, December 21. A Mesopotamian official message says:—British aeroplanes bombed river craft westward of KuL Strong reconnaissances were made westward of the Shumarua bend of the Tigris. The enemy's positions at Sunn-ai-Yat and Kut were heavily bombarded, and a bridge over the Hai river is on fire.