The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1919. THE PEACE TREATY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16463, 16 June 1919, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1919. THE PEACE TREATY.

Mr. Massey * and Sir Joseph Ward are apparently on the point of leaving England for home, if indeed they . have, not already left, and from this we may assume that the Peace Treaty is unlikely to be; signed within the next few days, otherwise they would have deferred their departure till the actual signing had taken place. There are other indications that further delay may take place. Mr. Lloyd George, yielding no doubt to representations by pacifists, has according to recent cables, shown a disposition to yield some minor points to the Germans, while Frer- V ~" ; nion is said to be disquiet d over T he rumours of possib. alteii.-tionfy in the treaty and the possible early admission of Germany to the League of Nations. Another indication of delay lies in the reopening of the reparation issue by the British representatives. In Germany, a cable to-day states, Prince Max is urging opposition to the treaty because popular sentiment against the terms is growing in. foreign countries, and he quotes English Liberals and Labourites as disapproving the terms. We have always believed that Germany must and will j sign the peace terms} whatever they are, just as soon as they are convinced that they are final. If an armistice had not been granted in November, and Marshal Foch had pushed the advantage he was then gaining, the probability is that . Germany would soon have made an abject surrender and consented to signany terms submitted to them in order to avert the full force of Marshal Foch’s blows. They saw' what -was coming and asked for an armistice, hoping that bv bluff and diplomacy they would be able to secure better terms than Marshal Foch would have glinted when he had the German armies at his mercy. That has been their

policy throughput, protesting against the harsher of the terms, pleading for revision, and making every possible excuse for delay, in the hope and belief that thereby they would secure some modifications. And all the time they are preparing for the trade war which has to come, endeavouring to steal a march on the Allied nations and gain substantial advantage. By continually quoting President Wilson’s fourteen points they have succeeded in some degree in weakening' his determination, and Mr. Lloyd George has found himself faced with the task of reconciling M. Olemenceau’s stern implacability with Mr. Wilson’s apparent wish not to be any harder on the Germans than is absolutely necessary. At the same time he has had to listen to the representations of,Lord Beauchamp and his fellow memorialists and other' pacifists who have urged leniency, and no doubt this is why he has agreed to comparatively immaterial amendments in the treaty. The worst of it is, however, that it all makes for delay, which the Germans are 'playing for, and delays are proverbially dangerous. We prefer the attitude of M. Clemenceau, who knows his German, through the bitter experience of a life-time, better than any of the Allied representatives. Leniency would be better in the actual enforcement of the terms when they are agreed to by the Germans than in the wording of them in the treaty. The Germans will sign when they have to and will not agree to anything more than they are compelled. We, believe the whole armies would have laid down their arms and capitulated to Marshal Foch if he had continued his campaign. We believe they would have signed three months ago or a month if they had been made to understand that the terms were final or that' refusal meant harsher terms. We believe they would siem to-day on the same understanding, but also that thev will dispute and haggle over the terms as long as, the Allied Council will listen to them. The only safe course is to insist that they sign on a given date or take the consequences and we cannot help a feeling of anxiety about the ultimate result as long as the date of signing is continually being deferred, even if only to consider a trifling and immaterial amendment. .