Life — October 24, 1918 — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“THE WATCH ON THE REIN that the final settlement with the great German criminals who have bathed the world in blood, may be a matter be- tween Germans. There is too big a cleaning up to be done in that country for civilized outsiders to covet the job. It is a German job. Let the Germans do it, if they will. IF Mr. Wilson had acceded to all the requests of the German mediums, he would have laid before the Allies the suggestion about an armistice. That was the most he could do, and much more than anyone who knew him thought he would do. The Allies could accept the suggestion or decline it, or they could put it off. But whatever befell them, these overtures from Germany meant agreat deal. On paper they offered im- imense concessions from the claims of full-blown Hohenzollern pride. And the Germans were not making them for fun, nor altogether in the hope of escaping punishment. They offered them because they must, because the earth is opening beneath them, and they stagger from the tremors of the com- ing smash. On failure of these pro- posals they will have to make more, and then, presently, their final bow to Marshal Foch. He, Foch, is the man to whom one would prefer to have the Germans go for terms, and to him and his military colleagues will be referred the proposal for an armistice, whenever it ously considered. The specifications in Mr, Wilson's address which the Ger- man mediums accede to, mean a great deal, They set forth in detail the prin- ciples and the spirit which must govern the reorganization of Europe after the war. But they do not provide for any bargain with Germany, and there ought not to be any bargain with Germany, and even before the President spoke, it was hardly conceivable that any such bargain formed part of his intentions. He can say to the Germans: “ There are the items of a plan which has been pretty generally approved by all the people who are fighting you. Even you have accepted it. It tells you in a way, what to expect. An armistice is out of the question, but you can sur- render, plead guilty, and throw yourself on the mercy of the court.” seri- 597 And sooner or later that is what the Germans will have to do. It may come very soon, Any morning we may read in the paper that members of the Ho- henzollern family have been noticed at various points, beating it to the German frontier. With Dr, Solf’s eptance of Mr. Wilson’s suggestions, Germany practi- cally surrendered. The only impor- tant thing she has omitted to do is to stop fighting. Any day, it would seem, she may remedy that omission, and then the identification of the voice that came first through Prince Max, and then through Dr. Solf, would begin to be acceptable. Ses his reply of October 14th the Presi- dent goes to the root of all these atters. Since the Germans have ac- cepted the suggestions in his various addresses and expressed willingness to evacuate territory, he will proceed to further details. They must understand that the process of evacuation and the conditions of an armistice must be settled with the military advisors of the United States and the Allies, and must provide satisfactory safeguards and guarantees of the maintenance of the present military supremacy of the armies of the Allies and the United States. And there can be no armistice while the German forces “ continue the illegal and inhumane practices which they still persist in.” And the Germans must remember that one of the terms of peace that they have accepted provides for “the de- struction, or reduction to virtual im- potency, of every arbitrary power any- where that can separately, secretly and of its single choice, disturb the peace of the world.” The power that has hitherto controlled the German nation is of the sort here described. So Mr. Wilson tells the Germans, and reminds them that it is within the choice of the German nation to alter it Throw out your Jonah, says our President, and you may come to port. Quit your intolerable abuses of warfare, admit that you are beaten, and give bonds to remain so, and we will talk with you. That is definite; that is thorough; that is as it should be, and meets the case. comicbooks.com