GERMANY RECEIVES INQUIRY ON SINKINGS
Mr. Grew, American Charge, Presents Communication About Arabia and Four Other Ships.
WILL GO TO ADMIRALTY
Published Details Differ from American Version, It Is Said—Reply Sent on Rowanmore.
BERLIN, Nov. 21.—Joseph C. Grew, Chargé d’Affaires of the American Embassy, called at the Foreign Office at 6 o’clock this evening and presented the American Government’s inquiry regarding the torpedoing of the steamers Arabia, Columbian, and Lanao, and two other steamers having Americans on board, which are alleged to have been sunk without warning.
The Foreign Office will refer the cases to the Admiralty for a report, which is regarded as necessary, as the details of the sinking of the vessels, as published here, differ in several important respects from those advanced in the American representations.
This is particularly true in the case of the Columbian, which instead of being in ballast and sunk without warning, was, according to the wireless press, reported from Spain as being laden with a mixed cargo of contraband and given a long period of grace to permit the rough sea to subside before she was torpedoed.
Says Rowanmore Sought Flight.
From a Staff Correspondent.By Wireless to The New York Times.
BERLIN, Nov. 21, (via Sayville.)—Joseph C. Grew, Chargé at the American Embassy, received two notes from the German Government this morning, one dealing with the Rowanmore case and the other answering Washington’s inquiries regarding the Rievaulx Abbey, Strathtay, and Antwerpen. In conversation with a high official of the Foreign Office I learn that the Imperial Government holds that the Rowanmore case is settled by this answer. The testimony of the submarine commander concerned is that the Rowanmore was sunk after all aboard had been brought into safety and that there had not been the slightest infringement of any provision of international law regarding cruiser warfare. Commenting on this relatively simple case, my informant said:
“The Rowanmore did not comply with the submarine’s summons to stop, and despite the warning shot took to flight. The Rowanmore continued to attempt to escape until her steering gear was shot away, when the Captain stopped the ship and the lifeboats were lowered. As soon as the submarine commander discovered that the Rowanmore had finally stopped and the boats were being lowered he ceased firing and did not sink her until all aboard were in safety. After the Rowanmore had stopped a signal was set that she was being abandoned, but in the haste of the moment the signal was set wrong, as the Rowanmore’s commander afterward confirmed. I may add that there was considerable bad feeling among the Rowanmore’s crew toward their Captain for having willfully and foolishly endangered the lives of all on board by attempting flight in the face of the submarine’s order to stop. The feeling was, in fact, so strong that the crew took to separate boats and left the Captain in the lurch. He was found floating alone in one lifeboat with only one oar and was picked up and taken aboard the submarine. Any and every statement that the submarine fired on the lifeboats is a falsehood. The submarine commander was most emphatic on this point and stated that there was not a vestige of truth in this charge.”
Concerning the ships dealt with in the second note, it is stated from the same official source that no German submarine was concerned in the sinking of the Rievaulx Abbey or the Strathtay, and that the Antwerpen was sunk because she was carrying contraband.
Special to The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21.—The notes delivered to Joseph C. Grew, the American Chargé d’Affaires at Berlin, dealing with the destruction of the Rowanmore and other vessels had not been received in Washington up to a late hour tonight.
There has never been much prospect that the Rowanmore case would assume serious proportions, because that vessel is generally credited here with having lost immunity from attack by having endeavored to escape. The Columbian incident also has not been regarded as serious enough to endanger friendly relations between the two nations because it is a case similar to that of the William P. Frye and covered by the old Prussian-American treaty.
The Antwerpen case has not been regarded as serious. She was a large tank ship flying the Dutch flag, bound from New York for London, with a cargo of oil, which is considered to be absolute contraband. The destruction of the Antwerpen was announced in a Lloyd's bulletin in London on Sept. 13.
The case of the Rievaulx Abbey, which the German Government says was not sunk by German forces, is one in which there has been no public interest in Washington.
The case of the Strathtay, which excited some interest when first news of its destruction was received, had also become a dead issue at the State Department in view of the fact that the British Admiralty was reported to have admitted that this vessel was destroyed by a mine.
The notes handed to the American Chargé today are, therefore, not considered important. But it is conceded that they may contain important declarations regarding Germany’s pledges. Special inquiries were made of the Berlin Government by direction of Secretary Lansing regarding the cases of the Marina and the Arabia, and it is respecting these that Washington is most anxious for Germanys’ version. Six Americans lost their lives when the Marina went down. Affidavits taken by Consul Frost at Queenstown from the American survivors of the Marina agree that the Marina was sunk without warning. A cabled summary of these affidavits reached Secretary Lansing yesterday from Ambassador Page at London.
STORM SAVED VESSEL ATTACKED BY U-BOAT
Siamese Prince, Carrying Fifty-four Americans, Got Away After Being Shelled.
According to Captain William Anderson and the officers of the British freighter Siamese Prince, which arrived yesterday from Brest in ballast, the vessel had a narrow escape on Nov. 4 from being sunk by a German submarine, which fired three shots at her. The steamship was saved by a heavy rain squall and the high seas which prevented the submarine’s getting the range before she was lost to view.
In addition to her own crew of forty-two men the Siamese Prince had on board fifty-four American hostlers who had gone over on the ship from New York to Brest to take care of a cargo of horses consigned to the French Government.
Captain Anderson said that the submarine’s attack was made at 7 o’clock on the morning of Nov. 4, when his ship was about 200 miles off the French coast. There was a strong gale blowing with a heavy sea, and the first intimation he had of the presence of a submarine was three shots coming from the port side about a mile away. Two shells passed over the port quarter of the steamship and another shot fell into the sea just under the stern. The Siamese Prince was stopped immediately, but on account of the heavy rainstorm and heaving seas nothing could be seen of the submarine. After waiting for about fifteen minutes the Captain ordered the engines full speed ahead, and proceeded on a zigzag course for New York.
Captain Anderson and his officers could not say whether their vessel was pursued by the submarine or not.
FOUR NEUTRAL SHIPS SUNK.
Norwegian, Dutch, and Greek Vessels Fall Prey to U-Boats.
LONDON, Tuesday, Nov. 22.—The master and part of the crew of the Norwegian steamer Finn landed yesterday and reported that their vessel had been sunk by a German submarine.
The Daily Mail’s Athens correspondent says the Greek steamer Sparti has been sunk. The Captain believes the vessel was torpedoed. Nearly all those on board the steamer were saved, including several nurses.
Lloyds reports that the Dutch sailing ship Dolphin, 134 tons, and the Norwegian ship Parnass, 647 tons, are believed to have been sunk.
There are two Greek steamers named Sparti, one measuring 2,540 tons and the other 961 tons.
218 SHIPS SUNK IN MONTH.
Berlin Says That of This Number 72 Were Neutral Vessels.
BERLIN, Nov. 21, (via London, Nov. 22.)—An official communication issued today gives this information concerning ships of enemy and neutral countries which have been captured or sunk by submarines or blown up by mines during the war:
“During October 146 hostile merchantmen of 306,500 tons have been brought into port or sunk by submarines or torpedo boats of the Central Powers or lost owing to mines. Neutral merchantmen numbering 72 and of 87,000 tons were sunk because they were carrying contraband to the enemy.
“Since the beginning of the war 3,322,000 tons of hostile shipping, of which 2,550,000 tons were English, have been lost owing to the war measures of the Central Powers.”
WON’T PAY FOR DUTCH SHIP.
Germans Refuse Compensation for the Blommersdyjk.
Special Cable to The New York Times.AMSTERDAM, Nov. 21, (Dispatch to The London Daily Chronicle.)—Germany has refused compensation to Holland for the loss of the steamer Blommersdyjk, which was torpedoed off the American coast. The reason for the refusal, it is said, is connected with the fact that the vessel carried bill of health papers signed by the British Consul at the port of departure.
CARD SYSTEM FOR NORWAY.
Food Minister Says Population May Be Put on Short Rations.
LONDON, Nov. 21.—The Royal Provision Committee of Norway has unanimously decided that a ticket system ought to be instituted to meet the food situation, according to a Copenhagen dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph Company quoting the Norwegian Food Minister. At a meeting in Christiania the Minister said that a great question had arisen as to whether the population of Norway should be put on a short food allowance.
The Minister added that neighboring neutral countries were organizing themselves as if they were participating in the war, and that in Sweden the German ticket system for grain and flour would be introduced.
DUMA VICTORIOUS IN RUSSIAN CRISIS
Said to Have Imposed Its Views Upon the Reactionary Cabinet.
NO SEPARATE PEACE FEARED
Agreement Expected to Unite All Classes in Determination to Fight to the End.
PETROGRAD, Nov. 21, (via London.)—The crisis which was brought about by the attacks upon the Government by the Constitutional Democrats, led by Professor Paul Milukoff, is generally believed to have passed. The opinion of the press and public in the last few days has become decidedly more optimistic regarding an agreement between the Duma and the Cabinet, and it is felt that, whatever political expedients may be found necessary to bring them into harmony, the danger of a rupture is at an end.
Professor Milukoff said to The Associated Press representative today:
“I regard the trouble as definitely over. The War and Marine Ministers have shown their sympathy with the Duma, and the Duma feels and has felt confidence in them. The Duma can go on with its appointed tasks, the chief of which is the reorganization of the Zemstvo unions and all the channels by which supplies are handled and distributed.”
It is stated on good authority that an agreement has been reached which has entirely satisfied the representatives of the people. The nature of this agreement will probably be disclosed in the course of a few days.
The event is interpreted generally as a victory for the Duma. Its chief significance is the political awakening of the entire nation and the development of a real public consciousness which, perhaps for the first time in Russian history, has become articulate and can be ignored no longer.
Among the effects expected from the agreement is the final burial of all rumors of a separate peace and of the influences which gave rise to them. Another effect which is looked for is the infusion of a new spirit in the Government, which it is believed will reflect with greater decision than ever the unswerving intention of the nation to carry the war to the conclusion desired.
The gravity of the recent crisis is indicated by an article in the Russkiya Vedemosty of Moscow, which is permitted to publish an unusually candid analysis of the situation. This paper states:
“The situation is now quite clear and defined. We do not live in a time of political crisis in the ordinary sense of the word, but in a time much more serious—a crisis which touches the whole life of the empire. The crisis in obtaining supplies and the experiments in remedying this situation, the present status of foreign politics, the new limitations of the press, dark rumors and dark facts which are making the masses of the population nervous—all these are only single aspects of the question. Events clearly foretold a collision between the interests of the country and the present system of Government.
“The disorganization to which the country has been brought at a critical moment, when occupied with an enemy without, is final judgment upon the existing order.
“The Government does not believe in the same measures as do the people. In this lies the greatest internal danger. This cannot go on longer. Without harmony between the Government and the country we cannot be victorious or preserve our internal life from disorder. Only a public-spirited and responsible Ministry will be able to hold back the empire from the precipice.”
ITALIANS REPEL ATTACKS.
Defeat Austrian Attempts to Recapture Hill on the Carso Front.
ROME, Nov. 21.—The repulse of two attacks by the Austrians on Hill 126 on the Carso front was announced by the War Office today. The statement reads:
Reciprocal artillery actions occurred at some points on the front in the Trentino and in the Julian Alps.
Yesterday, in the Carso area, during minor infantry encounters, we made a few prisoners. During Monday night the enemy launched two attacks upon our positions on the summit of Hill 126, north of Mount Volkevniak, being completely repulsed.
VIENNA, Nov. 21, (via London.)—The War Office issued the following statement today concerning operations on the Italian front:
An enemy counterattack in mass formation against a trench we recently captured south of Biglia was repulsed.
FIGHTS ON RUSSIAN FRONT.
Attacks and Counterattacks In Wooded Carpathians Reported.
PETROGRAD, Nov. 21.—The repulse of an Austro-German attack on the Russian line in the wooded Carpathians is announced in today’s War Office statement on operations along the Western Russian front. The statement reads:
There has been rifle and artillery firing. On the River Stokhod the fire was above the average in intensity. In the region of Maltolsk the enemy’s heavy and light artillery bombarded the district of Garbuzev-Gukalov, which is west of Nove Oleksenetz.
In the wooded Carpathian region, five versts north of Gifpnev, the enemy attacked but was repulsed.
BERLIN, Nov. 21, (by Wireless to Sayville.)—The repulse of a Russian attack in the wooded Carpathian region is reported in today’s Army Headquarters statement on operations along the Russian front, as follows:
Front of Prince Leopold—Nothing of importance occurred.
Front of Archduke Charles Francis—In the Ludova sector of the wooded Carpathians a patrol enterprise was carried out, according to plan, by German riflemen and forty prisoners were brought in. A Russian advance in a neighboring sector, carried out in an effort to relieve another portion of the front, failed in sanguinary fashion.
DEFENDS THE CHANCELLOR.
Kaiser Lauds Action of von Bethmann Hollweg’s Supporters.
BERLIN, Nov. 21.—Emperor William has just taken occasion to declare publicly his support of Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg against attacks upon him by his opponents at home.
A number of prominent persons in Karlsruhe and vicinity having recently sent the Chancellor a letter condemning the campaign of his opponents against him and the present methods of conducting the war, and having sent a copy of this document to the Emperor, the latter caused the Chief of the Civil Cabinet to reply in the Emperor’s behalf that he observed with lively satisfaction this demonstration from Karlsruhe.
SPAIN INTERVENES TO AID BELGIUM
Her Ambassador in Berlin Files a Strong Protest Against Deportations.
BRITISH TELL OF PLEDGE
Lord Robert Cecil Declares German Officials Promised Not to Exile Belgians.
MADRID, Nov. 21, (via Paris.)—A semi-official note made public here today announces that the Spanish Ambassador in Berlin has handed the German Government a strong protest against the deportation in Belgium. The protest came from the Spanish diplomatic representative at Brussels. The Ambassador, who is charged with the protection of Belgian interests, asked the Government to relinquish its measures for deportations and to release those who had been the victims of it.
The note says that pending the outcome of the protest the Spanish Government has instructed its Ambassador to do his utmost to obtain better treatment for the deported men.
LONDON, Nov. 21.—In the House of Commons today Lord Robert Cecil, War Trade Minister, confirmed statements, made on the floor, that 25,000 Belgian men had been deported from Belgium to work in German coal, iron, and steel industries in the Rhine Province and Westphalia. He said that after the surrender of Antwerp the Military Governor gave Cardinal Mercier a solemn written assurance that no Belgians should be deported, and that assurance was confirmed by Field Marshal von der Goltz, now dead, who at that time was Governor General of Belgium.
Lord Robert added that the German officer under whose orders the first deportations from Flanders were carried out was formerly Governor of Brussels, and “was directly responsible for the execution of Nurse Cavell.”
The British Government, Lord Robert added, would support every Belgian protest, but the only way to solve the question was “to prosecute the war with all our powers and make it a cardinal point to secure the liberation of Belgian territory and Belgian citizens from this oppression.”
The Common Council of Antwerp has refused to deliver lists of the unemployed to the Germans, according to a Reuter's Amsterdam dispatch quoting the Telegraaf. As a consequence, the dispatch says, the Germans are now calling men of all classes to the police stations for examination as to the identity of their papers. These men are said to have the choice of a German labor contract of three or six months or immediate deportation to Germany. The Telegraaf adds that an official letter has been sent to all Burgomasters demanding lists of unemployed under penalty of deporting citizens of all classes to Germany.
The Belgian Refugees' Committee at Flushing has petitioned Queen Wilhelmina to intercede with Germany in an endeavor to stop the deportations of Belgians, says a dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph Company from Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM, Monday, Nov. 20, (via London, Nov. 21.)—According to the frontier correspondent of the Telegraaf, a number of Belgians who had been deported to Germany have returned to Belgium, having paid a ransom to the Germans. It appears, the correspondent says, that the Germans first offered a ransom for 1,000 marks, and, none offering to pay this amount, reduced it to 500 marks, which also many refused to pay.
PLEA TO GERMAN CHURCHES.
Dr. Young Asks American Clergy’s Protest in Belgium’s Behalf.
An invitation to join in an appeal to German churches and universities to prevent the deportation of Belgians is being sent to American religious and educational bodies by the Rev. Dr. S. Edward Young, pastor of the Bedford Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn.
Clergymen generally and heads of institutions of learning are urged to write their opinions as to the propriety of sending such a communication, and in the event of a sufficient number of favorable replies being received, a wireless message will be sent within a few days to a few religious leaders and heads of universities in Germany.
Dr. Young said yesterday:
“While Germany is regarded by many outsiders as absolutely dominated at the present time by her military régime, there are pastors and university men in Germany who speak boldly their dissent from the Government's position on various issues connected with the war. In all Germany’s crises since the Reformation her pastors and university men have taken a leading part. They can exercise tremendous influence during these months ahead.
“Some pastors and university leaders may resent even this well-intended and fraternal suggestion, but it is likely that many will welcome the occasion to declare their already formed private judgments against the Belgian deportations.”
CALLS GERMANS SLAVERS.
Semi-Official French Statement Says They Violate Their 1883 Compact.
PARIS, Oct. 31, (Correspondence of The Associated Press.)—A semi-official statement just given out here replies to statements from German sources in which the enforced labor of civilians of Belgium and Northern France is justified on the ground that the army occupation is required by Article 43 of the Hague Convention to take necessary measures to re-establish and maintain order and public life. Attention is called to the fact that the same article requires the occupying article to provide nourishment for the population which, the reply says, Germany has not done.
In referring to the deportation of 25,000 inhabitants of Lille, Roubaix, and Turcoing, forced to work in other regions by the military authorities, the statement cites the decrees issued by General von Bissing, constraining the population under severe penalties to enforced labor either in Belgium or Germany. It recalls the protestations made by France against the deportations from Lille, and denies that the German military authorities were under the necessity of resorting to this measure for the nourishment of the population, because they had never occupied themselves with that duty. On the contrary, it is declared, they have disinterested themselves entirely as to the fate of the population in the occupied regions, who receive their sustenance from the Allies through the philanthropic intervention of the Spanish-American committees.
The statement says, furthermore, that not only did Germany neglect its duty in this regard, but it has actually obstructed the provisioning of the population of occupied regions by requisitioning and sending to Germany all the raw materials and industrial equipment found in these regions.
On this question the statement cites the evidence of Siegfried Herbert, a Swedish doctor, who resided in Lille from 1908 to June 10, 1916. On his return to his native country in September last, he declared that all of the production of 1915 in that region had been seized by the Germans, and that, not being able to consume the entire product on the spot, they put the surplus into storage for the account of German authorities, and by reason of that action enormous quantities of potatoes were allowed to rot.
The occupying forces have not, according to the rights of man, the statement sets forth, absolute liberty in the choice of measures proper to assure order and public life. Besides the obligation to respect, except in the case of absolute impossibility, the laws in force in the country, (and no French or Belgian law imposes obligation to work,) Article 52 of The Hague Convention regulates in what measure the occupying forces may impose work upon the inhabitants. It provides that requisitions of products and of labor cannot be claimed of communes or of inhabitants excepting for the needs of the army of occupation. Such is not the case, the statement asserts, if the product of labor imposed upon the population is to be transported to Germany; neither is it the case if the labor is not utilized on the spot, but in Germany. In either of these cases, it is contended, the work is not imposed for the needs of the army of occupation, as required by the Hague convention, but with an entirely different object, which entirely disregards the limits set by Article 52.
The statement concludes that neigher the usages of civilized nations, the laws of humanity, nor the workings of the public conscience, is compatible with this enforced service; that it is a veritable return to slavery, to that slavery which the signatories of the General Act of the General Conference at Berlin in 1885, Germany among them, engaged to suppress in Africa, and that Germany has revived it for the unfortunate inhabitants of Belgium and the North of France.
BELGIANS IMPLORE OUR AID.
Minister of Justice Urges a Campaign Here.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21.—Henri Carton de Wiart, Belgian Minister of Justice, has sent from Havre the following cablegram to Miss Mary Patten of this city regarding the deportation of Belgians to Germany:
“News from Belgium describes situation horrible. Over 40,000 men already deported for military work amid awful scenes; number proposed 300,000. Stop it, please. Get influential friends. Start strong campaign of opinion, which might possibly prevent extensive slave trade. Implore your help in the name of humanity and honor of mankind.”
DISCUSS PRISON CAMPS.
Cecil Regrets Nonpublication of Our Investigators’ Reports.
LONDON, Nov. 21.—Washington’s refusal to permit the publication of American officials on prison camps in Germany was the subject of a question today in the House of Commons. Lord Robert Cecil, Minister of War Trade, replying to the interrogation, said he had some reason to believe that, while the United States Government objected in principle to the publication of such reports, its consent might be obtained to the publication of individual reports.
The expenses incurred by the American officials in visiting the camps, Lord Robert said, would be refunded to the American Government in due course, and concluded:
“We are obliged, however reluctantly, to defer to the wishes of the United States Government as to the publication of reports drawn up by United States officials.”
The Minister of War Trade told another questioner that the American Ambassador at Constantinople was well aware of the great importance Great Britain attached to the inspection of prison camps in Turkey.
Urges Prayer for End of War.
BOSTON, Nov. 21.—Governor McCall, in a Thanksgiving proclamation today, said: “Let us devoutly pray to Almighty God for the speedy ending of the black welter of war that threatens to put out the light of Europe.”
desire to help this side or that. The utterances of organs like The New York Times and The New Republic must be sharply distinguished from those of German propagandists like Mr. Hearst, who clamors continually for peace, but upon genuine humanitarianism.”
Then the correspondent gave the following condensation of “Cosmos’” argument:
“Germany may have been the sinister aggressor, but she has learned her lesson. If peace comes now her people can be relied upon to do their best to prevent more war, just as the people of the Allies can be. They would, in fact, now be ready to join honestly in a league to enforce peace, or whatever concerted means may be taken against more war, and some such guarantee, judging from utterances such as Viscount Grey’s, is what the Allies really want, besides, of course, the restitution of Belgium, the evacuation of France, and other things which Germany is believed to be ready to do.
“To continue the war indefinitely would, on the other hand, mean not only more and worse suffering, but the exacerbation of feelings deleterious to the future peace of Europe. The Allies might well win, but they do not want and would not probably be able utterly to crush their enemies, and if they succeeded in merely crippling the Central Powers, what would be the result? Exhaustion does not last forever. Instead of realizing the errors of their ways, the Teutonic peoples would be inclined to heed the arguments of their rulers that they had been unfairly attacked and despoiled by a jealous cabal, and would sanction efforts to prepare for a war of revenge.
“This is not, of course,” added the correspondent, “the view of many thoughtful Americans, who realize as well as we do what we are confronted with, and do not relish the idea of any effort to hamper the Allies just when they are beginning to overcome the handicap of their unpreparedness, but it is becoming prevalent enough to merit serious attention.”
Reference was then made to the American publication of Berlin and Vienna dispatches giving German comment upon President Wilson’s alleged belief that the time is coming when he might do something toward peace, or, at any rate, an armistice.
“The tenor of these dispatches,” said the correspondent, “is mildly and cautiously encouraging.”
The correspondent followed this by a quotation from the Washington announcement that there was no foundation for “statements that the President has changed his opinion that to intervene would be ill-timed and futile unless the belligerents indicated such action would be acceptable, which, it is intimated, they have not yet done.”
Lord Northcliffe’s other paper, The Daily Mail, printed a shorter dispatch, in which it spoke of “the first serious movement toward peace among American newspapers by The New York Times.” The Mail headed the dispatch “German Peace Trick—Fresh Effort to Make a Catspaw of President Wilson.”
In regard to the foregoing it is said that in the best-informed quarters here there is not the slightest idea that President Wilson will go beyond the limits which he has set himself.
Views of Daily Express’ Editor.
R. D. Blumenfeld, editor of The Daily Express, said yesterday:
“I can quite understand a willingness on the part of the German Chancellor and the German people to discuss peace suggestions as outlined by ‘Cosmos,’ namely that the war should be declared a draw, but it doesn't appear to me to be in the least sound to suggest that the Allies should now let bygones by bygones and shake hands with the Central Powers. German ambition was to dominate the world. It has failed. The Allies have sacrificed too much to desire now to call a truce without a definite result. There is no sane person in the country today who would care to accommodate Germany to an easy peace. There is no sane person in this country who wishes to destroy Germany root and branch, but every thinking woman who has gone through the terrible experiences of this war remains firm in the belief that it must go on until ‘never again’ has become a certainty.
“An inconclusive peace today would merely postpone the inevitable recurrence of bloodshed and sacrifice. The menace of aggression must be eliminated forever from the European horizon.”
Warns us “Hands Off.”
Among the evening paper all avoided reference to The New York Times article with the exception of the Pall Mall Gazette, which in its news columns emphasizes the view taken by the London Times, whose dispaotch it quoted in full, adding:
“Another peace kite is flying—in America. The New York Times definitely declares itself in favor of the theory that the time is nearly ripe for peace. The lines of the arguments are not new.”
The Pall Mall Gazette referred to Maximilian Harden’s Die Zukunft article urging Germany to understand the real objects of the Entente and suggesting that an offer to endeavor to fulfill those conditions would find fruitful response before Christmas as “interesting comment” on The New York Times article. I an editorial note the Pall Mall Gazette said:
“Those American newspapers which are flying a new peace kite may be perfectly free from German influences, but they are none the less playing the German game, and it is well they should understand that their efforts can only discredit the United States in the eyes of this country. The mind of the Allies is quite fixed that there can be no safety for Europe so long as a nation of Germany’s criminal instincts retains its military power. America has excused her aloofness from the defense of civilization by pleading she has no concern in the affairs of Europe. Very well, let it stay at that. She will only incur unpleasant consequences by interfering at this stage with measures which the Allies are taking to put their own side of the world in order.”
The Evening Standard had an editorial congratulating the Cabinet Ministers on the decision to address a number of meetings during the Winter, saying:
“Some such antidote to pessimism and underground intrigue is badly wanted. The patchy working of the censorship is all against the maintenance of healthy public opinion. It is impossible for honest commentators to say all they would like to say, while, on the other hand, the pacifists are free to carry on their underground campaign in the interests of Germany. Lying rumor has in these times an enormous advantage, of which the Morels and MacDonalds are quick to make the most effective use. It cannot be denied also that the Ministers themselves are much to blame for the gloom and uneasiness widely felt, if not articulately expressed.
“If the common people gain the impression that a patched-up peace is in contemplation, that Germany after all her crimes is to be welcomed back, Hohenzollerns and all, to the comity of civilized nations, then assuredly there will be no heart in the war. If, on the other hand, they are convinced that all these dreadful losses are not being incurred in vain, that the object to be achieved is worth sacrifice, all the wiles of Morel and Wolff will be in vain.
“In one sense, the issue of the war depends more on our civil leaders than on the army, for the army cannot conquer without the nation behind it, and the nation will lose its courage and hope unless it sees those qualities in the Government.”
The Globe published an editorial headed “Malignant Pacifists,” wherein it denounced an article in the organ of the union of democratic control, in which it was said:
“There is good reason for believing that upon the vital issue of peace by negotiations our Government is divided in opinion.”
The Western Morning News of Plymouth, under the title “Peace? With Slave Drivers?” says:
“Americans are not without ideals. They once went to war themselves to put an end to what they believed to be the degenerate system of colonial administration of Spain. Yet if The New York Times enjoys any substantial following in the United States in this peace propaganda America must be supposed to be ready to counsel this country to make terms with a conscienceless power which has outraged every law and practice of civilized warfare, whether on land or sea. Remote from the realities of conflict and failing to realize the poignant sacrifices in life and all that makes life dear which it has cost us, The New York Times and its friends proffer us their counsel to ‘throw up the sponge.’ They have adopted with remarkable readiness the German-made story that the war is reaching a condition of stalemate. Stalemate! When the mightiest efforts which this country has made to produce a preponderance in men and material have not yet reached full fruition, when next year will place us in possession of resources which will alter the whole aspect of the campaign!”
Confident Allies Can Win.
The Daily Chronicle in an editorial this morning says:
“Without in the least impugning the sincerity of The New York Times we disagree both with its premises and with its conclusions. The Allies, we believe, can win without paying a prohibitive price; much the heaviest part of their price has been paid already.
“In the month of September our forces in the West had got the Germans definitely ‘down,’ we were inflicting on them weekly very much heavier losses than we suffered, and there was nothing save the weather to prevent the process being pushed further and further to its inevitable end. That is still the position which the expansion of our artillery and air services can only accentuate. Six weeks’ nearly continuous rain gave the Germans respite, three months of Winter may give them more, but after all these respites the working of the process must return. The Germans can no longer hope, as in 1915, to stop it by [. . .]tion.
“The fate of Combles, Thiepval, and Beaumont-Hamel proves that. Nor do we believe Germany ‘learnt her lesson.’ If she had, she would not continue as she does in the path of perfidy and atrocity. This power, which we are told may ‘join honestly’ in a league, that would be utterly worthless unless composed of trustworthy parties, is not merely the power which invaded Belgium in 1914, but the power which in defiance of both general right and of special pledges is slave-driving in Belgium today.
“It is not merely the power which sank the Lusitania nineteen months ago, but the power which still exults in almost daily perpetration of piracy and murder at sea. No post-war settlement which depends for its stability on undertakings given by such a power can have any real stability at all. We are bound to fight on for a solid material guarantee. We want no peace of Amiens, we do not even want such a peace as was made and broken before Waterloo; we need an after Waterloo peace.”
MORE BERLIN PEACE TALK.
The Tageblatt Says Burian Discussed Subject with Chancellor.
Special Cable to The New York Times.AMSTERDAM, Nov. 21, (Dispatch to the London Daily Chronicle.)—After a long interval since the suspension of his journal, Theodore Wolff reappears in the Tageblatt. He suggests a connection between Baron Burian’s visit to the Chancellor and the peace negotiation rumors.
Since the Chancellor’s speech the whole world, he says, knows Germany would not refuse to consider proposals to negotiate. “We may assume that the object of Burian’s visit there was to talk both about Polish affairs and about the future of Europe.”
Wolff warns his readers, however, not to overestimate the importance of these things, since there are very few indications of any inclination toward peace on the part of the Allies.
HUNGARIANS EAGER FOR OUR MEDIATION
Only Remains, Says One, to Convince Allies That Blockade Is Absurd and Teutons Invincible.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
LONDON, Wednesday, Nov. 22.—The Morning Post’s Berne correspondent sends the following:
“Great prominence is given by the Neue Freie Presse, the leading exponent of Germanism in Austria, to the news that a reported peace plan by President Wilson is most eagerly discussed in Budapest. In place of the leading article it reproduces the views of several eminent Hungarian parliamentarians on the reported proposal.
“Joseph Szterenyi, former Secretary of State and now member of the Hungarian Diet, says that Mr. Wilson’s idea is undoubtedly sound. He avers that the German Chancellor is at one with the Entente statesman in respect of the policy to be pursued in regard to Belgium and small States, and contends that the presentation of independence to Russian Poland is not conquest by the Central Powers, seeing that the objective foundation for the commencement of peace negotiations is established. It only remains, according to Szterenyi, to convince Paris and London of the absurdity of the idea that the Central Powers can be forced by means of a blockade to sue for peace, and, furthermore, that the armies of the Central Powers are invincible.
“Everybody in Hungary, he says, will joyfully welcome President Wilson’s initiative, and he adds that in view of the fact that the Central Powers have given so many proofs that they do not wish further purposeless bloodshed, there is no possibility of their doing anything but to encourage Mr. Wilson’s initiative.
“Georg von Lukacs, member of the Foreign Committee of the Hungarian delegation, mistrusts President Wilson on account of his attitude hitherto maintained toward the two belligerent groups, but he rejoices over the fact that Mr. Wilson’s plan justifies the hope that the United States will finally adopt an attitude of honest and impartial neutrality. He declares it is an open secret that the prolongation of the war beyond all reason is due to a considerable extent to the one-sided neutrality of the United States.
“Belafoeldes, Vice President of the Independence Party, says, according to the Neue Freie Presse, that while the steps in favor of peace about to be taken by Mr. Wilson will be heartily welcomed, the war has made the Hungarians very pessimistic and very skeptical. Any effort, however, which seems to promise to put an end to the awful dance of death, he adds, will be greeted with joy, and he remarks that the importance of Wilson's action will naturally be greatly enhanced if the other neutral States join in.
“Germania, the Berlin organ of the powerful Centre Party, contends that only the Pope is qualified to act as mediator in the cause of peace, because only he is absolutely impartial. It declares that Mr. Wilson owes his re-election partly to his peace program, but that latter is concerned with the maintenance and not the restoration of peace. The Centre organ observes that the prospects of an early peace are very slight. The same journal protests against Herr Scheidemann posing as spokesman of the German people, and declaring that nine-tenths of the population of Germany share his views in regard to war aims. Germania asserts that Scheidemann has not only no right to speak in the name of the majority of the people, but he has not even the whole Socialist Party behind him.”
DIVERGENT PEACE PLANS.
Prof. Dutton Contrasts Ideals of World’s Court and Taft Leagues.
Professor Samuel T. Dutton of Columbia University, Secretary of the World’s Court League, of which John Hays Hammond is President, issued a statement yesterday setting forth the difference between this organization and the League to Enforce Peace, of which ex-President Taft is the head. In the main the two organizations are working toward the same end, and Mr. Taft is honorary President of the World’s Court League and interested in both organizations.
“The platform of the World’s Court League differs in several essential particulars from the plan of the League to Enforce Peace, each difference representing an attempt to develop more completely the idea of international agreement,” Professor Dutton said in his statement. “The main points of difference are these: that the World’s Court League recognizes the institutions already in existence that grew out of the first and second Hague Conferences; sees the need ot continuing the Hague Conferences, not depending on the initiative of any one power, but meeting at fixed periods automatically, and looks to the establishment of a permanent administrative committee representing all the nations to keep in touch with the various Governments.”
Ex-President Taft is to speak tonight at a meeting of the Canadian Club at which Sir Robert Baird Borden, the Premier of Canada, is to be a guest of honor. Advocates of the League to Enforce Peace plan are looking forward to this meeting with great interest in view of the comments favorable to the plan which the Premier made in his speech on Saturday before the members of the Lawyers’ Club.