‘SPARRING FOR TIME’

The impression produced in responsible quarters by the German reply to the Allies’ terms as stated by President Wilson is that Solf has not seriously attempted to deal with the main issue, and is merely sparring for time. The present re-orientation of German political life is still chaotic. It is probably as difficult for the German Foreign Minister as for ourselves to foresee the form into which German opinion will ultimately be moulded, and a false step in the matter may have terrible consequences for all concerned. On the face of it there might seem to be little advantage for Germany in delaying her submission. Her military position will, at all events, not be bettered by the inevitable capitulation of her two remaining allies: moreover, the growth of dissatisfaction within Germany seems daily more and more likely to embarrass the ill-assorted coalition which now claims to represent public opinion there. But two things are to be remembered. It is as necessary for the “constituted” authorities who brought about the war to make concessions to democratic opinion at home as to the victorious alliance at the front. Only by persuading the latter that he actually speaks for the people of Germany can Solf induce the Allies to accept his ultimate reply. And the defection of Austria and Turkey may not impossibly be held by him as the sole possible excuse for the capitulation that is now seen to be inevitable. More than once during the war have inspired writers hinted that the Central Empires cannot be expected to challenge successfully the entire civilised world. Poor as the excuse is for those whose arrogance and brutality have brought them to this pass, it is, perhaps, the only device that occurs to German mentality by which their faces may partially be saved. It is hard to see how any attempt to justify the savagery of the retreating Germans, or any reference to honour and justice can at this pass avail them. The same total inability to grasp the character of her enemies which has marked Germany’s policy throughout is here manifested as nakedly as ever. That the German Foreign Minister intended to cajole the Allies through Mr Wilson into a war of words is clear. But, were there nothing else in this reply to demonstrate the insincerity of their contentions, the Germans have had the hardihood to assert that their troops are “under the strictest instructions to spare private property, and to exercise care for the population to the best of their ability.” That such an assertion is a falsehood the stripped houses of Douai and the miserable eastward exodus of Belgian and French civilians bear witness. That it is mere insolence to include such a statement in their present reply the American President may be trusted to assure them.