Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 79, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 December 1916 — WILL GIVE TERMS IF ALLIES DEMAND [ARTICLE]

WILL GIVE TERMS IF ALLIES DEMAND

Germany Will Not Let Peace Move Be Blocked. ' -* A '■ BERLIN WANTS U. S. TO AID Central Powers Believed Willing to Permit a Confidential Exchange of Broad Tentative Terms Through President Wilson, Washington, Dec. 29,-—Germany, It was made known here, will not permit the road to peace negotiations to lie blocked by a refusal of the entente belligerents to enter u conference without prior knowledge of her terms. It has been forecast that the entente powers would base a refusal on such a condition. $ The central powers, are represented us willing to permit a confidential exchange of broad tentative terms through President Wilson should it. become necessary to do so lo bridge the gap ( wlii cl»Threatens to prevent a gathering o! peace drli-ghtes. There Were broad iid i mat ions I bat a stiH eaten t of tills posilion by Germany either bad bceti upturn unicated to the United States government or soon would be. The official text of Germany's reply to President Wilson’s note arrived and it was declared that no confidential 'communication from Ambassador Gerard accompanied it. Terms Not Revealed to U. S. It is denied in Washington that Germany has made known, even by suggestion, to the American government any of file terms upon which it will in,ake peace. Men close to the ads minis! rat ion, who know what is being done, say that no offer of any individual condition of peace hits been transmitted by Germany. This means Unit the United States government lias not received train Germany any promise or suggestion of a promise that indemnity will be paid to the Belgians after tile war is ended. Text of Kaiser’s Reply. The official text, which differs some in phraseology from the unofficial, follows: “The irtiperial government lias accepted and considered in the friendly spirit which is apparent in the eomiimiiica 1 ion of t lie president, (the) noble ini lia 1 1 ye of the president looking to the creation of buses for the foundation of a lasting peace. "The president discloses tin- aim which lies next to his heart and leaves I lie choicest way open. "A direct exchange of view’s appears to the .Imperial. government as the mos! suitable way of arriving at. the desired result. The imperial government has flic honor, therefore, in the esense of its dcchiratioii of the 12th inst n 11 ! whi eh uiTcrei It lie Im in It nr peace' negotiations, to propose speedy assembly on neutral ground, of delegates of the warring states, . "It is also the view of the imperial government; that the great work for the prevention of future-wars fail first be taken up only after the ending of the present conflict of exhaustion. The imperial government is ready when this point lias been reached, to cooperate with Hie United Stales at this sublime task.” Austria's Reply Is Received. Austro-liungary is anxious to deal direct as to pence with her enemies of tiie entente, according to a Geneva dispatch printed by the London Daily News. Agents of the Austrian government, if stated, have arrived at the Swiss city to arrange for a possible peace conference there. Austria’s reply to President Wilson’s peace note was received in Washington. It is understood to he substantially the same as Germany’s. Germany, it was said, is looking to the United States to make every effort lo bring about a' peace conference and to that end is ready to consider any suggestions from the president. As the case stands now. the German government Considers it lias met till the suggestions in the president’s note, and a statement to that effect lias been made by Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador. Teutons Reply to Swiss. Berlin, Dec. 29. —The German reply to the Swiss note litis been handed to the Swiss minister. It is on the same lines ns the reply to President Wilson. A Vienna dispatch says that the Austro-llungarian government has answered the Swiss note by transmitting a copy of the note sent to President Wilson. A covering message assured the Helvetian government that the “noble-minded suggestion of President Wilson met with a thoroughly sympathetic reception” from Austria-Hun-gary, The message added that the Austro-Hungarian government regards the Swiss action in supporting President Wilson as an evidence of the “noble and humane disposition which Switzerland, since the beginning of the war, has manifested toward all the belligerents.”