Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 65, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1918 — GERMANS LEFT POWERLESS BY PEACE TERMS [ARTICLE]

GERMANS LEFT POWERLESS BY PEACE TERMS

President Wilson Gives Terms and Pledges Succor to Stricken • Germany. COMPLETE SURRENDER •» Chief Executive Tells Congress of Agreement Signed by Defeated Foe. MILITARY MACHINE WRECKED Hunt Must Evacuate Belgium, Franos, Alsace-Lorraine and Luxemburg Within 14 Days, Surrender 5,000 1 Big Guna, 30,000 Machine Guns, 3,000 Flame Throwers, 2,000 Airplanes, 5,000 Locomotives, 50,000 Wagons and 10,000 Motortrucks —Must Retreat 20 Miles Behind Rhine—Russ Treaty Abrogated. Washington, Nov. 12. —The terms of the armistice with Germany were read to congress by President Wilson. Assembled in tlie hall of the house where nineteen months ago senators and rep'resentptlves heard the president ask for the declaration of war, they heard him speak the words which herald the looming of pence. ! The strictly military terms of the armistice are embraced in eleven specifications which include the evacuation of all Invaded territories, tlie withdrawal of the German troops from tho left bank of the Rhine and tho surrender of all supplies of war. Tlie teams also provide for tlie abandonment by Germany of the treaties of Itucharest and Brest-Lltov.sk. Communicates Terms to Congress. The president spoke ns follows: “Gentlemen of the Congress: n “In these anxious times of rapid and stupendous change It will in some degree lighten my sense of responsibility to perform In person tlie duty of ■communicating to you some of the larger circumstances of the situation with which it is necessary to deal. “The German authorities who have, nt the Invitation of the supreme war council, been in communication with Marshal Foch have accepted and signed the terms of armistice which he was authorized and instructed to communicate to them. Military Clauses of Terms. “Those terms are as follows: . “I. Military clauses on western front: “1. A cessation of operations by 'land and in the air six hours after the signature of the armistice. I “2. Immediate evacuation of Invad*ed countries: Belgium, France, Al-sace-Lorraine, Luxemburg, so ordered >s to he completed within fourteen days from the signature of the armistice. troops, which have not left the above-mentioned territories 'within tlie period fixed will become prisoners of war. Occupation by the allies and United States forces jointly will keep pace with evacuation In these areas. All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated in accordance with note annexed to the stated terms. 1 “3. Repatriation beginning at once and to lie completed within fourteen days of all Inhabitants of the countries above mentioned, including hostages and persons under trial or convicted. Must Surrender 5,000 Guns. “4. Surrender in good condition by the German armies of tlie following equipment: Five thousand guns (2,500 heavy, 2,500 field), 30,000 machine guns, 3,000 minnenwerfer, 2,000 airplanes (fighters, bombers,' mostly D. 73’s and night-bombing machines). The above to be delivered to the allies and the United States troops in accordance witli the detailed conditions laid' down in the annexed note. “5. Evacuation by German angles of the countries on the left bank of the Rhine. “These countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be administered by the local authorities under the control of the allies and United States armies of occupation. The occupation of these territories will be determined by allied and United States garrisons holding the principal crossings of the Rhine —Mayence, Coblenz, Cologne, together with bridgeheads at these points—in thirty-kilometer radius on the right bank and by garrisons similarly hojd-

png the strategic points of the regions. i “A neutral zone shall be reserved on the right of the Rhine between, the stream and a line drawn parallel to it 40 kilometers to the east from the frontier of Holland to the parallel of iGernsheim and as far as practicable a distance of 30 kilometers from the east Of stream from this parallel upon Swiss frontier. Evacuation by the enemy of th'e Rhine lands shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further period of eleven days, in all J . 19 days after the signature of the arin•stice. 'All movements of evacuation

and occupation will be regulated according to the note annexed. “G. In all territory evacuateed by the enemy there shall be no evacuation of Inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the persons or property of the inhabitants, no destruction of any kind.be committed. Military establishments of ail kinds shall be delivered intact as well as military stores of food, munitions, equipment not removed during the periods fixed for evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, etc., shall be left in situ. Industrial establishments shall not be impaired in any way and their personnel shall not be moved. Roads and weans of communication of every kind, railroad, waterways, main roads, bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner Impaired. Civil Personnel to Remain. “1. All civil and military personnel at present employed on them shall remain. Five thousand locomotives, 50,000 wagons and 10,000 motor lorries in good working order, with all necessary spare parts and fittings, shall be delivered to the associated powers within the period fixed for the evacuation of Belgium and Luxemburg. The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within the same period, together with all pre-war personnel and material. Funder material necessary for the working of railways in the country on the left bank of the Rhine shall be left in situ. All stores of coal and material for the upkeep of permanent ways, signals and repair shops left entire in situ and kept in an efficient state by Germany during /he whole period of armistice. All barges taken from the allies shall be restored to them. A note appended regulates the details of these measures. “8. The German command shall be responsible for revealing all mines or delay acting fnses disposed on territory evacuatcyl by the German troops i and shall assist in their discovery and I destruction. The German command 1 shall also reveal all destructive measures that may have been taken (such i us poisoning or polluting of springs, wells, etc.), under penalty of reprisals. “9. The right of requisition shall be I exercised by the allies and the United States armies in ail occupied territory. The upkeep of the troops of occupation in the Rhine land (excluding AlsaceLorraine) shall be charged to the German government.

“10. An immediate repatriation without reciprocity, according to detailed conditions, shall lA* fixed, of all allied and United States prisoners of war. The allied powers and the United States shall he aide tv dispose of these prisoners as they wish. “11. Sick and Ivounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be car«*d for by German personnel, who will be left on the spot with the medical material required. Eastern Frontiers of Germany. “11. Disposition relative to the eastern frontiers of Germany. “12. All German troops at present in any territory which before the war belonged to Russia, Roumania or Turkey shall v. ithdnfw within the frontiers of Gennany as they existed on August 1, 1914. “13. Evacuation by German troops to begin at once and all German instructors, prisoneft. and civilians, as well as military agents, now on the |grritoryj>f Riisgia (as defined before 19145 to be recalled. “14. German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures and any other undertaking with a view to obtaining supplies intended for Gennany in Roumania and Russia (as defined on Augusf 1, 1914). “15. Abandonment of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and pf the supplementary treaties. "15. The allies shall have frge access to the territories evacuated by the Germans on their eastern frontier, either through Danzig or by the Vistula, in order to convey supplies to the populations of those territories or for any other purpose. “111. Clause concerning East Africa: “17. Unconditional capitulation of all German forces operating in East Africa within one month. “IV. General clauses: “18. Repatriation, without reciprocity, within a maximum period of one month, in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed, of all civilians . or deported whc may be citizens of other allied or associated states than those mentioned in clause three, paragraph nineteen, with the reservation that any future claims and demands of the allies and the United States of America remain unaffected. ■ “19. The following financial condl-

tions are required: “Repqgption for damage done. While such armistice lasts no public securities shall be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the allies for the recovery or reparation for war losses. Immediate restitution of the cash deposit In the National bank of Belgium, and. in general, immediate return of all documeats, specie, stocks* shares, paper money, together with plant for the issue thereof, touching public or private interests in the invaded countries. Restitution of the Russian and Roumanian gold yielded to Germany or. taken by that power. This gold tc be delivered in trust to the allies until the signature of peace. Naval Conditions of Agreement. “V. Naval conditions: _ “20. Immediate cessation of an hostilities at sea and definite information to be given as to the location and movements of all German ships. Notification to be given to neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters Is given to the naval and mercantile marines of _aH the allied and

gMPWWMMJWET- ~~~ r* * —Mjjj * ~ >■’ v associated powers, all questions of neutrality being waived. “21. All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the allied and associated powers tn German hands to be returned without reciprocity. “22. Surrender to the allies and the United States of America of 160 German submarines (including all submarine cruisers and mine laying submarines) with their complete armament and equipment in ports which will be specified by the allies and the United States of America. All other submarines to be paid off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision of the allied powers and the United States of America. “23. The following German surface warships which shall be designated by the allies and the United States of America shall forthwith be disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports, or, for the want of them, in allied ports, to be designated by the allies and the United States of Amerlea and placed under the surveillance of the allies and the United States of America, only caretakers being left on board, namely; Six battle cruisers, ten battleships, eight light cruisers, including two mine layers, fifty destroyers of the most modern type. “All other surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated in German naval bases to be, designated by the allies and the United States of America, and are to be paid off and completely disarmed amd placed under the supervision of the allies and the United States of Aflierica. All vessels of the auxiliary fleet (trawlers, motor vessels, etc.) are to be disarmed. Germany Must Indicate Mines. “24. The allies and the United States of America shall have the right to sweep up all mine fields and obstruction laid by Germany outside German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to be indicated: “25. Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the naval and mercantile marines of the allied associated powers. To secure this, the allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy all German fcfrts, fortifications, batteries and defense works of all kinds in all the entrances from the Categat into the Battle, and to swetp up all mines and obstructions within and witout German territorial waters without any question of neutrality being raised, and the positions of all such mines and obstructions are to be indicated. “26. The existing blockade conditions set up by the allies and associated powers are to remain unchanged and all German merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture. Aircraft to Be Concentrated. “27. All naval aircraft are %o be concentrated and immobilized in German bases to be specified by the allies and the United States of America. “28. In evacuating the Belgian coasts and ports Germany shall abandon all merchant ships, tugs, lighters, cranes and all other harbor materials, all materials for inland navigation, ail aircraft and all materials and stores, all arms and armaments and all stores end apparatus of all kinds. “29. All Black sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany; all Russian war vessels of all descriptions seized by Germany In tht» Black sea are to be handed over to the allies and the United States of America; all neutral merchant vessels seized are to be released; all warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those ports ard to be returned and German materials as specjfled In clause 28 are to be abandoned.

All Vessels to Be Restored. “30. All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the allied and associated powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the aides and the United States of America without reciprocity. “31. No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender or restoration. “32. The German government will notify the neutral governments of the world, and particularly the governments of Norway, Sweeten, Denmark and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their vessels with the allied and associated countries, whether by the German interests and whether in return for specific concessions such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately canceled. “33. No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the armistice. Duration Set at Thirty Days. "VI. Duration of armistice: “34. The duration of the armistice is to be 30 days, with option to extend. During this period, on failure of execution of any of the above clauses, the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties on 48 hours previous notice. ___ “VII. Time Hmit for reply’: “35. This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within 72 hours of notification. “The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of armistice, it will be impossible for the Gernian command to renew it. “It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great consummation We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another, until all the world was on fire, Is at an end and that it was the prfvllege of our own people to enter it at Its most critical juncture in such fashion and In such force as to continue In a way of which we are all deeply proud, to the great result. “We know, too, that the object of the *—*-=*-

*'' -Mi-sat •war is attained; the objects upon which all freemen had set th'eir hearts; and attained with a sweeping completeness which even now we do not realize. Armed Imperialism such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany, is at an end, Its illicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster. “Who will now seek to revive it? “The arbitrary power of the military caste of Germany, which once could secretly and of its own single choice disturb the peace of the world, Is discredited and destroyed. And more tiian that —much more than that —has been accomplished. League of Nations. “The great nations which associated themselves to destroy it had now definitely united in the common purpose to set up such a peace as will satisfy t,fle longing of the whole world for disinterested justice, embodies in settlements which are based upon something much better and much more lastlng'than the Selfish coqppetitltve interests of powerful states. There is no longer conjecture as to the objects the victors have in mind. They have a mind in the matter, not />nly, but a heart also. Their avowed and concerted purpose Is to satisfy and protect the weak as well as to accord their just rights to the strong. To Feed Starving Huns. “The humane temper and Intention of the victorious governments has already been manifested in a very practical way. Their representatives in the supreme war council at Versailles have by unanimous resolution assured thepeoples of the central empires that everything that Is possible in the circumstances will be done to supply them with and rellfeve the distressing want that is in so many places threatening their very lives; and steps are to be taken immediately to organize these efforts at redlef in the same systematic manner that they were organized in the case of Belgium. “By the use of idle tonnage of the central empires it ought presently to be possible to lift the fear of utter nalsfrom their oppressed populations and set their minds and energies free for the great and hazardous tasks of political reconstruction which now face them on every hand. New Peril of Revolt “For with the fall of the ancient governments which rested like an incubus upon the peoples of the central empires has come political change not merely, but ‘revolution; and revolution which seems as .yet to assume no final and ordered form, but to run from one fluid change to another, until thoughtful men are forced to ask (hemsflves, with what governments and of what sort are we about to deal in the making of the covenants of peace? . “With what authority will they meet us, and with what assurance that their authority will abide and sustain securely the international arrangements into which we are about to enter? “There is here.matter for no small anxiety and misgiving. When peace is made, upon whose promises and engagement's beside our own is it to rest ? -.--t Says We Must Aid. “Let us be perfectly frank with ourselves and admit that these questions cannot be satisfactorily answered now or at once. But the moral Is not that there is little hope of an early answer that will suffice. “It is only that we must be patient and helpful and mindful above all of the great hope and confidence that lie at the heart of what is taking place. “Excesses accomplish nothing. Unhappy Russia has furnished abundant recent proof of that. Disorder immediately defeats itself. If excesses should occur, if disorder should for a time raise its head, a sober second thought will follow' and a day of constructive action, if w T e help and de not hinder. Conquer by Example. “The present and all that it held, belongs to the nations and the peoples who preserve their self-control and the orderly processes of their governments ; the future to those w T ho prove themselves the true friends of mankind. To conquer with arms Is tc make only a temporary conquest; tc conquer the world by earning its esteem is to make permanent conquest I am confident that the nations that have learned the discipline of freedom and that have settled with self-posses sion to its ordered pracjice are now about to make conquest of the world by the sheer power of example and ol friendly helpfulness.

Patience Our Task. “The peoples who have but just come out from under the yoke of arbitrary government and who are now coming at into their freedom will never And the treasures of liberty they are in search of if they look for then: by the light of the torch. “They will And that every pathway that is stained),with the blood of theli own brothers leads to the wilderness not to the .seat of their hope. They are new face-to face with their initial tests. We must hold the light steady until they And themselves. “And in the meantime, if it be pos sible, we must establish a peace that' will justly deAne their place among i the nations, removi all fear of theli' neighbors and ’of their former masten and enable them to live in security and contentment when they have se> their own affairs in order. “I for one do not doubt their pur pose or their capacity. There an some happy signs that they know and will choose the way of self-control and peaceful accommodation. If they d< we shall put our aid at their disposal In every way that we can. “If they do not we must await wit) patience and sympathy the awakenlnj and recovery that will assuredly com< at .last.” * -t.