OUR WAR AIMS

Among a small body of so-called citizens there has been a systematic attempt to embarrass the Government by raising the cry: "What are we fighting for?" To these few as well as the Germans, the President has given a definite reply; his fourteen demands are clear and to the point and they, combined with Lloyd George's aims, as outlined in his last speech to the trade unionists, explain the Allied cause.

Lloyd George's and the President's terms of peace are practically the same; they both insist upon the restoration of Belgium and the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France. The one real difference between the desires of the Allies now and last summer comes in the question of the fate of the German government. When we entered the war we were going to destroy the German government and not the German people; we hoped for a German revolution and with it a representative government. Yet our hopes in this direction seem farther and farther from being realized, and now we are coming from generalities to definite terms.

The terms themselves can never be accepted by the present Germany. Her ideas of a Mittel Europa would be shattered, Austria-Hungary would be sadly mutilated, and Turkey would be a mere wreck. Nevertheless, these terms are a good standard to set, they are well worth fighting for, but before we can expect to see them realized and not just idealistic hopes, we shall have to argue with the Kaiser by word of gun, not solely by conferences and newspaper reports.