Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

9 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

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Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

It is fpiriv obvious that the present situa- l tion demands of all the Allies, both at home ,and in the held. clear thinking and prompt I and resohite action. At the front we are confi, dent that there will be no lack of either, and that- the enemy will continue to be harried and pounded with all the per- sistence and co-operation that the season permits, until the opportunity arrives for another combined general offellsi-ve in all the theatres of tne fighting. As to the posi- ) tion at home- wp a'T3 n°t so fully reassured, j a diplomat t?e German may be a As a diplomat tue German may be a clumsy blunderer, whose unavailing efforts j' • to interpret the mind 01 other nations not liti-der his immediate vassalage tend to pro- ■* oke quite excusable laughter and eon- tempt. But as an organiser he Is inde- fatigable, relentless, not to be denied. He sets to work to repair his blunders as soon b« they are perceived. The most formidable obstacles do not deter him. If genius is truly an infinite capacity for takiing pains," he has most certainly that quality j -,is an organiser; and he diffei., from others of its possessors in that if. after ex- pending an infinity of labour upon one en- terprise, he finds 'it utterly fruitless in the End. he wastes no time upon lamentations over his latest failure but turns instantly to the development of an alternative plan- Nrith unabated energy. This obstinate persistence is li1 element 1,)1 the German character which, thanks to J- (he ludicrous results ;hat so often follow from it, is apt to be. under-rated in this counts and that is. perhaps, natural. We know something of ourselves of dour and dogged tenacity. But our persistence is rather of the irrevocable type, which holds on, heedless of alternatives, to one settled course, and, in defiance of all ths probabilities, somehow wrests success out of the jaws of failure. It is not in our national character to emulate or understand the facility with which the Itun, bound neither by honour nor by scruple, arid with, a single eye to the main chance for himself, turns from one course or attitude to another in his efforts to attain his selfish purpose. All the world over at the present time the elaborate German machinery for the fabrication or influencing of opinion is being operated -it the maximum pressure to procure a premature peace, or at least to produce an "a,tmosphere" propitious for its conclusion. As the Allied Note stated, it is a mere war manoeuvre." Germany, we fully believe, desires peace—of a sort. But it is not peace of a soit which the Allies, or any of them, can accept or even Nor does she desire it for any f. the reasonjs to Which she luas officially given publicity. Generosity and humanity do not come into the affair at all. We have seen Germany posturing in many ridiculously inappro- priate roles. But the role of magnanimous conq ueror and earnest missioner of peace and goodwill is the most ridiculous of all. She will never speak of peace while war can bring her any further gains. The peace which Germany wants is a German peace." She know that her scheme of world-conquest has for the moment missed fire-that it can- not possibly be attained in the present war and a.ga.inst the present combinations of civilised nations. But she hopes that, through war-weariness or individual folly or mutual mistrust, the Allies may be. in- duced to stay their hands while their task is yet incomplete, and while the means and chance are still left open to Germany for achieving in the future the ends which all the elaborate preparations of half-a-century have failed to win for her in two-and-a-half years of war. That Germany is herself war-weary, and that she is suffering privation and dis- tress at home, as well as moral and material deterioration at the fighting fronts, we may legitimately assume. But that is not her leason for "offering" so-called "peace" nor will it be her reason yet awhile for approach- ing her adversaries with terms. The main object of her "peace" pourparle.s--and we shall all do well to keep it very prominently in view-is to test at once the individua.1 resolution and the collective coherence of her opponents. She has sought to discover how far the Allies, or any of them, may be suffering from the strain of the struggle; with what feelings aJl or any of them are inclined to contemplate its conclusion; in fact, what terms it would be necessary for her to offer to produce the hoped-for partial breach or general debacle. She has had her answer—from ten nations which spoke with the voice of one. And, j with her characteristic persistence, she is preparing and will propound another plan— still, be it remembered, not so much with the object of securing a cessation from whose postponement she is suffering severely and will suffer progressively in the future, as with the hope of disorganising or under- mining or even delaying the effective and co-operative retribution which her opponents have prepared for her in the coming cam- paign. It behoves us all in these times to keep in mind an equally clear view of the character of the enemy with whom we have to deal and of the great issues for which we took up our arms. If we do so, without pausing to dally in debate upon a fraudulent j and fictitious "peace," we shall not fail- as Germany is longing and striving to make ns. fail--—to pursue with every thought of our mrnds; and every breath of our bodies that ( goal of final victory of which nothing now but our own weakness or folly can rob us.

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