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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1917)
Q 7 T , ,,;- , ft I 16 The Commoner " J. ' r."t Rgjply of Central Powers to Pope's Peace Proffer .-Following is tlio text of the reply of, Emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary' to Pope Benedict's peace pro posal; "Holy Fathor: With duo venera tion and deep emotion we take cog nizance of the new representation your holiness, in fulfillment of the holy ofilce intrusted to you by God, make to us and the heads of the oth er belligerent states, with the noble Intention of leading the heavily tried nations to a unity that will restore peace to them. "With a thankful heart we .re ceived this fresh gift of fatherly care which you, holy father, always be stow on all peoples without distinc tion, and from the depth of our heart wo greet the moving exhortation which your holiness has addressed to the governments of the belligerent peoples. During this cruel war we have always looked up to your holi ness as to the highest personage who, in virtue of his mission which roaches beyond earthly things, and thanks to the high conception of his duties laid upcfn him, stands high above the bel ligerent peoples and who is inacces sible to all influence, was able to find a way which may lead to the realiza tion of our own desire for peace, last ing and honorable for all parties. "Since ascending the throne of our ancestors, and fully conscious of the responsibility which we bear before God and men for the fate of the Aus-tro-Hungarian monarchy we have never lost sight of the high aim of restoring to our peoples as Bpeedily as possible the blessing of peace. Soon after our accession to the throne it was vouchsafed to us in common with our allies to undertake a step which had been considered and pre pared by our exalted prsdecesBor, Francis Joseph, to pave the way for a las ing and honorable peace. "Wo gave expression to this desire in a speech from the throne delivered at the opening of the Austrian Relchs rath, thereby showing that we are striving after a peace that shall free the future life of the nation" from rancor and a thirst for revenge and that shall secure them for generations to come from the employment of armed forces. Our Joint government has in the meantime not failed in re peated and cmphatical declarations, which could be heard by all the world, to give expression to our own will and that of the Austro-Hunga-rian peoples to prepare an end to bloodshed by a peace such as your holiness has in mind. "Happy in the thought that our desires from the first were directed toward the same object which your holiness today characterizes as one we should strive for, we have taken into close consideration the concrete and practical suggestions of your holiness und have' come to the following con clusions: "With deep-rooted "conviction we jagree to the leading idea of your holi ness that the future arrangement of the world must be based on the elim ination of armed forces and on the moral force of righFand on the rule of international justice and legality. "Wo, too, are imbued with Hie hope ,that a strengthening of the sense of right .would morally regenerate hu $nanity. We support, therefore, your holiness's view that the negotiations between the belligerents should and could lead to an understanding by which, with the creation o appropri ate guarantees, armaments on land and sea and in the air might be re duced simultaneously, reciprocally and gradually to fixed limit and where the high seag, which rightly belong to all the nations of the earth, may be N freed from domination or paramountcy and be opened equally for the use o" all. "Fully conscious of the importance of the promotion of peace on the method proposed by your holiness, namely, to submit international dis putes to compulsory arbitration, we are also prepared to enter into nego tiations regarding this proposal. "If, as we most heartily desire, agreements should be arrived at be tween the belligerents which would realize this sublime idea and thereby give security to the Austro-Hunga-r'ian monarchy for its unhampered future development, it can then not be difficult to find a satisfactory so lution of the other questions which still remain to be settled between the belligerents in a spirit of justice and of a reasonable consideration of the conditions for existence of both par ties. "If the nations of the earth were to enter, with a desire for peace, into negotiations with one another, in the sense of your holiness's proposals, then peace could blossom forth from them. The nations could attain com plete freedom of movement, on the high seas, heavy material burdens could be -taken from them and new sources of prosperity opened to them. ''Guided by a spirit of moderation and conciliation, we see in the pro posals of your holiness a suitable basis for initiating negotiations with a view to preparing a peace, just to all and lasting, and we earnestly hope our present enemies may be animated by the same ideas. In this spirit, we beg that the Almighty may bless the work of peace begun by your holiness." TEXT OF GERMAN REPLY Following is the complete text of the German reply to Pope Benedict's peace proposal: "Herr Cardinal: Your eminence has been good enough, together with your letter of August 2, to transmit to the kaiser and king, my most gra cious master, the note of his holiness, the pope, in which his holiness, filled with grief at the devastation of the world war, makes an emphatic peace appeal to the heads of the belligerent peoples. The kaiser-king has deigned to acquaint me with your eminence's letter and to intrust the reply to me. "His majesty has been following for a considerable time with high re spect and sincere gratitude his holi ness's efforts, in a spirit of true im partiality, to alleviate as far as pos sible the sufferings of the war and to hasten the end of hostilities. The kaisor sees in the latest step of his holiness fresh pn.of of his noble and humane feelings, and cherishes a lively desire that for the benefit of the entire world the papal appeal may meet with success. "The effort of Pope Benedict is to pave the - ay to an understanding among all peoples and might more surely reckon on a sympathetic re ception and whole-hearted support from his majesty, seeing that the kaiser, since taking over the govern ment, has regarded it as his principal and most sacied task to preserve the blessings of peacj for the German people and the world. In his first speech from the throne at the open ing cf the German relcliBtag, on June 25, 1888, the kaiser promised that his love of the German army and his position toward it should never lead him into temptation to cut short the benefits of peace unless war were a necessity, forced upon us by an at tack on the empire or its allies. The German army should safeguard peace for us, and, should peace neverthe less, be broken, it would be in a po sition to win it with honor. The kaiser has, by his acts, fulfilled the promise he then made in 26 years of happy rule, despite provocations and temptations. "In the crisis which led to the present world conflagration his ma jesty's efforts were, up to the last mo ment, .directed toward settling the conflict by peaceful means. After the war had broke out, against his wish and desire, the kaiser in con junction with his high allies was the first solemnly to declare his readiness to enter into peace negotiations. The German people supported his majecty in his keen desire for peace. "Germany sought within her na tional frontier the free development of her spiritual and material pos sessions and outside the imperial ter ritory unhindered Competition with nations enjoying equal rights and equal esteem. The free play of forces in the world in peaceable wrestling with one another would lead to the highest perfecting of the noblest human possessions. Disas trous concatenation of events in the year 1914 absolutely broke off all hopeful course of development and transformed Europe into a bloody battle arena. "Appreciating the importance -of his holiness's declaration, the im perial government has not failed to submit the suggestion . contained therein to earnest and scrupulous examination. Special measures, which the government has taken in closest contact with representatives of the German pet pie, for discussing and answering the questions raised prove how earnestly It desires in ac cordance with his holiness's desires and the peace resolution of the Reichstag on July 19, to find a prac tical basis for a just and lasting peace. , "The imperial government greets, with special sympathy the leading idea of the peace appeal wherein his holiness clearly expresses the convic tion that in the future the material power of arms must be superseded by the moral powtr of right. We are also convinced that the sick tody of human society can only be healed by fortifying its moral strength of right. From this would follow, ac cording to his holiness's view, the simultaneous diminution of the armed forces of all states and tho in stitution of obligatory arbitration for international disputes. "We share his holiness's view th-,t definite rules aiid'a certain safeguard for a simultaneous and reciprocal limitation of armaments on land, on sea, and in the air, as welL as for the true freedom of the community and ,- VOE.fr,, NO. 10 high seas, are thcT tliinKi in ing which the new spiSt tha? in tf future should Prevail in inSrnaUon relations should find first hopeful " pression. The task would then 5 itself arise to decide internatLni differences of opinion, not bTtl Ug f fum,ed f0rce8' but y Veacefli methods, especially by arbitraHnn whose high Peace-prod Jcing effect w' together with hi holiness fully rec ognize. ' rec" "The imperial government will in this respect support every proposal C tal infereK kuwclUxau vwwre ana people. Germany, owing to her geoera Ph cal situation and economic re quirements, lias to rely on peaceful intercourse with her neighbors and with distant countries. No peopL, therefore, has more, reason than the German people to wish that instead of universal hatred and battle that a conciliatory fraternal spirit should prevail between nations. If the na tions are guided by this spirit it will be recognized to their advantage that the important thing is to lay more stress upon that which unites them in their relations. They will also succeed in settling individual points of conflict which are still un decided, In such a way that conditions of existence will be created which will be satisfactory to every nation and thereby a repetition of this great world catastrophe would appear im possible. "Only on this condition can a last ing peace be founded which would promote an intellectual rapproche ment and a return to the economic prosperity of liuman society. This serious and sincere conviction en courages our confidence that our en emies also may see a suitable basis in the ideas submitted by his holi ness for approaching nearer to the reparation of t future peace under conditions corresponding to a spirit of reasonableness and to the s'tua tion in Europe." The document is signed by the im perial chancellor, Michaelis, and is addressed to Cardinal Gasparri, papal secretary of state. Save Half Your Shoe Money uunimij wear uref una Aluminum oneei Uixuu Thev last Iwiee na lone as all to 17 IK leatlier. rubber or wood-solal coots ana snoes. Water-Proof, Rust Proof, Rot-Proof Best leather uppers. Thick felt Insoles. No metal touches yoa Warm, comfortable, easy to walk In. Keep feet In eood condition and prevent sickness. Best by tut I or all work In any wcatker. styles, elves prices and tells how to order. A postal brines It. 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