The Only Peace.

LONDON, March 1, 1918. Until the enemy recognises "the only principle on which an honourable peace can be concluded, it is our duty to prosecute the war with all the vigour that we possess. This sentence from the King's speech at the opening of Parliament last month expresses the conviction of the Empire. President Wilson a few days before, in his reply to the German and Austrian pronouncements, made a similar declaration in the name of the United States when he laid down the principles necessary for a just peace. Until peace on such a basis can be secured," he said, "the United States has no option but to go on; having set our hands to the task of achieving it we shall not turn back." With one accord our Allies have proclaimed the same determination. At this moment of silent menace before the storm the Allied peoples stand firmly resolved neither to turn nor falter till the dripping sword is struck from the hand of the blond beast, who if not checked and chained now will ravish the earth.

26

The most momentous A Supreme event of the month is War Council, the decision unanimously adopted at the Versailles Conference to confer executive powers on the Supreme War Council. That such decision was inevitable sooner or later was realised when that Council came into being if it was to be of real effect in carrying through the war. Now, as Mr. Lloyd George explained, circumstances have come about which make such decision

imperative. Russia has gone out of the war. Enormous German reinforce ments have been brought to the Western Front. The Allies must now treat their armies as one to meet danger wherever it may come. To say in detail what such executive powers include or to make known the plan put forward by the American delegation which suggested the case for the present proposal, and which Mr. Lloyd George spoke of as "one of the most powerful documents, one of the ablest documents ever submitted to a military conference," would, as he stated, give information which the enemy would rejoice to know. After discussion and re-discussion and alteration in certain parts the plan, we are told, was finally passed by the military and civil representatives at Versailles without one dissentient voice. Owing, however, to delay on the part of the Government to make a definite statement on the result of the Versailles Conference, a vast amount of criticism, of rumour and speculation arose, augmented by the uncertainty of Sir William Robertson's position. It seemed for a while that the House of Commons might be stampeded into a political crisis. But critics were silenced, and threatened opposition faded away when the Prime Minister fulfilled his promise and explained the circumstances which led to the resignation of Sir William Robertson. He also expounded the policy adopted at the Versailles Conference to the utmost limits allowed by military considerations, and set out the powers adopted for the British Military Adviser at Versailles and the future position of

the

the Chief of the Imperial General Staff as follows::

1. The British Permanent Military Adviser at Versailles to become a member of the Army Council. He is to be in constant communication with the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, but he is to be absolutely free and unfettered in the advice he gives as a member of the Board of Military Representatives at Versailles. He is to have the powers necessary to enable him to fulfil the duties imposed upon him by the recent Versailles decision.

2. The Chief of the Imperial General Staff is to hold office under the same conditions and with the same powers as every Chief of the Imperial General Staff up to the appointment of General Robertson, remaining the supreme_military dviser of the British Government. He is to accompany Ministers to the meetings of the Supreme War Council as their adviser, and is to have the right of visiting France for the purpose of consulting with any or all of the military representatives of the Supreme War Council.

The Prime Minister The Premier's made it absolutely clear Explanation. that none of the Ministers

or Generals had dissented

from the plan and that it was only after his return to London that Sir William Robertson, whilst not dissenting at all either from the strategic plans of the Allied Council or from the grant of executive powers to the permanent Military Representative at Versailles, put forward the suggestion that whilst the Versailles representative should have authority to take action in an emergency he should be frankly the envoy and deputy of the Chief of the Imperial Staff at home, a suggestion which the Government, considering the decisions arrived at by the Council, felt bound to reject. Sir William Robertson was offered the choice of being our chief representative on the Inter-Allied Council or of being Chief of Staff at home, but, regarding the matter as he did, he did not feel able to accept either position and resigned. That is the matter in a nutshell. We stand by Mr. Lloyd George absolutely in his statement that "If the policy is right, no personalities should stand in the way of its execution, however valuable, however important, however distinguished." The Versailles Conference has agreed unani

mously "that there must be a central authority to exercise the supreme direction," and whatever may have been the case in the earlier years of the war, it is now recognised that our victory on land depends just as much on the result of the . struggle in Italy as on our success or failure in Flanders, and our organisation must adapt itself to that fact.

Closing the

Ranks.

By his explanation Mr. Lloyd George scored a great Parliamentary success, and the long-sustained applause and cheers from the members gave definite answer to his appeal to the House to close its ranks in face of the terrible realities of the time and to his insistence that the Government was entitled to know at once whether Parliament wished it to proceed upon a policy deliberately framed to organise our forces to meet the onset of the foe. Sir William Robertson has accepted the Eastern Command. Sir Henry Wilson, who helped create and has done such excellent work on the Supreme War Council, is now Chief of the Imperial Staff, whilst Sir Henry Rawlinson has given up command of the Fourth Army to take Sir Henry Wilson's place on the Supreme War Council.

President Wilson's Determination.

In an address to Congress on February 11th Mr. Wilson made reply

to Count Hertling and Count Czernin. He declared the people of the United States to be steadfast against a patched-up peace, and their determination to put their whole force into this war of liberation. He laid down the following principles as necessary for a just peace-principles which, he said, appeared to be accepted everywhere "except amongst the spokesmen of the military and annexationist party of Germany":

1. Each part of the final settlement must be based on the essential justice of that particular

case.

2. Peoples and provinces must not be bartered as chattels or pawns, even in the discredited game of Balance of Power.

3. Territorial settlements must be made in the interest of the population concerned.

4. Satisfaction of all well-defined national aspirations, which would not introduce or perpetuate antagonisms likely to break the peace. Until peace on such terms can be secured the United States, he declared, has no option but to go on. Reports from America state that it is hoped that the speech will have great effect in Austria and amongst the Liberal circles in Germany, demonstrating as it does America's determination to crush German militarism, to strike a blow at German diplomacy, and proclaiming, on the heels of Russia's surrender, that "nothing settled by military force, if settled wrong, is settled at all."

Count Hertling's position The Puzzled is cleverly hit off by the Chancellor. French cartoonist whose drawing we reproduce elsewhere" I do not say what I know I say what I do not know . . . I do not know what I say..." Though his speech in reply to President Wilson is more conciliatory in tone than the speech which preceded it, it is full of paradoxical statements and reveals an attitude which in essence is as antagonistic to the only peace the Entente Powers can accept as any previous statements. He professes to accept Mr. Wilson's four principles, though with the reservation that we must first establish a League of Nations to serve as Court of Arbitration and subsequently "respectfully declines" the verdict of a supreme tribunal on the ground that no such tribunal exists. Which may be taken as clever fencing in an attempt to get away from the unpalatable truth that Germany is almost universally condemned and that those "who are plunging the world into the insanity of this criminal war are not, as Count Hertling asserts, Italy, France and Great Britain, but the military party in Berlin. The dealings of Berlin with Poland and the Ukraine, the advance of German troops towards Petrograd and Kieff give terrible and definite proof of the value of the German acceptance " of the principles laid down by Mr. Wilson. Settle

ments, the Chancellor declares, are only possible "by a compromise." But there can be no compromise with those who deny all international obligations of justice and all respect for national rights.

The new session was forThe mally opened by the King's Speech. King on February 12th. The ceremony lacked the pomp and pageantry of pre-war days. The procession through the streets and the assembly in the Upper House were stripped of the trappings of splendour. It was a war ceremony; khaki was predominant in the procession, and within the House parties of wounded soldiers watched the proceedings. Six days later, on February 18th, the Prince of Wales, home on leave from Italy, took his seat in that same House with due pomp and ceremony. In his speech from the Throne the King recorded the fact that the German Government had ignored our just demand for reparation and security, therefore the war must continue until the enemy recognises the only principles of an honourable peace. He made also the welcome announcement that representatives of the Dominions and of the Indian Empire had been summoned to a further session of the Imperial War Cabinet.

The

The seventh session and the third war session of Late Session. the present Parliament ended on February 6th after a conflict over P.R. in the two Houses which reminded one of political encounters of a bygone age. The Session has been one of solid work and substantial achievement. Men of all parties have shown their determination to settle outstanding constitutional questions. By far the largest effort was the passing of the Reform Act, details of which we give elsewhere. By the exercise of infinite patience and tact Mr. Prothero succeeded in carrying the Corn Production Act through a not too friendly House. By this Act minimum prices were fixed for wheat and oats for six years, a minimum wage guaranteed to agricultural workmen, and power given to the Board of Agriculture

to enforce proper cultivation. National security for one of our basic industries was insured by the passage of the NonFerrous Metal Industry Bill. Adaptation to the changing needs of war is shown in the Air Force Act, which constitutes a new service under a fully equipped Ministry, with a Secretary of State at its head. The session's record includes the passage of two Military Service Acts, both embodying and extending the principle of universal liability laid down by Mr. Asquith's administration. Votes of Credit reached, in the aggregate, £2,710,000,000. No new taxes were imposed, and additions were made to three existing duties-those on excess profits, tobacco and entertainments. Three new Ministers, Mr. Fisher, Sir Eric Geddes, and Sir Auckland Geddes, made notable maiden speeches; and in the debate on the establishment of the Supreme War Council the Prime Minister made one of the finest speeches of his career. Mr. Bonar Law showed courage and great tact as deputy Leader of the House, in which task he was admirably supported by Sir George Cave, to whose courage and skill the passage of the Reform Bill is due. That the passage of the Education Bill does not figure in the records of the session is greatly to be regretted. One can but urge that it shall be one of the first Acts to be passed in the new session. Our education system cries out loudly for improvement, yet this Bill, which is at least a start in the right direction, is kept dallying for months instead of being put into effect as it ought to have been long ago.

So passes into law a The measure which doubles Reform Act. the electorate, and the consequences of which no

can foresee. The magnitude and significance of the Reform Act of 1918 can best be appreciated, perhaps, by comparing it with the three Reform Acts of the nineteenth century. The Act of 1832 enfranchised about 455,000 electors; that of 1867 added 1,080,000, mostly town workers; that of 1884 2,000,000 more,

chiefly agricultural labourers; the new Act gives the vote to 8,000,000 new electors, of whom about 6,000,000 are women. We will not labour here the duties and responsibilities which must go hand in hand with this vast extension of political power. There will be time enough for that, and we prefer here and now to give a summary, with due acknowledgments to the Times from which it is taken, of the chief provisions of the most important piece of domestic legislation of our time :

I. FRANCHISES.

MEN. Qualifications for a vote :-Twenty-one years of age, and six months' residence or occupation of business premises.

WOMEN.-Qualifications for a vote:-Thirty years of age, and either a local government elector or the wife of one. (The qualification for the local government franchise is six months' ownership or tenancy of land or premises. Lodgers in furnished rooms are not qualified.)

UNIVERSITY.-The qualification for this franchise is the attainment by a man or woman within the above age limits of a definite standard, which in England and Wales is the taking of a degree. A woman is also qualified to vote for a university which does not admit women to degrees if she has fulfilled the conditions for the admission of a man to a degree.

WAR SERVICE.-Naval and military voters to be registered for the constituencies for which they would have been qualified but for their service. This provision applies to (1) sailors and soldiers on full pay, and (2) merchant seamen, pilots, and fishermen, and persons engaged on Red Cross work or other work of national importance abroad or afloat. Male voters who have served in the war will be qualified at the age of 19 years.

DUAL VOTING.-No person to vote at, a General Election for more than two constituencies.

DISQUALIFICATIONS.-Conscientious objectors to be disqualified during the war and for five years afterwards, unless they satisfy the Central Tribunal that they have fulfilled certain conditions, such as employment in work of national importance. Only British subjects to be qualified. The receipt of poor relief to be no longer a disqualification.

II. REGISTRATION.

REGISTERS OF ELECTORS.-Two to be prepared in every year-one in the spring and one in the

autumn.

REGISTRATION AREAS AND OFFICERS.-Each Parliamentary borough and county to be a registration area, with the town clerk of the borough