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Show KAISER UNREPENTANT. The emperor of Austria has accepted accept-ed Pope Benedict'" peace proposal only in principle, but would have gone furthor if not held in fetters by the emperor of Germany. The kaiser, on the other hand, has virtually rejected the pontiff's appeal because he is eager ea-ger to rotain his conquests. Feigning to accept the peace offer, he has been less responsive to it than the president pres-ident of the United States, who rejected re-jected it. The president, at least, suggested sug-gested a basis for negotiations as a substitute for the basis urged by the Vatican. The kaiser merely says in substance to tho pope: "I like your good intention's and a few of your suggestions, sug-gestions, and wish you success." Emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary has donned sackcloth and ashes. Ho approaches the Holy Father in a repentant mood, and although he does not ask forgiveness for himself and his government, he discloses the aching conscience and a wish to make reparation. repara-tion. From a more candid avowal he is restrained l5y Germany. The kaiser is the unrepentant sinner. He wants to keep his ill-gotten goods. He sits Bcowlingly on his throne and refuses to ask forgiveness of God or man. His attitude would be admirable if he were in tho right, but being in tho wrong, he is as tragic as Belshaz-zar, Belshaz-zar, and he heeds not the Daniel who summons him to judgment. In one respect he. betrays his weakness weak-ness "beneath the bludgeonings of fate." Ho will not ask to be shrived, but ho will defend himself passionately, passionate-ly, defiantly. His reply is really a roply to President Wilson and not to the pope. Almost all of his letter Is devoted to a reiteration of his plea that war was forced upon him by ambitious am-bitious and selfish rivals and that ho took up the sword solely in self-defense. His note, thereforo, is a reply to this passage in President "Wilson 's answer to the popo: "Tho object of this war is to deliver the free peoples of the world from the menacing and the actual power of a ast military establishment controlled hy an irresponsible government, which, having Becretly planned to dominate the world, proceeded to carry the plan out without regard either to the sacred obligations of treaty or the long-established practices and long-cherished principles of international action and .honor; which chose its own time for flie war; delivered its blow fiercely and suddenly; stopped at no barrier either of law or of mercy; swept a whole continent con-tinent within the tide of blood not the . blood of soldiers only, but the blootl of innocent women and children; also of the helpless poor; and now stands balked but not defeated, the enemy of four-fifths of the world." No such terrific indictmont of one luler by another has occurred before in our time. Its force comes from its truth a truth fully appreciated in all the allied countries and so effective in Germany, where a half-light of under-t under-t standing is beginning to percolate through the government's veil of propaganda, pro-paganda, that the kaiser has been forced to adopt tho defensive morally as his armies have been forced to adopt 9 the defensive on the battle fronts. The entente nations were led. to believe be-lieve that the reply to the pope would be dictated by a committee of the reichstag. In fact, some of the German Ger-man papers had besun to boast about it and contrast liberal German methods meth-ods with the America niethod of permitting per-mitting the president to arrogate to himself the right to decide this question ques-tion of war or peace. It is pcrtineut to inquire what has become of the decision de-cision of the reichstag committee. Did j the members disagree and leave the matter to the emperor, or did the emperor em-peror simply ignore the pretensions of the reichstag? Tho reply was written, not by the kaiser himself, but by the chancellor. It is not in line with the peace resolution reso-lution adopted by the reichstag. In fact, it is nothing more than the kaiser's kai-ser's apologia pro vita sua. His chancellor chan-cellor merely acted as his secretary. Neither the Austrian nor tho Ger- pope 's proposals as a taaia of peace. Complete acceptance would have required re-quired some mention of territorial problems. The pope specifically pro- j poed that Belgium be set free and that j Poland be granted an independent gov- eminent, but neither Kaiser Wilhelm nor Emperor Charles has said a word about conquered territory. It can hardly be doubted that the Austrian monarch would have disr-us.wl territorial territo-rial questions candidly if not dominated by the German ruler, but 83 long as he is bound by the alliance witli Germany and can look only to that alliance for-the. protection of his country he must be guided by the suggestions sug-gestions of the Berlin government. It is difficult to understand how the pope can formulate a new peace offer in the circumstances. His first proposals pro-posals have not been accepted unreservedly unre-servedly in any quarter. It is true that i Austria has virtually accepted them by 'declaring that they form a suitable basis for negotiations, but this acceptance accep-tance is nullified by the reply of Austria's Aus-tria's ally who talks around the pontiff's pon-tiff's proposal and says nothing. |