OCR Text |
Show Hun Chancellor and Kaiser Announce They Want to Talk Peace By AuociaUU Prtaa. I Cnt'KNHAOKN, (K-t. 7 I'r.nca Maxtmlllnn of Harion, the nrw OcrmHri ImpwrUI chtiiKallr, Htimninced In the relrhstUK Saturday that he had' sent a tmU thnnmh Ihfi Htt"i Kmrwrnnif nt to t'iHiqpnt Wllaua In mltldi h had rrqueted Mr. Wllium to tuko up the queatUm of bnnitlnK ahttut pfar and to ctunrminirnte with the other helllfrerenta roicurdtnir the auhjecl. "Huppnrted hy the conaent of all duly aiyhortied persona In the empire and hy consent of all our nil lea acting In Concert with ui, 1 aent on the night hf Ortoher 4-b. through the mediation of HwUzttrland, a note to the I'rttaldent of the United Htata, In which I requeated him to tuke up the brlnalna about ot peuc and to communicate to thla end with all the belllKc'rfnl gtateM." he aald. "The note will reach Washington tnduy or tomorrow. It Is directed to the President of the I'nlHtl Hiates be-cauae be-cauae he, In his mesange to congress January H. 1918, and In' his lter proclamations, particularly In hie New York speech of Heptmler 27, pro-pttsed pro-pttsed a program for a general -peace which we can acrept as a baala for negotiations. ! "I have taken thla step not only for the Salvation of tlermeny and ita i allies, hut of all humanity which has been suffering for years i uough the war. "1 hnve taken It also hecauae 1 believe be-lieve l tic thoughts regarding the future well being of the imtlon which were proclaimed hy Mr, Wtiaon are In accord ac-cord with the general Ideas cherished 1 by the new German government, and ! with It the overwhelming majority of our people. TEXT OF NOTE. Th text of the note forwarded "by the' Imperial German chancellor. Prince Maximilian. - to Prealrfent Wtl- son, through the Hwlss government, follows: y "The German government requests the president of the I'nited Htates to take in hand the restoration of peace, acquaint all the belligerent states of thin request and. Invite them to send plenipotentiaries for. the purpose of opening negotiation, "It acefpta the program set forth by the president of the United Ktates in his messMge to congress on January I and in hla later pronouncements ea-i ea-i peclally his speech of September 27 ; as a basis for peae negotiations. "With a view to avoiding further bloodshed, the German government requests the Immediate conclusion of I an armistice on land and ater and ! In the air." , . 'it is announced that Turkey 'will take a similar step. KAISER OFFERS PEACE.. Kmperor William -Hunday issued a proclamation to the German army and navy In which, after announcing that the MacWnnian front had crumbled, he declared that he ahd decided in accord ac-cord with la allies, to again offer petti-v to the enemy. The text of the emperor's proclamation proclama-tion reads: , "For months put the enemy, with enormous exertions and almost without with-out pause In the fighting has stormed against your linea. In weeks of the struggle, often without repose, you have had to persevere and resist a nu mere tally far superior enemy. Therein There-in lies the greatness of the task . whldj. has been set for you and which you are fulfilling. Troops of all the German Ger-man states are doing their part and are ! heroically defending the fatherland on foreign soli. Hard Is the task. THIS IS GOOD. "My navy Is holding Its own against the united enemy naval forces and la unwaveringly supporting the army In Its difficult etruKgls. "The eyes of those at home rest with pride and admiration on the deeds of the itavy and army. 1 express to you the thanks of myself and the fatherland father-land "The collapse of the Macedonian front has occurred In the midst of the hardeat struggle. In accord with our allies I have resolved once more to offr peace to the anemy, but I will only extend my hand for an honorable peace. We owe that to the heroea who have laid down their lives for the fatherland, fa-therland, and we make that our duty to our children. . "Whether arms will be lowered Is a q.uejn.tion. Until then we must not slacken. We must, aa hitherto, exert all our strength unwearfly to hold our ground agalnat tha onslaught of our enemies. "The hour la iVave, but, trusting In your strength and In God's gracious help, we feel ourselves to be strong enough to defend our beloved father lap. (Signed) "WILHELM." |