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Show Vhat Kind of a Peace? I Britain's View on Peace Terms Explained By -BERTRAM BENEDICT Behind the lines In France ths - American war correspondent, who as a mere cub had "covered" the American army of occupation occupa-tion in Germany, ran into the paunchy British diplomat, whom he had known as a lean underling under-ling In the foreign office during the last war. "You guys will never get any place with this war." the correspondent corre-spondent assured his old friend when the two had finally seated themselves behind a bottle of wine In a brasserie, "till you announce your peace terms. Not abstractly, either; I mean concretely." con-cretely." The British diplomat puffed thoughtfully on a cigaret through a long ivory holder. He said at length: "Afraid we'll have to wait till the end of the war for that, old boy." "You waited the last time, and what did you get in 1919? You got this war In 1939, that's what you got." "Our Lloyd George and your Wilson and old Clemenceau, they couldn't really make a good peace In 1919," the diplomat said. "Because they were tied by the secret treaties." "That's what I'm telling you, big boy. Suppose you announced your peace terms now? Then 1 you wontdnfTlare- pull the raw 1 stuff that was pulled in those secret treaties last time." "If It hadn't been for those secret treaties, dear lad, you and we and the Frenchies wouldn't have put across any peace terms at all, good or bad. Because the Germans would have won the war." "Not after Uncle Sam got. Into It the Germans couldn't have won that last war," replied the American newspaper man. "Oh, yes; they would have been so far ahead they needn't have taken the chance of getting get-ting you Into it. Take that 1915 treaty with Italy, now." "It promised Italy everything but the moon. And then you two-faced Europeans let Wood-row Wood-row Wilson tell us it was a war for democracy and minorities, you doublecrossers!" Had to Get Italy "If we hadn't offered Italy what we did, my boy. Italy would have gone In with Germany. To get at least a little loot." "I can't see that the Italians helped so very much, even after they got into the mess." "But suppose the Italians and the Austrian! had gotten together, to-gether, and attacked France in the south? While Germany was hammering her In the north? And suppose Italian submarines had operated against us in the Mediterranean ?" "It wasn't only Italy. You promised Constantinople and the Dardanelles to Russia." "Sorry, but we had to keep Russia in the war as long as we could." "Russia quit, but still Germany was licked," the correspondent insisted. arms? Japan, too? Then Hitler Hit-ler wins the war for his own bad peace terms, doesn't he?" "The good will of the United States -of America," the American Ameri-can said, "is worth more to you than a hundred Turkeys." "Don't we know It, dear lad, don't we know it? But we don't think at all really have no hope whatever, you know that you'll ever get into it." "And that's just about the wisest wis-est think you Britishers ever thought." "We must figure how much we can get from other countries by playing ball with them. And how much America's good will . is worth to us. Then, If we can't have both, we'll just nave to see which is worth more." "But It's not only America. Inside Germany, they'll (eel more like quitting if you put it on the dotted line so you can't wiggle out of It afterward that Ger- , many's to get a square deal." Dirty Cracks at VS. 8. A. "See here, dear boy. If you were In our boots, you wouldn't stick at anything for self-preservation, either. Look how you ' treated France after your revolution revo-lution against our George III." "I hope you know what you're talking about: - I don't," the American said. "To get France to help you." the Englishmen explained, "jwi made an alliance with her. It pledged you to help France against us. But when France called on you later to make good, you ran out on her." "We had to. George Washington Wash-ington knew getting a new country coun-try like ours Into another war would just about wreck It." "Of course, of course. Don't think I'm blaming you at all. my lad. I'm only showing you that you, too, did something shady so you wouldn't go under. . . . Then It was only 20 years ago you got your back up because be-cause we blacklisted some of your firms for trading with Germany." Ger-many." "Darned right we did. ' That was no way to treat a neutral." "But when you got Into the war, you blacklisted neutral firms all over the place for the same thing. Treated neutrals the way you didn't want to be treated when you were a neutral. neu-tral. You see, you, too, did everything every-thing to win, even if it wasn't cricket." "Wood row Wilson announced our peace terms after we got into the last war." "Most of them were pretty vague. And he ducked all questions ques-tions like Ireland, that promised to be embarrassing." "Bflt, Judas Priest, if this war Is going to end In a bad peace, too, what's the answer to anything?" any-thing?" "Only orie answer, old top," the British diplomat assured his American friend. "It's that you never get anything good from a war. Any war sets the world back. The most you can hope for Is the less of two evils that If the better side wins. It will set the world back only 20 instead in-stead of 200, or even 2000 years." Copyright, 1939, Editorial ' Research Reports. Waa Touch and Go "But it was touch and go then, wasn't it? If Russia had quit sooner, it would have been just too bad for our side." "And Rumania, and Greece, and " "Listen, old fellow; you'll admit ad-mit the peace terms, bad as they were, weren't as bad as if Germany Ger-many had won?" "I'm not so sure, I'm not so sure. At least there wouldn't have been so much hypocrisy about It," replied the American. "Now you take this war. I Imagine you'll admit we just mustn't let Hitler win It?" . "I'll admit that, but " "And I Imagine you'll admit, too, my buck, if Hitler does win, it will be because we weren't prepared to offer Russia as much loot as he did?" the diplomat went on. "I ll admit that, but " Effect en Covetous Neutrals "So now we've bagged Turkey. I daresay we had to offer the Turks plenty, too. But suppose we hadn't? Suppose now we announce an-nounce peace terms that say 'No, no; mustn't touch!' to all the other neutrals? Suppose that pushes all of them into Hitler's |