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Show I GERMAN NOTE IS RECEIVED I ill I- LONDON, Oct. 2 The As German reply to President- Wilson's note, the text of which was received here today by wireless, says Germany hopes the United States -will approve of no demand which would be irreconciliable wfth the honor of the German people and with the opening of the way to a peace of justice. Germany protests against the references of President Wilson to illegal and inhuman acts. Denial is made that the German navy purposely destroyed lifeboats with passengers. The German government proposes that the facts be cleared ; up by neutral commissions. Germany has dispatched orders to submarine commanders com-manders precluding the torpedoing of passenger ships. The German government suggests t?o President Wilson , that an opportunity be brought about for fixing the details of j 'i i the evacuation of occupied territories. j Announcement is made of a fundamental change in the) i German constitution providing for representation of the peo- j pie in the decisions concerning peace and war, an dit is said 'tm, that the present government has been formed in complete accordance therewith. (Continued on Page Seven.) (Continued from Page 1) Germany claims the sanction of international in-ternational law for carrying out destruction de-struction of property during retreats and says her troops are under strict instructions to spare private property and care for the population to the best of their ability. Where transgressions occur, the note says, the guilty are being be-ing punished. "The- German government suggests to the president that an opportunity should be brought about for fixing the details. It trusts that tho president of the United States will approve of no demand which would be irroconcll-iable irroconcll-iable with the honor of the German people and with opening a way to a . r .. ..i ''In order to nvoid anything that might hamper the work of peace, the German government has caused orders to be dispatched to all submarine commanders, precluding the torpedoing torpedo-ing of passenger ships, without, however, how-ever, for technical reasons, being able to guarantee that these orders will reach every single submarine at sea before its return. "As a fundamental condition for peace the president prescribes the destruction de-struction of every arbitrary power that can separately, secretly and' of its r'i mVrvlA nlmtAn r1intiY-K iUn nfii on r r VI it OlillU lillUlC UlOllll U cue the Avorld. To this the German government govern-ment replies: "Hitherto -the representation of the people in tho German empire has not been endowed with an influence on the formation of the government. "The leaders of the great parties of the relchstng are members of this government. In the future, no government govern-ment can take or continue In oflice without possessing the confidence of a majority of the reichstag." "The constitution did not provide for a concurrence of representation of the people In decisions of peace and war. These conditions have just now undergone a fundamental change. A new government has been formed in complete accordance with the wishes (principle?) of the representation of secret, direct franchise. "The German government further denies that tho German navy, in sinking sink-ing ships has never purposely destroyed destroy-ed lifeboats with their passengers. The German government proposes with regard re-gard to all those charges that the facts be cleared up by neutral commissions. "The German government protests against the, reproach of Illegal and Inhumane In-humane actions made against the German Ger-man land and sea forces and thereby against the German people. For the covering of a retreat, destructions will always bo necessary and they are carried car-ried out insofar as is permitted by international in-ternational law. The German troops are under most strict instructions to spare private property and to exercise care for the population pop-ulation to the best of their ability. Where transgressions occur, in spite of these instructions, the guilty guil-ty are being punished. uermany nas agreeu mat conditions of an armistice should be left to the military advisers and that the actual standard of power on both sides in the field should form the basis for arrangements ar-rangements "The responsibility of the chancellor of the empire to the representation of tho people is being legally developed and safeguarded. The first act of the new government has been to lay Jje-fore Jje-fore the reichstag a bill to alter the constitution of the empire so that the consent of the representation of the people is required for decisions on war and peace." "Tho permanence of the new sys tern Is, however, guaranteed not only by constitutional safeguards, but also by the unshakable determination o the German people, whose vast majority ma-jority stands behind these reforms and demands their energetic continuance. "The question of the president with whom and the governments associated as-sociated against Germany are dealing is therefore answered in a clear, unequivocal manner by tho statement that the offer of peace and an armistice armis-tice has come from a government wljich Is frej-from any arbitrary and irresponsible influence, and is sup ported by tho approval of an overwhelming-majority of the German people.' ' (Signed) "SOLF.- The text of the German note, as received re-ceived by wireless, is as follows: "In accepting tho proposal for an evacuation of occupied territories, the German government has started from the assumption that the procedure of this evacuation and of the conditions of an armistice should be left to the military advisers and that the actual standard of power on both sides in tho field hns to form the basis for arrangements arrange-ments safeguarding and guaranteeing this standard. AWKWARD ATTEMPT WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 Germany's reply to President Wilson as received today by wireless Is regarded hero as an awkward attempt to accept the conditions of peace laid down by President Wilson. It is believed to be certain that the wireless version is garbled to an extent, and officials will await the arrival of the official text before reaching conclusions. In the meantime there will be no official of-ficial comment. Even unofficially no one will express an opinnlon of what they will think of the note, though the general Impression seems to bo that it at least does not close the door to further exchanges. Upon the exact languago of the official of-ficial text may depend whether the president will consent to pappose an armistice to the Allied powers. Denial De-nial of the Germans that atrocities have been committed are immaterial, immater-ial, the important thing is that atrocities atro-cities now apparently have been ordered or-dered stopped. As to negotiations for a permanent Deaco with the German government as now constituted, that Is a question quite aside from a cessation of hostilities hostil-ities under conditions imposed by the allied commanders in the field Before such negotiations are entered into, the president and the allied governments must be satisfied that the German war lords are powerless to resume control, if they now actually are out of control To Stop Exchange of Notes WASHINGTON, Oct. 21-Senator Polndexter of Washington, Republican introduced a joint resolution today proposing that congress forbid further negotiations by the United States with Germany looking to tho granting of an armistice or peace until the military forces have surrendered unconditionally. uncondition-ally. It was referred to the foreign re-The re-The resolution further calls for the prosecution of the war with the ut-mqst ut-mqst vigor and the occupation and control by the allies of such German territory as can bo obtained by our military forces until peace negotiations negotia-tions have been concluded. It would declare it unlawful for any official of the American government to answer in any way any note, message or representation rep-resentation from the German govern-, ment or the German people or from any official representing or purporting to represent them on the subject of peace or an armistice until tho German armed forces shall have surrendered. 00 |
