January iS, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
LAND & WATER 
01.D SERJEANTS' INN. LONDON, W.C. 
Telephone HOLBORN 2828. 
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18. 1917 
CONTENTS 
PAGE. 
I 
The Final Blow. By Louis Racmaekers 
No Compromise. (Leader) j 
The Line of the Putna. By Hilaire Belloc 4 
Sir John Jellicoe's Statement. By Arthur Pollen 9 
Freedom and Finance. By H artley Withers 1 1 
A Study of King Constantine. By Sir William M. 
Ramsay ^3 
Opening of 1917 Campaign. By Colonel Feyler 14 
Alsace and The Rhine. By Henry D. Davray 15 
Books to Read. By Lucian Oldershaw 17 
The Golden Triangle. By Maurice Lcblanc 18 
The West End 24 
Kit and Equipment xi 
NO COMPROMISE 
THE reply of the AUies to the American Note 
has produced precisely the effect which might 
have been anticipated. Admirable in tone, lucid 
in expression, lirm of purpose, merciless in 
condemnation, it has won the complete approval of 
the civilized world, and has provoked the hysterical 
indignation of the German Press. In the judgment 
of some people it may have been an error to speak 
of terms even in the most general form, and even at 
the request of a great Neutral Power. It was the whole 
object of our enemy to elicit a statement of terms, and 
any reply — however guarded and vague, — was an entry into 
discussion and a relaxation of energy at the critical 
moment. But we are not in possession of all the facts 
which must inevitably govern our diplomatic policy, 
and we are quite satisfied that the decision arrived at by 
our Foreign Office, and supported by our Allies, was a 
wise decision under the circumstances. If it were indeed 
necessary to send a reply, it would be. admitted that the 
document signed by the Allied authorities was dignified 
and appropriate. It certainly leaves the enemy in no 
doubt as to the intentions of the AUied Powers, and it 
gives to these intentions so clear a moral basis that no 
counter to it is possible. 
\Vith its general tenor everyone is now familiar. It 
will be sufiicient here to comment on its vital word — 
Reparation. There can be no reparation until there is 
admission of guilt ; and that is the one thing which 
Germany will not acknowledge. At first it seems 
amazing that there can be room for doubt as to the origin 
of the Avar. The invasion of Belgium was not only 
premeditated, but actually defended in a cynical speech 
of the German Chancellor, on the ground of military 
necessity. That is the secret of the immeasurable gulf 
which divides German from ordinary morality ; and for 
that reason all talk of peace before victory is won is 
vain and unprofitable. Reparation there must be, and 
will be, in fact : but voluntary reparation is impossible 
from a nation whose leaders continue to repeat the pre- 
posterous lie that they took up arms to defend their 
freedom. 
Germany's latest note to the Neutrals will doubtless 
become the classic example of national hypocrisy. It is 
merely farcical to read such statements as " those Powers 
have no right to protest against it (that is, the alleged 
violation of international rights) who from the beginning 
of the war trampled upon right and tore up the treaties 
on which it was based." This from the spoiler and ravager 
of Belgium 1 
What is the origin of Germany's desire for peace, and 
her fury at its reception ? If she can hold what she has 
gained, there is no need for her to consider, much less to 
propose terms. But it is the consciousness that she 
cannot keep what she has won which is the dominating 
factor of the situation. The stream of men is running 
dry : her output of munitions is increasingly outclassed by 
the Alhes : her economic position is undeniably serious 
if not desperate. Naturally, she wants peace, and 
would like to negotiate while in possession of the spoils. 
The death-knell of that hope is sounded in the Allies' 
Note to America. 
What are the aims of the ^\llies ? " These will only 
be set forth in detail with all the compensations and equitable 
indemnities for harm suffered at the moment of negotia- 
tions." Certain terms arc specifically mentioned — for 
example, ' ' the restoration of Belgium, of Serbia, and 
Montenegro with the compensations due to them ; the 
evacuation of the invaded territories in France, Russia, 
Roumania with just reparation ; the reorganisation of 
Europe on the principle of free nationality ; the ex- 
pulsion of the Ottoman Empire." 
It is premature to enquire how much of .the 
above Germany would be willing to concede in her 
present situation, but that she would very gladly make 
peace on the basis of the status quo, if that were all, 
many critics agree. What her rulers cannot swallow as 
yet is the ignominy of pleading guilty before the world : 
and we can imagine that it is difiicult after deluding their 
people with stories of perpetual conquest and promises 
of final victory, to turn round, and say, "We must have 
peace : we can hold out no longer." No sane man ex- 
pects that to be said yet : but we believe the day will come. 
It is the fear of that day which haunts the Kaiser and his 
advisers, military and political ; it is the determination 
of the Alhes to bring that day to pass. 
No student of character will easily believe that Ger- 
many asks for peace because her position is impregnable, 
in spite of the disingenuous statements of the German 
press. So long as the demand for reparation' is met by the 
answer. There is nothing to repair — in other words, by 
the blustering denial or justification of the crimes she has 
committed and is committing at this moment, there can 
be no peace between Germany and civilization. 
There is one practical way, however, by which Gemiany 
can prove her sincerity if that virtue still exists in the 
Fatherland. She can withdraw iiom the territory she 
has invaded : she can guarantee the restoration of Bel- 
gium ; she can restore ton for ton of merchant and 
neutral shipping ; she can agree to pay " equitable 
indemnities " for the harm she has inflicted. These are 
the necessary preliminaries to peace. But in essentials 
there can be no compromise. This is a war between 
opposite principles, and principles do not admit of 
compromise. Some foolish idealists imagine that Ger- 
many can be converted to our ideas of international 
morality ; but judging from her record, no conversion 
can be relied on unless it be the outcome of military 
defeat. Europe will require henceforth a more valid 
guarantee than a German signature to a treaty : she must 
be deprived of the means of aggression unless we are 
prepared to hand on the legacy of war to our children, 
and our children's children. That is what we mean by 
" reparation." If Germany is prepared to accept 
now the full consequences of defeat and thus anticipate 
the end for which we are fighting, and which we mean to 
attain, then there is a basis for negotiation. If, as is 
almost certain, she elects to fight on until there is no 
alternative but submission, it remains for us to make 
that supreme effort, which is needed to destroy the evil 
spirit of Prussianism, and to restore the blessings of a 
lasting peace to the world. 
