The German case

THE more nearly we may approach the desired and necessary military victory over Germany the more clearly will it be realised that a military victory is not enough. We need a moral victory as well, if the consequences of a military victory are not to be only one degree better than those of a military compromise. The prospect of a league of democracies permanentIy armed against a threatened revival of Prussian militarism is not what we have looked to find at the end of the present war; yet unless something more is accomplished than a military victory it is what we must expect. It is with this thought in mind, no doubt, that during the recent anniversary period of our entrance into the war, so many of our statesmen, publicists and journalists have been expressing an opinion which hitherto has been emphasised only in comparatively obscure circles ; the opinion, namely, that Germany must be democratised if the world is to profit by the war. Their testimony is now nearly unanimous from that of Mr. Lloyd George among statesmen to the " Evening Standard " among the more independent and intelligent journals. They all agree in the words of Mr. Lloyd George that whatever our war-aims, they must remain in jeopardy so long as the caste that made the war is in supreme command in Germany. "