Prince Max, addressing the Reichstag last Saturday, said that, in
accordance with the Emperor's decree, the German Empire had "undergone a basic alteration of its political leadership." He intended to act in accord with the leaders of the Reichstag majority, as "only if the people take an active part, in the broadest sense of the word, in deciding their destinies" could a Chancellor hope to succeed. His programme included the acceptance of the Reichstag peace resolution of July 19th, 1917—for "No annexations and no indemnities "—which was repudiated at Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest with the fall approval of those Clericals and Socialists who supported it. He professed a willingness to join in a League of Nations and a desire for "the complete restoration of Belgium, particularly of her independence and her territorial integrity," adding that "an effort shall also be made to reach an understanding in regard to the question of an indemnity." His programme, he said, "will not permit the Peace Treaties hitherto concluded to be a hindrance in the way of the conclusion of a general peace." The Baltic Provinces, Lithuania, and Poland should be given popular representation, and should regulate their relations with neighbouring peoples without outside interference.
