The President, replying on Tuesday to the Note, said that
he could not propose an armistice until the Central Empires had agreed "immediately to withdraw their forces everywhere from invaded territory," as a proof of good faith. As for the peace proposal,
he asked two searching questions :— " (1) Does the Imperial Chancellor mean that the Imperial German Government accepts the terms laid down by the President in his address to the Congress of the United States on January 8th last and in subsequent addresses, and that its object in entering into discussions would be only to agree upon the practical details of their application ?
(2) The President also feels that he is justified in asking whether the Imperial Chancellor is speaking merely for the constituted authorities of the Empire who have so far conducted the war."
The President regards the answers to these questions as "vital from every point of view," and so will every one else. The word of the constituted authorities of the German Empire who have so far conducted the war—that is, the military caste—is worth less than nothing, and to negotiate with them would be futile.
