"As regards Poland, the frontiers of which, by the way, have not yet been exactly determined, _we want nothing at all from this new state_. Free and uninfluenced, the population of Poland shall choose its own fate. For my part I attach no great weight to the _form_ of the people's vote in this respect; _the more surely it expresses the general wish of the people, the better I shall be pleased_. For I desire only the _voluntary_ attachment of Poland; only in the express _wish_ of Poland itself toward that end can I see any guarantee for lasting harmony. It is my unalterable conviction that _the Polish question must not be allowed to delay the signing of peace by a single day_. If, after peace is arrived at, Poland should wish to approach us, we will not reject its advances--_the Polish question must not and shall not endanger the peace itself_. "I should have been glad if _the Polish Government had been able to take part in the negotiations_, since in my opinion Poland is _an independent state_. The Petersburg Government, however, takes the attitude that the present Polish Government is not entitled to speak in the name of the country, and does not acknowledge it as competent to represent the country, and we therefore gave way on this point in order to avoid possible conflict. The question is certainly one of importance, but it is more important still in my opinion _to set aside all difficulties likely to delay the negotiations_. =German-Russian Differences as to the Occupied Areas= "The second difficulty to be reckoned with, and one which has been most widely echoed in the Press, is the _difference of opinion between our German allies and the Petersburg Government_ anent the interpretation of _the right of self-determination among the Russian peoples_; that is to say, in the areas occupied by German troops. Germany maintains that it _does not aim at any annexation of territory by force_ from Russia, but, briefly stated, the difference of opinion is a double one. "In the first place, Germany rightly maintains that _the numerous expressions of desire for independence_ on the part of _legislative corporations, communal representations_, etc., in the occupied areas should be taken as the _provisional_ basis for the will of the people, to be _later_ tested by _plebiscite on a broader foundation_, a point of view which the Russian Government at first was indisposed to agree to, as it did not consider the existing administrations in Courland and Lithuania entitled to speak for those provinces any more than in the case of Poland.