Germany proposed nothing except that the war be ended by a promise on her part to reduce her army reciprocally with other nations--a promise she would not fulfill; by a promise that Great Britain reduce her navy--a promise she would expect Great Britain faithfully to fulfill; and a promise of the nations to arbitrate in future--a promise Germany would ignore if conditions favored a new war. She saw "the freedom of the seas" as the issue of the war; but the seas were as free to Germany in time of peace as they were to Great Britain, their reputed mistress. The rest of the world saw the German Government as the real issue of the war. The next peace manifestation, which caused a momentary disturbance in Allied circles, came from the Marquis of Lansdowne, a former British Foreign Secretary, who had also been Viceroy of India and Governor General of Canada. Fearing that the prolongation of the war might lead to "the ruin of the civilized world," he besought the Allies to make a restatement of their war aims in order to bring about peace before that catastrophe came. The Lansdowne communication to the press looked like a plea for Germany, and coming as it did from a British noble of ingrained toryism, who had done his share as a Cabinet Minister to develop British imperialism, was startling enough. To forestall any suspicion that he was voicing unofficial sentiments of the British Government, Bonar Law and Lord Robert Cecil declared that Lord Lansdowne only spoke his own views. The Government repudiated them, as did the Unionist party. Lord Lansdowne himself was obliged to acknowledge that his proposals were solely his own and that he consulted no one in formulating them. It was realized that his note only encouraged the German war party, which construed it as evidence of divided counsels in Great Britain, and that the British were weakening in their determination to conquer. The air was quickly cleared and showed that no peace movement was possible in England while Germany remained impenitent and unbeaten. CHAPTER X AMERICA'S WAR AIMS Nevertheless, the Papal and Lansdowne letters were not entirely fruitless. It brought the Allies a step nearer to restating their war aims through Lloyd-George and President Wilson. But their utterances pointed to a steadfast continuance of the war until those aims were achieved, not a slackening of hostilities to effect an inconclusive peace lenient to Germany. Addressing a body of trades-union delegates at Westminster on January 5, 1918, the British Premier faced a situation--an apparent outgrowth of the Lansdowne letter--where national unity in the prosecution of the war was perceived to be in jeopardy. A suspicion was rife that the war was being pursued for objects which could not be openly avowed. Lloyd-George therefore saw the need of a restatement of war aims: "We may begin by clearing away some misunderstandings and stating what we are not fighting for.