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GENERAL NEWS NOTES OF THE DAY. Germany and her allies yesterday proposed to enter forthwith into peace negotiations, the Overseas News Agency announced in a dispatch from Berlin. The announcement was couched in the following terms: "The chancellor this morning received one after another the representatives of the United States of America, Spain and Switzerland, that is, of the states protecting German interests in hostile foreign countries. The chancellor transmitted to them a note and asked them to bring it to the knowledge of the hostile governments. The note will be read today in the reichstag by the chancellor. In the note the four allied central powers propose to enter forthwith on peace negotiations. The propositions which they bring for such negotiations are, according to their firm belief, appropriate for the establishment of a lasting peace. The governments at Vienna, Constantinople and Sofia transmitted identical notes and also communicated with the holy see and all other neutral powers." Following is the text of the note addressed by Germany and her allies to the entente governments: "The most terrific war ever experienced in history has been raging for the last two years and a half over a large part of the world a catastrophe which thousands of years of common civilization was unable to prevent, and which injures the most precious achievements of humanity. Our aims are not to shatter or annihilate our adversaries. In spite of our consciousness of our military and economic strength and our readiness to continue the war which has been forced upon us until the bitter end, if necessary; at the same time prompted by the desire to avoid further bloodshed and make an end to the atrocities of Avar, the four allied powers propose to enter forthwith into peace negotiations. The propositions which they bring forward for such negotiations and which have for their object a guaranty of the existence, of the honor and liberty of evolution for their nations are, according to their firm belief, an appropriate basis for the establishment of a lasting peace. The four allied powers have been obliged to take up arms to defend justice and the liberty of national evolution. The glorious deeds of our armies have in no way altered their purpose. We always maintained the firm belief that our own rights and justified claims in no way control the rights of these nations. The spiritual and material progress which Avere the pride of Europe at the begining of the twentieth century are threatened Avitli ruin. Germany and her allies Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey gave proof of their unconquerable strength in this struggle. They gained gigantic advantages oA-er adversaries superior in number and Avar material. Our lines stand unshaken against ever repeated attempts made by armies. The latest attack in the Balkans has been rapidly and A-ictoriously OA-ercome. The most recent events have demonstrated that further continuance of the AAar Avill not result in breaking the resistance of our forces, and the Avhole situation with regard to our troops justifies our expectation of further successes. If, in spite of this offer of peace and reconciliation, the struggle should go on, the four allied powers are resolved to continue to a victorious end, but they disclaim responsibility for this before humanity and history. The imperial government, through the good offices of your excellency, ask the government of here is inserted the name of the neutral power addressed in eaeli instance to bring this communication to the knowledge of the government of here are inserted the names of the belligerents." DcA-elopments of the most important character in the negotiations between the allies and Greece are imminent. It AA-as admitted at the English foreign office that the allies considered yesterday a joint note which, A-ithin a few hours, Avill bo presented to King Constantino, and which, it AA-as declared, presaged a radical change in the situation. Demands to be made are of far-reaching consequence. In Avell-informed quarters it is believed that a refusal of these demands by Greece Avill lead to immediate enforcement of drastic blockade measures. It is understood that the demands on Greece may require complete demobilization of the army, restoration of control by the entente over the posts, telegraphs and railways, and the release of the imprisoned Venizelists. Great preparations for the vigorous prosecution of the Avar are going on in Italy, in reference to which a dispatch from Rome says: Italy, no less than her allies, is preparing to make 1917 a year of its most vigorous prosecution of the Avar. Two events today indicated the new determination of the nation. One was the calling to the colors of the class of 1S9S, one year in advance of its time. The other Avas the A-ote of confidence accorded the present government by parliament. The question Avas secret. The vote Avas 370 to 45. A dispatch to London says the Germans already have begun to impose heavy taxes on the Roumanian towns Avhieh have fallen into their power. In Craiova, a place of only 50,000 persons, the tax amounts to 0,000,000, or 00 per capita. The population of Bucharest, Avhieh has 350,000 inhabitants, has been ordered to pay double the rate in Craiova. A cablegram from Paris tells of renewed activities on the Britisli front, saying that coinciding with the lift in the stormy Aveather of the last week, the intensity of cannonade on the Britisli front has been redoubled since Friday. The artillery duel on the Ancre is aid to bo the most violent that has taken place since the opening of the battle of the Somine. Drastic declines in the Ncaa York stock market yesterday folloAved the receipt of cable neAvs that Germany had notified neutral countries of her decision to enter into peace negotiations. Bethlehem Steel lost 27 points and all munition and steel shares A-ere lower by 4 to 7 points. The Holland section of the League of Neutral States has made an appeal to the people of the United States to end the deportation of Belgians by Germany. A communication from Vienna says that the Hungarian and German troops near Receanu, northeast of Bucharest, have AAon a passage of the Jalotnitza I ri ver.
