Washington Journal., 1914-10-10
Ssist bies Gurem ensIii@ iprs.
hen6en NaHbarnl
UNWARRANTED.
The Anti German attitude of the
American Press.

Sin i'm Diplomdtlt9et Otenlt tdtls
ger bO9ftebenber beutI9er 8sdmter
ihreibt:
The strange anti-G German atti-
tude of the majority of the Anne
rican Press, especially in New
York, in the first weeks OF the
European war was a surprise and
a sad disappointment to me.
From the experience Of my err
vice in the Far East from 1904
to 1911 / know that a close in
timacy and friendship exists
between the governments of Ger
many and the United States.
After the Boxer Rebellion in 1900
John Hay, that excellent Ameri-
can Statesman, raised the demand
for an open door and equal OPP
portunity for all in the Far East,
and Germany was the first
among the Nations to endorse
this policy and the only one
which has endorsed it ever since.
1t was a logical consequence Of
this common policy that Mr.
Willard Straight, American Con-
sui General in Mukden, Manchu-
ria, and myself, being the re-
preventative of Germany at the
same place, worked together in
such a way that one might have
thought we were agents of one
and the same Government. The
Russians and the Japanese, eager
to divide up between themselves
the large Manchurian provinces
and to close the door to the
trading nations, found Straight
and myself standing side by side
a thousand times, blocking the
way Of the Japanese and sup
porting the Chinese who were
the Legitimate owners of the
country, and at the same time
keeping the door open for the
trade of the world. Two part
ners of the same business con-
Germ could not have acted more
intimately together than we did
in that diplomatic work in Man
churia. In doing so we of course
only carried out the intentions of
our Governments. The German
Foreign Office was always ready
to support the Far Eastern po-
Icy of the United States. The
most convincing proof of that I
had in quite an interesting mo-
ment of my life. In 1910 the
Foreign Office appointed me to
accompany the Chinese Prince
Tsai Hsuen, brother of the En-
peror Kwanghsue, when the
Prince visited Germany. With
the prince 1 was the guest of the
Emperor in his box in the I'M
perial opera in Berlin one ev-
ening. l happened to be seated
behind the Emperor at the side
of Our Undersecretary of State
Nh. Stemrich. In the pauses Of
the play Mr.. Stemrich told me
in a whispering tone about a
diplomatic note at the Govern
ment of the United States which
had come that very day and in
which Mr.. Knox, the then Anne
rican Secretary of State, asked
the German support for his now
historical proposal of the neutra-
lization of railways in Manchu-
ria, a very far reaching step. Mr..
Stemrich asked my opinion be-
cause l had been in Manchuria
the year before. / told him that
I did not think the Knox pro-
posal a wise step because there
was no possibility of carrying
this policy through against the
opposition of the Japanese and
Russians and that the Knox
proposal would have the effect
Of throwing Japan and Russia,
the enemies of the day before,
into each Others arms. Mr..
Stemrich was disappointed with
my explanation because the Ger
man Government had already
given promise to support the
Knox proposal. And they did
support it. / mention this in
stance at such length, because it
shows that the German Govern
ment was on terms of such
friendship with the Government
of the United States that it sup
ported that Government with
even blind ardor. My knowledge
of former history as well as OF
the diplomatic history of the
recent past teaches me that the
German Government and the
German people always displayed
friendship and often gave actual
help to the Government and the
people of the United States.
Then, why; in the present crisis
of Germany, do so many Ameri-