New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-07-17
LITERARY CRITICISM
AND BOOK NEWS
From Sarajevo to the First of August, 1914
The Diplomatic Prelude as Chron-
licled in the State Papers

declarations Of war, or, at least, TO a
study of those documents which the
different governments involved in the
struggle have seen fit to make public.
That they comprise reports OF all that
went on in the conferences between the
diplomats, that they tell the full story
truthfully and without reservations
may well be doubted. That is not the
way of diplomacy; il cannot be. Pro-
fessor Stowell takes into consideration
this possible element of suppression
and Misrepresentation, especially IN the
case of the German charge of the post
fdcfO manufacture of documents IN the
French Yellow Book, but he holds that
in the case Of England, at least, the
basis and permanent structure OF the
British diplomacy are doubtless TO be
found in the papers laid before the
Houses of Parl Iament and IN the dis
cussions and explanations given IN Par
lament II is interesting TO compare
Professor Stowel's opinion on this
point with that of an earlier historian
Of the diplomacy Of the beginnings OF
the war, Mr.. NJ. p. Price, NJ. A., OF
Trinity College, Cambridge, who holds
that there are in the obscurltles OF the
negotiations as reported IN the. pub
lished documents several which SIR
Edward Grey alone can elucidate. Mr..
Prices book, which was issued in Janu-
ary of this year by the Messrs. Serb
ner, will, as matter Of fact, be found
exceedingly well worth the students
while in connection with his perusal Of
this first volume of Professor StowelIs
history.
1t is perhaps a matter Of opinion 20
what extent a work dealing with the
immediate causes of the war should
enter upon a consideration of the more
remote ones, but 1t may seem 10 some
that the thirty-nine Introductory pages
devoted to them mere are not sufficient
for their purpose. the less so as these
remote causes have been Increasingly
lost sight of in the current discussions
of the struggle. 1t is true that, to DO
them full justice. another volume OF
the size Of this one would have to be
written, but reference TO Alsace,
Lorraine without one to Louis AlV
leaves the matter decidedly in the air,
from the German point of view, at
least. 1--WE are not fighting Louis Ma
poleon, we are fighting Louis XIV,
said Moltke TO Theirs; France might
make reply to-day, with even more
truth. 1--WE are not fighting William
II, we are fighting Moltke.' And 1t
is due to Bismarck's memory TO re-
call that he opposed the annexation
of the Lost Provinces. foreseeing what
has since come true. 1t is to the
Iron Chancellor that Professor Stowell
ascribes the allotment Of Bosnia
Herzegovina to Austria Hungary at
the Congress of Berlin. As a matter OF
fact it was Beaconsfeld who, in pur-
suance Of his country's policy of the
time. thus threw the Dual Monarchy
across Russia's path in the Balkans.
He even included the Sanjak of Now
Bazaar in the arrangement, but the
Austrian statesmen restored II TO
Turkey for reasons of their own.
All this. however, by the way. Profess
sor Stowell presents, almost entirely in
direct quotation or in paraphrases from
the official documents, the negotia-