El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-01
AUSTRIA EAGER
TO MAKE PEACE
Baron Burian Tells Kaiser
Downfall of Dual Mon
archy Likely, Report.

London, Eng, Feb. Austria is
eager to make a tolerable peace, in
conjunction with Germany, and baron
Burian, the AustrO- hungarian foreign
minister, pointed out this imperative
need at his meeting with emperor
William, according to the Daily Nails
Copenhagen, Denmark, correspondent.
The dispatch says:
From a most trustworthy and well
informed source in Berlin I received
the following statement regarding the
negotiations between the German
statesmen and baron Burian, who re-
Gently visited the German chancellor in
Berlin and emperor William at the
army headquarters in France. NJ.
Baron Burian, whose sole object is
to save what can be saved Of the DIAL
monarchy, represented to the Germans
that the situation in Austria is most
precariOuS and that if the Russian ad-
vance on Buda Pest is not stopped the
effect may very probably be the down
fall of Austria and the complete col
lapse of Hungary, which must later
entail, as logical sequence, also the
downfall of Germany.
Catastrophe Imminent.
Therefore baron Burian urged that
the Russians must at all costs be re-
pulsed and that Germany must send
large reinforcements to Hungary to
prevent a catastrophe. In any case,
ne SdlQs II was QOuQLLul IL II WOulQ lG
possible for them to resist the Russians
and Servians and perhaps also the
Roumanians. Therefore it was necss-
sary seriously TO examine into the
question of peace.
Possible Peace Terms.
"A definite defeat would mean a
debaCle for Austria-Hungary and the
partition of the empire. His advice
to Germany was to consider most seri-
ously the possibilities of a tolerable
peace He advised Germany not to re-
ject fundamentally the thought OF
peace on the grounds Of a probable
disarmament of Europe. If Germany
were disposed to treat on such terms
he believed the other conditions would
be tolerable. Perhaps 1t would be
necessary to leave the French part of
Alsace to France and to give up some
Polish provinces to a new Poland, but
if Russia would relinquish a province
and Austria a part of Galicia to Poland
no real sacrifice for Germany would
be entailed.
Austria would then leave the rest
of Galicia to Russia and Bukowina to
Roumanis and, II necessary, part OF
Bosnia and Herzegovina to Servia and
Montenegro.
Germany Objects.
THE leading German statesmen ad-
mitted baron Burian's intentions were
excellent, and, to some extent, justi-
fled by circumstances. but they de-
cIared such a peace would be more
ruinOus to Germany than total defeat.
Disarmament Of Europe, they contend
cd, would only mean that Great Brit
ain would be able to tyrannize the
whole world and Germany would have
lost all chance for safeguarding her
commercial, industrial and economic
interests.
"The other terms advanced by baron
Burian, namely the status quo ante
bellum. that is TO say the restoring OF
Belgium and northern France, but also
Onies, were, with the exception Of the
REIMBURSEMENT to France OF French
'Alsace and OF the Polish provinces to
Poland, no absolute hindrance to peace.
Peace NegOtintIOns Hopeless.
For the reasons set forth the Ger
man statesmen declare the negotiations
for peace are hopeless and that there
steps revealing a disposition for peace
on the part OF Germany and AUSTRIA
Hungary, as this would only weaken
their case.
Baron Burian thereupon admitted
that there was no other way than to
reject all ideas of peace and to take
all the chances and all risks in con-
tinuing the war in the hope that some
thing undreamed might occur. Per-
haps a disagreement among the allies
or some great victory might prove their
salvation.
THE Germans agreed that it was
necessary to dispatch reinfOrcements
to Hungary and promised to transfer
troops up to the number of 100000
by spring.
"One and one-half million soldiers
tempt to crush the allies and force
peace"