The Washington times., 1915-09-19

Dumba in making public a letter to
Secretary of State Lansing before the
letter reached that official. was eX-
pressed by Government officials today.
and denial was made of at least one Of
the charges made by the Austro- Hun
garian envoy. The Dumba letter had
not been received by the State Depart
ment today. and only the published text
was available
One of the bitterest complaints made
by DR.. Dumba was that the Govern
ment had Disseminated against him In
refusing him the right to communicate
with his home office. while the allied
ENJOYS were given privileges Of uncen-
sored communication with their govern
ments. His specific charge was as fol-
lows:
Il have not been allowed to advise
my government that ! do not admit
having conspired to do any act In vio-
lation of the laws of the country to
which l am accredited. The message
that I sought to have transmitted to
that effect was rejected by your CEN
sor."
At the Navy Department today it was
said that no message Of this character
from DR.. Dumba to his home govern
ment had been rejected. No officials
DR.. Dumba's charge because they said
his letter had been addressed to Secre-
tary Lansing and inquiry regarding the
charges therein made would have to be
addressed to that official.
1t was emphatically stated. however.
that the Navy Department had not re-
ceived a report Of the rejection of q
Dumba message.
Officials were confident that Lieut..
Z. r. Clark. the naval censor at the
Sayville radio station, would comnuni-
cate fully with Washington before re-
Jecting any such message.
Aside from this denial. officials
would not discuss the Dumba letter to-
Gay. Aside from declaring the letter
was interesting, Secretary Lansing last
night declined to comment.
DR.. Dumba's Letter.
DR.. Dumba's letter. which is dated
September II. follows. in part:
I leg to acknowledge the receipt
of your note Of the Ih instant ,c-
closing cory Of n message forwarded
by you by cable to the minister for
foreign affairs Of my government.
In conformity with my promise.
am sending you herewith what pur-
ports to be correct translation that
randum that accompanied my letter
of August p. addressed to the Aus-
tro-Hungarian minister Of foreign
affairs. which was intrusted to Mr..
AS do not read or understand
the Hungarian language. l have to
rely on the translator for Its correct
ness. 1t was not put into code. for
the reason that the German version
was not received until the morning
Of the sailing of the Rotterdam. on
August q.
In your message to my government
your excellency says In effect. among
other things. to which beg to take
exception. that ! confessed to having
70 ri n hnnt OF fsilx n
American munition works.
Message Permitted.
As the Austro-Hungarian ambas-
aador Is and has been for many
months past in the phenomenal posi-
ton Of being unable to communicate
privately with his government. al
though our enemies are and have
been permitted freely to use the
cables for their secret code dis
patches without censorship. l have.
by the grace Of your department..
now been permitted to communicate
with my government through the
German embassy. but to the extent
only of asking for leave of absence
to the end that I may in person ex-
plain my position. and meantime to
suspend judgment upon the charges
contained in your excellency'S mes
sage. and am now awaiting a reply.
/ have not even been allowed to ad-
wise my government that l do not
admit having conspired to do any
country to which I am accredited.
and whose hospitality have enjoyed
and have In no way abused. The
message that l sought to have trans
mitted to that effect was rejected
by your censor. as hereafter ex-
planned. In some unaccountable way
this confidential message was COM
municated to the press and has been
published.
Can't Question Power.
I, Of course. do not and cannot
question the power Of the Govern
ment of the United States to dis
miss me by handing me my pass
ports and assuring me safe conduct
home without assigning any reason
therefor. or on such grounds as 1t
may deem sufficient without regard
TO- my opinion as to its justice.
When. however, your Government
sees fit to resort to the eXtraordi-
nary and to me humiliating course
of preferring charges against me to
my government, without advising me
OF the intended action or even init
mating that such action is contem-
uHated. and to request my recall
upon these charges as confessed.
While at the same time refusing me
permission even to communicate pri-
vateiy with my. government. I re-
spectfuly protest against such ac-
ton as unjust to me and contrary
to diplomatic usage.
Inasmuch as the text of your mes
sage as furnished by you to the
press has been published broadcast
throughout this and foreign count
tries without my having been afford
ed the opportunity of reply or ex-
PLANTATION. ! take the liberty Of here
with submitting an outline of the
circumstances under which I acted
and the reasons for my action IN
forwa riding to the Austro- Hunga-
rian minister for foreign affairs the
letter of August p, which was the
occasion for your eXcellency's mes
sage. and respectfully request that
you will assist me securing for this
communication the same publicity as
was given to your excellencys mes
sage Of September to my govern
ment.
Summarization of Facts.
The facts may be briefly sumariz-
etd as follows:
The German government issued
proclamation by wireless message