The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-08-26

| secretary. tonight sent a letter to the
| press replying to speech last week
in the German Reichstsg by DIR. Won
Bethmann-HoIlweg. the German chan
ceIlor.
| Sir Edward deals at length with the
| charge that Belgium had trafficked her
| neutrality with Great Britain and the
allies
| There are some points in the speech the
German chancellor made last week." he
| says. (which may, l think, be suitably
dealt with in letter to the press pending
a fuller review of the situation. which
may be appropriate in some other method
and at some other time
Il will state the facts and reflections
they suggest as briefly and clearly as 1
| can.
| Zone Belgian record, conversation with
the British military attache. was pub
lished by Germany last autumn to prove
that Belgium had trafficked her neutral
ity with us, and was. in effect. in plot
| with US against Germany. The conversa-
| ton, of which the most use has been
made. never was reported to the foreign
office. nor, as far as the records show, to
| the war office at the time. and we saw
record of it the first time when Germany
published the Belgian record.
| But it bears on the face of it that it
referred only to the contingency of Bel
quinn being attacked. that the entry of
the British into Belgium would take place
only after violation of Belgian territory
/ by Germany, and that it did not commit
the British government. No convention
or agreement existed between the British
| and Belgian governments.
| why does the German chancellor men,
ton these informa! conversations of 1906
and ignore entirely that of April, 1913?
| told the Belgian minister most emphati-
| cally that what we desired in the case of
Belgium, as with other neutral countries,
was that their neutrality should be re-
| spected, and that so long as 1t was not
violated by any other power we should
certainly not send troops ourselves into
their territory.
| Let it be remembered that the first use
made by Germany of the Belgian docu-
ment was to charge Belgium with bad
faith to Germany. What is the true
! story? On the 29th of July, 1914, the Ger
| many chancellor tried to bride us by
promise OF future Belgian independence to
become party to the violation of Belgium
| neutrality by Germany.
| On the outbreak of the war he de-
scribed the Belgian treaty as a scrap OF
paper, and the German foreign secre-
tary explained that Germany must go
cause she could not afford the time to
90 otherwise. The statement of Herr
Won Jagow is worth quoting again.
German Advance
1.-The imperial government had to ad-
L irtn E,,.ar Inv q
| ca sest way so as to be able to get well
ahead with the operations and endeavor
| to strike some decisive blow as early
as possible. 1t was matter of life and
death with them, as If they had gone
by the more southern route they could
not have hoped. in view of the paucity
of roads and the strength of the for
dresses, to have got through without
| formidable opposition, entailng great loss
| of time. This loss of time would have
meant time gained by the Russians for
bringing up their troops to the German
frontier Rapidly Of action was the
| great German asset, while that of Rus
STA was an inexhaustible supply of troops
| "In the Reichstag. too, on August 4,
1914. the German chancellor stated In re-
/ ferrng to the violation of the neutrality
of Belgium and Luxembourg:
| 1.-The wrong-I speak openiy-the wrong
we thereby commit we will try to make
/ SoOu as SOON as Jul HiluldiS aims nave
been attained
serhe violation of Belgian neutrality,
therefore. was deliberate, although Ger
many had actually guaranteed that neu-
| trality. and surely there has been moth
| ing more despicably mean than TO at
tempt to justify It ex post facto by
| bringing against the innocent, inoffen-
sive Belgian government and people the
totally false charge of having plotted
| against Germany.
| Belgian Charge Withdrawn
| THE German chancellor does not en-
! phasize in his latest speech that charge
which has been spread broadcast against
Belgium. Is it withdrawn. and II SO VIII
Germany make reparation for the cruel
wrong done to Belgium?
1.-THE two negotiations for an Anglo
German agreement in 1872 referred to by
1.-THE German chancellor, were brought to
a point at which II was clear they could
have no success unless we. in effect
gave a promise OF absolute neutrality
while Germany remained free under her
alliances to take part In European war
This can and shall be explained by pub
fishing an account of the negotiations
taken from the records in the foreign
office. 3
1.-The chancellor quotes an isolated SEN
tence of my speech of August 3, 1914
to prove that we were ready for war. In
| the very next sentence, which he might
have quoted, but does not quote, I~said
| 1--WE are going to suffer. l am AFRAID
terribly, in this war. whether we are In
1t or whether we stand aside.
II leave it to any one, outside OF Ger
many, / many neutral country, to settle
for himself whether those are the words
of a man who had desired and planned
a European war or OF one who had Ia
bored to avert it, The extent of the Ger
man chancelor's misapplication of the
Iisolated sentence which he quotes will
be obvious to any one who reads the
full context of the speech.
Statement Denied
LAS to the other statement attributed
! to me, not even when we were perfectly
free. when Japan who was our ally, had
not ntered the war, and when We were
not pledged to the other allies IS we are
now by the agreement of September o.,
1914. did l say anything so ridiculous or
untrue as that 1t was In the interest of
Germany that we had gone to war and
| with the object of restraining Russia.
THE war would have been averted II
the conference had been agreed to. Ger
many on the flimsiest pretext shut the
door against 1t.
IT would reck nothing on the point Of
form and expressed myself ready to ac-
auiesce in any method of mediation that
Germany could suggest If mine were not
acceptable. l said was ready to CO.
operate In any method Germany thought
possible, II Germany would only press the
button in the interest of peace
THE German chancellor. according II