Bisbee daily review., 1917-09-16
SERIOUSNESS. OF SITUATION. REALIZED BY.
 ALL SWEDEN.
Foreign Minister Lindman of Sweden Tells Associated Press His Country Has Stopped Unneutral Prac- tices.
(By Review Leased wire.)


 realizes the seriousness of the situa- tion created by the recent disclosures at Washington regarding the trans mission of German dispatches and ex- poets to take all steps possible to put matters right, Foreign Minister Lind man told the Associated Press during an informal talk All transmission of German dispatches had been stopped, he said, and Germany had been asked for an explanation of the abuse of the privilege formerly extended. In the course of his discussion of the affair with the correspondent, Admiral Lind man brought out the following points:
 Sweden Concerned
 First-That the Swedish government was not, as alleged in certain quar- ters, taking the affair lightly, but on the contrary realized fully the serious aspect of the situation and intended to do everything possible to settle the problem.
 Transmission Stopped
 SecOnd-That transmission of dis patches on behalf of Germany had been stopped absolutely from the mo- ment when the disclosures were brought to the foreign minister's at- tention and would under Io circum- stances be resumed.
 No Idea of Content
 Third-That had the Swedish gov ernment had the slightest idea of the nature of the dispatches which the German government was transmitting, the messages would never have been transmitted.
 Requests Explanation
 Fourth - That strong representa- tions had been addressed to the Ger man government on the abuse made of this practice, accomplished by a re- quest for explanation to which, how ever, no reply had yet been received.
 Wants Situation Cleared
 Admiral Lindman, during the entire conversation, seemed imbued with the desire to see the situation cleared up fully and completely on a basis satis- factory to the United States and Sweden and in a way to permit the continuance of the most friendly, cor dial relations with the American gov ernment and people.
 Deplore Practice
 "To begin with" said the foreign minister, T want to emphasize the fact that we are not taking this matter easily We deplore most sincerely that a practice which was exercised in ab- solutely good faith has been gravely abused, and we are determined that the condition which led to this result shall be remedied.
 Stepped Immediately
 AS soon as l was informed of Sec retary Lansing's statement I immedi- ately gave orders to cease this prac- tice. This would have been done earlier as a matter of course, had my attention been called to the undesira- bility of the practice.
 Morris Word Sufficient
 "A word from Mir Morris (the Amer ican minister) or the British minister would have sufficed. But as it was, I bad no idea that the practice was open to objection until the revelations launched from Washington"
 Unable to Explain
 The foreign minister has, as yet been unable to explain the exact cir cumstances under which the practice of transmitting dispatches in code for Germany had come into being, as it was an inheritance from the admins tration of his predecessor. He had or dered a rigid investigation within his department as to the origin of the system, he said.
 Contents Unknown
 'T am as yet" he continued, ''un- able to say anything about the results of this investigation. but should like to have you point out emphatically that no man belonging to this country having knowledge of the contents of Count Luxburg's telegrams would have consented to transmit them.
 Maintain Neutrality
 This country wishes to maintain a perfectly neutral attitude and has the strongest determination to remain per fectly neutral. If blame can be thrown upon us for having transmitted such telegrams, it cannot be for lack of good