Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-09-04
SAYS HUNGAR|ANSSLEW
AUSTRIAN HE|R-APPARENT
Prof. Yovanovitch Quotes Croatian
Spy As MISUNDERSTANDING Of
Plot From q. s. Ignored.

To the Editor Of The Star:
In connection with the statement by
DR.. Vasile Luccacin. head of the Ru-
manian mission to the United States.
published In The Star Monday. charg-
ing that tho kaiser and the Count Tisza.
late premier Of Hungary. were 'fnstru-
mental In bringing about the assassina-
.ec:; of the Austrian crown prince"
June 20. 1914. may l be allowed to sub
init you tho following information. which
to my knowledge. has not yet been pub
lished in the American press?
Two months ago Rudolf Bartulic. A
confessed Vienna spy in Italy. France
and England. quarreled with his masters
in the Austrian general staff. took
refuge in Switzerland and gave there a
sort of autobiography in book pub
lished in German under the title I'm
garns Role i'm Weltksiege." The verac-
fty Of his story is beyond doubt. as the
most important OF his disclosures are
authenticated by the original docu-
Bartulic. who is a Croatian by birth.
and therefore feeling a hatred toward
Hungarians. had been sent by the
Vienna general stan. in the course of
Croatia. and had as his duty to spy on
the Austrian officers Of Hungarian ma
tiona1ity, which were under suspicion
Of being disloyal to the Austrian crown
as too great admirers Of Germany and
the German emperor.
In Agram. Bartulic was In constant
touch with the project of police in that
town. Herr Benno Won klobucaric, and
tanned in his recollections there is a
conversation he had with this police
chief relative to the Sarajevo murder.
Herr Won Klobucaric declared to him
most emphatically he possessed docu-
ments proving that Francis Ferdinand
was assassinated by the Hungarians
because the late Austrian heir-apparent
was an enemy Of Hungary and Of the
Magyar people. Few weeks before the
Sara5eyo assassination. he tvon Klobu-
cartc) received a letter from the United
States, q warning containing a full &C.
count Of what would happen to the
Crown Prince OF Austria (and what aft
erward proved to be the TRUTH: all de-
the conspirators. Klobucaric reported
at once to his chief. the home minister
at Budapest Croatia being governed
by Hungary and not by Austria), ask
ing men and means to make inquiries
and prevent the crime. In answer. he
received from Budapest formal order
to stop any inquiry. Ten days later
Francis Ferdinand was murdered.
(Neue Freie Presse. Reichspost. etc. }.
IN January, 1917, the Austrian military
authorities in Sarajevo arrested Herr
Edmund Goerdoe. project of police in
Austrian emperor. Herr Goerdoe, who
Is Hungarian from Budapest, was,
together with sixteen other persons,
accused OF having. as a special govern
ment commissioner for the relief of the
poor. misappropriated funds amount
ing to 1,250,000 crowns destined for the
poor.
The most interesting circumstance IL
connection with this war scandal is tn.
fact that Edmund Goerdoe was prefec
Of police at Sarajevo on June %, 1914
the day when the Archduke Franci.
Ferdinand was assassinated. Even theI
there was much talk in Vienna paper.
about the Astonishing absence of tn,
ures for safeguarding the archduke
during his visit to Sarajevo." For in
stance, after the failure Of the first at.
tempt the project neglected to cleal
the streets through which the imperia
procession was passing. and he himsel
led the cortege in his official car. chang
ing the prescribed route and actual,
conducting Francis Ferdinand into
narrow street. in which both he and hi.
consort. the Countess of Hohenberg
were assassinated
Herr Goerdoe is still in prison. Was his
sole fault Of having stolen the poor's
money, or was this only a pretext for
his arrest? We do not know 1t, but 1t is
a not astonishing but astounding fac,
that man OF such character could
ing OF the Austro-Hungarian heir appar-
ent in Bosnia.
The mystery is the greater as six on,
Of nine Of the alleged Sarajevo murderer.
died" in the Bosnian and Hungarian
.vOYSLAv M YOvANOvITCH.
Professor in the University of Belgrade