The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-09-01
SECRETS OF BRITISH AND GERMAN
FARLEY BEFORE WAR ARE TOLD
KAISER is REPRESENTED AS MAKING SINCERE EFFORT
TO KEEP ENGLAND AS FRIEND, BUT OVERRIDDEN
BY WAR PARTY-HALDANE is DEFENDED.

looking out OF the window toward the
admiralty, said, Perhaps they are
there" Won Moltke admitted that they
were there and that they were very
good plans, too.
The article gives for the first time
Emperor Williams negotiations for the
Bagdad railway agreement. While visit
ing Windsor Castle England in No.
vember, 1907, Emperor William took
Haldane aside the first evening of his
visit and said how sorry he was there
was so much friction over the Bagdad
railway.
My answer was we wanted a gate
to protect India from troops coming
down the new railway" said Haldane.
Asked what he meant by gate, Hal.
dane replied that he meant control of
the fartherest off section of the rail.
way-the one nearest the Persian gulf.
To which Emperor William replied
Il will give you the gate"
War Party Blocks Kaiser.
The foreign office regarded the ne
gotiations favorably, but il was consid-
cred necessary to bring in France and
Russia. whose interests also were in.
volved. A conference in Berlin of the
four powers was arranged, with the
support of Emperor William, but it was
defeated at Berlin on the ground that
an agreement with the Bagdad railway
question included, was no business of
Russia.
This. says the article, was the .rst
and clearest indication regarding the
certain fact that the German foreign
policy-that the emperor was not quite
master in his own house and that Of
fetal Berlin was divided into two par.
ties, one anxious for a working agree.
ment between England, France and
Germany. and another not yet avowed
war party, regarding all these at.
tempts hopeless or dangerous, or both.
Then and for some time afterwards.
Emperor William belonged to the first
party and genuinely was anxious for
friendly relations with England.
The crown prince, with Admiral Won
Tirpitz and the general staff. and prob.
ably Prince Won Buelow, belonged def.
nitely to the second.
The party division became much
sharper and later was persisted in
by Germany, even after the war began.
Haldane had German sympathizers in
the same sense that Emperor William
had sympathizers who believed il was
for the good of the world that England
and Germany should come to an under.
standing. The key TO Haldane's whole
policy was while preparing against the
eventual triumph of the antiEnglish
party in Germany, to as far as pos.
sible strengthen those in Germany dis.
posed to be friendly.
Says Kaiser Not Vulgar Schemer.
The vulgar idea Of the kaiser as a
deep and consistent schemer." says the
article, "is almost certainly wrong. He
is, before everything else. a poser, an
actor. He desires, before anything else.
TO cut figure on the world stage. He
is always asking himself, Am / or am
| not Of the stuff Of the great Freder.
lex in small things as in great?'
The kaiser once prepared a paper ON
the reform Of the English militia and
sent it to the British war office. where
it was read and filed and he was as
pleased as possible when a new war
minister in conversation told him he
had both seen and read H.
Niscount Haldane again visited Berlin
in the spring Of 1912. under instruc.
tions by Sir Edward Grey 20 discuss
the general European situation and the
German ship-building program in con.
sequence Of the growth and power Of
Germany as the head Of the triple ALI.
ance. Naturally there had been other
powers which tended to approximate
thereto, but there was no reason why
the triple alliance Germany. Austria.
italy, and what was called the triple
entente britain. France, Russia should
not be friendly.
Viscount Haldane assured DR.. Won
Bethmann-Hollweg. who seemed skeptl.
cal, that Great Britain had no agree
ment with France and Russia except
as had been published Great Brit.
aims military preparations were not
hostile Referring to Morocco, Viscount
Haldane said that II Germany had In.
tended to attack France and destroy
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