East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1917-08-02

Spunuent. meeting WAS Aeiu bH Suts
:. 1914. in Pots :am. at which the
Kaiser and German. Austrian and
Hungarian leaders were present. for
the purpose Of drawing up the Aus
trian ultimatum to Servia. 1t WAS
recognized by this gathering that
Prussia probably would refuse 10
submit to such direct humiliation
and that war would result. Thes
consequences the meeting definitely
decided 70 accept. It would be hard.
HAYS the Times. to exaggerate the
gravity Of this disclosure.
The correspondents statement fol-
lows:
In the report Of Deputy Haase's
speech before the Reichstag last
week. which appears in the Leipzig
er volks Zeitung of July 20. there is
a reference to the meeting of July >.
1914 as one of the matters which
will have to be explained before the
origin Of the war can be fully un-
derstood. This is the first public ref
erence TO the date, which probably
will become the most famous even
of that fateful month.
Austria Also Represented.
Il have 1t on authority which it is
difficult If not impossible 10 doubt
that the meeting referred to was q
meeting held at Potsdam on the date
named There were present the
Kaiser, Chancellor Won Bethmann-
Holiwcg. Admiral Won Tirpitz. Gen.
Won Falkenhayn. DIR. Won Stumm and
Archduke Frederick and Gen. Won
Hoetzendorf of Austria. II appears
DR. Won Jagow and Gen. Won Moltke
were not present,
THE meeting discussed and decid-
ed upon the principal points of the
Austrian ultimatum which was TO be
dispatched to Servia eighteen days
later. II was recognized that Russia
probably would refuse TO accept such
direct ultimatum and that war wouli
result That consequence the meet
ing definitely decided to accept. It
is probable but not certain that thu
date Of mobilization was fixed at the
same time.
The Kaiser, as is well known
then left for Norway with the object
of throwing the dust into the eyes of
the French and Russian governments
HoIIweg Wishes To Back Down.
InTee weeks idleT, "ntIi II bftdAi'
known that England would not re
main neutral. HoIlweg wished to
withdraw, but it was too late. The
decision of July was crucial and ir
revocable.
THE peculiar way or rather ways.
in which these facts have become
known cannot yet be told. but it is
| certain most of TTaases hearers were
fully aware of the meaning of his
reference to the fatal date.
For the subject appears to have
been more explicitly raised in the Sc
cret meeting of the budget commit
tee of the Reichstag eight weeks ago
by the socialist member Cohn. who
challenged certain minister to de
ny the facts. To the astonishment Of
the other members. the minister did
not deny them, but declined to make
any statement The incident created
an immense sensation in the commit e.
tee and was possibly one Of the fac
tors underlying the recent political
crisis
Other Revolutions Probable.
The fact that Haase has nov
raised the matter in public appears
to Indicate that he and his friends
consider the time has come to bring
the full truth to light"
The Times adds comment by our
war correspondent formerly in Ber-
lin," as follows:
This statement will recall certain
facts and dates. II was on June Is,
1914, that Archduke Francis Ferdi-
nand and his wife were murdered at
Serajevo The Kaiser, who was in
Kiel, returned to Berlin at once and
remained in Berlin until July >.
when he departed for the north on
the imperial yacht.
July 26. Sir Horace HumbOld,
British Charge d'Affaires in Berlin
teIegraphed to Sir Edward Grey
rhe emperor returns suddenly to
night The under secretary of statH
says the foreign office regrets this
step which is taken at his majesty
own initiative. They fear his majes
tvs sudden return may cause spec
uIation and excitement
las regards the German person
ages named in the cOrrespOn lent s
communication. Berr Won Jagow then
was foreign secretary He repeate ilv
has denied he was aware II the con
tents Of the Ausarian uitimatum be
fore IL was published. To me. among
many others. he pledged his word on
this point.
. "If the late Count Won MoltSe. then
chief .of the German general staff OF
war. also was excluded from the plot
that fact sheds fresh light on his "a.
teer. II viii lie remembered that after
the first fa.lsrfs Of tine German cam
paign in France. Won MoitSe was su-
perseded. Before his death In Der
I'm. he let IL be known that some d1t
there would be d sciosur' about the
early st ges of the var.
1T was alwa inspected that Her
Won Stumm. who in 1914 was head
Of the political department or the
German foreign office and who now
is under secretary OF foreign affairs
was in the secret IN its early stages.
F'anzcnhayn Then war Minister.