Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-22
All Doubt Removed as to How World Con-
flict Began = American Ambassador
Told How Hour Was Fixed - Saraievo
Murders Kaiser's Golden Opportunity
By Henry Morgenthau

. that he did not will this war, but
that, with the help of the good Ger
man God, he will see it through to
! the end. He did will this war; he
brought it about when 1t suited his
| purposes and his preparations. The
Serbian incident was more than an
| excuse. 1t was an opportunity.
On August IS, 1914, as American
Ambassador at Constantinople,
called on the Marquis of Pallavicipi
the Austro- Hungarian Ambassador
to congratulate him on the Emper-
er's eighty-fourth birthday. After
exchanging the usual diplomatic
complim suitable to such an oc-
casion, he spoke of the condition OF
the Emperor's health and his great
physical and mental activity in spite
of the strain to which he was sub
jected. The conversation then turned
to the war, which was in its third
week. and His EXcellency told me
that when he visited the Emperor in
May His Imperial Majesty had said
that war was inevitable because OF
conditions in the Balkans.
The Austrian Crown Prince was
murdered at Sarajevo on June 2S:
yet weeks before that the Austrian
Emperor had confided to his Am
bassador to Turkey that war was in
evitable.
War Date Fixed in Advance.
A still more remarkable confirma-
ton came to me from Baron Wan
genheim, the German Ambassador al
Constantinople. In an outburst OF
enthusiasm after the arrival of the
Goeben and the Breslau in the Dar-
danelles. he having directed their
movements by wireless while they
were endeavoring to escape from the
British fleet, the German Ambassa-
dor informed me that a conference
had been held in Berlin in this early
part of July at which the date OF
the war; was fixed.
This conference was presided over
by the Kaiser; the Baron Wangen-
helm was present to report on condi-
tions in Turkey. Moltlle. the Chief of
Staff, was there and so was Grand
Admiral Won Tirpitz. With them
were the leaders of German finance
the directors of the railroads and the
captains of industry whose aid was
essential to the Kaiser in putting his
vast military machine into operation
Each was asked if he was ready for
war. All replied in the affirmative
except the financiers, who insisted
that they must have two weeks in
which to sell foreign securities and
arrange their loans.
At the time this conference was
held, nobody outside the inner cir
els OF the Berlin and Vienna Gov
ernments dreamed of war as a result
of the Sarajevo assassinations. They
took good care that no suspicion
should be aroused. The Kaiser went
straightway to Norway on his yacht
The Chancellor left Berlin for rest
The diplomatic corps had no init.
! nation of the. impending calamity
and the British Ambassador went
away leaving the embassy to Tho
Charge d'Affaires. The same drug
was used in Vienna, and even when
the blow fell the Russian Ambassa.
dor was absent from his post on va
cation.
Raid on World Markets.
AS the British White Book shows
it was not until July 20 that Sir Ed
ward Grey, the British Secretary OF
State for Foreign Affairs, asked the
German Ambassador in London
whether he had any news of what
was going on in Vienna in regard to
Serbia. Many days before the Brit
ish Foreign Secretary asked this
question war had been formally de-
cided upon in Berlin and Vienna and
everything was being made ready to
raise the curtain upon the most
ghastly drama of history.
From the date of this conference
the German financiers were busy
with their part while the army
marked time. All the great stock
exchanges experienced an acute
financial depression as German
owned stocks were quietly push e6
into the market. In New York, as
found afterward, there were aston
ishing slumps in quotations. Be-
tween July 10 and July %, which
was two days before the ultimatum
was sent to Serbia, Union Pacific
dropped from 154% to 125A, Balti-
more & Ohio went from 90A to 7SA
land United States Steel slumped
with the railroad stocks.
No adequate explanation was of
fered, and in the absence of any.
thing better there was bitter com.
plants against the Simmons-Under-
wood tariff as the source of all eco
nomic evil. The tariff had as little
to do with it as the Federal Reserve
Act, which was not yet enacted into
law. There was financial depres.
sion and a general decline in market
quotations because the German fin.
anciers were carrying out their part
of the Kaiser's war plans.
1t was not to me alone that Baron
Wangenheim told the story of this
Berlin conference. Only recently che
Marquis Garroni, the Italian Ambas.
sador at Constantinople, announced
that Baron Wangenheim said the