New Britain herald., 1917-09-05
EXPOSE IN RUSSIA
 WITNESS FOR BERLIN
Michaeis Says It Proves Ger
 many Did Not Want War

Amsterdam, Sept. 5.-In an inter- view with a representative of the press the German chancellor, pr. Michaells has made a statement of disclosures son of Gen. soukhomlinoff, former minister of war. Prominence has been given in the German press re- gently to testimony said to have, been taken at the Soukhomlinoff trial tend ing to show Russla's responsibility TOT beginning the war.
 The chancellor said:
 The statemnts of the former Rus sian war minister and the former
 chief of the general staff (Gen. Jan~
 uschkevitch) are of the greatest lm-
 portance. They are calculated com
 pletely to destroy the legend Of Ger
 man guilt in starting the war; anu they will force European opinion II the reports are allowed to De pup lished abroad, to revise it's judgment in Germany.
 "The moment at which these dls- closures were made is the more faV- orable as we have just had knowledge of the American reply to the ropes note urging peace. In secretary Lansing's answer the German govern' ment is described as an irresponsible government which secretly planned to dominate the world, which chose it's own time for the war and cruelty and suddenly executed it's plan, which did not heed legal barriers or truth fitness, which flooded a great conti- nent with blood, not only of soldiers but of innocent women and children. the helpless and the, poor. When adopting these accusations from the Entente factory of calumnies. the American government obviously had no knowledge of the course of the pro- ceedings against Gen. Soukhomlinof. Otherwise its judgment would certain ly have been quite different"
 Tt certainly is now established irrefutab bly," Dr. Michaels said further "that it was not Germany which chose the time for the war, but the military party surrounding the czar. who was under the influence or France and England. It is we'll known that the German emperor, who, be- fore the war, clearly an on every occasion expressed his own desire and that of the German people for peace, especially regarding Russia, was sur prised by the events which occurred during his pleasure trip in Sandan- vian waters. Up to the last moment, in the exchange of telegrams with the emperor of Russia and the king of England he made the most earnest and fervent attempts in the interest of peace.
 "The importance of the new dis closures is that the ear, who had to decide as to war or peace, in fact %n ho hn man emperors efforts that Germany did not desire war; The consequence of this conclusion was his positive
 order to concel the Russian mobili-
 zation, but couple of criminals who believed the czar disregarded the order and thwarted it's action. A consequence of the emperor's efforts also was the czar's order to General Januschkevitch to give the German embassa dor, Count Von Urpateles, as- .surances of Russia's desire for peace," Did Not Suspect SOukhOmlinoff. Petrograd. Sept, 5.-The testimony of M. Cutchkoff president of the third Duma, against Col. Miasoievoff. in the trial of MA Soukhomlinoff, former 1 minister of war, and his wife, charged reSp0CLlNely WlLn nlSH treason ana as an accomplice in the crime was an- ! swered yesterday by Mr. Soukhomlin- i off, who declared that he had np req son to suspect the colonel of being a l spy. The former was minister ad- mitted receiving a number of letters
 refectinE on Miasoievoff but said that 1 he would have had no assistants left
 if he had dismissed everybody who 1 was similarly accused.
 | Mime. Merkouloff, a cousin of Mime. 1 Soukh on1linof testified concerning
 Mime. Soukhomlinoff's unhappy child hood and of the cruelty of her first 1 husband, a rich house owner. She 1 finally divorced him and married
 Soukh omlinoff. The lived simply and
 she added that, although Mme 'Souk-
 homlinoff dressed well and spent 1 much time abroad, she worked hard
 during the war organizing hospitals
 and other charities.