Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1917-10-04
news REVIEW OF
The PAST week
House. Hay Decide to Investigate
Bernstorff's Plot to InfIu-
ence Congress.
Eve NAMED BY TOM HEFLIN.
Bulgaria Ready to Quit war-eer-
many's Conditional Offer TO Evacu-
ate BeIoium-Lansing's Expos.
ures Well Timed-Haig Makes
Further Advances in Flanders.

BY EDWARD w. PlcKARp.
The house Of representatives, may
determins to investigate itself, or rath-
er the action Of certain of its men,
bers, as result of the disclosure of
the Bernstorff plot to influence con-
gress and keep the country from en-
tering the war, by the expenditure of
$4,000 through some organization.
Representative Tom Hefiin of Ala
bama precipitated the inquiry by stat
ing in the house that he knew of some
congressman whose actions were sus-
piciOus. Called before the rules COM
mittee, he named Senator La Fol-
lette, Representative at Large w. p.
Mason of Illinois, Representatives
Fred A. Britten Of Illinois. and Pat
rick D. Norton and John NJ. Baer Of
North Dakota. He did not accuse
anyone of receiving German money,
but demanded that the activities of
these five men be Investigated.
Bulgaria Wants to Quit.
Bulgaria, having attained the ends
for which she entered the war-the
recovery of Dobrudja, Macedonia, and
parts of Serbia that were taken from
her in the Balkan war-is ready to
quit fighting If permitted to retain her
conquests. So says Stephan Pan
aretoff, Bulgarian minister to the
United States. His country, he adds,
has no interest in Germanys ambi-
ton to establish a Mittel Europa, and
would have preferred to enter the war
on the side of the allies, had their
promises been as unconditional as
those of the kaiser.
Austria-Hungary, according to ad-
vices received in Washington, Is rap
idly nearing collapse. and the Ger
man war party realizes that peace, II
1t is to he of the German brand, must
be procured within six months or be-
There is great distress throughout the
realm of Emperor Charles and his peo-
ole would gladly stop fighting provid-
I'D they do not have to yield too much
to Italy.
Germany Offers Belgian Bargain.
i
to the pope's peace proposals, filled
With high sounding phrases and hypo-
.risy, were virtually ignored by the al
lied governments and condemned as
,vasive and insincere by the press.
Therefore the kaiser came forward
With an addendum, verbally expressed
20 the papal nuncio at Munich by For
,ign Secretary Kuehlman, in which he
agreed to evacuate Belgium in order
20 gain peace. But the offer was hedged
about by conditions that made all the
on-Teutonic world laugh. He de-
handed that Germany have the right
20 develop her economic enterprises
'reely in Belgium, especially in Ant
werp; that Belgium give a guaranty
hat "any such menace as that which
threatened Germany in 1914 would in
.uture be excludQt;;" that Belgium un-
lertake to maintain the administrative
separation of the Flanders and Wal
oon districts introduced by Germany,
md not enter into any commercial
reaties aimed at Germany. In re-
iurn Germany offers graclously to con-
ribute share Of the compensation to
,e paid to the little nation she has
nvished.
The new German party organized
" Admiral Won Tirpitz and others not
low in ONCE got into action last week