New-York tribune., 1917-12-26
H. Charles Woods Says
Russian Peace Has Sim
lister Significance
Want Bagdad Road
Personalities of Men Sent to
Bargain With Slavs Proves
Case, He Says

BOSTON. Dec. 25.--Secretary Baker
i. right In stating that the German
rosce marnuvres should not for a
moment induce the United States 70
slscte, It's preparations for war, IN
80 oninion Of II. Charles Woods rel
low Of the Royal Geographical Society
,,5 a recognized authority upon mill
tarv matters in England who is no"
IN this city.
In a statement to-day Mr. Woods
po,nted out that the exit Of RUSSIA
from the war would remove one Of the
great obstacles in the way Of the rea-
Ii-ation oC the desire Of Emperor Will
,,r and his advisers for domination
from Hamburg to tho Persian Gull
an area in which they could MAINTAIN
,b,r posltion without sea power.
III any proof we're wanted" he con
4inued. chat the Germans in negouat-
ING peace with Russia have IN We"
,heir future success in the East u
would be in the personalities OF the
German and Turkish delegates
"von Kuehlmann, whom l knew wheh
30 was counsellor Of the German I'm
bsssv IN London until the outbreak OF
war ,s himself an avowed Fastener.
Al that time his one aim and ooJee'
WAS 10 bring about an agreement be-
tween England on the one side ana
Germany and Turkey on the other
fsvorabie 70 the latter two countries
En- regard TO the Bagdad Railway III
tbis he nearly succeeded, for ne lost
10 opportunitv o. making propaganda
Of the most subtle kind with politicians
and journalists, British and foreign
Urges Eastern" Policy
'If there be q man in Germany who
would be willing 70 make sacrihces n
the West or even upon questlohS OF
general importance 10 Russia IN order
TO secure the cooperation Of or IIee
hand from that country IN The Balkans
and i'm Asia Minor 10 is Won kuehlmann.
at is interesting TO note tnat the
Bulgarian delegates are none OF them
non Of outstanding regulations at home
II Is due either TO the fact Of Car
FerCinand's considering he has no in
terests other than the retention Of
Macedonia, upon which he would accept
no decision except one forced upon him
on the field Of battle, or TO the fact
that the Fox Of the Balkans wishes,
later on. 10 be able TO say that he
never treated this conference seriously
IL - 90 h n q
policy which may then seem advisable
TO him.
"The Turkish delegate of outstand-
ing importance is Hakki Pachs He has
been Grand Vizier and ambassador in
various countries and is one Of the
most pro-German Of the Turks.
Haiku an lntriguer
Moreover when Germany and Russia
had come 70 an agreement as to the
Bagdad Railway, as a result Of the
meeting between the Kaiser and the
Car at Potsdam in 1910, it was Hakki
Pacha who. after the conclusion Of the
TripoH and Balkan wars, was sent to
London by Turkey, in agreement with
Germany, TO try TO bring about agree
ments between the British Foreign
Office, the German Embassy, that is,
Won Kuehlmsnn, and the Turkish En-
bassy in regard TO the Bagdad-Persian
Gulf section Of the railway and other
important matters connected with that
region. Those agreements had fortu-
nately not been signed on the outbreak
Of the war.
Il lay particular stress upon the in
fuenee Of these peace negotiations upon
what | feel convinced are the designs
OF the Germans in the East. Re-
alization of such designs would be as
dangerous 10 the future Of the worlds
peace as would the conclusion OF a
peace unsatisfactory TO the Allies and
20 America in Western Europe or else
where"