The Washington herald., 1918-09-17
u. S. Writes "Finis" to Of
fer from Austria to
Hold Farley.
6S WORDS IN REPLY
Time Records for Response
to Note Is Lowered
by Wilson.
GERMANY SEEKING STIMULUS
GERMANY SEEKING STIMULUS
Senator Lodge to Answer Vienna
on Senate Floor
Today.

flatly rejected the Austro-Hun-
ysrian governments proposal for
peace parley.
His reply is perhaps without a
precedent in history. 1t was made
public within half an hour after
the Swedish Minister delivered
the official text of the note to the
State Department. The Presidents
answer was issued in the form Of
statement from Secretary of
State Lansing, and reads as fol-
.ows:
TEXT OF REPLY.
Il am authorized by the Presi-
dent to state that the following
v-:Il be the reply of this govern
vcnt to the Austro- Hungarian
uctc proposing an unofficial con-
ference Of belligerents'
The government of the United
States feels that there is only one
reply which it can make to the sug-
Eestion Of the Imperial Austro-
Hungarian government. 1t has re-
peatedly and with entire candor
stated the terms upon which the
United States would consider peace
and can and will entertain no pro-
pOsal for a conference upon a mat
ter concerning which 1t has made
Its position and purpose so plain"
The President, it is assumed,
again spoke for the allied world,
and in so doing wrote "inis'' to the
Austrian move. His answer, couch
ID in the plainest language, consist
I'd OF exactly sixty-eight words as
compared with the several thousand
words that made up the long and
ambiguous staten mt from Austria.
Today the message, save for dip
! lomatic embellishments, will be Civ
bn over to the Swedish minister in
fxactly the same terms as it ap-
/ eeared last night for transmission
to Austria
Time Records Broken.
Chronologically the answer con-
stitutss the fastest Chapter in this
k~eountry's war history. and there is
reason for this. 1t is that the
United States, in common with its
allies, saw through the hypocrisy of
The Austrian note and the thin ven
ser that hardly hid Germany's hand
In the proposal. and therefore wish
cd 70 dispose Of 1t as rapidly as
possible.
1t was $50 o'clock when the
Swedish minister, W. A. f Eken-
gren, arrived at the State Depart
ment with the note. Two minutes
later he left the office of Secretary
Of State Lansing, and thirty-three
minutes late Mr.. Lansing gave an
audience to newspaper correspon-
dents and made public the Presi-
dents reply.
Throughout. the tabloid was en-
acted In much the same manner as
desired by certain American citi-
zen, who sent a telegram to the
White House today. His message
was addressed to the President and
said:
Sincerely hope your answer to Aus
ria's peace proposal will be that we
Americans don't talk during work.
ing hours
Future peace proposals from the
Central Powers must come around to
the Presidents way of thinking, as
he definitely points out in his sixty
90 'NAS9- AAS heio sANth MS peace
program TO the world. and it stands
as bulwark against all sniping
peace proposals which may emauate
from either Germany or Austria. II
was on the Fourth of July nj Mount
Vernon. beside the tomb of Washing
! ton. that the President spoke OF peace
and said:
No Halfway Decision.
There can be but one issue, The
settlement must be final There can
oe no compromise. No half wav de-
cision would be tolerable. No bair
way decision Is conceivable. Thesa
are the ends for which the associated
peoples of the world are fighting ana
winch must be conceded them before
there can be peace"
ne set forth four principles. which
nave been applauded by every allied
nauon; which show the long way
either of the central powers will have
20 travel before anything they say con-
eerning peace will be received with
attention by the allies At the sam.
ume, the four principles tear at the
NItais or everything odious in the
central powers. and portray aeajn the
fact tnat the war will be won ana
peace VIII come only with a decisive
allies
Meantime. as many officials In the
Capital pointed out today: why talk