Republican farmer., 1918-12-13
COUNT CzERNIN REVEALS EFFORTS
 MADE FOR PEACE
Paints Ludendorf As Man
 Who Stood Between Gen. tral Empires and Peace.
GERMAN PEOPLE HAD
 LONG WANTED PEACE
Says President Wilson Was Only Man Who Did Not
 Want to Crush Germany.

Vienna, Monday, Dec. 9 - Count CZernin, the former Austro- -Hungar- ian foreign minister, discusses today his efforts and that of the Austrian government to end the war and out lined what in his estimation were the problems to be settled before peace can be made secure. He expressed hope for an agreement among the ma tions to disarm.
 Count CZernin declared the Brest- Litovsk peace treaty was the work of the German military leaders and painted General Ludendorff, the quar- termaster general of the German army and virtual dictator of the em- pire's military policy in the last days of the conflict, as the man who stood between the Central empires and l peace on numerous occasions. Elf forts to induce the German govern ment to make concessions of an inn l portant nature seemed at times to be near success, but Ludendorff was l adamant
 | Accounting the desperate efforts on the part of Austria to reach some sort 1 of peace before the final and absolute 1 collapse of both the Austrian and Ger man empires, Count Czernin said: l ''The German people wanted peace | long ago, and even Emperor William ! wanted to see the end of the war, but 1 the attitude of England prevented steps being taken. Emperor William 1 said to me on one occasion: How ! can we get peace with England by 1 declaring we must be destroyed?
 Nothing is more dangerous in pol itics than to see things as you wish to see them; not as they are. We understood that the only way to ar range matters was to get England anG
 Germany to agree.
 With the knowledge of Emperor
 Charles, I proposed to Emperor Will, litm that Austria would give Germany
 the province of Galicia and permit
 her to have her way in Russian Pc. l land, provided Alsace and Lorraine
 were ceded back to France. I went tc
 Kreizenach and presented the plan tc
 Dr. Bethmann- -Hollweg. then German Imperial chancellor. Later he in.
 formed me that he was forced to de.
 cline to enter into the scheme. I dt
 not know whether or not Ludendorf
 had hand in the matter, but I wa
 informed that it was impossible t,
 give up Alsace and Lorraine becaus
 the German people never would un derstand the giving up of land whicI
 had cost so much blood.
 ''The situation of Germany wa
 dangerous, but nothing could be done
 Our conversations were pleasant anc
 friendly, and our sacrifices were ap
 preciated by officials. I saw, how
 ever, that I could not arrange tn matter because Germany was obliget
 to obey the military party. I thel
 tried another way. Unknown to tn
 Germans, I sent Herr Vessilko, a So
 cialist member of parliament, to Der
 lin to talk with Matthias Erzberge1 the Clerical leader, and Dr. Albert (
 w. Suederkum, a Social member 0 - the Reichstag. He was to tell then
 why the war must end and give then l both to understand that another peac :, resolution should be introduced in tn t Reichstag, directed against both tn l military party and the pan-Garman! l At this juncturc, however, the Ger - man armies began to win yiotorin
 once more and the Reichstag d.: nothing. Thus we were badly sit : uated. When our chances were ba
 and the Entente nations were elateG
 they would, not talk peace. When W
 were winning. LudnecorfT would nc ' consent to permit peace negotiation: l always wanted bo use victory a5 a opportunity to bring about peace. an several times had an impression tha [ I might succeed.
 T sent Count MensdprfT to SwitzeT 3 land to see General J. c. Shuts (wh was in Switzerland last March in tn 5 interests of the British government T He succeeded, but I was unable to te just what terms Germany wouI s make. I do not recall that AIr Lloy George, the British premier. men : tioned any conditions last Februar, Germany assured me tha. no Geffnit offers were received from Englant e and I believe this was true.
 England appeared t3 intend I T crush Germany, and France shove !: @ similar attitude. President Wilso I was the only head of an allied powe T who did not appear to nave this i = mind. Emperor William could nc t bring himself to yield Alsace and Lo1 y raine.
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