The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1918-09-20
WILSON REJECTS
AUSTR|RS BID To
PEACE FARLEY
President Makes Quick Reply to
Vienna'S Note.
HAS ALREADY STATED TERMS
Declares He Has Repeatedly Given
Conditions Upon Which U. S. Will
Consider Peace-Speaks for
All the Allies.

Washington, Sept. I7.-President
Wilson fatty rejeeted the Austro-Hun-
garian governments proposal for
peace parley.
His greply is perhaps without a pre-
cedent in history. 1t was made pubic
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 read as follows:
Presidents Reply to Austria.
81 am authorized by the president
10 state that the following will be the
reply of this government to the Aus
trO-Hungarian note proposing an I'M
Official conference of belligerents:
"The government of the United
States feels that there is only one re-
ply which it can make to the sugges-
ton of the imperial Acknowledgements
government. 1t has repeatedly and
with entire candOr stated the terms
upon which the United States will con-
slider peace and can and will entertain
no proposal for a conference upon
matter concerning which it has made
its position and purpose so plain"
Speaks for Allied World.
Tit president, it is assumed, again
spoke for the allied world, and in so
doing wrote "Finis'' to the Austrian
move. His answer, cOuched In the
plainest language, consisted of exactly
IS words as compared with the several
thousand words that made up the long
and ambiguous statement from Aus
tria.
The message, save for diplomatic
embellishments, was given over to the
Swedish minister in exactly the same
terms as it appears above, for trans
mission to Austria.
ChronOlogically the answer consti-
tutes the fastest chapter in this cOun-
try's war history, and there is reason
for this. It is that the United States,
in common with it's allies, saw through
the hypocrisy of the Austrian note and
the thin veneer that hardly hid Ger
many's hand in the proposal, and there
Tore wished to dispose of it as rapid
ly as possible.
1t was 6:20 o'clock last night when
the Swedish minister, w. A. f. Eken-
gren, arrived at the state department
with the note. Two minutes later he
left the office of Secretary of State
Lansing and SO minutes later Mr.. Lam
sing gave an audience to newspaper
correspondents and made public the
presidents reply.
Wants Exchange of Views.
Amsterdam, Sept. 16-In extending
an invitation to all the belligerent gov
ernments to enter into nOnbinding dis
cussions at some neutral meeting
Mace. the Austro- Hungarian govern
ment stated that the object of the con-
ference would be to secure an ex-
change of views which would show
whether those prerequisites exist
which would make the speedy inau-
guration of peace negotiations appear
promising"
SAYS War Would Continue.
The Austrian proposal, which is an
nounced in an official communication
autographed here from vienna, sug-
oests that there be no interruption Of
the war and that the discussions
would go only so far as considered by
the participants to offer prospects Of
success"
The proposal calls for all the bel
ugerents to send delegates for ''con-
fidential and unbinding discussion on
the basic principles for the conclusion
of peace, in a place in a neutral coun-
trv and at a near date that would yet
have to be agreed upon"
The proposal says the conference
would be one of delegates who would
no charged to make known to one an
-ther the conception of their govern
ments regarding those principles and
+o receive analogous communications,
as we'll as to request and give frank
and candid explanations on all those
noints which need to be precisely de-
fined"
The government announces that a
note embodying its suggestions had
been addressed to the various bel
ligerent powers and that the holy see
had been appraised of the proposal in a
special note.