Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-09-29
WOULD DESTROY AUSTRIA
BY FREEING HER PEOPLE
Principal Of Kings College, London,
Discusses Situation With Ref
crcnce To Dual Monarchy.
EXPRESS DIFFERENT VIEWS
Some Engiishmcn Think Emperor
Charlcs's Letter to Brother-in-I.aw
Might Have Led to Peace IL AM
swercd in Friendly Spirit.
tBy International News service.l

Ivy International News Service
ny RONALD VI. BURROWS. ID. LIFT.
LONDON. September 2S.-we all Of
US have our great ''ifs''-castlcs in the
air, which. in the wakeful hours be-
tween IL and !. carry us in triumph
In 1914 it was the III" Of The Russian
steam roller. in 1913 the if OF the
Dardancllcs.
Recently. there has been no more
captivating If than that of AN Aus
trian collapse. The huge Slav popuia-
ions of Austria Hungary are in sym
pathF with the entente. The food crisis
- acute throughout the whole country.
Even the army class chafes at German
ascendancy: and the Emperor Charles
We may grant that Austria Hungary
~ In bad way, and that powers that
lie in Germany have for long time
peen feeling uneasy about her.
The only question is-What are the
steps which the entente ought TO take
to make this IF an actual fact?
differing answers.
one set of people believe that we
could make n friendly peace with Aus
hei to throw over Germany They
Point out that we have never through.
Out our history been at war with Aus
IRA ;i mat ne Austrians are pleasant
~ Lrivate life. and well disposed TO
Eng nd. They hold that the Emperor
Charles letter TO his brother-in-la Law
would have led to a separate peace il
Portunity lost for ' The m n Goeuen b bur
likely soon 10 rccur.
mere are objections to such a policy
In me hrSt place it would involve
trcachery IL ,wo Of our .llics-.Italv
and Serbia. There is no mention OF
any concession to italy in the famous
letter. and Serbia is conceived in il as
SINAI! vassal state. allowed once
NOR 20 exist so long as she is com
nicteiy dependent on Austria Hungary.
incre rs no hint Of a free Poland. or
e. s"!f-Government for the Slavs OF
boh"mia ana Croatia.
10y accepting such terms we should
havc earned the hatred and contempt
Of Italy and the whole SIav world.
:. There is further doubt whether
Emperor Charles could. however sim
cerely he wished it, have taken his
army out of the war. The Austro-
hungarian army Is practically part of
me German machine. and it would he
extraordinarily difficult for it 10 de-
tach itself. The powerful Magyars OF
Hungary would have been against any
such agreement. and the first result OF
!, would probably have been the de-
thronerncnt OF the Emperor. the seiz-
urc OF Vienna and n direct alliance be-
tween Germany and Hungary
between the Slavs. who long for in
ccpendence in alliance with the cnten-
te, and the Magyars, who wish TO pre-
serve their domination In alliance with
fruss!a, there is no middle party DOW
erful enough TO support the Emperor
y.
If We cannot come to terms with Aus
tra- Hungary as she is. can we make
her something other than she Is? Here
comes in the alternative method Of
answering our question. 1t is some
times, especially by its critics. sum-
med up IN the phrase: Austria must
be destroyed" That is a misleading
way OF putting II and gives the i'm
peoples freedom and anueN. it's terri
tories.
Hardly any Of US in England learned
modern history at school. and in spite
of, four years Of war. We stil, most
OF US, call Austria-H Hungary Austria.
and think of ".Austrians" AS men of "a
particular race. like Frenchmen or
Italians
But before you can talk OF an Aus
trian," you must find out what sort Of
Austrian. Do you mean one of the !2,-
100000 Germans OF Vienna or Tyrol.
whose accent differs from that of Ber-
lin less than that OF "A Londoncr diners
from that OF Il YorkShireman? or a
100000 Magyars OF hungary, who
are so proud Of their Tartar speech
that they scarcely allow even the Ger
man language To be spoken in Buda-
pest? or do you mean "a CzeCho-SloVak
of Prague. a Pole Of Cracow, Serb Of
Agram. VINO speak as good Slav as they
dc in Moscow or Warsaw or belgrade?
OF a member OF the other subject races.
a Eoumanian OF Pennsylvania, or an
Italian OF the Trentno?
There are 2?.000,o00 Of these anti
Austrian Austrians. who by blood and
speech and sympathy are akin 10 the
country consisted OF 1900 900 Eng lish-
men, l0.oO0,0U0 ScOtsmen and 10000
GOO Germans, HunGarians. Turks and
Rulsars We should not have much
crs said that one Of their war aims