New-York tribune., 1918-04-25
Brest-Litousk

From the Manchester Guardian
cEeVerneSS anu Kn0WIeuge OF NuS-
sian affairs, and character. knew the


IT cleverness and knowledge of Rus
sian affairs and character, knew the
men with whom they were dealing
shown on the first day of the conference,
when Baron Won Kuhlmann and his friends
came to the conference room dressed in
black coats, with all their decorations pinned
on their breaststo find the Russians await
ing them in the same clothes in which they
had travelled A Turkish delegate even
attempted to address some of the Russians
rs "eXcellencies," and desistcd ONLY when
he noticed the broad smile on the face of
one of the Russians who had been sitting,
nonchalantly in his chair smokirr hura
pipe. When NJ Trotzky joined the party
some of the Germans. thouga thep had
learned enough by that time of the charac-
ter of the Russians, could not prevail upon
themselves to address him simply Herr
Trotzky, but persisted in clubbing him "von
Trotzky"-no doubt from sheer inability to
conceive that q minister could be anything
but "von" The particle even appeared
in the first protocols of the sittings which
were attended by Trotzky, and only when
he struck it out with his own hand was it
dropped.
Politeness was, indeed, feature of the
German delegates and, above ALL of Kihl-
mann himself. He makes, no doubt the i'm
preston of very clever man with charm
ing manners and a worldly knowledge of
things. On the other hand, Count Czernin
was apparently regarded by the Russians as
honest and amiablc, but weak It is char
acteristc that the Germans used him for all
sorts of diplomatic FOOLS errands which he
had to execute in private. One day, con-
versing with one Of the leaders of the Rus
sian delegation, he accidentally, as it were
broached the subject of the Cars fate
Was it true, he asked, that the Bolshevik
government was about to allow him to pro-
ceed to England? The reply was in the
negative. "Whv not? he asked He was
told that the Car, if allowed to leave Rus
sia and settle abroad, would at once become
the centre of a counter-revolutionary in
trisue. The cloven foot clumsily protuded
at once. "But supposng," Czernn asked
Germany were to give guarantee against
such intrigues, would the Bolshevik gov
eminent permit him to settle in Germany?'
Obviously he was executing a commission
of kuhlmann's. who had been charged with
the duty of feeling the ground by the
Kaiser But the "feeling" was done so art
lessly that it was never repeated after
ward; the reply came sufficiently straight
and prompt to ouench all further hopes on
the subject
Another time Count Czernn raised tn.
subject Of the future German Ambassador
at Petrograd The very act of mentioning
it shows how little the Germans expected
that eventually the negotiations would
break down. They, indeed, thought that all
the opposition shown by the Russians to
their proposals was merely game of make
believe. intended to save their faces in the
eyes of the Russian people 1t was in this
oellet that Count Czernin once mysteriously
asked a Russian delegate whether the
presentation Of an ultmatum would not
be of assistance to them. When the reply
came that he should rather address an ul-
tlmatum to his own Germanic friends he
was much surprised. In connection. with
the ambassadoria question he ventrred
upon the suggestion that perhaps DR. He'll
fcrich would be acceptable at Petrocrad as
the representative OF GERMANY On re-
ceivlng a negative reply he asked whether
in that case Dr.. Walter Rathenau. the we'll
known electricity king" would not do. Thi,
time the answer was that the best ambassa-
dor to Russia would be Liebknecht Again
Count Czernin was obviously much sur
rrlsed. These candidatures show what i'm
portance the German government attaches
to the future commercial and financial rc
lations with Russia
One of the most interesting figures among
the German delegates was the notorious
General Hoffman. He spoke Russian like
native, and knew even the private relo
tonship Of the Russian delegates amono
themselves. Contrary to what people would
expect, the face Of this Prussan "jack boot
is the most amiable one round. plump.
rosy, smiling, almost bovish in it's inno-
cencc. y His manners, lively and courteous.
are on q par with his face. But when he
plays the Prussian general and makes =
pronouncement in the approved STYLE of a
conqueror his face suddenly becomes red
like beetroot"--his eyebrows swell cnor
mously and overhans his eyes, and the
latter glow like those Of an animal in ragc.
Lova1 Counties