Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-03
BY the Associated Press

Paris, sept. 3.-1he revised text oil
the peace terms framed for Austria s
acceptance by the Peace Conference
was handed to the Austrian pleni-
poteBtiaries at st. Germdin yesterday
afternoon. Austria is given five days
in which to accept the treaty.
Text Of the Note
The text of the note transmitting the
reply to the observations of the Aus
trian delegation. signed by NJ. Clemen-
ceau, rs president of the council, fol-
lows:
''The allied and associated powers
have. given most careful consideration
to the observations of the Austrian
delegation on the draft treaty Of peace
The reply Of the Austrian delegation OBJ
Jscts to the draft treaty on the grounds
that in view of the dissolution of the
Arstro hungarian monarchy. Austria
ought not to be treated as an enemy
state at all and that, in consequence,
sne ought not to be made in any special
way inheritor of responsibilities in re-
gard to reparation to which the
Austro Hungarian monarchy would un-
doubtedly be liable did it still exist.
AS these observations point to
fnndamental misconception of the re-
sponsibilities Of the people of Austria.
lt necessary to state. as briefly as NAV
be, the principles which they consider
must be applied to the settlement of the
e late war so far as Austria is concerned.
Inc people of Austria, together with
thelr ncighbors. the people of Hungary,
pear In peculiar degree responsibility
Tor the calamities which have befallen
Enrope during the last five years.
Inc war was precipitated by an ul-
tirnatum presented to Serbia by the
government at Vienna and requiring ac-
ceptance within forty eight hours of a
series OF demands. which amounted to
the destruction Of the independence of a
neishboring sovereign state. The royal
government of Serbia accepted within
the prescribed time IL the demands ex-
cept those which involved the virtual
surrender Of its independence.
Austria Linked With Germans
Yet the then Austro- Hungarian
government. refusing all offers of a con
Terence of conciliation on the bosis os
that reply. immediately opened hosti'i.
ties against Serbia. thereby deliberately
setting light to a train which led di
rectly to Universal war.
1T is now evident that this ultima
tum was no more than an insincerp ex-
cuse for beginning war for which
n
Vienna. in close association with the
rulers of Germany. had long prepared
ana for which it considered the time had
arrived. The presence of Austrian guns
at the siege of Liege and Namur il
further proof, if proof were reauired of
'ne intimate association of the govern
nent or vienna with the government of
Berlin in its plot against public law
and the liberties of Europe.
pt,;,. IL.
10 think that responsibility for thcsr
acts rested solely on the Hapsburg dy
nasty and its satellites. and that by
reason Of the dissolution of that mon
archr. throurh the victory of the Allies
the people OF Austria eau oSrape respou-
sihi'jtr for IT," deeds of the government
Shich WAS their own government and
whit Ind its home 10 their capital.
HAD the people of Austria ia the
years preceding 'endenvored to curb the
militsrist and domineering spirit by
which the government of the Hapsburg
monarchy vas animated had they made
any effective protest against the war,
or refused to assist or support their
rulers in prosecuting it. some attention
might now be paid to this plea. But
the fact that the war was acclaimed
on its outbreak 10 Vienna. that the peo-
pie of Austria were its ardent support
ers from start to finish. and that they
did nothing to dissOciate themselves
from the po'icy OF their government and
its allies urril they had been defeated
in the field make it clear that. az
cording to any canon OF justice. they
must be held 10 bear their full measure
OF responsibility for crime which has
brought such misery on the world
Further Proofs Cited
"There is. however, a further fact
to which the Allied and associated
powers feel bound to point. The Hans
burg system became in its essence n
system maintaining the ascendaucy of
the German and Magyar peoples over
a majority of the inhabitants of the
Austro Hungarian monarchy. This
ancient and effete autocracy, with its
In existence through the vigorous sup
port of the inhabitants of Austria and
Hungary because it gave to them a posi-
tion of political and economic domina-
tion over their fellow subjects.
'It was a policy of racial ascend
ancy and oppression to which the peo-
pie of Austria gave their steady sup
port. which was one of the deeper
causes of the war. 1t led to those irri-
dentist. movements along the frontiers
of Austria and Hungary, which kept
Europe IN Il sefIilPnt Ol unrest IL Jeu TO
the growing dependence of Austria
Hungary on Germany, and consequently
to the subordination OF the Austro-
Hungarian policy to the German plans
of domination. and in the end it led to
a Situation in which the rulers of the
Austro Hungarian monarchy could sec
no other way of preserving their own
mower than to set to work deliberately
TO destroy the liberty of small and de-
pendent nations, which kept alive the
vision of liberty among their oppressed
brethren and which blocked the way to
Ccnstantinople and the east.
Gn the opinion. therefore, Of the
allit and associated powers it is impos
sible admit the plea of the Austrian
delegation that the people of Austria
do not share the responsibility of the
government. which provoked the war.
or that they are to escape the duty of
making reparatioD to the utmost of
their capacity to those whom they and
the government they sustained have SO
grievously wronged. The principles upon
which the draft treaty is based must
therefore stand.
''Second. The Austrian delegation
have further protested against the ar
rangements under the treaty governing
their relations with the new states
formed out of the late Austro Hun
aarian monarchy.
Vienna Not Trusted
1.-THE allied aud associated powers
feel bound to point out that the disabil-
tiles from which Austria will suffer will