The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-01-30
BY BRAND wHlrLockrn

teryourse with me after my govern
meut had expressed its unwiIlingnpss
to have any further diplomatic rela-
with Germany
Had my position alone been involved
il would all have been very simple. as
simple as Mr.. Gerard's course in Ger
many; | should only have had to ask
Tor my passports and go. But nothing
was ever simple IN Belgium. each sit
uatiun there was complex, involved,
complicated and novel and without
precedent. The work Of relief which
America had undertaken remained. and
the need Of il remained more urEent
than ever. and there were threescore
Americans engaged in that work stiIl
IN Belgium, for whose safety I was re-
Sp,nsible.
Il was evident from Baron Won der
Ianckep's letter to me through the
Marquis Of Nillalohar that the first
concern of the German authorities was
that if the relief ceased n the Bel
Cians We're LEFT to starVe. the onus
should not rest on the Germans, and
was equally anxious that il should not
rest on the Americans, so I replied to
II in a letter to the marquis In which !
set forth the American position as !
conceived and interpreted it.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the
day ] wrote my reply to the marquis
we assembled again at the ministry OF
'A"''' W 10 NF' ~ NN~A :
Baron Won der LanCken, Or. Reith and
Nr Brohn were there, and the Marquis
Of NNlalohar, NJ. n NoIIenhoNeh anu
There was a new Snd vital conaphh,
'iilohi the, question OF the u 70 p5
taken by the ships of the G, R. b. had
~ insisted that the ships follow the
narrow passagewav which they had
marked out around the northern part
of the British Isles to Rotterdam, and
the British g~oVerhment had liSlsteu'
as always, that the shlps t9uSI al d
brltlsh port TO oe o~Setnauieu iui la
lrlhand. me BRUSH government nay
been induced to Concede TINS p0lhl, uut
it still insisted that the ships be given
safe conduct thruugh the Danger ZONE.
Ard this the Germans refused,
I'VE are not gong 10 nave me timg
lish putting the {, T. y. nag on lnel5
ships said Won DEL, Lancken' aH%1
thus passing through the danger z9ue,
was a point mat coulu pc setligu
only at Berlin n we decided 10 m
woke the services OF the spanish am
p~aSSador al mat capital ats-
c,o men q b niEn w E1T FeI his iTSNTil
proposed to replace the American dele
gates by delegates OF otneF nat'ots@lIS
The SWISS goVe5hIleht mas "l'TlVu
Swiss delegates ana me beFIlah S"F
ernment has accepted, ne sala, tbi,
But V!Ilalobar promptly resehVeu ''''
as interference; 10th
ing to do with the deIegates, ne sa'u,
that Is for the protecting ministers u
decide
There was a hyeIy, discussion netweeII
the marquis and the baron whlch l
could enjoy, my new positlon, aIter Az
little whether the new ~uelGEaleS W.
Spanish or Dutch or SwiSS II only rmJl
Would come quickly anu tSt my n1tInd
ans go. The question was not settIeo
and the meeting dlssolNeds as hice'-
ings viii with notnlrg aectueT, on oside
Then Iancken asked me 70 stsp 9slIe
with hin n We Went lllo tne -,
dining room and, sat down az tne i4LS
table of the otfcers mess "nere '"e
cloth was always spread.
And now ne SAID your poSlIton,
he must Know at once, mus 80
graph bernn HnImeuld ~ he mnst
the impatient German way ne mu'1
have a decision on the spqC, WIZ
told him he could not nave "ou'u set
him on the morrow
sdT do in Case OF war,
onoLor
called on, Baroh o Her rnan and
AZ a'Su tlo,a ,"" ~, so ~ war 7 Should
told nm that III caSe y, Wa members
60 ~ onctn 'aN"S ttha+ otberwise
VI we MIN \, Tror,oin until the Ameri-
was Wll,tmE W cnuId he renIaced by
can delegates couiu NC naiitv ~
uoWSatibu o rnlioF work was in some way
umum ,Io III sted me If I Intended
20 Leave when the transfer of delegates
10 ledNr mLtn Nv erd I told him tina
w waS1d dapcnd on the situation at the
tSn,e tbat reserved the right to de-
n rnr IN anv dav, with NV staff, house
hp@ niidi V nnruants etc with all the honors
ana consideration due my rank, and to
mis- he agreed,
~ saw Il TO YOU now officially, as
said it to Villalobar yesterday or the
other day," he said. -,
like A special train to go via Switzer-
land. and he said that there was a great
scarcity Of men and Of railroad equip
ment because of the military gun
ments and hat 1t was therefore on.
fiCult to provide a special tralh' pu'
he would have first-class accommoaa
tions for the legation. He repeated anu
reiterated 1t all, tapping his pencil on
the table as he emphasized eacn poils
You will leave whenever Sou %ie
whether 1t be tomorrow, heXt week on
six months from noW, as u gou nay
left the same day that MI, Gerard rev
Berlin"
He took his pencil n a long shee'
Of official note paper;
and now what are we going 10 say
to the ~newSpapersY
had forgotten that there were sucn
things as newspapers in the wotlo--
and | dictated this simple statement
which he wrote out: .
"The American minister VIII remalH
in Brussels Professionally to render ser,
vice while changes In the personnel OF
the c. Il. r. are being effected
We went away thinking OF Gerard
out of It all and In Switzerland,
The next day was Valentines day
and Hoover remembered the Germans
Gregory was at the legation early II
the morning with a long cablegran
brought in by the courier from Rotter'
dam, a cablegram that said that II
view of Lancken's statement that the
privileges Of the c. r. r. would b'
abridged the Americans would be with
dra wn at once from Belgium, And Greg
ory was given detailed instructions t.
close ~the books OF the G. r. h. rs o
midnight on Feb. 10. We both smiled
in the pleasure the dispatch gave us
nj least IT was positive and might de
fine the situation.
Uoover's telegram ordering the with
dra wa Of the c. r. b. came In villa
Iohar's nouch that afternoon, and tina
afternoon we assembled once more