EMPEROR KARL'S LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 205, 18 May 1918, Page 7

EMPEROR KARL'S LETTER

QUESTIONS IN HOUSE QF COMMONS

RESTORATION OF ALSACE-

LORRAINE

(Kec. May 17, 11.50 p.m.)

. lr , London, May 16. In the .House of Commons Mr W liunciman" asked: "Was the Emperor Karls letter quoted by M. Clenicnccaii °n. April !l communicated to the other Allies!' Did Mr. Lloyd George, inform tho Foreign Office at ihc time such letter was shown to him, and was die subject dropped because France wanted the Al-sace-Lorraine of 181-1 -or even 1790?"■ Mr. Balfour replied that tlioro was a tendency to treat this subject as if it "con. corned Britain alone. It was really ;i delicate question of international policy, and could not be discussed as a domestic matter. This was a private, letter written by tho Emporor Karl to' a relative. Jt was conveyed by tho latter to'tho French Government under the seal of strictest secrecy, and without permission to communicate it lo anyone in Britain except Mr. L'oyd George ami (ho Sovereign. This was an inconvenient way to deal with a great transaction, but it was not the fault of the British Government. Mr. Balfour added: "Tho restoration of the Alsace-Lorraine of 18U or 1790 lias never been an Allied wir aim. Mr. Runeiman must be referring lo a conversation betweon the Tsar ami the French representative early in'- 1917 which was unknown to the British Government until much later, and which' had no international bearing and iu iio way pledged the Britsh Government." Proceeding, Mr... Balfour said if was impossible to know what actuated Emperor Karl, Count Czeruin, and fhe Kaiser in these transactions. Ho was- inclined to think it was part of a peace offensive, with tho object of dividing choir opponents.

Mr. Balfour concluded: "It. Clemenceau dealt effectively with these cynical methods by publishing Emperor Karl's letter. The French Chnmber of Deputies has already concluded that the. letter did not provide an adequate or satisfactory basis for peace. The House of Commons might well be content with that verdict. Nobody was more desirous than tish Government to bring the war "to an honourable termination. If an\~ method whereby that could be accomplished is shown us. it will bo accepted. There is no evidence now, nor has there been at any time, that the German governing classes contemplated the possibility of what wo should regard. as a reasonable peace."—Router. . .. v

[M. Clemenceau (French Premier) issued a Note regarding Czernin's "lie," in which he 6tatcd that the Austrian Emperor, in a> letter written in March, 1017, admitted the. justice of the French claims regarding Alsace-Lorraino.j