THE “SCRAP OF PAPER.”

Taihape Daily Times, 24 September 1919, Page 5

THE “SCRAP OF PAPER.”

BETHMANNJ-lOLLWEG E§{PLA»INS In the extl-act.fl'om Herr von Beth-nzann-Hollwegfs book, of which .1 summary is given in the following telegram our special ccurr..-spoiacient at The Hague (says The Ti mes), the ex-Hahn-cellor attempts to explain away his notorious phrase, “A Scrap of Paper,” which so fatally damaged German reputation_ Sir Edward Goschen, describing the same interview in his dispatch “respecting the rupture of diplomatic relations with the German Government,” said: “I found the Chancelfor very agitated. His Excellency 3'6 01100 began an harangue, which lasted for about 20 minutes. He said that the step taken by His Majesty’s Government was tei-rißTe to a degree; just for a word——‘neutrality,’ a word which in time of war had so often been ‘liSregarded—just for a. scrap of papa: Great Brifain was going to make war on a kindred nation who desired nothing better than to be friends with he;-_” THE HAGUE, June 13. ‘The Dusseldorfer Nachrichten gives another extract from Herr Von Betlir~;rann—Hollweg’s book. This deals with the conversation he had on,Aug—rst‘ 4». 1914, with Sir Edward Goschen, I'-he British Ambassador in Berlin The or-—Ch:=.ncellor writes:— . A “."‘-WY‘-“-Iv’ Dropaiganda has made capi-

tal particularly out of the reports which Sir Edward Goschen made to his Government concerning his last conversatiml with me in August (Blue Book No. 160). The Ambassador,for~. gets to obsel‘\‘c in his .l‘e]_)os'L that he began the conversation with the question whether I could not give him another answer than Herr VOll Jagolw to the English ultimatum. On m'y reply—_ ing in the negative, the Ambassador asked whether if, to his regret, war should finally be decided upon after this we could not have hefore separat-

Eng one more private and personal eon-\'e_=-sat.ion, concerning the terrible situation in which the world had been placed. I immediately declared myself ready for this, and asked the Ainbassador to take a seat at my table. I then certainly spoke in strong words of the world calamity which I foresazsr as the necessary consequence of Eng land's entrance into the war. alld when he later repeatedly alleged Belgian. neutrality as a decisive point, I imDatiently exclaimed that in comparison with the frightful result of a GermanEnglish war the treaty of neuei-alit:.! was only a scrap of paper_ The expression may have been an inadvertence——(Entgleisung)—my blood boiled at the repeatedly exaggerato(lezllphaSising of Belgian neutrality, wlzieh is ‘just What did not drive England into the war, and at the entire lack of sen~ Sibflity for the fact that the English declaration of war must destroy w_.oi-ld property compared with which even the violation of Belgian neutralitv weighed lightly.

“That private conversations should be ofllcially exploited has appeared tr me to be an unusual diplomatic practice. If it were done, however, then in that case Sir Edward Goschen, to Whom my excitement seemed so striking, ought at least also to have reported that on taking leave he burst into tears, and asked to be allowed to remain a little longer in my antechambo:-. because he could not Show himself in such a condition to the personnel of the Chancellery in attendsf ance.” .