Hostilities imminent

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 203, 16 January 1913, Page 5

Hostilities imminent

THE ARMISTICE ENDED. . INSTRUCTIONS SENT TO COMMANDERS. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright London, January US. The Balkan delegates decided to b i:«!; off the conference simultaneously with the delivery of the Power*' Xote to Turkey. also to instruct the commanders to terminate the armistice. THE ALTERNATIVES. LITTLE HOPE OF PEACE. London. January 1.1. Only Turkey's complete surrender or the Powers' armed intervention can prevent a renewal of the war. THE VIEWS OF THE POWERS. Received 1.5. 8.40 p.m. London. January 15. The Allies' delegates decided to terminate the armistice when they learned that the Powers did not intend to exercise pressure to compel the Porte to cede Adrianople. The nature of Germany's eleventh-hour alteration to the joint Xote has not been revealed, but it is known that Germany is unwilling to press the Porte. The Daily Telegraph condemns the Allies for their amateurish diplomacy in a threatened resumption of hostilities ■when the Powers are not markedly in their favor. THE ALLEGED ATROCITIES. Berlin, January 14. Herr Lehmann. on behalf of the Foreign Office, replying to an interpellation ri the Reichstag, said the belligerents accused each other of atrocities. The German Government had brought all the reports about these matters to the knowledge of the Governments concerned. and had taken steps to prevent their recurrence. ROUMAXIA AXD BULGARIA. Received 10. 12.25 a.m. Vienna. January 15. Herr Carp. ex-Premier of Roumania. informed the Xeue Freie Presse that the Roumanian and Bulgarian differences could only be settled by the sword. Bucharest. January 15. The Russian and Austrian Ministers assured the Premier that Roumania's pretensions would receive complete satisfaction fmm Bulgaria. A ROYAL CONFERENCE. Received 16. 12.25 a.m. Sofia. January 15. The King and Cabinet are visiting Mustaffs Pasha to confer with G(neral Savoff and other commanders. SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR. THE REICHPOST TELEGRAMS. London. November 2!). , The mystery which surrounds the reports of the war between the Bulgarians and the Turks, which were published in the Vienna Reichpost. has not yet ibeen satisfactorily explained, although Lieutenant Wagner, the war correspondent of the Reichpost. has published what purports to be an account of his experiences during the war. The English war correspondents who went to Bulgaria in order to witness the fighting against the Turks but were not allowed to go to the front, are now returning to London, and they declare that Lieutenant \Yagncr was never at the front, and spent most of his time at the Hotel Bulgarie. in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Nevertheless, it is indisputable that the only reports of the actual lighting sent trim the Bulgarian side are those published in the Eeichpost, as coming from Lieutenant Wagner. During the early stages of the war these were the only reports which' professed to give any indication of the movements of the Bulgarian army, the capture of Kirk Kilisseh. the siege of Adi'ianople. and the battle of Lulah Burgas. There were SO war correspondent* at .Sofia, but they were not allowed to accompany the Bulgarian army, as it was believed their reports, after being published, would be telegraphed to Constantinople by Turki-h agents in the European capital-, and in this way prove of assistance to ilie Turkish genera!-. For several weeks Europe had to depend almost entirely on the report- published in the Reichpo-t. which wen- given acoming from the headquarter-, of the Bulgarian Army, and written In- Lieutenant Wagner. These report-, aftir appiaring in the Reichpost. were telegraphed to 1110-t of the leading new.-papers in Kurooe. 1; was ascertained siib-equcntlv that the reports wire not emirelv accurate, but it was suggested that the Bulgarian general stair were supplying Lieutenant Wagner with information, and were using him to obtain the publication of information intended to mislead tinTurks. In one of his despatches he gave a detailed acoeunt of a three days' battle which did not take pla.-e. This was an alleged attack by the Bulgarians on the Turkish rearguard, who were cover ing the treatment of the main Turki-h army, after the battle of Lulah BurgaThe object of this account, if it wen inspired by the Bulgarian general -iaff would be to mislead the Enropear Powers, and prevent intervention foi peace at a time when tli-- Bulgaria ninstead of being able to pursue tin Turks, had to wait over week for tin arrival of supplies and ammunition. A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION. Why Lieutenant Wagner was able t> get comparatively long unccnsored mesages through to Vienna while the reof the So war correspondents could ge next to nothing through to their paper? has puzzled every important newspape in Europe. It was explained after ill war had been in progress a few week that the Archduke Francis Ferdinaiu' the heir to the Austrian throne. h;tfinancial inten-t in the Reichpost. an that hi- inflimice had beej, used wit the Bulgarian authorities to secure sp' cial eoiices-ion- for Lieutenant Wagti" This explanation was acceptable until few day- ago. when Lieutenant Wagtn published in the Ib-h-hpo-i an a.-i i -n of his advi-ntures during the war. I this account he disdains ih-- -Mgg'-tin or powi r!:;l inibicnie having b--ii u-' oil 111 = behalf, and declare- <h;j h. < se:i| ed from the military -u;>ervision oi t! war correspondents, and wa= an ey witness of the engagement- he describe Biit hi- explanation of how i:e managi to get uncen-ored nies-:ig.-> through t Vienna is certainly no) convincing. 1 states that the Bulgarian postmasters ■ several of the small towns at which 1

, I lodged bis messages regarded them a , , State despatches, and he did not uud< ceive them. But the other correspondents who ar returning to Bulgaria and have now o opportunity of looking up in the files th messages which Lieutenant Wagner i credited with having sent to the Reicl post cannot contain their astonishment for they declare thai during nio-t of th time he says he was at the front. Ii was with the other correspondents, firs at Sofia, then at Stara Zagora, and thei at Mu.-taplia Pasha. They are at pain to prove that the dales he gives in hi own account of his experiences diirin; the war are contradictory. and annihi late space. Some allowance must In irade for profc.-sional jealousy on ac remit oi the world-wide praise given ti Lieutenant Wagner for keeping tin world informed of the progress of tin war. As a matter of fact, his dcspatchc: were not anything like as brilliant a: they were repeatedly -aid to be. Tin g< neral reader found them decidedh technical and scrappy. They were, how ever, of great u-e to the military critic; employed by the newspapers to cxplair the military position from day to day because these reports gave the information on which to draw conclusions as tc the strategy of the Bulgarians. But Die Post (Berlinl now offers an explanation of the mystery of the Reich post despatches, which robs Lieutenant Wagner of his glory, and will probably turn out to be the correct one. It is that the despatches were not sent by Lieutenant Wagner at all. but that the Reichpost pretended they came from him. in order to hide the real source of them. Die Post asserts that the despatches were composed in Vienna by the Austrian general staff, and that they were based or. the official de-patches received from the Austrian military attache with the Bulgarian army. It was owing to the connection of the Archduke Ferdinand with the Reichpost that these reports were supplied exclusively to that paper. suspicrous POWERS. OMIXIOI'S PREPARATIONS IN EUROPE. Telegrams which were published in the London newspapers in the latter part of November gave a gloomy account of the p:eparations for war which were proceeding in Austria. Russia and Germany as a result of Servia's demand for access to the Adriatic Sea. "Three classes of reservists, belonging to six of Austria's army corps, have been called out to-day." wrote a correspondent from Vienna on November 22. "Preparations in every other direction have been going on since November 15. Already now about SOO.OOO men are massed round the Servian frontiers. Equally steady preparations are going forward in Galicia." "The Archduke Frank Ferdinand, the Heir Apparent to the Austro-llungarian throne," wrote a Berlin correspondent a day later, "arrived in Berlin this morning on a visit to the German Court, and in fulfilment of a long-standing engagement to take part in the Court hunt at Springe, in Hanover. There was unusual ceremony on his arrival, the Kaiser himself, with the Imperial Chancellor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a large number of generals, meeting the Austrian Prince. The military character of the meeting was especially pronounced, even the Imperial Chancellor appearing in dragoon's uniform. It seems to be the general opinion here that the Archduke's visit is one of supremo political importance. The Archduke Ferdinand has become more than even the dominating personality in Austrian affairs, especially in military matters. and it is generally recognised that, the stiffening of Austrian policy in re--1 gard to Servian claims is his work.''