The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1916. A PAGE OF HISTORY.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 November 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1916. A PAGE OF HISTORY.

Tl>c German Imperial Chancellor's reply to Viscount Grey, summarised in a recent cable message, contains one gem oi diplomatic language that ought not tie left buried in such a rubbish heap of platitudes (writes the Lyttleton Times). Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg remarked that the British Foreign Minister wac in error in his statement of the events that preceded the outbreak of war. The particular passage of Viscount Grey's speech to which he referred was not cabled, out evidently it was concerned with the actual dates of the German and Russian mobilisation orders. Russia mobilised us soon as she heard that mobilisation had been ordered in Germany. Dr. von Bcthnmnn-Hollweg adheres, of course, to the German statement of the events, according to which Russia was the first to order a general mobilisation, and lie says that the idea that Germany was the first to move was based on a blunder of the Berlin Lokal Anzeiger, wliic'i falsely announced that the mobilisation order had actually been issued. Tim Government, says the Chancellor, immediately stopped the sale of the paptv and denied the report. It happens that this is a correct statement of the incident. The Lokal Anzeiger did falsely announce the issue of the order for a general mobilisation in Germany, and the Government did stop the sale of the paper and did deny the report. But it is far from being the whole story, which tho curious reader will find set out at length in Dr. Dillon's very interesting volume, "Ourselves and Germany." The Lokal Aczcigcr, it ought to be said, is owned by a syndicate of which the members are all elo6ely identified with the progressive military party in Prussia, thj head of which is the Crown Prince. It ;> and wa9 in 1914 the organ of thtCrowr. Prinea's group. It enjoyed the privilege of publishing official military news in. advance of all other journals, and as a rule its announcements appeared simultaneously with those in the official Militav-,Wochenblatt. This fact is of importance in view of the events to be described. On the afternoon of July 30, when the situation in Europe was intensely critical, the Lokal Anzeiger issued a special supplement announcing that mobilisation had been ordered throughout the German Empire The newsboys rushed with copies of the newspaper into the streets near the Unter den Linden, calling the sensation-

al news, but for some reason that has never been explained the supplement was circulated only in a small defined district, and in that district the Wolff Press Bureau, the Havas Agency and the Russian Telegraphic Agency had their offices. Copies of the supplement were eagerly bought, and the announcement was naturally believed, since it appeared in a journal that had a monopoly of early military news. The correspondent of the Russian Agency secured a copy and at once telephoned lo the Russian Embassy. The result was that tho Russian Ambassador cent a telegram to his Foreign Office covering the announcement made by the Lokal Anzeiger. This was about half-past two o'clock. At three o'clock, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs telephoned to the Wollf Bureau denying the report of the mobilisation, and staling that the journal had been ordered to issue a contradiction on its own account. By this time, indeed, the further supplement of the Lokal Anzeiger was already being circulated, so tint 110 time bad been lost. The journal's own account of its mistake w?.s that it had prepared the supplement in anticipation of the order, and that tiie copies had been found ' by the street vendors and taken by them in error—an extraordinarily thin story that carries no conviction. The correspondent of the RuM-ian Telegraphic Agency bad, of course, covered the mobilisation order in a telegram to his head office in Retrograil, and naturally he sent an immediate contradiction. Subsequently he learned that l-eithcr telegram had been dispatched, and he was asked to withdraw tliero. He was informed that the censor had stopped tho messages—this being the first intimation he had had that a censorship was in operation. The Russian Ambassador's telegram, bowever, had been forwarded promptly and it was this message that caused the Kt;s-! sian mobilisation. The denial from the Russian Embassy, a plain language telej gram that ought to have been forwarded i without a minute's delay in view of its importance, was actually held up for several hours, until it was too late to countermand the order for Russian mobilUatioii. Dr. Dillon declares that the whole business was engineered by the Germans with the object of inducing Russia to take the final step and so to give Germany an excuse for immediate act;i n, The connection of the Lokal Anytigv.r with the incident raises suspicion to commence with, because this journai was bound to have early and accurate information. lis supplement was not intended for general circulation, because the number of copies printed was small. The circulation, moreover, was kept under control and was limited to the area around the offices of the Havas and Russian Telegraphic Agencies, and was stopped as soon as the Russian re presentatives were known to have read it and to have accepted the announcement as genuine. The supplement was properly dated, and though this evidence is not positive, it confirms the belief that the sheet was printed for the

occasion. But (tic treatment of the telegram is the fact. It is mentioned that when the correspondent of tin- Ktiesisiii 'lYtegraphtc Agency was to tlie Ki.'ilwssy cnm-oniing tin 1 report, tlie Imri'iiii requested him !» conduct his etuivcrsiition iu German, a si j> ji i fioa ii I and unusual request. Obviou.sly tlie Herman authorities were anxious to know the nat ure of tlie communication, and the inference was that they heard just what they were waiting to hear. The whole story reads like a piece of fiction, elaborately fashioned by an imaginative writer. But the facts are beyond dispute. It is certain that the Russian Ambassador communicated the Lokal Am-.ciger's announcement to his Government, and that his telegram of contradiction was delayed for several hours. It is certain, also, that the Russian Government, not daring to delay after receiving the news, iss.ied the mobilisation order oil the assumption that the announcement was oflicial. Dr. Dillon says that German mobilisation had been fixed for July "1, and that the ollic'al orders actually bore this date.. As Kussia had not moved, however, July 31 was crossed out and August 1 written over it, there being no time to print a fvesli supply of notices. The assumption is that the Germans were nervous lest their scheme should miscarry, and tl'e Lokal Anzeiger trick was adopted in order to force Russia to take action, Bismarck himelf could scarcely have dona the business with a more Machiavellian touch.