"SPARE ME."

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1920, Page 9

"SPARE ME."

BETHMANN-HOLLWEG CUTS A | SORRY FIGURE. j GERMAN WAR INQUIRY. j A dramatic nemesis has come to tlie 1 author of the famous phrase—"A Scrap o£ Paper." "The ex-German Chancellor, BethmannHollweg, in his appearance and statements before the Reichstag Committee of Inquiry into the facts of the war, was in striking contrast to Count Bernstorff, German Ambassador in tlie United States," says the Berlin correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. "I BEG YOU TO SPARE ME." . ''The ex-Ambassador told a plain and apparently straightforward tale. He answered all the question put to him tersely and promptly. Only on one or two occasions did he hesitate for a few seconds before bringing out his repl^. "The fifth Chancellor, on the other hand, began by reading a long written statement, full of reservations, qualifications and alternatives, which left very few clear ideas in the minds of its hearers, and even cross-examination failed almost completely to elicit definite facts and opinions. "Again and again Bethmann said that he could not answer, that he had forgotten, that lie would have to refresh his memory, that he must consult documents before committing himself, that he would make a statement another day. Finally he made frank appeals to the pity o£ hia inquisitors. 'I have already described my monstrously difficult position,' he exclaimed. 'I must beg you to spare me from going into it again.' A BROKEN MAN. "The appeal was not without effect. The members of the committee no doubt felt that it was cruel to drag from a broken man a confession of his own inadequacy, of that feebleness with which, instead of deciding the line of policy which it was his business and his duty to do, he allowed himself to be pushed this way and that by men with stronger wills tlian his own, and to assume responsibility for actions he disapproved of. A FRUITLESS STRUGGLE. "For that, at bottom, is the net purport of Bethmunn's evidence to date.' From the beginning of the war he struggled feebly and fruitlessly against the military rulers of Germany, who in the long run always got their own way. The interpellation by Dr. Oscar Colin vividly illustrated the fifth Chancellor's position. Professor Hans Delbruck was prohibited by. the Berlin Chief Command from publishing certain articles, 110 pointed out that, they were written by agreement with Bethmann. To this objection the only answer he received was, 'so much the worse for the Chancellor.'

"Bethmann explained his policy towards the United States by reasons which are not iikely to satisfy anyone but himself. The diiemma was put to him in a very awkward way. lie was asked how it, was ihat. while Foreign Secretary, Herr Zimmerinann on November Stit'h, lfllG, wrote to Washington that Germany would be 'extraordinarily glad' if President Wilson took a siep in the direction of peace, he himself, on the following day. said in a note to Hindenbrirg, 'We must come out with our peace offer.' "His explanation of this was the theory of the desirability of having two irons in the fire,' which he attempted to render more plausible by suggesting that there was a 'procrastinating trait in President Wilson's character,'' and that it. was impossible to count on the American peace move coming at a moment when it suited German policy.

KUTIILESS SUBMARINING. ''With regard to ruthless submarining itself, lie tried to shift the responsibility on to the Reichstag iind jjublic opinion in which he said this' form of warfare was Very popular. But why was 'it popular? Professor .Schueking asked witness whether he knew that even purely scientific discussion of the League of Nations idea was forbidden by the censorship, and that its supporters were threatened with preventive arrest and imprisonment. At first Betiiraann professed not 1o understand the pertinency of this question, hut op being; pressed he said that he could give no definite reply, though he added that the measures referred to were not inaecordnnce with his ideas.

"That was jmst it. Apparently a great, deal, if not most, of what 'wan done in Germany during his days as War Chancellor was not in accordance with his ideas, but he continued, nevertheless, to cling to the post of the one responsible Minister, and he has no reason to be surprised if a pood share of the blame for the resulting fiasco is placed on his shoulders. '•Hethmann-Tlollweg has to answer the question "why he did not. prevent measures of which he disapproved. The real interest of the inquiry will eome when Ludendorff and Hindenlmrg are asked why they insisted upon thoee measures in spite of the dissent and resistance of the civil authorities. "I WAS EXPOSED TO INFAMOUS CALUMNIES." "'I do not want to throw blame on others,' declared Refliziiaun-nolhve", 'but I must state that when HindeiiInirg and Ludendorll' were called to the. head of the Supreme Army Command civilian Germany was convinced that the derision was to rest with them as to jiow the war was to be conducted and terminated. It was an established i'act that the fiovernment had to yiold to them.'

'' 'lf, in order to avoid the impression 'of weakness, we desired to make our peace offer at the moment when we were militarily at the high-water mark, we should have missed that moment if we had waited for President Wilson. '" 'When the decision regarding unrestricted submarine warfare was taken, the German Navv boasted it would be able to compel England to be ready to make peace before the next harvest. If the submarine war was begun by February 1, Wl7, this demand of the Supreme Army Command was also the de sire of an overwhelming majority of the nation, which had for the year past been convinced that the submarine war alone would lead Germany to victory.

" 'This belief was so deeoly rooted that I, who did not share if. was exposed to the most infamous calumnies.'

THE .MAKERS OF SUBMARINE WAR.

"tlerr von Bethmann-TTollwoo- said that the Reichstag supported the Supreme Army Command, ag did ftho the

Kaiser, and that Marshal von Hinden-bui-g and Ludendoril' were the decisive factors in the proclamation of the submarine war. A telegram from Marshal von Hindenburg to the Government had demanded the ruthless utilisation of all war measures.

" 'On my refusal a sharply-worded telegram arrived from Marshal von Hindenburg saying that the military situation demanded energetic action at sea. " 'The decisive fact was that the Supreme Army Command was,resolved to take up the struggle with America also. Admiral von Tirpitz advocated the immediate beginning of the submarine war. " 'After our indescribable collapse,' the ex-Chancellor continued, 'which was only possible because we have all sinned, I will not throw the blame on others, but I must state the facts. It must be declared that the majority of the German people and its lawful representatives desired the predominance of their military leaders."'

''Vorwarts," the organ of the Majority Socialists, says that everyone who does not deliberately blindfold himself now sees that the tragic fate of Imperial Germany was an inevitable necessity, that it perished because it must perish, and "its one-time rulers now move about among us like-shadows." It continues:— "We, the people, still live, however, although we are still threatened to-day with destruction by an unprecedented peace. History has given us a cruel lesson, and only if we are in a position to learn from it shall we be able to become a mature nation and to act politically ourselves."