THE SUPPRESSED TELEGRAM FROM THE CZAR
It is a curious and suggestive fact that the German Foreign Office in publishing the correspondence between the Kaiser and the Czar omitted one of the most important telegrams.
The Russian Government on January 31, 1915, therefore, made public the following telegram which the Czar sent to the Kaiser on July 29, 1914:
“Thanks for your conciliatory and friendly telegram. Inasmuch as the official message presented to-day by your Ambassador to my Minister was conveyed in a very different tone, I beg you to explain this divergency. It would be right to give over the Austro-Servian problem to The Hague Conference. I trust in your wisdom and friendship.”
The German Foreign Office has since explained that they regarded this telegram as too “unimportant” for publication. Comment is unnecessary.
It thus appears that the Czar at the beginning of his correspondence with the Kaiser suggested that the whole dispute be submitted to The Hague Tribunal for adjustment. Servia had already made the same suggestion.
As the world owes the first Hague Convention to the Czar’s initiative, it can justly be said to his lasting credit that he at least was loyal to the pacific ideal of that great convention of the nations.