The Crime Club

by W. Holt-White

I was there for many years, and enjoyed an unusually close and intimate friendship with the Czar. That was at once the beginning of my ambitions and troubles. It was, indeed, that friendship which, to a great extent, induced me to transfer my labours from St. Petersburg to London.

I do not know what acquaintance you may have of Russian affairs, nor what knowledge you may have of the Emperor himself. I can only assure you that, in spite of all that may be said against him, his Majesty is absolutely sincere and honest in his desire for universal peace. He suffered untold agonies of mind during the struggle with Japan, and since peace was arranged has made use of every diplomatic means to bring about a general disarmament by the Powers.

In this aim he met, of course, with most violent opposition. Some of the Imperial family went so far as to accuse their kinsman and nominal ruler of being a traitor to his country.

However, in spite of all opposition, he persevered; and, as he believed that England was also sincere in her desire for peace, he cultivated my acquaintance to a marked degree.

Unfortunately, in an evil hour, it suddenly dawned upon me that my name might be handed down to posterity, jointly with that of the Czar's, as the man who paved the way to universal peace.

But my ideas were different from those of the Czar. His Majesty wished to work along the line of least resistance, and was quite prepared to spend years of patient effort in bringing about his dream of the millennium.

For my part, I was, I suppose, an old man in a hurry. I could not afford to wait for years to see the triumph of my schemes. I was getting on in life, and it seemed to me that if I did not hasten I might die without my ambition being realised.

I therefore set to work entirely to remodel the Czar's ideas, and as a result ultimately worked out the most daring plan for compelling Europe to lay down its arms that had ever been conceived.

When that plan was fully perfected I was to take it to my own King and ask for his consent to it. I knew his Majesty was as genuinely desirous for peace as the Czar, and I really foresaw no difficulty in being able to persuade him to sanction the scheme which I had drawn up.

It is quite unnecessary to go into its full details here, but perhaps I had better give you a glimpse of the outline. Briefly, England was to make use of the entente cordiale to compel France, by means of an ultimatum which would expire at the end of twenty-four hours, to consent to stand in with Great Britain and Russia in a demand that Germany's military force should be whittled down to the limits of the Swiss Militia. It was also to be stipulated that Germany's naval programme should always be one-half of the combined programmes of Great Britain, Russia, and France.