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Show SECRET MEMORANDUM SHOWS WHY GERMANY 0PENEDU-B0AT WAR Leading Business Men Advised It, Saying England Would Succumb in Six Months; helfferich Only One Who Guessed Right. AMSTERDAM, Feb. 1. The Handelsblad today publishes a series of documents docu-ments obtained secretly from GermaD archives, showing the steps which led to the adoption by (jcrmauy of her unrestricted submarine campaign cam-paign a year ago. The following is a summary of the documents: I At the close of 19 13, the German admiralty prepared A memorandum to ; show that unrestricted I'-boat warfare would compel Great Britain to sue for peace within six months. The wording of this memorandum indicates that r - ' I j (. ,-", y f i i - H l Ai S si i t s - . . : e s i 'A ! the admiralty already had decided to adopt this intensified warfare, but desired de-sired to convince the emperor, the imperial im-perial chancellor and the foreign office of the. certainty of the good results on economic and geoeral grounds rather than merely ou militarj- grounds. Accordingly the memorandum based its arguments on statistics of food prices, freight and insurance rates in Great Britain. It pointed out the effects ef-fects which even the restricted submarine sub-marine war had shown on prices of the essential commodities, on the balance bal-ance of trade and ou the morale of the English people, and deduced from this that with unrestricted submarine warfare war-fare England could hold out only a Ehort period against these factors. The memorandum first was submitted sub-mitted to Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg, the imperial chancellor, and then to Ur. Karl Helfferich, vice chancellor. The latter rejected it, on the ground '" ---.-. - .:" that it was impossible to set a limit DRKAEL HLF-FKICH, on England 's slaying power and the absence of authentic, estimates of her stocks on hand, and also because he feared the action which would result from neutrais, especially the United States. CAPITALISTS CALLED IN. The authors of the memorandum then sent a reply in which they pointed oat the gravity of the internal situation in Germany and assured Dr. Helfferich that a desperate remely was necessary. They reinforced their argument as to the seriou3ue?s of the internal state of affairs by calling in nine experts, representing repre-senting German finance, commerce, mining and agriculture. These experts were Waldemar Muller, president of the Dresden bank; Dr. Salomonsohn, director of the discount Gesellschaf t ; Paul Reusch, Prussian eoun- I (Continued on Page Three.) SECRET MEMORANDUM ON JJJ?0AT AR IS DISCLOSED (Continued from Tas.e One.) cillor (.f commerce; 1t; Spring. nun. Hn iron and rntlwiiy niHRimlc; Mux Si'hinki-1, prost.l.-nt of tho lliiiiilnir- Nor.KI.'utsrlio hunk; U.-rr Zn.-liM-lnMnlt, councillor of commerce of M:tK',lolurK-; Vill,clm von Finds, president of Iho Munich bank; K. Scliiiu.ll. ro'rofcntinK thn fiornmn iiricnllunil council, ami Hcrr Eucluiu-.l, lrosi,icnt. of the B;i,cu cliamlior of commtTce. EXPERTS MAKE WRONG GUESSES. A.s experts, those men wero in iteil to rfly to throe iueslions: First, what wouhi 1.0 the effect tin Filmland of an unrestricted Milnnariue war; second, what wouhUhe the effect ou Germany's relations with tho L'nite.l States and other neutrals, and, third, to what extent did the internal situation, of Germany Ger-many demand the use of this drastic weapon. All the. experts agreed on the first point, that Knlnnd would have to suo lor peace in six mouths at. most, llerr jMullcr said Kn'land's supply of foodstuffs food-stuffs was smaller than in peace time and therefore h ruthless U-boat war would probably accomplish the purpose in three months. Pr. Salomonsohn assorted that Filmland's position was ory ulneralile, ow-iiii; ow-iiii; to her dependence on foreign, capital and the absouco of H spirit, of self-sacrifice self-sacrifice among the Knlish people, lie therefore thought sii months was au excessive estimate. Dr. tSpringonim said: " E ery thini; depends on the cutting off of supplies from Great Britain quickly and thoroughly." On the seeond question, llerr Reusch said: "The neutrals despiso our restricted submarine, warfare. Every ship in British waters, enemy or neutral, should be torpedoed without warning. The world only respects those who in a great crisis know how to muke the most unscrupulous use of thoir power. Germany's position in the world market after tho war will be. all the ttronger for her having convinced the world of her power." NO FEAR OF AMERICA. Herr Schmidt said: "1 have no fears about America." On tho second question, Herr Muller said: "Unrestricted submarine warfare will cause the wholesale flight of neutrals from tho war zone. Their newspapers will abuse Germany, but they will soon tire. The chief danger is the United States, but that danger will be less in proportion as Germauy operates decisively and ruthlessly. ''Bitter feeling in the United States after tho war is not worth considering, because if Germany succeeds sho can dictate terms to assure favored treatment treat-ment for herself. If, on the other hand, Germany throws away this opportunity, oppor-tunity, the passive approval of the United States will be jf small practical value. " THE ONLY CHANCE, HE SAYS. Dr. Salomonsohn said on the second point: "I recognize the possibility of a war with tho United States, but I am loath to throw away so desirable a weapon ou this account. As a banker, I realize how disastrous America's entry into the war would be, but I insist that a ruthless war is the only chance to defeat Great Britain and obtain a firm peace." Although the experts differed as to the prospect of war with the United States, none of them advised against the U-boat war on that account. On the third question, all the experts agreed that the internal situation demanded de-manded a drastic remedy. Herr Zuckschwert said: "Tho most drastic measures mea-sures are advisable, owing to the feeling of the nation. The nation will stand by the government, but not if it yields to threats from America. Such weakness weak-ness would tend to serious eonseqeenees. " ' "It is quite possible that Germany will be unable to hold out," said Herr Schmidt. "More drastic steps should be taken before disorder and unrest arise in the agricultural districts. Each day's delay means trouble." Herr Engelhard gave his opinion as follows: "A few weeks' delay may render even unrestricted warfare abortive of gooJ results." ' Herr von Fjnck said: "A great mass of our people are at the eud of their resources." |
