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Show Aims REJECT Hill FEME FEELER U. 8. TERMS FOR PEACE ALREADY GIVEN OUT, DECLARES ; SECRETARY LAN51NO. . . Government's Position Restated In Plain Word Whn Suggestion of . : Austro-Hungsrian Govern ment Reaehee Capital. Washingtonv The United States, as was full expected, has unconditionally unconditional-ly rejected Germany's peace feeler, in doing so, the government has spoken for all the eo-belligerenUL Almost Immediately after receiving the Austrian government's note from the minister from Sweden, Mr. Ecken-gren, Ecken-gren, Secretary Lansing Issued this formal statement: "I am authorised by the president to state that the following will be the reply of this government to the Austro-Hungarian note proposing an unofficial conference of belligerents. , Position and Purpose Plain. "The government of the United States feels that there Is only oae reply which It can make to the suggestion of the imperial Austro-Hungarian government govern-ment Jt has repeatedly and with en-' tire candor stated the terms upon' which the United States would consider con-sider peace, and can and will entertain enter-tain no proposal for a conference upon a matter concerning which It has made Its position and purpose so plain." Mr. Lansing's statement was given out within half an hour after he bad received the Austrian proposal. It would have been forthcoming almost immediately upon the delivery of the Austrian note, had It not been found necessary, In order to avoid the possibility possi-bility of grave error, to make a careful care-ful comparison between the official text and that which was received in news dispatches frdin Amsterdam. ' Thus, emphasis was added to the declination, If any were seeded, the quickness of the reply indicating the existence of no shadow of doubt in the minds of the administration as to what It should be. There is some reason to believe that the secretary acted with this unprecedented unprece-dented promptness In a matter of such great Import with the design not enly to Indicate clearly the position of the United States government, but perhaps to anticipate and prevent as far as possible newspaper discussions of the Austrian proposition, which might convey con-vey to the enemy a misleading impression impres-sion that there was any considerable element in the United States willing to consider a negotiated peace, such as the "non-blndlng" discussions proposed pro-posed by Austria might develop. |