OCR Text |
Show MANY GERMANS NOW WANT PEACE PROMINENT HOLLANDER REPORTS RE-PORTS ELEMENT IN GOVERNMENT GOVERN-MENT IS OPPOSED TO WAR. Continued Pressure by Neutrals for Mediation What is Most Needed at Present, is View of Those Opposed to Militarism. Washington. Van Ghel! Geldemees-ter, Geldemees-ter, son of the religious adviser to Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, has by a brief visit to Washington, after conferences con-ferences In Berlin with high German officials, set in motion much speculation specula-tion In official and diplomatic quarters quar-ters here about possibility of peace in Europe. Mr. Geldemeester, it became known Monday, saw Dr. Von Jagow, the German Ger-man foreign secretary, and other members mem-bers of the imperial ministry shortly after the Lusitania was sunk and received re-ceived certain impressions concerning the German attitude toward the war and the ultimate making of peace. With the knowledge, though not with the authority of the German officials, of-ficials, he started for Washington in the hope that informally he could portray por-tray German feeling in official quarters. quar-ters. On his arrival here last week he visited Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador. The latter, learning learn-ing that Mr. Geldemeester had been In Berlin and had been at the German foreign office, gave his visitor a letter of introduction setting these facts forth. While in Washington the visitor from The Netherlands gave the impression im-pression to those with whom he talked that there was a peace party of some importance in Great Britain, as well as in Germany, and that what was most needed at present was a continued contin-ued pressure by the neutrals for mediation. me-diation. He intimated to some of his friends that he feared his own country coun-try Holland might even 'be drawn into the conflict if it continued, hut was hopeful that efforts by neutrals to mediate, if hegun now, would be successful. suc-cessful. Most significant of the impressions which Mr. Geldemeester brought from Berlin, it was said, was that a large section of the populace and an important import-ant element in the German government govern-ment itself were not in sympathy with the extreme militarists and believe a discussion of peace terms not undesirable. |