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Show oo CARDINAL WILL NOT RETRACT The Hague Netherlands. Jan 13. via London, 3 10 p. m. Cardinal Wesfderatus Mercier, the primate of Belgium, declines for the present to discuss what he defined the 'vexatious 'vexa-tious measures" of the German authorities au-thorities in Belgium with reference tii him and to the pastoral letter written by him on Christmas General Von Bissing, governor general gen-eral of the Belgian territory occupied by the Germans, in reply to a request made by the Associated Press that he forward to Cardinal Mercier a telegram tele-gram asking him for the exact facts in connection with the incident today said . "Cardinal Mercier requests me to forward to you the following dispatch in response to your inquiry; " I feel very much the sympathy you have shown me and for which I thank you, but I prefer not to dwell for the moment on the vexatious measures to which you allude and I prefer to continue to shut myself in my episcopal ministrv I w ish to de- dare. however, thai I have w ithdrawn nothing and will withdraw nothing From my pastoral letter. (Signed "Cardinal Mercier, Arch j bishop of Mallnes." General States German Attitude. General Von Bissing adds-"As adds-"As this reply of the cardinal might give rise to misunderstandings 1 add thereto the following remarks: " 'I certainly caused proofs of the pastoral ietter in the printing office to be confiscated and I summoned the priests to ghe up copies of it in their possession " 'The cardinal never has been arrested ar-rested nor has his personal liberty in any other way been encroached upon I have merely by means of officers of-ficers of my staff requested him to give me erplanations of the tendencies tenden-cies of the pastoral letter, and besides be-sides this, in order to prevent possible possi-ble manifestations, 1 asked him to abandon a projected journey to Ant-n Ant-n erp " If these measures perhaps appear ap-pear to the cardinal subjectively vexatious, vexa-tious, yet they were objectively absolutely ab-solutely necessary in order to clear up the situation. (Signed) Governor General Freiherr Von Bissing." |
