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Show ! GERMANS THWART ALLIES; I ENTENTE TO MEET CRISIS I t A A A A A A efo ! A A A A A A 53 A IH Refuse to Give Up Men Wanted For War Crimes PARIS, Feb. 4. Kurt von Lers-ner, Lers-ner, head of the German peace delegation here, has returned to Premier Millerand the list containing con-taining the names of Germans whoso extradition is demanded by the allies, which was handed to him last night and has informed the premier that he has resigned and is leaving for Berlin by the first train. Baron von Ler.sner told the Associated As-sociated Press his decision was in line with the attitude h'e had maintained throughout regarding regard-ing the question of extradition. He declared he-had held that no Ger-ma'p Ger-ma'p . pff icials could be- instru- mental' in ' cajT.vlng;.ou't ! tlierext'raH dilipn clauses ofthe treaty and consequently the matter having come lip in definite final form there was nothing left for him to do but to resign and go home. Immediately after receiving the letter, Baron voij Lersner addressed ad-dressed the following letter to Premier Millerand: "Your excellency has transmitted transmit-ted to me a note containing the names of Germans whose extradition extradi-tion is demanded by the allied powers,. In the course of the last three months I have most seriously serious-ly laid before representatives of the allied and associated governments govern-ments ten times in writing and thirteen times orally, the reasons it was Impossible to comply witn such a request, no matter what the socinl rank of the accused persons might be." "I remind your excellency of my constantly repeated declarations that no German functionary would be disposed to be in any way whatever instrumental in the demand de-mand for their extradition. I should be instrumental in it if I were to forward to the German government the note of your ex- fnllnnnv I lliorafnrn cunrl it Kr nl. herewith. "1 have made it known to my government that I cannot remain in. office and that I shall leave Paris by the next train. (Signed) "FREIHERR VON LERSNER." The baron, It was said, would leave for Berlin tonight. The allied council of ambassadors ambassa-dors was ealled into extraordinary session today to discuss the situation situa-tion created by the resignation of Baron von Lersner, head of the German mission here. The session was held in the French foreign office. of-fice. Extradition of SOS Germans accused ac-cused of the violations of the rules of war is demanded in tho list handed Kurt von Lersner, German cliargo d'affaires here, by Paul . Dutasta, secretary of the peace conference, last night. England demands 97 for trial, Franco and Belgium 334 each, Italy 29, Poland 57, Rumania 41 and Serbia 4. The names of Germans Ger-mans comprised in the first list against whom charges are preferred pre-ferred by all the allied nations arc included In the above figures. The ambassador's council has confirmed its decision not to publish pub-lish the names of those Germany is aoked to surrender, but it is possible to say that in nddltion to those already reported as being in the list, are the following: Field Marshal Alexander R. H. von Kluck, commander of the right wing of the German army in its advance on Paris in 1914; General Baron Kurt von Manteuf-fel, Manteuf-fel, German military commander in Louvaine, Belgium, in 1914; Field Marshal von Buelow, commander com-mander of the Second German army; General Stenger, commander comman-der of the 53rd German infantry brigade; General von Tesma, former for-mer governor of Luxemburg; the Neimcyer brothers, one r. captain Avhp were accused in 191S of mistreating mis-treating British prisoners of war; Major von Goerts and Lieutenant Verner, Captain Max.Aralentiner I . and' Captain Forslner, s'ubmafine... commanders; Baron "von " der Lancken, former military governor gover-nor of Brussels; Admiral von Ca-pellc, Ca-pellc, former head of the German man von Sanders. German commander com-mander of Turkish armies. Hugh C. Wallace, the American admiralty and Field Marshal Li-ambassador Li-ambassador who attended the meeting, said afterwards that he had no statement 'to make regarding regard-ing it. Mt was made known that an official of-ficial communique would be issued is-sued after the second meeting of the council, which was set for G:30 o'clock this evening. Meanwhile, an official view of the situation arriving from Baron von Lersner's refusal to transmit the list of the accused Germans to his government is lacking. The general impression among observers observ-ers of the peace proceedings, how- ever, was that the action of the German representative would not influence the determination of the allies to demand the extraditions. In French official circles, it was explained, the feeling wa3 that despite the general Indifference on t'AUilU IliUll qin.-oi.juii iiiuin- fested by the public there was an important reason why the allies should Insist upon the execution of theclauses in the treaty relating relat-ing to the accused Germans. The impression Is strong in official French quarters, it was declared, that the Germans are disposed to make use of every possible pretext pre-text to avoid the execution of not only this but of other clauses of the treaty and that if the allies gave way on this point It would be considered in Berlin as a precedent pre-cedent on which to found demands for modifications. It was pointed point-ed out that, even in the absence of the head of the German peace delegation, Baron von Lersner and the charge d'affaires (Dr. Wilhclm Maror, who returned to Berlin last week shortly after "being "be-ing received by Premier Millerand), Miller-and), it would be a simple matter to have the list of the accused presented in Berlin by one of the representatives of the allied governments gov-ernments now there. While Baron von Lersner gave out nothing but tho signed statement state-ment in which he briefly stated his reasons for resigning and refusing re-fusing to transmit the list, the impression im-pression among observers in Paris Is that he is acting on his personal initiative in announcing his departure, depar-ture, not reflecting the decision of his government, and not committing commit-ting it to any specific course. |
