Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/185

Rh contradiction to her assurances given in St. Petersburg regarding her territorial disinterestedness. The declarations made in Rome are certainly known in St. Petersburg. We cannot support as allies a policy which is two-faced.

"I regard this as necessary. Otherwise we cannot further mediate in St. Petersburg, and will be simply towed in the wake of Vienna. This I do not desire, even at the risk of being accused of lukewarmness.

"If you have no objections, I ask you to submit a telegram in this sense."

But urgent warnings of this nature had no effect on the obstinate diplomats of Vienna. Berchtold persisted in giving evasive answers, and he was surpassed in this by the fanatical Italophobe, Herr von Merey, whom the political wisdom of Austria had made Ambassador to Rome. On July 29th he wrote to Vienna, saying that the more conciliatory Austria was, the more immoderate and covetous would Italy become, and on July 31st he complained that, contrary to his advice, Count Berchtold had already gone three-quarters of the way to meet Italy on the question of compensation, under pressure from the German Government, which was, of course, an exaggeration, for it had been impossible to drag more than vague hints out of Berchtold. Jagow had rather to complain of Merey that he did not carry out the instructions given him on the question of compensation.

Count Berchtold himself reported in the Ministerial Council of July 3ist, that he had

"Hitherto commissioned the Imperial and Royal