Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/191

Rh (Berchtold), have been undertaken quite in vain. The Monarchy would gain nothing from a mere occupation of Belgrade, even if Russia were to give her consent to it."

Berchtold gave his opinion, which was to reply to the English proposal in a very courteous form, but to lay down conditions, the refusal of which he could foresee, and to avoid going into the " merits " (i.e., the matter itself, if we translate the barbarous Austrian Parliamentary jargon into German).

Tisza agreed completely with Berchtold. He was likewise of the opinion ""That it would be fatal to go into the 'merits' (i.e., the substance) of the English proposal. The military operations against Serbia had in any case to take their course. It was doubtful, however, whether it was necessary to make the new demands on Serbia known to the Powers so early as this, and he would propose to answer the English suggestion by saying that the Monarchy was ready to meet it in principle, but only on condition that the operations against Serbia were continued and the Russian mobilization stopped.""

This practical mockery of the peace proposal met with the unanimous approval of this precious Ministerial Council.

That the German Government has been also held responsible for this perfidious policy of Austria, which caused the breakdown of all attempts at mediation, need not surprise us, in view of their close co-operation