19143 ^'White Books'' 



in a gross maladjustment of their affairs. Germany Greys 

 and Austria were not to be dealt with in similar ^'^°'' 

 fashion, and the invitation strengthened the war 

 party; "Austria cannot be summoned before an 

 Areopagus/' replied the German authorities. A 

 conference at Berlin would have thrown the Pan- 

 germanists and other war makers on the defensive, for 

 the time being at least. To London they could not 

 be dragged; at Berlin they could not have escaped 

 publicity. 



Grey's failure seemed to me to rest not in intrigue 

 — of which he has been more or less unjustly 

 accused — but in lack of knowledge concerning the 

 people and temper of continental Europe. 



Early in August the German government put out Germany's 

 a "White Book," which through quoted documents '^^^'^'^^ 

 tried to justify Austria's dealings with Serbia, a 

 state "within her own sphere of influence," and Ger- 

 many's invasion of Belgium. A copy of this pamphlet 

 being early sent me from Holland, it was apparently 

 for a time the only one in London. In my judgment 

 the authors utterly failed to make their case; neither 

 the much-exaggerated criticisms of Serbia nor the 

 geographical position of Belgium justified the initia- 

 tion of war. 



The British then issued their own "White Book," m Brit- 

 hut with characteristic regard for routine they appar- ^'^ ^'""'" 

 ently made no effort to secure publicity, merely 

 placing it on sale as usual in two bookstores, one 

 for each party. Noting this fact, I told Sir John 

 McDoneli, Master of the Supreme Court, that Britain 



I 641 3 



