865.857 An 2/94½
Memorandum by the Secretary of State of a Conversation With the Austro-Hungarian Chargé (Zwiedinek), December 21, 191579
Baron Zwiedinek called and said he had received two telegrams from his Government which he desired to communicate to me. He then read the telegrams, copies of which are annexed. In commenting on them he said he felt very hopeful that his Government would be able to find a satisfactory way to meet the desires of the United States; that he knew they were anxious to preserve friendly relations. I said to him that he must realize that we had taken a position from which we could not recede. He said he knew that; that he thought it was possible that the Austrian Government would be willing to acknowledge that our attitude as to the principle involved should be accepted and that he thought that the difficulty would lie in our demand for the punishment of the commander. I told him it seemed to me that the Commander not only was bound by his instructions, but also by the law and principles of humanity, and that if he violated these he was as guilty as if he had violated his instructions. He replied that if his Government had held a different view as to the principle involved which they now held and had issued instructions in accordance with their former view, that the Commander would certainly not be to blame for following such instructions.
To this I said: “Either the Commander is guilty, or your Government is guilty. If your Government desires to take the responsibility they should frankly say so, exonerating the Commander, but they should assume his guilt.” He replied that that was a very difficult thing for a Government to do. I said I realized that but it seemed to me the only alternative and if it did assume such responsibility it would be necessary for the Austrian Government to apologize, in addition to denouncing the act and offering to indemnify the sufferers.
He said that he would take the matter up immediately with his Government and hoped that they could reach a satisfactory conclusion. He also said that he was very sorry that they had not received his telegrams before they answered our first note, because he thought it would have made a difference in the tone of their reply.
He also asked me what I thought of the advisability of the Austrian Government recalling Consul General von Nuber,80 as he realized that his presence caused the present newspaper attacks upon him. I told him I thought it would be a way to remove one of the [Page 504] difficulties which we had to face in order to preserve good relations, and doubtless it would be expedient to have him recalled. He said he realized that even if the facts were not proven against von Nuber, which he knew they could not do, at the same time if he was under suspicion he would not be useful as a Consular officer and that he thought he would advise his Government to recall him.