File No. 763.72119/176
The Chargé in Germany (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 12, 7 p. m.]
4458. For Ambassador Gerard: Following is close paraphrase of message which Dr. William Bayard Hale asks me to send you:
I have just seen the gentleman who dined with you recently and an audience has been granted me by an even higher authority. A thorough canvass of the whole situation by these highest personages places me in a position (to say?) that the situation has undergone no change except in a direction altogether favorable to the ideas which you had in mind when you left Berlin.
For the present the Government will easily maintain itself against all attacks. The danger to be feared is that delay will discourage the friends of peace with Anglo-Saxons and deliver them into the hands of the Russian party.
Little concern has been caused by Lloyd George’s attack which has been widely reported here. Lloyd George is only one minister. It was probably the growth of peace sentiment in England that provoked his irresponsible outburst. The Chancellor is considering a reply in the Reichstag in which he would probably describe Lloyd George’s interview as an insult both in phraseology and content to the President of the United States, the Pope, and the neutral nations of Europe represented by the King of Spain.
Through my wife’s connections with the Czar and the Grand Duke of Hessen, I have the strongest private ground for believing that the suggestion which you convey will be favorably entertained by the highest possible authority in Russia. The Czar Nicholas will positively refuse to disown his child. The Hague convention of 1907, Article 3, Title 2, declared “the exercise of this right can never be considered by either of the parties in litigation as an unfriendly act.” Such a possibility will be welcomed by Russian officials, especially in view of the recent German successes in Roumania which, according to the War Office, will be greatly enhanced by reports to be made public shortly.
It is believed here that France would gladly follow Russia’s lead. I, myself, believe this but can adduce no quotable authority.
I request with very special reason indeed, which it is unnecessary to cable, that the President be shown the exact language of the memoranda submitted by me.
All the authorities here disclaim the slightest sense of discouragement and express a determination to fight to the end. It is the simple fact that I have dragged these concessions out of [Germany?]. Psychological moment is the present. If it passes unseized, I fear that we shall all be involved in this tragedy. By seizing it, Mr. Wilson and you would earn an immortal place in history.
The contents of this dispatch are totally unknown to any soul in Germany.
Bayard Hale