Paris Peace Conf.
184.011102/301
Mr. Albert
Halstead to the Secretary of
State23
No. 35
Vienna, August 10, 1919.
Subject: An interview with Dr. Renner.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith
a memorandum of a conversation I had yesterday with the
German-Austrian Chancellor, Dr. Renner.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure]
Memorandum of Conference With Chancellor Dr.
Renner
Dr. Renner requested me to call on him today. As I came to the
Foreign Office the head of the French Mission Monsieur Allizé
was
[Page 560]
leaving and I was
delayed a few minutes in the Foreign Office before seeing Dr.
Renner because the Italian representative Prince Borghese was
there. Dr. Renner speaking in German stated that German-Austria
would require the help of the United States after the signature
of the Peace Treaty. Of all the nations the United States was
the only one which had no selfish end to promote and no
obligation other than the desire to do right. He then expressed
his thanks for all that America had done here and specified the
food furnished, the help with coal and other necessities and the
spirit of its representatives. He said he knew also that in the
peace conferences it was America which had often stood for
fairer treatment of Austria.
After the signing of the Peace Treaty, he declared unselfish
assistance and support would be required in the League of
Nations and on the Reparation Committee and for that Austria
could alone depend on the United States as well as upon the
United Kingdom. He said German-Austria was left a small country
with many mountains, few resources, with land that could not
feed her population and a great city. From America she would
need all kinds of help. America could come over to assist in her
industries, to assist in her problems and she would be
welcome.
Dr. Renner spoke of the difficulties which had been encountered
here. The government could be strengthened only step by step and
that until peace had come everything that was necessary could
not be done. The Treaty, such as it was, they would have to
sign, because they could do nothing else, but it was not a
righteous treaty—and it placed burdens upon them that should be
apportioned among the states created out of the old empire. It
was proper for the countries who had been at war with Austria to
charge her with debts incurred before the war at the old rate of
exchange, but the countries created out of the old empire had
never been at war with German-Austria, but had participated in
the war and yet they had received fairer treatment in being paid
at the old rate of exchange.
America he knew had done her best but she was confronted with the
Treaty of London which had lost German-Austria South Tyrol and
with the French Treaty with Czecho-Slovakia which lost them
German-Bohemia. The economic and financial clauses meant an
absolute catastrophe. He appeared to speak with absolute
frankness and to be sincere in his remarks about what America
had done and of the spirit with which her representatives on the
Peace Conference and her representatives here had been inspired.
He seemed discouraged but unbeaten.
