The text of the autograph letter from the Emperor of
Austria, communicated with the Emperor's authority by his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon, to the French Prime Minister on March 31st, 1917, nullifies the Emperor's indignant disavowal, by telegram to the Kaiser, of " the completely false statement that 1 recognized that France had a just claim to the reacquisition of Alsace-Lorraine." The letter, exuding Pacificist milk-and-honey and homage to French bravery, admitted that " just claim " precisely in these terms. It proposed also the reinstatement of Belgium and Serbia as sovereign Powers. It asked Prince Sixtus to " sound " France and England, " with a view to preparing the ground in the Entente, so that official negotiations might on that basis be opened, and lead to a result to the satisfaction of all." This letter knocked the Emperor's demenii "higher than Gilderoy's kite."
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