On Wednesday the New York World published an " inter-
view " which Herr Bailin, the head of the Hamburg-Amerika Company, gave to Mr. von Wiegand. Herr Bailin had just returned to Hamburg from the front, where he had had a long audience with the German Emperor, and in speaking to Mr. von Wiegand he professed to state the Emperor's views with the Emperor's express sanction. The Emperor had said: "I never desired this war. Every act of mine in the twenty- six years of my government proves that I did not want to bring about this or any other war." "Who then is respon- sible P" was Mr. von Wiegand's natural question. Herr Bailin replied :—
" We all feel that this war has been brought about by England. We honestly believe that Sir Edward Grey could have stopped it. If, on the first day, he had declared 'England refuses toga to war because of the internal questions between Serbia and Austria.' then Russia and France would have found a way to compromise with Austria. If, on the other hand, Sir Edward Grey had said England was ready to go to war' then, for the sake of Germany, probably Austria might have been more ready to compromise. But, by leaving his attitude uncertain and letting us understand that he was not bound to go to war' Sir Edward Grey certainly brought about the war. If he had decided at once, ono way or the other, Sir Edward Grey could have avoided this terrible thing."
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