ag the
causes of the war, then already commenced, and there was distributed
among the members a statement of the German Foreign Office,
accompanied by 27 Exhibits in the form of diplomatic communications,
which have been erroneously called the German _White Paper_ and which
sets forth Germany's defense to the world.

Shortly thereafter Russia, casting aside all the traditional secrecy
of Muscovite diplomacy, submitted to a candid world its acts and deeds
in the form of the so-called Russian _Orange Paper_, with 79 appended
documents, and this was followed later by the publication by Belgium
of the so-called Belgian _Gray Paper_.

Late in November France published its _Yellow Book_, the most
comprehensive of these diplomatic records. Of the two groups of
powers, therefore, only Austria and Italy have failed to disclose
their diplomatic correspondence to the scrutiny of the world.

The former, as the originator of the controversy, should give
as a matter of "decent respect to the opinions of mankind" its
justification, if any, for what it did. So far, it has only given
its ultimatum to Servia and Servia's reply.

Italy, as a nation that has elected to remain neutral, is not under
the same moral obligation to disclose the secrets of its Foreign
Office, and while it remains on friendly terms with all the
Powers it probably feels some delicacy in disclosing confidential
communications, but as the whole world is vitally interested in
determining the justice of the quarrel and as it is wholly probable
that the archives of the Italian Foreign Office would throw an
illuminating searchlight upon the moral issues involved, Italy, in
a spirit of loyalty to civilization, should without further delay
disclose the documentary evidence in its possession.

While it is to be regretted that the full diplomatic record is not
made up, yet as we have the most substantial part of the record in
the communications which passed in those fateful days between Berlin,
St. Petersburg, Paris, and London, there is sufficient before the
court to justify a judgment, especially as there is reason to believe
that the documents as yet withheld would only confirm the conclusions
which the record already given to the world irresistibly suggests.

Thus we can reasonably assume that the Italian documentary evidence
would fairly justify the conclusion that the war was on the part of
Germany and Austria a war of aggression, for Italy, by its refusal to
a