ts has deliberately suppressed documents known to be in its
possession. It does not lie in the mouth of such a litigant to ask the
court to suspend judgment or withhold its sentence until the full
record is made up, when the incompleteness of that record is due to
its own deliberate suppression of vital documentary proofs.

CHAPTER III

THE SUPPRESSED EVIDENCE

The official defenses of England, Russia, France, and Belgium do not
apparently show any failure on the part of either to submit any
essential diplomatic document in their possession. They have
respectively made certain contentions as to the proposals that they
made to maintain the peace of the world, and in every instance have
supported these contentions by putting into evidence the letters and
communications in which such proposals were expressed.

When the German _White Paper_ is examined it discloses on its very
face the suppression of documents of vital importance. The fact that
communications passed between Berlin and Vienna, the text of which has
never been disclosed, is not a matter of conjecture. Germany asserts
as part of its defense that it faithfully exercised its mediatory
influence on Austria, but not only is such influence not disclosed by
any practical results, such as we would expect in view of her
dominating relations with Austria, but the _text_ of these vital
communications is still kept in the secret archives of Berlin and
Vienna. Germany has carefully selected a part of her diplomatic
records for publication but withheld others. Austria has withheld all.

Thus in the official apology for Germany it is stated that, in spite
of the refusal of Austria to accept the proposition of Sir Edward Grey
to treat the Servian reply "as a basis for further conversations,"

we [Germany] continued our mediatory efforts to the utmost
and _advised_ Vienna to make any possible compromise
consistent with the dignity of the Monarchy.[3]

[Footnote 3: German _White Paper_.]

This would be more convincing if the German Foreign Office had added
the _text_ of the advice which it thus gave Vienna.

A like significant omission will be found when the same official
defense states that on July 29th the German Government advised Austria
"to begin the conversations with Mr. Sazonof." But here again the
_text_ is not found among the documents which the German Foreign
Office has given to the world. The communications, which passed
between th