[English "White Paper," No. 39.]
No court would question for a moment the conclusion that the reply was a
substantial acquiescence in the extreme Austrian demands, nor indeed did
either Germany or Austria seriously contend that it was not. They
contented themselves with impeaching the sincerity of the assurances,
calling the concessions "shams," and of this it is enough to say that if
Germany and Austria had accepted Servians reply as sufficient, and
Servia had subsequently failed to fulfill its promises thus made in the
utmost good faith, there would have been little sympathy for Servia, and
no general war. Indeed, both Russia and England pledged their influence
to compel Servia, if necessary, to meet fully any reasonable demand of
Austria. The outstanding question, which Servia agreed to arbitrate or
leave to the powers, was the participation of Austrian officials in the
Servian courts. This did not present a difficult problem. Austria's
professed desire for an impartial investigation could have been easily
attained by having the neutral powers appoint a commission of jurists to
make such investigation.
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