CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SECRETARY OF
  STATE AND AMERICAN AMBASSADORS IN EUROPE

                      AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

763.72/2251.i
The Ambassador in Austria-Hungar-y (Penfleld) to the Secretary of,
                             State

                               VIENNA, No'vember 4, 1915.
                                     [Received November 23.]
  MY DEAR MR. SECRETARY: Pursuant to your request for frequent
confidential and personal letters dealing with the general war situa-
tion in Austria-Hungary, not to be made part of the Embassy records,
I beg to hand you the following communication dealing with topics,
that I would hardly feel like discussing in an official capacity. I
shall try to send something by each pouch, and you may rest assured
that it will be my endeavor only to write you upon matters that in
my judgment have an illuminating value:
  The return of Dr. Dumba excited little public attention. In one
or two unimportant journals there were eulogiums of him as a fine.
type of devoted servant who had been sacrificed as a sop to an
enemy country of Austria. Barring the bald announcement of his
arrival in Vienna the influential newspapers said nothing, probably
acting under orders of the Government.
It is within my knowledge that Dr. Dumba had a hearty reception
at the Foreign Office, and that in a limited circle of Austrian society
he is looked upon as a martyr.
  It was widely printed in the Continental press as well as in The
London Tirmes that the Emperor had conferred upon the returned
Ambassador an order carrying with it the dignity of Ritter (knight-
hood.) This was not the fact. Had the Monarch wished to mark
his approval of the Ambassador's conduct he would probably have
conferred a Countship or at least a Barony on him. To be a Ritter
has little significance in this land of aristocratic rule, as it is the
rank given usually to successful manufacturers and merchants, and
to small functionaries. Dr. Dumba had an audience lasting nearly
an hour with the Emperor a day or two after his return to the
capital.
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