I replied to General Landwehr as follows: "'Dr.Kuehlmann is telegraphing to Berlin, but has little hope of success.

The only hope now is for His Majesty to do as I have advised, and send an urgent wire at once to Kaiser Wilhelm.

On my return I propose to put before His Majesty my point of view, that it is impossible to carry on the foreign policy if the food question at home is allowed to come to such a state as now.
"'Only a few weeks back your Excellency declared most positively that we could hold out till the new harvest.' "At the same time I wired the Emperor: "'Telegrams arriving show the situation becoming critical for us.
Regarding question of food, we can only avoid collapse on two conditions: first, that Germany helps us temporarily, second, that we use this respite to set in order our machinery of food supply, which is at present beneath contempt, and to gain possession of the stocks still existing in Hungary.
"'I have just explained the entire situation to Dr.Kuehlmann, and he is telegraphing to Berlin.

He, however, is not at all sanguine, as Germany is itself in straitened circumstances.

I think the only way to secure any success from this step would be for Your Majesty to send at once, through military means, a Hughes telegram to Kaiser Wilhelm direct, urgently entreating him to intervene himself, and by securing us a supply of grain prevent the outbreak of revolution, which would otherwise be inevitable.