But all are genuinely desirous of peace, and Adler in particular does not wish the downfall of the Empire.
If they secure peace it will be a socialistic one, and the Emperor will have to pay out of his own pocket; I am sure too, dear friend, that if it is not possible to end the war, the Emperor will have to pay still more; you may be sure of that.
Or, as may be expected, if they do not secure peace, then my prediction was all the more correct, for then I shall have proved to them that it is not the inefficiency of the Diplomatic Service but the conditions surrounding it that must be blamed for the war not coming to an end.
If I had refused to grant permission for them to travel, they would have continued to the last declaring that, if they had been allowed to proceed, they would have secured peace.
Everyone is indignant with me here, particularly in the Herrenhaus.

They even go so far that they imagine I had tried to "buy" the Socialists by promising to lower the Customs dues if they returned with peace.

I do not want the dues, as you know, but that has no connection with Stockholm, "Sozie" and peace.
I was at an Austrian Cabinet Council lately and gave the death-blow to the Customs dues--but I felt rather like Daniel in the lions' den when I did it; N.and E.in particular were very indignant.

The only one who entirely shares my standpoint beside Trnka is the Prime Minister Clam.
Consequently, this contention that they have been deprived of the octroi owing to my love for the "Sozies" angers them still more, but the contention is false.
You, my dear friend, are doubly wrong.

In the first place, we shall be forced to have Socialist policy after the war whether it is welcome or not, and I consider it extremely important to prepare the Social Democrats for it.