Paris, May 30. NPHE inner story of King Leopold's capitulation to the Germans, revealing his eleventh-hour attempt to form a "puppet government" and save "comparative independenc as he himself put! it, was told to Havas last night by refugee Belgian political quarters: which were in close touch with the Belgian authorities in the' north until they were compelled to leave by the king's surrender.
Leopold, they said, tried to create a "puppet" Cabinet on the night of Sunday, May 26, when, with that object in view, he got in touch through London with the Premier, M. Hubert Pierlot and his Foreign, War and Home Ministers, who had been compelled to leave their quarters just in time, for the enemy was already then only four miles away.
'The King asked one of the minis~ ters at least to sign and to urgently send him' documents which would empower him to form a new cabinet, 'Recording {0 the Belgian Constitution, the Belgian' informants told Havas, the king needed the signature of only one minister on the documents in question, which he would then cointer-sign {0 create a new government, "One More Treachery"
His scheme, one of the Belgian political Jeaders stated, "was one More treachery before the supreme felony." It was foiled, however, when the premier and his ministers Unanimously refused to sign the documents.
"A few moments after the king received news of the statesmen's r0- fusal, he issued the order for his Army {0 cease fre.
The final moves in this drama were not taken suddenly, as a result of Military necessity, the Belgian egret continued, They were, on the contrary, only the climax to a long series of events through which the Icing persistently tried to avoid aggravation of. the Belgian-German situation, even after hostilities began.
"At the outset of the conflict, they pointed out, Leopold forbade his min. Tiers to. g0 to France to establish personal contacts and ease ce-opera~ fiom, "He also attempted to establish ight press censorship and certain moamures were prepared,, but never enforced owing to the absolute opposition of his ministers.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.