Salt Lake Tribune | 1916-04-22 | Page 7 | Berlin May Send Counter-Proposal to Our Ultimatum

BERLIN MAY SEND COUNTER-PROPOSAL TO OUR ULTIMATUM By International News Service. WASHINGTON, April 21. There were intimations today that Germany will reply re-ply to the American demand for abandonment abandon-ment of present methods of submarine warfare by making counter proposals. Tho chief contention which, it Is understood. under-stood. Germany Is prepared to set forth is that it' submarines are to be compelled to conform to international low. merchantmen mer-chantmen also shall be required to do the samo thing. This means tho t If submarines must conform to the rules of visit and search, merchantmen must submit to being visited vis-ited and searched without using guns for resistance. A forecast of Germany's reply, as predicted pre-dicted today, in as follows: t'UV- XIjv Gciiuau government' will mate that it realize? submarine warfare should te corKluote-l according to the rules .f International law. which provide that mArvlpntmen and llnern must be visited and fce.irche 1 and ti e wifety of passtn-js'ers passtn-js'ers and crws provided for. lecond (.iprmany will assert that these principles have been carried out in tlie actual lecrat condin-t of submarine warfare war-fare In the Mediterranean zone of operations. opera-tions. Third That Germany manifestly Is en-, en-, titled to peek from tlie United States reciprocal re-ciprocal tfuaranleee. to be obtained by the . L'nlted 8taiey a.i spokesman for the neutral neu-tral powers a ml others, which sha II define de-fine and povern the movements and actions ac-tions and riphtu of merchantmen. Fourth That Germany is wllltnp to enter en-ter Into a modus Vivendi with tlie United States In response to its note, providing-, and upon the condition, that all merchantmen merchant-men shall operate and plv as merchantmen, merchant-men, and that they shad obey tho restrictions re-strictions placed upon them by International Interna-tional law. Hiph state department authorities said today that the l'nlted States could not entertain such counter proposals. They said the idea that if -ubmaj'ines are compelled to visit ami seareh, merchantmen mer-chantmen should not be armed, is a reasonable, rea-sonable, but not a legal proposition. "A merchant ship Is a privately-owned vessel." a state department authority said. "While proceeding on Us mission it is in danger of attack. It baa a right 10 carry puns."