Show WILSONS NOTE T GERMANY IS FIRM IR M WHILE FRIENDLY IN ITS TERMS INSISTS UPON protection FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS I 1 rt the united states formally asks aska ger many for assurances that measures urea will be adopted to safe guard limesand lives Live sand and kilps washington WaShIng tom the united states in its latest note to germany made public on june 10 formally asks tile the imperial government for assurance that measures hereafter will bo be adopted to safeguard safe guard american lives and american ships on oil the high seas the al ter native in case ot of refusal Is not 0 stated it was this note to which william jennings bryan refused to attach his eig signature nature resigning instead its hla portfolio of secretary of state and thereby precipitating a dramatic cabinet crisis robert lansing secretary of tate state ad interim signed tho the comman communication widell which went forth with the ap of the president and Ms hla entire allnet abl net the text of tho the american rejoinder to the german governments reply to the note following tho the sinking of the lusitania Lusi tauta follows the secretary of state ad interim to the american ambassador to berlin department of state washington Washing toni june 9 1915 american ambassador berlin you are instructed to deliver textually ti the e following note to the minister of foreign affairs in compliance with your excel lences request I 1 did not fall to trans trana salt to my government immediately upon their receipt your note of 0 may 28 in reply to my note of may 15 land and your supplementary note of june 1 setting forth the conclusions so far as reached by the imperial german government concerning the attacks atta eks on the american steamers gushing cushing and Gu Gul inight flight I 1 am now instructed by my government to communicate the following in reply the government of the united states notes with gratification the full recognition by the imperial german government in discussing the cases of the cushing and the Gulf fight of the principle of the freedom of all parts ot of the open sea to neutral ships and the frank willingness v of the imperial government to acknowledge and meet its liability where the fact of attack upon neutral ships which have been guilty of any hostile act by german aircraft or vessels of war Is satisfactorily established and the government of the united states will in due course lay jay before the imperial german government ern ment as it requests re full information concerning the attack on the steamer cushing with regard to the sinking of the steamer balaba by which an american citizen lost his life the government of the united states la Is surprised to find the imperial german government contending that an effort on the part jart of a merchantman to escape capture and secure assistance alters the obligation of the officer seeking to make the capture in respect of the safety of the lives of those on board the merchantman although the vessel has ceased her attempt to escape when torpedoed these are not new circumstances they have been in the minds of statesmen and of international jurists throughout tile the development of naval warfare and the government of the united states does oot cot understand that they have ever been held to alter the principles of humanity upon which it has insisted nothing but actual forcible resistance or continued efforts to escape by flight when ordered to stop tor for the purpose of visit on the part of the merchantman has ever been held to forfeit the lives of lier her passengers or crew the government of the united baates however does not understand that hat t the imperial german government is seeking in tilts this case to relieve itself of liability but only intends to set act forth the circumstances which led the commander of the submarine to allow himself to be hurried into the c ourse course which he took 11 your excellences note in discussing the loss of american lives resulting from the sinking of the steamship Lusi lusitania tanta adverts at some length to certain information which the imperial german government has received with regard to the character and outfit of that vessel and your excellency expresses the fear that this information may not have been brought to the attention of the government of the th united states it is stated in the note that tile the lusitania Lusi tanta was equipped with masked guns supplied with trained gunners and special am transporting troops from canada carrying a cargo not permitted under the laws of the united states to a vessel also carrying passengers and serving in virtual effect as aa an aux auxiliary illary to the naval forces of great britain fortunately these are matters concerning which the government of the united states Is in a position to give tile imperial german government official information of the ilie facts alleged in your excellences note it if true the government of the united states would have been bound to take official cognizance in performing its recognized duty as a neutral power and in enforcing its national laws it was its duty to see to it that t the he Lual tanta was not armed for offensive action that she was not serving as a transport that sho she did not carry a cargo prohibited by the statutes of the united states and that if in fact she was a naval vessel of great britain she should not receive clearance as a merchantman and it performed that duty and enforced its statutes with scrupulous vigilance through its regularly constituted officials it Is able therdore ther eore to assum the impe rial german that tha t it I 1 t has I 1 in is been misinformed it the V he imperial german government should deem lt it et f to bo be in possession of 0 convincing evidence that the alio officials of 0 tile tho gov ern eminent ment of the united states did not perform these dutle duties with thoroughness the government of the united states sincerely hopes that it will submit that evidence tor for const consideration dora arguments irrelevant whatever may bo be the contention ot of tile lie imperial german government regarding the carriage of contraband of war on board the Lusi lusitania tanta or regarding the explosion of ceat material by tho the torpedo it need only be said bald that in the view of this government these contentions are irrelevant to the question of tho the legality ot of tho the methods used by the german naval authorities in sinking that vessel but the sinking of 0 passenger ships involves principles of humanity which throw into the background any special circumstances ot of detail that may be thought to affect tile the cases principles which lift it as wo tho imperial government will no doubt be quick to recognize and acknowledge out of tho the class or of ordinary subjects of diplomatic discussion or of international controversy whatever be the iho other facts regarding the Lusi lusitania tanta the principal fact Is that a great steamer primarily and chiefly a conveyance for passengers and carrying moro more than a thou sand souls who had no part or lot in the conduct of the war was torpedoed and sunk eunk without so m much uch as a ch challenge al or a warn warning I 1 na a and nd that me men n women and children were sent to their death in circumstances unparalleled in modern warfare the tact fact that more than one hundred american citizens were among those who perished make it tho the duty of tile the government of tho the united states to speak ot of these things and once more with solemn emphasis to call the attention of the imperial german government to the grave responsibility which the lie government of the united states conceives that it lias has incurred lu in this tragic occurrence and to the ind indisputable Is principle upon which that responsibility rests the government 0 of the united states Is contending tor for something in much uch greater than mere rights of property or privileges of commerce it Is contending for nothing less high and sacred than the rights of 0 humanity which every government honjo conpra itself in respecting and which no go government Is justified in resigning on behalf of those under its care and authority tho rity only her actual resistance to capture or refusal to stop when ordered to do so for the purpose of visit could have afforded the commander of the submarine any justification for so much as putting ohp lives of those on board the ship in n jeopardy this principle the government of the united states understands the explicit instructions issued on august 3 1914 by the imperial german admiralty to its commanders at sea to have lecog nihed and embodied as do the naval codes of all other nations and upon it every traveler and seaman has a right to depend it to Is upon this principle of humanity as well as upon the law founded upon tills this principle that the united states must stand offer of services the government of the united states Is happy to observe that your excellences note closes with the intimation that the imperial german government Is will willing Lug now as before to accept the good offices of the united states in an attempt to come to an understanding with the government of great britain by which the character and conditions of the war upon the sea may be changed the government of the united states would consider it a privilege thus to serve its friends and the world it stands ready at any time to convey to either government any intimation or suggestion the other or may be willing to have it convey and cordially invites the imperial german government to make use of its services in tilts this way at its convenience the whole world is concerned in anything that may bring r mt itt even a partial accommodation ute ate rests or in any way mitigate s borst fit the present distressing let ct in the meantime whatever arrangement ran gement may happily be made between the parties to the war and whatever may in the opinion ot of the imperial german government have been the provocation or the circumstantial justification for tho the past acts of its commanders at sea the government of the united states confidently looks to see the justice and humanity of the government of germany vindicated c in all cases where americans Amerl tans have been wronged or their as neutrals invaded the government of the united states therefore very earnestly and very solemnly renews the representations of its note transmitted to the imperial german government on the of may alay and relies in these representations upon the principles of humanity the universally rec recognized recognize d understandings of international la law w and the ancient friendship ot of the german nation assertion of rights the government of the united states cannot admit that the proclamation of a war zone from which neutral ships have been warned to keep away may be made to operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights either of american shipmasters ship masters or of american citizens bound on lawful errands as passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationality it does docs not understand the imperial german government to question those rights it understands it also to ac capt as established beyond question the principle that the lives of non combatants cannot lawfully or rig right it fully te put in jeopardy by the cap ture or destruction of an unresisting merchantman and to recognize the obligation to take sufficient precaution to ascertain whether a suspected mer cb antman Is in tact fatt ot of belligerent na tiona lity or Is in tact fact carrying contra band of war under a neutral flag the government it of the alio un united ite itea A states therefore deems it reasonable to expect that the imperial german government will adopt the measures measure necessary to put these principles into practice in respect of the safeguard ing of american lives and american ships and asks for assur assurances ancell thal thai tilts tills will be done rodent ROBERT W LANSING secretary ot of state na id inter interim lm |