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Show H SETTLEMENT OF THE H LUSITANIA IS NEAR Several times In tho courso of tho i Inst four or tlvo months thero havo ( been rumors of an npproachlng not- tlement of the Lusltnnta enso. Un- , til very lately, however, tho pros- H y poets of n solution sccmod to rcccdo H ns ofken as deflnlto statements ot H tho status of tho negotiations made H their nppcarauce. It Is true that nf- H ter the sinking of tho Arabic nssur. H nncott wcro given by representatives H of tho (lernmn government that lln- crs would not ho sunk by submar- H lues without warning nnd without H safety of tho lives of non-combatants H provided that tho llnori did not nt- H tompt to cscnpo or to offer resist- H nnco. In that enso, also, it was an- H nnunced In n noto from Count Von H i llernfttorff, tho German Ambassador, H jv that his government disavowed tho H I act of tho submarine commander ns H ' hnvlng been made against lnstruc- tlons, nnd wns prcparod to pay an H Indemnity for tho loss of American H lives, respecting tho amount ot H which hu was authorized to nogotl- H nto wjth Secretary Lansing. Theso H , ' statements wero regarded as Involv- H ing nn acceptance of tho principles H contended for by tho United States fl government In Its diplomatic conv H munlcatlong uiton tho subject of sub- B marino warfare, and It wag bollovod hero that a sottlomont of tho wholo H question, Including tho Lusltanla con- H trovorsy as a part thereof, would fol- H low shortly, H Months passed, Iiowevor, without any settlement of tho latter case bo- H Ing reached. Tho action of tho German government In tho caso of B tho Arabic, It Is truo, appeared to H meet ono of tho demands made by B tho United Statos, namely, that rnoa- H rurcs should bo adopted to provont tho recurrence ot such a loss of Am H ;'-' ertcan lives as occurred in tho sink' HVt I Ing of the Lusltanla. Subsequently H2 , 'v tho CJerraan gorornment agreed to ay nn Indemnity' for the American Ives lost In tho Lusltanla tragedy, tut this proposition was not re-snrded re-snrded as ncccptablo by tho government govern-ment of tho United States because it was offered not as an net of right but ns nn net of grace The crux of tho dlfllculty lay in tho fact that tho German government wns unwilling to disavow tho act of tho submarine commander who destroyed tho Lusltanla, Lusl-tanla, or to ngreo to tho declaration that that destruction was nn Illegal net. It Is understood that tho German Ger-man government wns unwilling to disavow the act of tho commander who sank tho Lusltanla because his act was In cnmpllnnce with ordors, wherens It disavowed tho act of tho commander who nttneked tho Arabic on the ground that his action was In violation of Instructions. In Hko manner It wns unwilling to ndralt that the sinking of tho Lusltnnla was Illegal. Its contention was that tho net wag committed ns a mensuro of retaliation or reprisal, nnd that such acts aro Justifiable under certain circumstances. cir-cumstances. Under theso circumstances, coupled cou-pled with tho dclny Incident to tho diplomatic exchanges, n condition of tension grndunlly dovoloped, producing produc-ing a situation which wns characterized character-ized In Wnshlngton dispatches ns grave, though Informal conferences wero stilt carried on between Ambassador Am-bassador Von Hernstorff nnd Mr. Lansing. Now, howovcr, after raoro Minn nlno months of diplomatic exchanges ex-changes over tho Lusltanla enso, there arc Indications that It Is nt last approaching n settlement. Tho hauls ha-uls for such a settlement Is proposed propos-ed in n noto presented by Count Von Hernstorff of recent date. According to tho best Informnllqu nvnllablo, while Germany does not In terms disavow dis-avow tho net of Its submarine commander, com-mander, nnd whllo It regards reprisals repris-als against nn enemy ns legal, It admits that the attack upon tho Lusltanla Lu-sltanla was an act of retaliation that was not Justiflablo In so far ns It Involved In-volved tho loss of neutral lives and assumes liability for tho latter. In-addition, In-addition, It rcnows tho nssuranco already al-ready given 03 to submarlno nttneks upon liners and expresses willingness to pay nn Indemnity for the American Ameri-can lives lost. Tho torms of this noto havo been considered by tho President nnd tho Cnblnet nnd are regarded ns broad enough to covor tho questions nt Issue. An Informal Inform-al agreement between Secretary Lansing Lan-sing nnd Ambassndor Von Hernstorff based upon tho terms of the" noto, but setting forth that tho German government gov-ernment recognlzos Instead of assumes as-sumes liability for tho losB of American Amer-ican lives, has been cabled to Derlln with tho suggestion that It bo embodied em-bodied In n formal noto from tho German Foreign Odlce. It Is expected ex-pected that with tho receipt of this noto, which Is expected early noxt week, assuming that tho chnngo in wording suggested will bo agreed to, tho long standing controversy will bo brought to a closo oxcept bo far as such "details of tho amount of Indemnity Indem-nity to bo paid nro concerned. Hradstrcct's. |