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Show PRESIDENT'S REPLY 10 GERMAN NOTE DECLARATION OF ABANDONMENT OF FORMER SUBMARINE POLICY ACCEPED IN GOOD FAITH. Imperial Government Is Notified That the Dispute With Great Britain Has No Bearing Upon the Matter. "Washington. President Wilson's reply to the German note, cabled by Secretary Lansing to Ambassador Gerard Ger-ard at Berlin on May 8, informs the German government that the United States accepts its "declaration of abandonment of its former submarine policy and now relies upon a scrupulous scrupu-lous execution of the altered policy to remove the principal danger of an interruption in-terruption of the good relations existing1, exist-ing1, between the two countries." With this acceptance is coupled formal for-mal notice to Germany that the United Unit-ed States cannot for a moment entertain, enter-tain, much less discuss, a suggestion that respect by German naval authorities author-ities of the rights of citizens of the United States on the high seas should in the slightest degree be made contingent con-tingent upon the conduct of any other government affecting the rights of neutrals and noncombatants. Following is the text of the note: "The note of the imperial German government under date of May 1, 1916, has received careful consideration by the government of the United States. It is especially noted, as indicating the purpose of the imperial government as to the future, that it 'is prepared to do its utmost to confine the operation of the war for the rest of its duration to the fighting forces of the belligerents,' belliger-ents,' and that it is determined to impose im-pose upon all its commanders at sea the limitations of the recognized rules of international law upon which the government of the United States has insisted. "Throughout the months which have elapsed since the imperial government gov-ernment announced on February 4, 1915, its submarine policy, now happily hap-pily abandoned, the government of the United States has been constantly guided and restrained by motives of friendship in its patient efforts to bring to an amicable settlement the critical questions arising from that iiw. -m-v-epimg tue imperial gov- " rnment's declaration of its abandon- l lent of the policy which has so seri- pi usly menaced the good relations be- 01 veen the two countries, the govern- ot lent of the United States will rely pon a scrupulous execution hence-rth hence-rth of the now altered policy of the aperial, government such as will re- lOVe the nrinM.jl H,...n.nf fr, ing between the UnitedataJesiu Germany. "The government of the United States feels it necessary to state that it takes it for granted that the imperial im-perial government does not intend to imply that the maintenance of its newly announced policy is in any way contingent upon the course or result re-sult of diplomatic negotiations between be-tween the government of the United States and any other belligerent government, gov-ernment, notwithstanding the fact that certain passages in the imperial government's gov-ernment's note of the fourth instant might appear to be susceptible of that construction. In order, however, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, the government of the United States notifies the imperial government that it cannot for a moment entertain, much less discuss, a suggestion that respect by German naval authorities for the rights of citizens of the United States upon the high seas should in any way or slightest degree be made contingent contin-gent upon the conduct of any other government affecting the rights of neutrals and noncombatants. Responsibility Respon-sibility in such matters is single, not Joint; absolute, not relative." |