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Show SUBMARINE ISSUE IN GRAVE STATE Announced Intention of Germany Ger-many to Sink Armed Merchantmen Mer-chantmen Creates New and Serious Situation. Washington, Feb. 21. State department de-partment officials said today thnt they consider the submarine issue with Germany still in a grave state because be-cause the Lusltania agreement In tho light of the newly announced submarine submar-ine policy of tho Germanic powers, contains no assurances for the future. The situation created by tho announced an-nounced intention of sinking armed merchant ships without warning after February 29, officials said, was still in the abstract and was being exercised exer-cised as such but the Lusitania agreement agree-ment itself as it now stands, they explained, ex-plained, merely treats of the past and, .although it gives all in that rospect for which the United States has contended, con-tended, officials do not feel that it clearly guarantees aaginst another such disaster. Secretary Lansing already has told Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador, that assurances that previous pre-vious declarations will not be aband oned in the new campaign arc highly desirable. ' nn |