Show wa L NOTE TO GERMANY IS FIRM WHILE k FRIENDLY IN ITS TERMS INSISTS UPON protection FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS the united states formally asks germany for assurances that meas ures will be adopted to safeguard lives and ships washington the united states in its ts latest I 1 test note to germany made public on june 10 formally asks the imperial government for assurance that measures hereafter will be adopted to safeguard american lives and american ships on the high seas the a al in case of refusal is I 1 not stated it was this note to which william jennings bryan refused to attach hiff hier signature resigning instead his aorl folio of secretary of state and thereby precipitating a dramatic cabinet crisis robert lansing secretary of state ad interim signed the communication which went forth with the approval pro val of the president and his entire cabinet the text of the american rejoinder to the german governments reply to the note following the sinking of the lusitania us itania follows the secretary of state ad interim to the american ambassador to baklin Berj lin department of state washington june 9 1915 american ambassador berlin you are instructed to deliver textually the following note to the minister of foreign affairs in compliance with your excel lences request I 1 did not fail to transmit to my government immediately upon their receipt your note of may 28 in reply to my note of slay may 15 and your supplementary note of june 1 setting forth the conclusions so far as reached by the imperial german government concerning the attacks on the american steamers gushing cushing and Gul 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 gushing cushing and the Gul flight of the principle of the freedom of all parts of the open sea to neutral ships and the frank willingness 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 before the imperial german government ern ment as it requests full information concerning the attack on the steamer cushing cashing with regard to the sinking of the steamer balaba by which an american citizen lost his life the government of the united states is surprised to find the imperial german government contending that an effort on the part 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 baa ceased her attempt to escape when ihen torpedoed these are not new circumstances they have been in the minds of statesmen and of international jurists throughout the development of naval warfare and the government of the united states does not understand that they have ever been held to alter the principles of 0 humanity upon which it has insisted nothing but actual forcible resistance or continued efforts to escape by flight when ordered to stop for the purpose of visit on the part of the merchantman has ever been held to forfeit the lives of her passengers or crew the government of the united states however does not understand that the imperial german government is seeking in this case to relieve itself of 0 liability but only intends to set forth the circumstances which led the comm commander anjer of the submarine to allow hirris himself elf to be hurried into the course which he took your excellences note in discussing the loss of american lives resulting from the sinking of the steamship lusitania 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 united states it is stated in the note that the lusitania was equipped with masked guns supplied with trained gunners and special ammunition transporting troops from canada carrying a cargo not permit tea under the laws of the united stavis to a vessel also carrying passengers and serving in virtual effect as an auxiliary to the naval forces of great britain fortunately these are arc natters batters concerning ning which the government ment of the he united states is in a position to give the imperial german government official dial information of the alie facts alleged in your excellences note if tr true ue the government of the united states would haye 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 the lusitania was not armed for offensive action that she was not serving as a transport that she did not carry a cargo prohibited by the statutes of the united states and that it 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 therefore to assure the imperial german government that it has been misinformed if the imperial german government should deem it self to be in possession of convincing evidence that the officials of the government of the united states stales did not perform these duties with thoroughness the government govern mont munt of the united states sincerely hopes that it win will submit that evidence for consideration arguments irrelevant whatever maybe the 1 6 contention on ot of the imperial german eo government crement regarding gar ding the carria carriage beof of contraband of war on board the Lu itania or regarding the explosion of that ma material ferial by the torpedo it meed only be datil that in the view of orthis this government these contentions are irrelevant to the e qua question of f the legality of the methods used by the german naval authorities in sinking that vessel but the sinking of passenger ships involves principles of humanity which throw into the background any special circumstances of detail that may be thought to affect the cases principles which lift it as the imperial government will no doubt bo be quick to recognize and acknowledge out of tile class of ordinary subjects of diplomatic discussion c U aslon or of international contro esy whatever be the other facts regarding the lusitania the principal fact is that a great steamer primarily and chiefly a conveyance for passengers and carrying more than a thousand souls who had biad no part or lot in the conduct of the war was torpedoed and sunk without so much as a challenge or a warning and that men women and children were sent to their death in circumstances unparalleled in modern warfare the fact that more than one hundred undred Ii american citizens were among those who perished make it the duty of the government of the united states to speak of these things and once more with solemn emp emphasis basis to call tile attention of odthe alib imperial german government to the grave responsibility which tile hie government of the united states conceives that it has incurred in this tragic occurrence and to the indisputable principle upon which that responsibility rests the government of the united states is contending for something much greater than mere rights of property or privileges of commerce it is contending for nothing less high and sacred than the rights of humanity which every government honors itself in respecting and which no government is justified in resigning on behalf of those under its care and authority thorl tho rity ty 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 the lives of those on board the ship in jeopardy this principle the government of the united states understands the explicit instructions issued on august 3 1914 by the imperial german admiralty to it its commanders at sea to have recognized and embodied as do the naval codes of all other nations and upon it every traveler and seaman lias bas a right to depend it is upon this principle of humanity as well veil as upon the law founded upon 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 M that the imperial german government er is willing now as before to accept the good offices of the united states in an attempt to come to an all understanding with the government of great britain by which the character and conditions of the war upon the sea may be bb changed the government of the united states would consider it a privilege thus to ser serve ve its friends and the world it stands reay rea y at any time to convey to either government any intimation or suggestion the other may be willing to have it convey and cordially invites tile the imperial german government to make use of its services in this thi way at its convenience the whole world is concerned in anything that may inay bring about even a partial accommodation of interests or in any way mitigate the terrors of the present distressing ds conflict in the meantime whatever arrangement ran gement may happily be made between the parties to the war and whatever may in the opinion of the imperial german government have been the provocation or the circumstantial justification tor for the past acts of its commanders at sea the govern ment of the united states confidently looks to see the justice and humanity of the government of germany vindicated in all cases where americans leave lave been wronged or their rights 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 oft the of may and relies in these representations upon the principles of humanity the universally recognized understandings of international law and the ancient friendship of tile 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 an lawful errands as passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationality it does not understand the imperial german government to question those eights rights understands it If it also to ae ac capt as established beyond question the principle that the lives of non combatants cannot lawfully or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction of an unresisting merchantman and to recognize the obligation to take sufficient precaution to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman ch antman is in fact of belligerent nationality tiona lity or is in fact carrying contraband of war under a neutral flog the government of the united states ther therefore eNre deems it reasonable to expect that the imperial german government will adopt the inea measures necessary to put these principles into practice in respect of the safeguarding of american lives and american ships si aji and asks for assurances assur that this will be h done ROBERT W secretary of state ad interim |