The United States in the World War

THE UNITED STATES
IN THE WORLD WAR

o d

THE UNITED STATES
IN THE WORLD WAR

BY
JOHN BACH McMASTER

PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

NEW YORK

LONDON

1918

v, 1

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
,JOHN BACH McMASTER

Printed in the United States of America

TO

FIRST LIEUTENANT PHILIP DURYEE McMASTER
UNITED STATES ARMY MEDICAL CORPS

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE OPENING OF THE EUROPEAN WAR ... 1

II. PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA — BELGIAN RELIEF . 23

III. NEUTRAL TRADE 51

IV. SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 82

V. THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 106

VI. AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 132

VII. TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS . .158

VIII. SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 198

IX. PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 230

X. PLOTS AND CRIMES IN SEA AND ON LAND . . 255

XI. THE PEACE NOTES 290

XII. DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN .... 315

XIII. WE ENTER THE WAR .351

XIV. THE CALL TO THE COLORS . . . . . 366
XV. GERMAN INTRIGUE 397

XVI. RATIONING AND FIGHTING 418

XVII. INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE .... 433

THE UNITED STATES IN
THE WORLD WAR *

CHAPTEE I

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAB

JUNE 29, 1914, the newspapers in the United States made
known to their readers that on the previous day the Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his
morganatic wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, had heen assassi-
nated in Serajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of
Bosnia.

The event was no new occurrence in the House of Austria.
Within forty-seven years the Emperor Francis Joseph had lost,
by the assassin's hand, his brother, his son, his wife and now
his nephew. During a day or two the murder was a matter of
current conversation; but ere July was half spent the crime
had been almost forgotten. Our trouble with Mexico, home
rule for Ireland, the doings of the Ulster men, the Caillaux
trial, the violence of the suffragettes in England held the atten-
tion of the public.

Great was the astonishment of our countrymen, therefore,
when they read in the newspapers of July 24, that cable dis-
patches from London reported weakness in the stock markets
of Europe caused by fear of war between Austria-Hungary and
Serbia, and the possible drawing into the conflict of other Euro-
pean powers. Newspapers of July 25 contained a dispatch from
London setting forth that an ultimatum of unprecedented se-
verity had been sent to Serbia by Austria-Hungary; that it
sought to fasten on Serbia responsibility for the assassination

2 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of the Archduke and his wife, that compliance with the de-
mands of the dual monarchy would be a confession of guilt, that
forty-eight hours were allowed in which to reply, and that Rus-
sia was seeking extension of the time granted Serbia. Vienna
dispatches announced that if Serbia did not reply before six
o'clock on the evening of July 25 her minister would be handed
his passports. From Berlin came reports that Germany had
been consulted by Austria, that her action had been approved,
that, should Russia take part with Serbia, Germany was pre-
pared to draw the sword, and that serious developments were
expected unless Serbia yielded. July 27, it was known that
passports had been handed the Serbian minister and that Ger-
many had notified the powers that she regarded the war as
between Austria-Hungary and Serbia and that it must be local-
ized.

When, some months later, the diplomatic correspondence
between the powers was given to the world in the Austro-Hun-
garian Red Book, the Serbian Blue Book, the Russian Orange
Book, the German White Book, the French Yellow Book, the
Belgian Gray Book, and the British White Paper, some faint
glimmering of what took place was revealed.

lit then came to light that during the interval between the
twenty-eighth of June and the twenty-third of July, Austria-
Hungary had investigated the murders at Serajevo, and had
reached the conclusion they had been prepared and abetted in
Belgrade with the help of Serbian officials, had been per-
petrated with arms taken from the Serbian State Arsenal, were
directly connected with a movement long going on in Serbia
to revolutionize, and finally tear away from Austria her south-
western provinces and join them to Serbia, and that in this
policy Serbia believed herself to be heartily supported by
Russia. Having reached this conclusion, Austria decided that
the time had gone by when this agitation across her border
could longer be endured; that having informed her ally, Ger-
many, of this decision she was assured that any action taken
would be approved, and that, bent on war, she presented to
Serbia, on July 23, 1914, not a note but an ultimatum.

In this ultimatum the direct connection between the Sera-
jevo murders and the pan-Serb movement was stated from the

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 3

Austrian point of view. Serbia was charged with fostering a
"propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary, . . . whose
aim it is to separate from the monarchy parts which belong to
it," was required to publish "on the first page" of her "official
organ of July 26, 1914," a humiliating apology in words dic-
tated by Austria, bind herself to do ten humiliating things, and
return her answer before six o'clock on the evening of Saturday,
July 25. Copies of the note were delivered on July 24, to the
Governments in Berlin, Rome, Paris, London, St. Petersburg
and Constantinople.

The demands on Serbia were :

1. Suppress any publication which incites hatred of the Anstro-
Hungarian Monarchy.

2. Dissolve at once the Narodna Odbrana and all other societies
which carried on propaganda against the Austro-Hungarian Mon-
archy.

3. Eliminate without delay from public instruction in Serbia,
both from the teaching body and methods of instruction, everything
which served to foment feeling against Austria-Hungary.

4. Remove from military and administrative service every officer
guilty of propaganda against Austria-Hungary.

5. "Accept the collaboration in Serbia" of representatives of
Austria-Hungary for the suppression of "subversive movement
directed against the territorial integrity of the Monarchy."

6. Take judicial proceedings against the accessories to the mur-
der at Serajevo.

7. Arrest Major Yoija Tankositch and Milan Ciganovitch, "com-
promised by the results of the magisterial inquiry at Serajevo."

8. Stop the illicit traffic in arms across the frontier, dismiss and
punish the frontier officials at Schabatz and Loznica "guilty of hav-
ing assisted the perpetrators of the Serajevo crime by facilitating
their passage across the frontiers."

9. Explain the unjustifiable utterances of high Serbian officials
at home and abroad who have not hesitated since the crime at
Serajevo, to express hostility to the Austro-Hungarian Government.

10. Notify the Imperial and Royal Government without delay of
the execution of the preceding demands.1

The whole world was taken by surprise. On the day the
ultimatum was delivered Europe seemed to be in a state of per-
fect peace. It was vacation time. The Serbian Prime Minister
was not in Belgrade ; the Russian Ambassador had left Vienna ;

1 British White Paper, No. 4.

4 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the President of the French Eepublic was far from Paris ; the
British and Russian Ambassadors were not in Berlin, and the
Emperor of Germany, it may be to keep up appearances of
peace, had gone northward on his yacht.

The day after the delivery of the ultimatum Germany
warned the Entente Powers not to interfere.2 July 24 her
Ambassador appeared before the French Minister of Foreign
Affairs and read a note verbale. The publications of Austria-
Hungary concerning the Serajevo murders, Germany said, dis-
closed clearly the aims of the pan-Serb propaganda and the
means used for its realization. Serb intrigue could be
traced back through a series of years, and was especially
marked during the Bosnian crisis. Only the self-restraint
of Austria, and the energetic intercession of the powers pre-
vented a conflict at that time. The assurances of good be-
havior then given by Serbia had not been kept. Under the
very eyes of official Serbia the pan-Serb propaganda had grown
in scope and intensity, and at its door was to be laid this latest
crime the threads of which led to Belgrade. It was impossible
for Austria to any longer look with indifference on the doings
across the border. Her demands were justifiable. But the
Serbian Government might decline to meet them, and "allow
themselves to be carried away into a provocative attitude to-
wards Austria-Hungary." In that event nothing remained to
Austria-Hungary but to press her demands, if need be, with
military measures. But "in the present case there is only ques-
tion of a matter to be settled exclusively between Austria-Hun-
gary and Serbia," and the Great Powers ought seriously to
endeavor to restrict it to those two immediately concerned.

"The German Government desires urgently the localization
of the dispute because every interference of another power
would, owing to the natural play of alliances, be followed by
incalculable consequences."

The part taken by the powers began with a proposal from
Russia that the time allowed Serbia be extended. On July 24
the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs instructed the Russian
charge at Vienna to telegraph London, Rome, Paris and Bel-
grade that to prevent the incalculable and fatal consequences of

2 German White Book, Exhibit 1.

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 5

"the course of action followed by the Austro-Hungarian Gov-
ernment it seems to us to be above all essential that the period
allowed for the Serbian reply should be extended. Austria-
Hungary having declared her readiness to inform the Powers
of the results of the inquiry upon which the Imperial and
Koyal Government base their accusations, should equally allow
them time to study them." 3

Sir Edward Grey at once bade the British Ambassador at
Vienna "support in general terms the steps taken by your Rus-
sian colleague/' 4 and the French Acting Minister of Foreign
Affairs telegraphed the French Ambassador at Vienna: "The
Russian Government has instructed its representative at Vienna
to ask the Austrian Government for an extension of the time
limit fixed for Serbia. ... I beg you to support the request
of your colleague." 5 But Count Berchtold of Austria replied
"we cannot consent to a prolongation of time limit. . . . Ser-
bia, even after breaking off of diplomatic relations, can bring
about friendly relations by unconditional acceptance of our
demands, although we should be obliged in such an event to
demand reimbursement by Serbia of all costs and damages
incurred by us through our military measures." 6

Within the time allowed Serbia made her reply and yielded
to all the demands with reasonable limitations. Austria de-
clared it "insincere," "unsatisfactory," "evasive," as not fully
complying with her demands, and July 25 her Minister broke
off diplomatic relations and left Belgrade.

And now Sir Edward Grey came forward with a new
proposition. He had said to the German Ambassador, just
after the delivery of the German note on July 24, that "if the
Austrian ultimatum to Serbia did not lead to trouble between
Austria and Russia" he "had no concern with it," and re-
minded the Ambassador "that some days ago he had expressed
a personal hope that if need arose" Sir Edward "would en-
deaVor to exercise moderating influence at St. Petersburg."
But in view of the stiff character of the note, the wide range
of the demands of Serbia, Sir Edward did not believe any

8 Russian Orange Book, No. 4.
Pa

4 British Blue Paper, No. 26.
•French Yellow Book, No. 39.
•Austrian Red Book, No. 20, July 25,

6 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

power could exercise influence alone. The only chance for
mediation was for Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain
to work together simultaneously at St. Petersburg and Vienna.7

To the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg he wrote:
"The sudden, brusque, and peremptory character of the Austrian
demarche makes it almost inevitable that in a very short time
both Russia and Austria will have mobilized against each other.
In this event, the only chance of peace, in my opinion, is for
the other four Powers to join in asking the Austrian and Rus-
sian Governments not to cross the frontier, and to give time
for the four Powers acting at Vienna and St. Petersburg to
try and arrange matters. (If Germany will adopt this view, I
feel strongly that France and ourselves should act upon it."

Austria having rejected the reply of Serbia and having
broken diplomatic relations, there was no longer any doubt that
Russia and Austria would mobilize against each other, and Sir
Edward Grey on July 26 put his plan into operation and
inquired of Italy, France and* Germany if they would instruct
their representatives in London to join ain conference imme-
diately for the purpose of discovering an issue which would
prevent complications." If so, requests should be made to
Serbia, Austria and Russia "that all active military operations
should be suspended pending results of conference.'7 France
and Italy at once consented. When Russia was asked if it
seemed "desirable that Great Britain should take the initiative
in convoking a conference in London of the representatives of
Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy, to examine the
possibilities of a way out of the present situation," the Russian
Foreign Minister replied, that he had "begun conversations
with the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador under conditions
which" he "hopes may be favorable." "If direct explanations
with the Vienna Cabinet were to prove impossible" he was
"ready to accept the British proposal."

The German Foreign Secretary thought that such a confer-
ence "would practically amount to a court of arbitration"
which could not be called save "at the request of Austria and
Russia." Nevertheless Germany accepted "in principle media-
tion between Austria and Russia by the four Powers, reserv-

T British White Paper, No. 11.

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 7

ing, of course, their right as an Ally to help Austria if at-
tacked." The Imperial Chancellor declined to accept the pro-
posal. It would have the appearance of an "Areopagus" con-
sisting of two ^Powers of each group sitting in judgment on the
other two.

Such being the state of affairs on July 28, Sir Edward Grey
telegraphed the British Ambassador at Berlin that the German
Government having accepted the principle of mediation be-
tween Austria and Russia by the four Powers, he was ready to
propose that the German Government suggest the lines on which
this principle should be applied. But he would keep the idea
in reserve until the results of the "conversations between Aus-
tria and Russia were known." 8

He did not wait long. That same day, July 28, Austria
declared war on Serbia and the Russian Ambassador at London
received this telegram from St. Petersburg:9 "Austrian dec-
laration of war clearly puts an end to the idea of direct com-
munication between Austria and Russia. Action by London
Cabinet in order to set on foot mediation with a view to sus-
pension of military operations of Austria against Serbia is now
most urgent."

On the following day Russia began partial mobilization
against Austria and Sir Edward Grey "urged that the German
Government should suggest any method by which the influence
of the four Powers could be used together to prevent war be-
tween Austria and Russia." "Mediation," he said, "was ready
to come into operation by any method if Germany would 'press
the button' in the interests of peace." 10

At Berlin on that day the Chancellor, well aware that Aus-
tria was bent on war, and that Germany would aid her, sent
for the British Ambassador and made a strong bid for British
neutrality. Should Austria, he said, be attacked by Russia "a
European conflagration," he feared, "might become inevitable
owing to Germany's obligations as Austria's ally." He did not
expect that Great Britain would "stand by and allow Prance
to be crushed in any conflict that might be," and made a bid for

•British Blue Book, No. 68.

9 Ibid, No. 70.

10 British Blue Book, No. 84.

8 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

British neutrality. Should she give assurance of neutrality,
Germany would give her assurance that she "aimed at no ter-
ritorial acquisitions at the expense of France" should Germany
"prove victorious in any war that might ensue." But he would
give no pledge as to the French Colonies.

Sir Edward replied that he could not "for a moment enter-
tain the Chancellor's proposal"; what "he asks us in effect is
to engage to stand by while French colonies are taken and
France is beaten so long as Germany does not take French ter-
ritory as distinct from the colonies."

As for Belgium, the Chancellor had told the British Am-
bassador that "it depended on the action of France what opera-
tions Germany might be forced to enter upon in Belgium, but
when the war was over, Belgian territory would be respected if
she had not sided against Germany."

To this Sir Edward replied : "The Chancellor also in effect
asks us to bargain away whatever obligation or interest we
have as regards the neutrality of Belgium. We could not enter-
tain that bargain either."

July 30, Russia agreed "to stop all military preparations"
if Austria, recognizing that her war with Serbia had become
one of European interest, would "eliminate from her ultimatum
points which violate the principle of sovereignty of Serbia," and
the German Ambassador informed Sir Edward Grey that the
Imperial Government would endeavor to persuade Austria,
after taking Belgrade and the Serbian territory near the fron-
tier, to promise not to advance further while the Powers at-
tempted to arrange that Serbia give satisfaction to Austria.

But the next day, July 31, Eussia began to mobilize her
entire fleet and army; Germany demanded that within twelve
hours she demobilize along both the German and Austrian fron-
tiers, declared "Kriegefahrzustand," the state of danger of war,
and asked both France and Great Britain what attitude they
intended to assume. France asked if Great Britain would help
her if attacked by Germany. Sir Edward Grey inquired of
both France and Germany if each would respect the neutrality
of Belgium if violated by the other. France replied that she
would "respect the neutrality of Belgium, and it would be only
in the event of some other Power violating that neutrality that

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 9

France might find herself under the necessity, in order to assure
defense of her own security, to act otherwise." The German
Secretary of State replied that he must consult the Emperor
and the Chancellor before he could answer, and was very doubt-
ful whether they would return any answer at all, lest "a certain
amount of their plan of campaign in the event of war" be dis-
closed. This to Sir Edward Grey was "a matter of great regret
because the neutrality of Belgium affected feeling in" England.
Jf Germany, he told her Ambassador, "could see her way to
give the same assurance as France," it would greatly relieve
the tension. The Ambassador thereupon asked if Germany
gave a pledge not to violate the neutrality of Belgium, would
England remain neutral ? Sir Edward could not say that, but
he could say that her attitude would be largely determined by
public opinion, and that the neutrality of Belgium would
appeal strongly to public opinion in England.

The end had come. Diplomatic play for time had ended.
Never for a moment had Germany intended to keep the
peace. Since July 25 her troops had been moving to the
French frontier where barbed wire entanglements were made
stronger, trees cut down, railway stations occupied, and where
in a few days eight army corps were on a war footing. Be-
cause of this, France, on August 1, ordered general mobiliza-
tion. Germany that day declared war on Russia, ordered gen-
eral mobilization to begin on August 2, and on that day sent
her troops over the border into the Duchy of Luxemburg, in
wanton disregard of its neutrality, and presented an ultimatum
to Belgium. There was no doubt, the note said, aas to the
intention of France to march through Belgian territory to at-
tack Germany" ; it was "essential for the self-defense of Ger-
many that she should anticipate any such hostile attack,"
and cross Belgian soil ; that if Belgium maintained "an attitude
of friendly neutrality" and made no resistance, Germany would,
when peace was made, "evacuate Belgian territory," and "guar-
antee the possessions and independence of the Belgian kingdom
in full." Should Belgium "oppose the German troops," Ger-
many would, "to her regret, be forced to consider Belgium her
enemy," and the "eventual adjustment of the relations between
the two states must be left to the decision of arms."

10 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

The note was presented at seven o'clock on the evening of
August 2, and the reply must be made before seven o'clock
on the morning of the third. It was made at that hour and in
it are these words : "The Belgian Government, if they were to
accept the proposals submitted to them, would sacrifice the
honor of the nation and betray their duty towards Europe."

At six forty-five o'clock on the afternoon of the third, the
German Ambassador at Paris handed M. Viviani a note charg-
ing France with certain "flagrantly hostile acts committed on
German territory by French military aviators," and stating that
because of these "the German Empire considers itself in a state
of war with France."

Belgium meantime applied to Great Britain for diplomatic
intervention in her behalf as one of the guarantors of her neu-
trality. Great Britain, thereupon, early in the forenoon of
August 4, bade her Ambassador, "protest against this violation
of a treaty to which Germany is a party in common with our-
selves," and "request an assurance that the demand made upon
Belgium will not be proceeded with and that her neutrality will
be respected by Germany." Hearing, as the day wore on, that
British ships had been seized "at Hamburg, Cuxhaven and
other German ports," and "that German troops had entered Bel-
gian territory, and that Liege has been summoned to surren-
der," Sir Edward Grey bade the British Ambassador request
that an answer to the note of the morning be received in Lon-
don before twelve o'clock "to-night." If it were not he was to
ask for his passports and say: "that His Majesty's Govern-
ment feel bound to take all steps in their power to uphold the
neutrality of Belgium and the observance of a treaty to which
Germany is as much a party as ourselves."

The German Ambassador at London was now instructed to
say that under no pretext whatever would Germany annex Bel-
gian territory; that she had been forced to disregard Belgian
neutrality because she had unimpeachable information that
France would attack across Belgium, and because it was a mat-
ter of life and death to prevent such attack.

When the British Ambassador at Berlin on the morning of
the fourth called on the German Secretary of State, Herr von
Jagow, to ask if Belgian neutrality would be respected, the an-

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 11

swer he received was "No," for it had already been violated.
When he went about seven in the evening to state that unless,
by midnight, assurances were given that Germany would pro-
ceed no further with her violation of Belgium, he must demand
his passports, von Jagow replied that he could give no other
answer than he had given in the morning. The Ambassador
then called on the Chancellor and found him "very agitated."
He said "that the step taken by His Majesty's Government was
terrible to a degree; just for a word, neutrality, a word which
in war time had so often been disregarded, just for a scrap of
paper, Great Britain was going to make war on a kindred nation
who desired nothing better than to be friends with her."

About half after nine in the evening Herr Zimmermann,
Under Secretary of State, called at the British Embassy to ex-
press regret to the Ambassador that their friendly personal re-
lations were about to cease and asked "casually whether a de-
mand for passports was equivalent to a declaration of war."
The Ambassador replied in substance that his Government
"expected an answer to a definite question by twelve o'clock
that night and that in default of a satisfactory answer they
would be forced to take such steps as their engagements re-
quired." Herr Zimmermann said this was in fact a declaration
of war, "as the Imperial Government could not possibly give the
assurance required either that night or any other night."

Meantime the Berliner Tageblatt issued a flying sheet an-
nouncing that Great Britain had declared war, a mob soon
gathered before the Embassy and the windows were stoned.
At eleven o'clock on August 5 the Ambassador received his pass-
ports.

Great Britain, Erance and Eussia were now at war with
Germany, and on September 4, 1914, at London, Paul Cam-
bon, Count Benckendorif and Sir Edward Grey, representing
the Triple Entente, signed a declaration that the British,
French and Russian Governments bound themselves not to
make peace separately during the war, and that, when the time
came to discuss peace, no one of them would demand terms
without the previous agreement of each of the others.

Of these stirring events Americans at home and abroad
were no idle spectators. They, too, in many ways were seri-

12 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ously affected. By Monday, the twenty-seventh, it was known
that the Serbian Minister had received his passports ; that par-
tial mobilization had been ordered by Austria ; that Russia had
mobilized on the Austrian frontier, but that hopes were enter-
tained that the war might be localized. Exchange on London,
which on Saturday had been 4.88, on Monday afternoon stood
at 4.91 ; gold shipments were rushed, and the Cable Company
announced that messages to or through Austria must be in plain
English, French, German or Italian, those for Hungary in
Hungarian, and that commercial marks, abbreviations, military
news would not be admitted in private dispatches. German and
Austrian reservists now rushed to the consulates, to which they
had been formally called by the consuls. When news came of
the Austrian declaration of war on Serbia, foreign securities
fell from five to twenty points, the stock exchanges at Montreal
and Toronto closed, stocks fell three points on the New York
Exchange, wheat rose nine cents a bushel, corn five cents and
cotton declined nearly two dollars a bale. The Austrian con-
suls now announced that the Emperor had granted amnesty to
deserters and to those who by absence had avoided military
service provided they would return to the colors.

On the thirtieth, when it was known that Germany had sent
an ultimatum to Russia, stocks in New York fell from six to
seventeen points, over 1,300,000 shares were thrown on the
market, and charterers began to fear that a general war would
prevent vessels leaving port. Their fears were well founded
for, on the thirty-first, the President Grant of the Hamburg-
American line, which sailed on the thirtieth, was recalled by
wireless, the America was held at Boston, the Vaterland at
New York and the Imperator at Hamburg, and the North-Ger-
man Lloyd announced that none of their vessels would leave
N^ew York on Saturday, August 1. That day the stock ex-
changes over all our country, indeed the world over, closed.
Only the Chicago Board of Trade and the N"ew York Produce
Exchange, both dealing in food products, remained open. At
Washington it was announced that steps to organize the Federal
Reserve Board would be taken at once, that $500,000,000 emer-
gency currency would be made available at National Banks, and

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 13

an amendment to the Aldrich-Vreeland currency act was rushed
through the Senate under a supervision of the rules.

Commerce with Europe now almost ceased. The Cunard
Line steamships Lusitania and Franconia were held at New
York, Belgian and Italian liners did not leave port, the Mauri-
tania, which left England August 1 and knew nothing of the
war, was warned when off Sable Island and put into Halifax,
and the Crown Princess Cecilie with several million dollars in
gold on board, bound for Hamburg, was recalled by wireless and
took refuge at Bar Harbor. Everything imported, dye stuffs,
chemicals, medicines, gloves from Germany, glassware, earthen-
ware, malt liquors from Austria, mackerel from Norway, cheese
from Holland, macaroni from Italy, rose in price, and what was
quite as bad food produced at home began to do the same with-
out any just cause whatever. Flour rose a dollar a barrel ; meat
from two to eight cents a pound ; sugar two cents a pound ; and
the prices of butter, eggs and vegetables went higher and higher
daily. In New York the Mayor appointed a Citizens' Com-
mittee to investigate, ordered the police to help in compiling
tables showing the cost of food at that time and in August,
1913 ; and appealed to housewives to send to the District Attor-
ney lists of prices they paid in market.

The President asked the Attorney General to report if crim-
inal prosecutions were possible. The rapid and unwarranted
increase in the prices of foodstuffs in this country, under the
pretext of conditions in Europe, he said, was so serious and vital
a matter that he took the liberty of calling the attention of the
Attorney General to it. He would be glad to know if under
existing law the Department of Justice could take action. The
Attorney General answered that "the head of our special
agents" the country over, and the District Attorneys had been
instructed to investigate and collect facts. They reported that
over all the country there had been an unjustifiable rise in the
prices of food, but found nothing on which to base a prose-
cution. The Executive Committee of the Retail Grocers' Asso-
ciation in Philadelphia urged that all Boards of Trade where
options for speculative purposes were bought and sold be closed,
and requested the President to stop export of foods to warring
countries.

14 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Remedies of all sorts were suggested, amend the Constitu-
tion and give Congress power to lay an export tax; give the
President power to stop the export of foodstuffs and clothing
when such exportation would increase cost at home ; form non-
meat-eating clubs. Some blamed the meat packers ; they blamed
the farmers who, they said, acting on the advice of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture not to ship wheat because of the shortage of
ships, were also holding back cattle.

Abroad, our countrymen, both in and out of the war zone,
were, many of them, in great distress. Those who had return
tickets on the German lines, found them worthless. Letters of
credit, and travelers' checks in Germany, France, Belgium,
Switzerland, and for the time being in London, were reduced to
waste paper. Money was not to be had. Mobilization made
escape from these countries almost impossible. In Switzerland,
train service on all four borders was suspended. In Paris a
panic prevailed. The possible closing of many of the hotels
because of the calling of the servants to the colors, the inability
to get money, the fear that the great liners would be comman-
deered caused a flight from the city to London. Dense crowds
stood for hours in the railway station and when the trains were
ready, hundreds were unable to get aboard. Aliens were re-
quired to register and many an American stood all day long in
a line waiting his turn. To aid those absolutely without means
committees were formed and met at the American Embassy.
In Germany no aliens could leave until after mobilization, and
no money could be obtained on letters of credit, bankers', travel-
ers' or express company checks. Hundreds, however, made
their way before mobilization began, to Holland. After mobili-
zation none could leave without passports which must be taken
to the proper German authorities and stamped. One American
who took his to the Foreign Office in Berlin did not receive it
back. Some months later it was found on the person of a
German spy named Lody who was shot in the Tower of Lon-
don. Towards the middle of August, the Dresdener Bank and
its branches agreed to cash letters of credit and checks of the
American Express Company, the Bankers Association, Bank-
ers Trust Company, and International Mercantile Marine in
small sums, provided all checks and letters of credit were

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 15

stamped by American consuls as evidence that the owners were
really American. Special trains for Americans were finally
arranged for and the movement from Carlsbad, Munich and
Berlin into Holland began.

The destination of all refugees from the Continent was Lon-
don, for very few found accommodation on the Dutch and
French liners. At London again tens of thousands were
stranded. Ship after ship was commandeered. Those who lost
passages on the German lines could find none on the English
and American, save in the steerage which was all too small to
satisfy the demand. Monday the second of August was Bank
Holiday; but that afternoon a moratorium was declared cover-
ing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and during these days
all banks and banking houses were closed. The American Ex-
press Company, however, came nobly to the relief of its patrons
and while the moratorium was on, cashed checks in small
amounts, and the Great Eastern Railway, having for years had
the patronage of Americans to and from the Continent, an-
nounced that it would cash express and travelers' checks to the
amount of ten pounds per person.

Meantime such Americans as reached London in the open-
ing days of August, met and organized at the Waldorf Hotel
but soon removed to quarters in the Savoy. There a registra-
tion bureau was opened and in time some 90,000 Americans
were registered. Committees were appointed to care for those
without funds, to find respectable quarters for women of limited
means traveling alone, to aid in securing the passage on such
steamships as were sailing, to do anything necessary to get
them home. The great difficulty was to secure transportation.
Almost every day some liner was taken over by the Government
and hundreds deprived of passage. More than once travelers
stood on the landing stage at Liverpool awaiting their ship when
announcement was made that the Government had taken it. On
such vessels as sailed no steerage passengers were taken, but
the steerage quarters were cleaned and fitted with first class
bedding, the steerage dining room turned into bedrooms and
the berths sold at the minimum first class cabin rates. All
passengers became first class and had the run of the ship.

Meantime efforts were made at home to aid stranded tour-

16 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ists by sending gold and providing means of transportation.
On '"July 31 Counselor Lansing of the Department of State
announced that, if necessary, the Government would charter
enough ships to bring home every American citizen in Europe,
and if occasion required Congress would be asked for money to
relieve those stranded in Europe. Authority was given to dip-
lomatic officers to exchange embassy checks for letters of credit,
or travelers' checks, which it was expected would be received by
railroads, steamship companies and hotels abroad. Friends and
relatives of those in need it was announced might deposit funds
with the Department of State and a like amount would then
be paid in Embassy checks. Americans without funds would
be loaned money. To meet these requirements the -President
appealed to Congress for an immediate appropriation. Dis-
turbances in Europe, he said, the interruption of transporta-
tion, the increase in the cost of living, the difficulty of obtaining
money from home, had placed a large number of Americans,
temporarily in Europe, in a serious situation and made it neces-
sary for the United States to provide transportation and relief.
He, therefore, asked for $250,000 to be placed at his disposal
for the relief, protection and transportation of American citi-
zens, for personal services and other expenses caused by the
troubles in Europe.

Fuller information as to the conditions of our countrymen
made it quite clear that such a sum was much too small and
August 4 the President asked for an additional sum of
$2,500,000. It was promptly appropriated and, the Secretary
of the Treasury said, would be disbursed, by agents of the
Government, to Americans actually without funds or the means
of getting them. The" cruiser Tennessee was to carry the gold,
and from five to ten millions more sent by New York bankers
for the relief of those who had letters of credit or travelers'
checks. By an Executive Order the duty of arranging for the
distribution of the $2,500,000 was assigned to a board of relief
consisting of the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War and the
Navy, and on August 6 the Tennessee sailed from New York.
She also carried money sent by bankers, and deposited at the
Department of State by friends of those in distress in Europe.

Anxiety as to procuring funds now gave place to anxiety

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 17

as to obtaining transportation. It was generally expected that
the Government would send battleships and transports. • The
battleships were unfit for such a purpose and the transports
were widely scattered and time would be required to fit them
for such a use. Coastwise steamships might be chartered, but
it was necessary to know if they were really needed. A little
patience showed that they were not, and in the course of a few
weeks all were brought home by the transatlantic lines, save a
few who came in privately chartered vessels and paid exorbitant
rates for passage.

By the close of August reports from officials abroad showed
that means of transportation were rapidly being found. Am-
bassador Herrick announced that arrangements had been made
to move 2500 Americans from Switzerland to Paris. The As-
sistant Secretary of War who Sailed on the Tennessee reported
from Berlin that there were 8000 Americans in that city, 2500
in Munich, 900 in Mannheim,, 750 in Hamburg, 500 in Dres-
den, 200 in Nuremberg and less than a hundred in fifteen other
cities; that trains would be sent daily to Holland and Switzer-
land, and that plenty of sailings would be made from England
and Italy.

While Americans abroad were striving to come home, thou-
sands of aliens in the United States were just as eager to go
abroad. As nation after nation was drawn into the war, their
consuls made haste to call to the colors reservists of their
armies and navies. All day long on August 3 the consulates
of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France and even Switzerland
were thronged with men who came to register. Hundreds of
others far removed from any consulate, responded by letter or
telegram. The consul of the Netherlands when summoning all
men members of the army and navy to return announced that
deserters would be pardoned if they returned to their native
'country. Objection was made by charity workers to the return
of married men with families lest their wives and children
become a charge on the community. To this it was answered
that so far as the families of German and Austro-Hungarian re-
servists were concerned they would be cared for by the patriotic
and beneficial societies of their countrymen resident in Amer-
ica,

18 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

In response to the call French, Germans, Austro-Hungarians
came to the consulate to enroll. Men who could not leave
their work sent their wives or mothers. All day long hundreds
stood in line before the consulates. At New York 41,000 were
said to have enrolled in person or by letter. A large number
of them from distant places were out of funds. Unable to
go home, unable to go abroad, they were in great distress.
British naval reserves found an outlet through Canada. French
reservists were taken by the French transatlantic lines. But
for Germans, Austrians and Russians, there was no means of
transportation.

Nevertheless the question of what would become of their
families if they did go was taken up by the charity workers in
Philadelphia and New York. In Philadelphia the Director
of Health and Charities invited the large employers of foreign
labor to meet him in conference. He had heard that the con-
suls of countries at war were practically acting as recruiting
agents and promising the men transportation and the care of
their families by their respective governments. He did not
think it right that heads of families should go leaving their
wives and children to become dependent on charity organiza-
tions.

The President now issued his proclamation of neutrality.

After some general statements the President summed up
briefly the laws and principles of international law which per-
sons living in our country were bound to obey in order to pre-
serve neutrality. ~ They were charged not to accept a commis-
sion to serve, one belligerent, on land or sea, against the other
belligerent ; they were not to enlist or enter the service of either
belligerent nor hire or retain any person to enlist, or go beyond
the- limits of the United States to enlist or enter the service of
either belligerent as a soldier, marine, or seaman on any armed
vessel. They were not to fit out or arm, nor procure to be
fitted out and armed, nor knowingly be concerned in the fitting
out and arming of any ship or vessel to be used in the service
of either belligerent. They were not to increase, nor procure
to be increased, nor be knowingly concerned in increasing or
augmenting the force of any ship of war, cruiser, or armed
vessel belonging to either belligerent or to the subjects of either

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 19

of them, by adding to the number of guns, or changing those on
board for others of larger caliber, or by adding any equipment
solely for use in war. They were not to begin, or set afoot, or
provide or prepare the means for any military expedition to be
carried on from the territory of the United States against the
territories or dominions of either of the belligerents.

The neutrality statutes thus summarized in the proclama-
tion are historic and the result of our long experience as a
neutral power.

"These are, in concise form," says Mr. James Brown Scott,11
"the neutrality statutes of the United States, which had been
found necessary in Washington's Administration and in that of
his immediate successor to preserve the neutral rights of the
United States against violation by belligerents, and to secure
the observance of the neutral duties of the United States in
behalf of 'belligerents. Reissued with slight modifications in
1818 and incorporated in the Statutes at Large in 1874, they
reappear in the so-called Penal Code of the United States in
1909 with but trifling changes of phraseology." Our coun-
try "was the first country to feel the need of a code of municipal
law dealing with the question of neutrality, and it was the first
to draft such a code. By its conduct as a neutral" when Wash-
ington was President, "it laid the basis of the modern laws of
neutrality. . . . The neutrality, therefore, which the United
States proclaimed in 1914 was not a neutrality born of the
moment."

Belligerents, in their turn, were warned in the proclama-
tion to observe the rights of neutrals. Should one of their ves-
sels of war come within the waters of the United States to pre-
pare for hostile operations, or watch the war ships or mer-
chantmen of an enemy, it would be "regarded as unfriendly and
offensive and in violation of that neutrality which it is the
determination of this Government to observe." No armed ves-
sel of a belligerent could stay more than twenty-four hours in
any of our ports, or use it for warlike purposes or for obtaining
warlike equipment, or depart, if in port when an enemy vessel
of any sort left, until four and twenty hours after the enemy

11 "A Survey of International Relations between the United States and
Germany, 1914-1917," pp. 44, 45.

20 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ship had passed beyond the jurisdiction of the United States.
No ship of war belonging to a belligerent could take in any
supplies save food and such other things as vrere necessary for
the subsistence of the crew, and only so much coal as might
be sufficient to take the vessel to the nearest port of her own
country. If provided with both sail and steam power then
but half the quantity of coal necessary if propelled by steam
alone would be furnished. When once coaled in a port of the
United States a war vessel of a belligerent could not again
obtain coal in one of our ports until after the expiration of
three months unless she had meantime entered a port of her own
country.

Finally, citizens of the United States were warned that
while afree and full expression of sympathies in public and
private is not restricted/' they could not lawfully originate a
military force in aid of a belligerent; that while they might
manufacture and sell within the United States arms and mu-
nitions of war, and other articles known as contraband of war,
they could not carry such articles upon the high seas for the
use of a belligerent, nor transport soldiers and officers of a bel-
ligerent, nor attempt to break any blockade lawfully established,
without "the risk of hostile capture and the penalties denounced
by the law of .nations in that behalf."

Special instructions from the Department of Commerce
warned Collectors of Customs that no vessel was to 'be cleared
if she was to be used as a transport for reservists or recruits
for the army of a belligerent.

European commerce for the time being was paralyzed.
Total or partial suspension of ocean traffic by some lines; the
refusal of bankers to accept bills of lading; high premiums for
marine insurance, in some cases 20 per cent ; with German and
Austrian tonnage driven from the sea ; with English and French
tonnage greatly reduced and no American merchant marine
worth mentioning, the export of our goods, wares, merchandise
and foodstuffs became almost impossible. Sailors, firemen,
cooks, stewards, longshoremen, teamsters were thrown out of
work. Mills and factories of many sorts which manufactured
for the export trade were forced to put their employees on part
time. Shipment of grain almost ceased, while the owners

THE OPENING OF THE WORLD WAR 21

awaited guarantees of the safety of vessels from war risks. So
grave was the situation becoming that the Secretary of the
Treasury called a conference at Washington of shippers and
exchange bankers, the one to provide ships for carrying grain
and cotton; the other to restore the market for foreign bills of
exchange. The conference urged the setting up a bureau of
war risk insurance which should assume war risks on Amer-
ican vessels and American cargoes shipped therein; and ap-
pointed committees of experts to give the government advice on
transportation, foreign exchange and war risk insurance.

The suggestion was taken up and made part of the emer-
gency measures before Congress. First among these was the
Ship Registry Bill under which foreign-built ships owned by
an American corporation might be admitted to American reg-
istry and come under the flag. But this would be too slow in
its working. Time, perhaps much time, must pass before any
considerable number of foreign vessels could be acquired. A
quicker way of procuring ships to carry the waiting crops to
Europe was needed, and was thought to have been found in a
plan to purchase ocean-going vessels and operate them under
the direction of a board composed of the President, Secretaries
of War and Commerce and the Postmaster General, and to
establish a bureau for government insurance of American ships
and cargoes against the risks of war. The fine ships of the
!N"orth-German-Lloyd and the Hamburg-American lines could
be purchased and used at once.

No bill for the purchase of ships passed Congress at that
time; but the Federal Bureau of War Risk Insurance was
established and $5,000,000 appropriated to be used to insure
American vessels, freight and cargo, when war-risk insurance
could not be obtained elsewhere on terms that were reasonable.

The sudden interruption of ocean traffic, the closing of many
European ports to shipment of goods to our country cut down
the revenue from imports so rapidly and so much that when
August ended there was a deficit of ten million dollars. Aware
that this must continue the President applied to Congress for a
War Tax.

During the month of August, Jie said, the revenue collected
from customs duties fell $10,629,538 below that for the same

22 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

month of 1913. Should the rate of decrease go on during the
remainder of the fiscal year, it would amount to $50,000,000
or possibly $100,000,000. This loss was due not to the recent
reductions in duties, he held, but to the decrease in importa-
tions, caused by war conditions in the industrial areas in
Europe. Heavy as was the deficit it should be met, and
promptly, not by borrowing, not by issuing bonds, but by taxa-
tion. He asked therefore that $100,000,000 be raised by inter-
nal taxes, and Congress in October enacted the War Revenue
Act to add $54,000,000 to the revenue. It was to expire on the
last day of December, 1915.

CHAPTEE II

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA BELGIAN RELIEF

THAT the people of the United States should be indifferent
to the course of events in Europe was impossible. Their neutral
rights, their sympathies, their prejudices; indignation over the
brutal invasion of Belgium; admiration for the heroism of the
Belgian people; hatred of England; good will towards Eng-
land ; grateful remembrance for French support in the War for
Independence, detestation of German militarism, love for the
Fatherland, ties of blood, race, nationality, a hundred motives
forced them to take sides.

As the greatest of neutrals the attitude that might be taken
by the people and Government of the United States was a mat-
ter of much concern to all the belligerents and to none more
than to Germany.

No sooner, therefore, was the war fairly under way than
Germans, German-Americans and pro-German citizens began
the most remarkable propaganda ever made by a belligerent and
its supporters to influence opinion in a neutral country. The
press, the platform, and the mails were used without stint. In-
deed a special agent, Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, late Colonial
Secretary of the German Empire, was sent to do his part in the
effort to convince Americans of the justice of the German
cause. A Press Bureau was established at New York from
which came pamphlets and leaflets, and "The Fatherland, a
weekly devoted to Fair-Play for Germany and Austria-Hun-
gary." Professors in many Universities, men who had lived in
Germany, and had studied at her Universities, while declaring
themselves devoted Americans, wrote and labored for the Ger-
man cause. The German language press sided with the Father-
land. The English languages press though overwhelmingly pro-
ally, opened its columns to the expression of opinions by both
sides.

23

24 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Who began the war, was hotly debated. Friends of the
Allies laid the blame on Germany and denounced her for vio-
lating the neutrality of Belgium. Pro-Germans defended the
invasion of Belgium, maintained that France was the first to do
so, charged Great Britain with responsibility for the war and
declared that her defense of Belgian neutrality was a mere
pretense. So warm did the discussion become that August 18
the President appealed to his afellow countrymen," to be neu-
tral in speech as well as in action. He supposed, he said, that
every thoughtful man in America had asked himself what effect
the war would have on the United States. That depended on
what American citizens said and did. All who loved America
would act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, of im-
partiality, fairness and friendliness toward all concerned. But
the spirit of the nation would largely depend on what was said
at public meetings, in newspapers and magazines, by what was
uttered by ministers from the pulpit and by men on the streets.
Our people were drawn from the nations at war. It was but
natural that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy
and desire as to the issues of the conflict. He ventured there-
fore to speak a word of warning against partisanship, against
taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as well
as in name. The people must be impartial in thought as well as
in action. Our country must show herself fit beyond others to
exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of
self-control, neither sitting in judgment upon others, nor dis-
turbed in her counsels, free to do what is honest, and truly ser-
viceable for the peace of the world.

The appeal, coming at the time it did, was by many looked
on as a reply to one made to the President by the National
German-American Alliance, through its President, Dr. J. C.
Hexamer, to use his good offices with Japan. That country,
about to enter the war, had sent an ultimatum to Germany de-
manding the withdrawal of her armed ships from the eastern
seas and the surrender of Kiao-Chow. This act was now used
by pro-Germans to frighten the people of the United States.
Having seized Kiao-Chow, the next objective point of Japan,
it was said, will be Samoa.

Now Samoa, it was pointed out, is but six days sail from

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 25

ports in Japan and almost in line with Honolulu, in which were
living a hundred thousand Japanese, and Honolulu is hut
five days sail from San Francisco. With Samoa in her hands
and a hundred thousand of her subjects on the island and an-
other hundred thousand in Honolulu Japan would be ready
for an attack on any power she pleased. Why not the United
States ? There was more behind her act than the mere seizure
of the leased possessions of Germany in China.

Hoping to involve the United States in the issue the
National German-American Alliance appealed to President
Wilson "to plead with the Government of Japan," in the name
"of humanity, civilization and universal peace to refrain from
carrying the war into the Far East by demanding from Ger-
many to abandon all her political and commercial interests in
China." She should be fair and submit any grievances against
Germany to the Hague Peace Tribunal. Dr. Hexamer like-
wise appealed to the press to "frown down upon the act of
Japan in throwing herself into the European conflict." Japan
menaced no other nation as she did the United States, he said.
Her purpose was to acquire the Caroline Islands, then possibly
Samoa and finally Hawaii.

At a meeting of Irish-Nationalists in Philadelphia a speaker
declared England had ever been the bitter enemy of Ireland,
and that Redmond had assumed too much, when he pledged
Ireland to fight Germany, and resolutions friendly to Germany
were adopted: "We, the Irish-Nationalists of Philadelphia,"
said one, "recognize in this conflict that Germany is the friend
of Ireland, and that she is attacked from behind by Ireland's
old enemy, England." "We repudiate the so-called leaders of
our race who without warrant pledged Irish courage to the
cause of the assassin and the coward." "To Ireland we look
to hope for German victory over, the power that has destroyed
our own country." "We pledge ourselves to do all in our power
to aid a friendly people to repel their enemies who are also
ours, and to use every effort to bring Irishmen and Germans
together to fight for a common cause, the national welfare of
Germany and the national existence of Ireland."

The ministers of German churches in Philadelphia called
a meeting at the Zion German Lutheran Church and expressed

26 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

their pro-German views. Resolutions presented by the min-
isters "protested against the censorship by our government of
German-American wireless stations. Any so-called censorship
of the cables of England and her allies is a farce, as the dis-
patches can readily be introduced into our country through
Canada."

Resolutions adopted by those in the pews set forth that:
"We, German-Americans," protest "against the common
calumnies against the head of a nation friendly to us, as degrad-
ing the entire American people" ; brand as false the statement
"that Germany and its Emperor have sought and forced this
war" ; demand "no favor for Germany from the English- Amer-
ican press," but "protest against all articles which tend to incite
and seek to create public sentiment against Germany. What
we ask is neutrality towards all warring nations."

The Kaiser, meanwhile, on September 7, protested to the
President against the conduct of the Allies. "After the cap-
ture of the French fort of Longwy my troops found in that
place thousands of dumdum bullets which had been manufac-
tured in special works by the French Government. Such bul-
lets were found not only on French killed and wounded, but
also on English troops. . . .

"I solemnly protest to you against the way in which this
war is being waged by our opponents, whose methods are mak-
ing it one of the most barbarous in history. Besides the use
of these awful weapons, the Belgian Government openly in-
cited the civil population to participate in fighting, and has for
a long time carefully organized their resistance. The cruelties
practiced in this guerrilla warfare, even by women and priests,
towards wounded soldiers, and doctors and hospital nurses
(physicians were killed and lazarets fired on) were such that
eventually my generals were compelled to adopt the strongest
measures to punish the guilty and frighten the bloodthirsty
population from continuing their shameful deeds.

"Some villages and even the old town of Lou vain, with the
exception of its beautiful town hall, had to be destroyed for
the protection of my troops.

"My heart bleeds when I see such measures inevitable and
when I think of the many innocent people who have lost their

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 27

houses and property as a result of the misdeeds of the guilty."

No sooner did President Poincare hear of this protest than
he too, addressed President Wilson. He had been informed, he
said, that the German Government was attempting to abuse His
Excellency's good faith by alleging that dumdum bullets were
made in French State workshops and used by French soldiers.
The calumny was nothing but "an audacious attempt to reverse
the roles." Germany since the beginning of the war had used
dumdum bullets and had daily violated the law of nations.
On August 18, and on several occasions since, he had reported
crimes. Germany, aware of these protests, "was trying to de-
ceive and make use of pretexts and lies in order to indulge in
further acts of barbarity in the name of right."

September 16 President Wilson answered the protest from
the Kaiser. He was honored that the Emperor should have
turned to him "for an impartial judgment as the representative
of a people truly disinterested as respects the present war and
truly desirous of knowing and accepting the truth." The
Kaiser he was sure would not expect him "to say more." "It
would be unwise, it would be premature, for a single Govern-
ment ; however fortunately separated from the present struggle,
it would even be inconsistent with the neutral position of any
nation, which like this, has no part in the contest, to favor or
express a final judgment."

That same day Belgium made her protests. For weeks past
horrid stories of atrocities perpetrated by the Germans on the
people of Belgium had come pouring in from abroad. The
German armies had swept across Belgium and France almost
to the gates of Paris. There they had been checked. The
battle of the Marne had been fought and the Germans driven
northward to the St. Quentin, Noyon, Laon line.

Everywhere their path had been marked by murder, rapine,
brutality and crime. The details of what was done need not
be retold. The whole world knows it. In every village, town
and little city men, women and children were shot for no of-
fense whatever, houses and shops were looted and burned,
churches were destroyed, farmsteads set on fire, peasants shot
in the fields, and livestock carried away.

At Louvain the Germans, asserting they had been fired on

28 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

by civilians, burned a large part of the city, some of the
University buildings and the great library and shot scores of
the inhabitants and carried hundreds into captivity. At
Aerschot, under the pretext that the son of the burgomaster, a
lad of fifteen, had killed a German officer, one hundred and fifty
citizens were shot and the town pillaged and almost destroyed.
Fifteen houses were burned after the people had fled from
Rotselaer. Vise and a score of towns and hamlets met a like
fate.

As the reports of these atrocities became known in our
country, an outburst of astonishment and indignation followed.
That the armies of a people such as the Germans were believed
to be should wantonly destroy historic monuments, masterpieces
of architecture, works of art and take the lives of noncom-
batants was at first almost unbelievable. Indeed they were
indignantly denied or defended by the German language press
and devoted friends of Germany. They were, it was said, of
English origin, they came from Paris, were false and designed
to prejudice America. Five American newspaper correspond-
ents who followed the German armies as they drove through
Belgium joined in a letter of denial and sent it by wireless
from Brussels to Berlin for transmission to their newspapers.
According to their account 1 they had spent two weeks follow-
ing the troops a hundred miles, and could not report a single
unprovoked instance. Stories of atrocities were groundless as
far as they knew. They could not confirm one instance of mis-
treatment of prisoners or non combatants. This, they said, was
true of Louvain, Brussels, Luneville and Nantes. Many rumors
when investigated they had found groundless.

A very different story came from the Belgians. N~o sooner
had the Germans entered Belgium and begun the work of ter-
rorizing the people than the Minister of Justice appointed a
Commission of Inquiry to gather and examine all the facts
relating to violations of the law of nations, the rights of prop-
erty and destruction of human life.

The Commission met in Brussels, but after the removal of

1 Mr. Roger X/ewis of the Associated Press ; Mr. Irvin S. Cobb of the
Philadelphia Ledger; Mr. Harry Hause of the Chicago Daily News; Mr.
J. O'Donnell Bennet and Mr. John T. McCutcheon of the Chicago Tribune.

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 29

the Government to Antwerp on August 18, communication
with Brussels ended and no reports came from the Commis-
sion. Thereupon the Minister of Justice appointed a sub-
commission to carry on the work in Antwerp, and from it by
the end of August came a report telling how Germany had
violated the neutrality of Belgium, how in disregard of the
Hague Rules of 1907, her aeroplanes and dirigibles dropped
bombs on towns that were undefended and on fortified places
neither besieged nor invested as Malines, Heyst-op-din-Berg,
Louvain, Namur, Antwerp; how the people were massacred
at Aerschot, and how buildings were burned, homes looted and
people killed in Liege, Louvain, Hersselt.

This report the King of the Belgians placed in the hands of
a Special Envoy and sent him,' attended by men of distinction,
to deliver it to President Wilson as a protest against the wrongs
inflicted on the people of Belgium.2

The Mission was received on September 16, an address
was made, the document delivered, and a reply made by the
President. In the course of it he said:

"I am honored that your King should have turned to me in time
of distress as to one who would wish on behalf of the people he
represents to consider the claims to the impartial sympathy of man-
kind of a nation which deems itself wronged.

"I thank you for the document you have put in my hands. . . .
It shall have my most attentive perusal and my most thoughtful
consideration.

"You will, I am sure, not expect me to say more. ... It would
be unwise, it would be premature, for a single government, however
fortunately separated from the present struggle, it would be incon-
sistent with the neutral position of any nation which like this has
no part in the contest, to form a final judgment."

Ambassador von Bernstorff officially informed the State De-
partment that the statement made by the Belgian Commission
did not contain one word of truth. A dispatch from Berlin in-
formed him that because of an attack from Antwerp the Ger-
man garrison went forth to meet the enemy, leaving one bat-
talion in Louvain; that the priests thinking this meant retreat
gave arms to the citizens who suddenly began to shoot out of
a"The Case of Belgium in the Present Wlar, 1914."

30 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

windows ; that a fight of twenty-five hours followed ; that parts
of Louvain were burned, and civilians with arms were killed.
The German army, the dispatch said, "protested against the
news sent out by enemies about the cruelty of German warfare.
The German troops had to take severe measures sometimes when
provoked, the population making treacherous attacks upon them
and bestial atrocities against the wounded. . . . The German
soldier is not an incendiary nor pillager."

When the Germans were driven from Rheims in Septem-
ber, and the French came in, the retiring enemy turned their
guns upon the cathedral. Against this act of vandalism the
French Government, on September 21, made a formal pro-
test to all neutral nations, and sent the American architect,
Mr. Whitney Warren, to report on the damage done. Even
the German Government at first seemed ashamed, and Am-
bassador von Bernstorff entered an official disclaimer at Wash-
ington and in its name denied that German artillery had pur-
posely destroyed important buildings in Rheims, and that or-
ders were given to spare the cathedral by all means. The report
of Mr. Warren proved the destruction was deliberate.

Despite the testimony collected by the Belgian Commission
and published in their report, pro-Germans denied that such
atrocities had been committed and declared that what had been
done was fully justified. The daily lamentations here over the
atrocities, the barbarities of the Germans are dictated by Eng-
lish hypocrisy, said the Staats-Zeitung, published in New York.
Americans who to-day profess to be so indignant over the bom-
bardment of Rheims have plainly forgotten Sherman's March
to the Sea. Atrocities! Enough of the whining of English
hypocrisy, because something beautiful has been destroyed. A
Philadelphia German newspaper asserted that the Belgian Com-
mittee was being used by England to raise a cry against Ger-
many. It had falsely accused German soldiers and the German
army of gross infractions of the rules of civilized warfare and
the rights of civilians. German wounded were mutilated by
Belgian hyenas on the battlefield. Civilian populations had
taken up arms and fired on the Germans from behind. The
partial destruction of Louvain was to be attributed to an or-
ganized attack on the Germans by the civilians. Dr. Kraus-

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 31

kopf of Philadelphia knew that women and noncombatants had
cut off the ears and noses and gouged out the eyes of wounded
defenseless Germans.

Scarcely had the Belgians presented their case to the Presi-
dent when the case of Germany was set forth in a pamphlet
entitled: "The Truth About Germany: Facts About the War."
It was addressed especially to our countrymen, had been writ-
ten in Germany and the correctness of its statements was
vouched for by an Honorary Committee of four and thirty Ger-
mans of distinction. In the preface Dr. John W. Burgess of
Columbia University vouched for them. Seventeen he had
known for years. With six he had labored as a colleague in
University work. "They are the salt of the earth! . . . No
statement was ever issued which was vouched for by more solid,
intelligent and conscientious people. Its correctness, complete-
ness and veracity cannot be doubted." One article took up the
question who was responsible for the war and laid the blame on
England. Another reminded us of what England had done in
the Civil War. Others explained mobilization and the organi-
zation of the German army and navy. Among the statements
vouched for by the Honorary Committee are some as unbeliev-
able as any that came out of Belgium. Americans were told
"that the eyes of wounded German soldiers in Belgium were
gouged out, and their ears and noses cut off; that surgeons and
persons carrying the wounded were shot at from houses";
that "German women were dragged naked through the streets
(of Antwerp) and shot to death before the eyes of the police
and the militia" and that "children were thrown from the win-
dows of German homes into the streets and their limbs were
broken."

In the light of what we now know of the activities of
German spies and agents in our country against France and
Great Britain, and finally against us while still at peace with
Germany this complaint against espionage in Germany is worth
citing. "This espionage," said the writer, "was directed from
central points in foreign countries." "Kepeatedly it appeared
that the foreign embassies and Consulates in Germany assisted
in this work." "This espionage- system was supported with
large funds." But the writer did not then know of the work

32 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

to be carried on in our country by Ambassador von Bernstorff,
by von Papen, Captain Boy-Ed, Dumba and a host of others.
The pamphlet closed with "an appeal to American
Friends" ; but the appeal was made on the low plane of profit
and loss.

"The American citizen who is now leaving Europe, which has
been turned into an enormous military camp, may consider himself
fortunate that he will soon be able to set foot in the new world where
he will be enabled again to take up his business pursuits. . . . But
the American will feel the effects of the fate of the old world. ... He
will be affected by every victory and defeat, just as by the sun and
rain in his own country. He will doubtless . remember that of all
European countries, Germany is the best customer of the United
States, from which she purchases yearly over one billion marks in
cotton, food, metal and technical products. If Germany is economi-
cally ruined, which is the wish of Russia, France and England and all
the allied friends of wretched Serbia, it would mean the loss of a
heavy buyer to America which could not easily be made good." . . .
In forty-three years "England, France and Russia had not been able
to increase their foreign trade three times, while Germany and the
United States have increased theirs five times. The trade of Germany
and the United States has increased from 7.6 to 38 billion marks.
If these figures show nothing else, they show on which side the
American sympathy will be."

That such information as Germany wished the people of the
United States to have, might be spread as far and as wide as
possible the Oberburgermeister of Berlin appealed to the Mayor
of New York to act as news agent. "The Fatherland," said he,
"has the greatest possible concern that during the war in which
it is fighting for life, neutral countries may not be informed
of events of the war solely by the press of the. enemy." The
municipal administration of Berlin regarded it as a duty to
make the reports of the German press on the progress of the
war accessible to the authorities and citizens of the great
municipalities of neutral states. The German newspapers regu-
larly published reports from General Headquarters on the state
of affairs. This information which came, plain and unadorned,
from an uncontaminated source would give to the world trust-
worthy and clear accounts of events. He would be greatly
obliged, therefore, if the Mayor would be willing to receive the

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 33

reports and send them to the sources of public information in
the city, and if possible bring them to the knowledge of the
citizens by having them exposed in the reading rooms, or in
any other suitable manner.

Ninety-three German professors and representatives of
science and art now appealed "To the Civilized World" against
"the lies and calumnies with which our enemies are endeavor-
ing to stain the honor of Germany in her hard struggle for
existence." "It is not true that Germany caused the war."
"Neither the people, the government, nor the Kaiser wanted
war." Not until "a numerical superiority which had been ly-
ing in wait on the frontier assailed us did the whole nation rise
to a man."

"It is not true" that Germany "trespassed in neutral Bel-
gium." "It is not true that the life and property of a single
Belgian citizen was injured by our soldiers without the bit-
terest self-defense made it necessary." "It is not true that our
troops treated Louvain brutally." "It is not true that our war-
fare pays no respect to international law." "It is not true
that the combat against our so-called militarism is not a combat
against our civilization, as our enemies hypocritically pretend
it is. Were it not for German militarism German civilization
would long since have been extinguished."

"We cannot wrest the poisonous weapon — the lie — out of
the hands of our enemies. All we can do is to proclaim to all
the world that our enemies are giving false witness against
us."

"Have faith in us ! Believe that we shall carry on the war
to the end as a civilized nation."

Twenty-two German Universities made an appeal, and
twenty English scholars answered that of the German profes-
sors and men of science. Ludwig Fulda, well known as a
writer of poetry and prose, addressed an open letter "To Amer-
icans from a German Friend." Fifty-three British authors
came to the defense of England. Bernard Shaw's "Common
Sense About the War" was published in the New York Times,
and was vigorously attacked in the same journal by Arnold
Bennett. After the "White Papers" of Great Britain and Ger-
many, the pamphlets containing the correspondence that passed

34 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

between them and the Powers from the close of July until the
declarations of war, were made public, "A German Review of
the Evidence" was written in Germany and sent to Dr. Bernard
Dernburg who had it translated and published in the New
York Times.

From Dr. Dernburg came a series of articles afterward col-
lected and published in a pamphlet "Search-Lights on the
War." One, "Germany and England — The Real Issue," ap-
peared in the Saturday Evening Post; another, "Germany and
the Powers," in the North American Review; another, "Ger-
many's Food Supply," in the Review of Reviews, and another,
"When Germany Wins," in the Independent with a hearty en-
dorsement by the editor. "We hear a great deal about what
England and France are fighting for," said the editor. "We
have heard very little — except from English sources — about
what Germany is fighting for. Here is a chance to read the
other side.

"Dr. Dernburg stands for what we Americans most admire
in modern Germany, its industries, its commerce, its technical
schools and its efficient organization. . . . He is now in the
country on a most important mission. As a man thoroughly
familiar with American history and politics as well as finance
he understands our point of view and can interpret to us the
point of view of his own country."

And now the diplomatic representatives of foreign coun-
tries, resident in the United States, began to talk.

Sir Lionel Garden, Minister to Mexico, when about to leave
the United States for England, denounced the Government be-
cause it withdrew the troops from Vera Cruz. Baron Wilhelm
von Schoen, attached to the German Embassy at Tokio until
Japan entered the war, arrived in Washington and in an inter-
view sought to excite bad feelings towards Japan. There feel-
ing against the United States, he said, was intense. Should
Japan and England be victorious, which he did not believe
could happen, the danger to the United States would be great.
Japan wanted war. His meaning plainly was that the United
States would do well to side with Germany.

The great offender was the Ambassador from Turkey, A.
Rustem Bey. His country had not yet entered the war. That

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 35

she would do so no one doubted and a report was current that
Great Britain had suggested that as a massacre of Christians
was likely, the United States should send warships to Turkish
waters. Concerning this the Ambassador in an interview said
Great Britain, following in the footsteps of France, had agitated
before the eyes of the United States the specter of a massacre
of Christians in Turkey, and had made this a pretext for re-
questing the United States to send warships to Turkish ports.
Because many newspapers were siding with Great Britain and
France he would say that "the thought of lynchings which occur
daily in the United States, and the memory of the water cure
in the Philippines should make them chary of attacking Turkey
in connection with acts of savagery committed by her under
provocation." Why should the United States, not one of whose
citizens had ever suffered injury in Turkey, "send warships to
the ports of that country with the result that it would only cause
irritation against her, and could under no circumstances act
as a check?" Bombard Smyrna and Beyreuth? "And what
more could she do? Nothing! Besides that would be enough
to mean war. Do the people of the United States want war ?" '

For these remarks von Schoen and Rustem Bey might very
properly have been required to leave the country. But the ad-
ministration was long suffering. The attention of von Bern-
storff was called to the utterances of von Schoen, then attached
to the German Embassy at Washington; the offender called
at the Department of State and the incident was settled. Rus-
tem Bey would neither explain nor retract, and, passing by the
Secretary of State, he called on the President and announced
that. he had asked leave of absence and shortly thereafter left
our country not to return.

No sooner had Congress assembled in December than the
German- Americans turned their attention to munitions of war,
and sought to secure legislation to prevent the export of guns,
powder, shrapnel and shells from the United States to any of
the belligerents. As matters then stood Germany was cut off
from such supplies from our country. Therefore they held it
was unneutral to sell munitions of war to the Allies. ,In hope
of arousing public sympathy for Germany resolutions were
offered in Congress and bills were introduced to prohibit the

36 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

sale of arms and ammunition for export during the war ; to for-
bid the furnishing of war materials to belligerent nations ; and
thousands of .telegrams were sent to Senators and Representa-
tives urging them to vote for one or the other of the bills. At-
tempts were made to even coerce some members, and petitions,
chiefly from the middle western part of our country, were pre-
sented by scores. One from a meeting of citizens of Enderlin,
North Dakota, presented on January 17, was, save for the
preamble, word for word the same as the resolutions adopted
on January 11 by the Philadelphia Branch of the National
German- American Alliance. Ten nations, the preamble to the
Enderlin resolutions said, were drawing war supplies from the
United States. This tended to increase the loss of life, the
destruction of property, and prolong the war. As a people we
prayed for peace; but as a nation we helped on the war by
emptying our private arsenals and war supplies "onto the bat-
tlefields of Europe." Our Government had proclaimed strict
neutrality. Yet, when we offer military -supplies to any nation
that chooses to buy, and do so knowing that for a hundred years
England by her supremacy on the seas is master of all contra-
band goods, we are pursuing a course which diverges so far
from strict neutrality that we injure aour ancient friends, Ger-
many and Austria, by every means in our power."

Without the halls of Congress Ambassador von Bernstorff
led the opposition by filing with the Department of State on De-
cember 5 a protest against dumdum bullets which he charged ,
were used by the British and manufactured in the United
States. It had come to the knowledge of the German Gov-
ernment, he said, that the British Government had placed, with
the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, an order for
"20,000 Riot Guns Models 1897 and 50,000,000 buckshot
cartridges for the same. The buckshot cartridge contains nine
shots.

"''The use of those arms and munitions has not yet become
known to civilized warfare.

"The Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport,
Conn., on October 20 took out through Frank O. Hoagland, the
enclosed patent for the manufacture of a 'Mushroom Bullet/

"According to information, the accuracy of which is not to

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 37

be doubted, 8,000,000 of those cartridges have been delivered
to Canada since October of this year by the Union Metallic
Cartridge Company for the armament of the British Army.
Cartridges made by that process, although cut through, cannot
be distinguished, by their external appearance, from the regular
full jacketed cartridges. The soldiers in whose hands this kind
of ammunition is placed by the British Government are not in
position to know that they are firing dumdum bullets.

"Whether the use of mushroom bullets is contrary to the
law of nations is open to discussion."

The letter of von Bernstorff having appeared in the news-
papers, the Winchester Company publicly denied that it had
ever received an order for riot guns and cartridges from the
British Government or any other government engaged in the
present war, or had ever sold any such material to the British
Government or any other government engaged in the present
war. As to the 8,000,000 mushroom bullets the Kemington
Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Company on December 10
wrote von Bernstorff that but a little over 117,000 had been
made and only 109,000 sold, that they were manufactured to
meet a demand for a better sporting cartridge with a soft nose
bullet and could not be used in the military rifle of any foreign
power.

Nevertheless, Mr. Bryan called on the firms concerned for
information as to what they had done. The Winchester Arms
Company, by telegraph, confirmed their public statement. The
Remington Company sent a copy of their letter to von Bern-
storff,. and gave a list of the names of every person to whom
mushroom bullets had been sold and the number in each case.
From this list it appeared they had been sold in lots of from
20 to 2,000; that only 960 cartridges went to British North
America, and 100 to British East Africa.

Could the Ambassador furnish evidence, Mr. Bryan replied,
that any company was furnishing to the armies in Europe,
cartridges whose use would be contrary to The Hague Con-
ventions the President would use his influence to prevent the
sale of such ammunition, without regard to whether it was
or was not the duty of the Government, on legal or conventional
grounds, to take such action.

38 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

~No war munitions of any consequence had as yet been ex-
ported. That they would be seemed certain and to prevent it
the agitation for an embargo was taken up by the German-
Americans. At a meeting of the Philadelphia Branch of the
National German-American Alliance on December 11, attended
by delegates from almost a hundred local societies with a mem-
bership of some 40,000, it was resolved that it was "the impera-
tive duty" of Congress to pass such laws as would enable the
President "to lay an embargo upon all contraband of war,
saving and excepting foodstuffs alone, and thereby withdraw
from the contending Powers all aid and assistance of this
Bepublic."

The meeting, it was resolved, rejected "as hypocrisy and
national sacrilege the commercial spirit of the country that is
answering our supplications for peace by sending the instru-
ments of destruction and death to the serried armies arrayed
in struggle through the empires of Europe." As citizens who
had contributed their full share to American peace, Christianity
and civilization, they called on all Americans to join in enforc-
ing that strict American neutrality that would give aid and
comfort to none of the contending Powers, but would withhold
American resources from promoting destruction and slaughter
among the friendly nations of Europe.

A few days later some two hundred German- Americans met
in Philadedphia to devise a plan for placing before the author-
ities in Washington the question, Cannot the shipment of muni-
tions be stopped? It was admitted that the meeting had no
specific facts, but the speakers were sure that questionable sales
had been made, that the spirit of the neutrality proclamation
had been violated. It was therefore suggested that British-
Americans, French- Americans, Russian- Americans, sons of all
the belligerent nations be asked to join with German- Americans
in a call on the Government to stop the shipment of munitions
of war. Unable to see how this could be done, the meeting
adjourned to meet again.

But there were other ways in which the friends of Germany
did their evil work. Charges of bad faith were made against
the Government in the press and on the platform. It was
partial to the Allies, unfriendly to Germany; negligent of its

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 39

duties as a neutral, submissive while Great Britain searched
our vessels, seized our copper on its way to neutral ports, cut
off our commerce and made contraband such articles of com-
merce as she saw fit. When Congress met members with Ger-
man-American and pro-German constituents were deluged with
letters of complaint.

Taking up these charges, Senator Stone of Missouri sum-
marized them under twenty heads and January 8, 1915, wrote
Mr. Bryan:

As you are aware, frequent complaints or charges are made in
one form or another through the press that this Government has
shown partiality to Great Britain, France and Russia as against
Germany and Austria during the present war between those Powers;
in addition to which I have received numerous letters to the same
effect from sympathizers with Germany and Austria. The various
grounds of these complaints may be summarized and stated in the
following form.

The Senator then gave the list of twenty complaints and
asked "if not incompatible with the public interests,'7 that he
be furnished with whatever information the Department has,
"touching the various points of complaint."

Mr. Bryan replied on January 24, took up the charges and
complaints one by one and answered them.

"1. Freedom of communication by submarine cables, but
censorship of wireless messages."

' Communication by cable had not been interfered with be-
cause a belligerent could cut a cable, and they had done so, the
British having cut the German cable near the Azores, and the
Germans a British cable near the Fanning Islands. Since
cables could be destroyed the responsibility fell on the belliger-
ents and not on neutrals to prevent communication. But it was
not in the power of belligerents to prevent wireless messages
going out from a neutral country to a warship on the high seas.
If such messages directed the movements of warships, or gave
information of the whereabouts of an enemy's public or private
ships, the neutral territory was being used as a naval base, to
allow which was an unneutral act

40 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

2. "Submission to censorship of mails and in some cases
to the repeated destruction of American letters found on neutral
vessels," was another complaint. The Secretary pointed out
that both Great Britain and Germany had censored private
letters ; that they had a right to do so, and that the Department
knew of no evidence that mail had been destroyed on neutral
ships.

3. "The search of American vessels for German and Aus-
trian subjects on the high seas and in territorial waters of a
belligerent." Two instances had occurred on the high seas, and
in both cases vigorous representations had been made to the
offending governments.

4. "Submission without protest to English violations of
the rules regarding absolute and conditional contraband, as laid
down in The Hague Conventions, in international law, in the
Declaration of London." There is no Hague Convention, the
Secretary replied, which deals with absolute or conditional
contraband; the Declaration of London is not in force, inter-
national law alone applies, and as to articles of contraband
there is no general agreement among nations. The United
States had protested against the seizure and detention by Brit-
ish authorities of all American ships and cargoes truly destined
for neutral ports.

5. "Submission without protest to inclusion of copper in
the lists of absolute contraband." In every case in which Great
Britain had seized copper shipments the United States had
protested.

6. "Submission without protest to interference with
American trade to neutral countries in conditional contraband,
in absolute contraband." The recent note to Great Britain the
Secretary considered a full answer to this complaint.

7. "Submission without protest to interruption of trade
in conditional contraband consigned to private persons in Ger-
many and Austria, thereby supporting the policy of Great
Britain to cut off all supplies from Germany and Austria." As
no American vessel so far as known had attempted to carry
conditional contraband to Germany or Austria, no complaints
of seizure had arisen.

8. "Submission to British interruption of trade in pe-

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 4,1

troleum, rubber, leather, wool, &c.," was another grievance.
The United States, Mr. Bryan answered, "has, thus far, suc-
cessfully obtained the release in every case of detention or
seizure" of petroleum "brought to its attention." Eubber had
been placed on the absolute and leather on the conditional con-,
traband lists by both France and Great Britain.

9. "No interference with the sale to Great Britain and her
Allies of arms, amihunition, horses, uniforms, and other muni-
tions of war, although such sales prolong the war." The
Executive had no power to prevent such sales. Neither inter-
national law nor municipal statute prohibited a neutral to trade
in munitions of war.

10. "No suppression of sale of dumdum bullets to Great
Britain." On the fifth of December, was the reply, the German
Ambassador presented a note charging the British Government
with having ordered from the Winchester Repeating Arms
Company, 20,000 riot guns, Model 1897, and 50,000,000 buck-
shot cartridges for use in such guns. The Winchester Company
publicly, and to the Department, had denied that any such
order has been given by any government engaged in the present
war. The German Ambassador had further charged that
8,000,000 cartridges fitted with mushroom bullets had been
sold by the Remington Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Com-
pany to the British Government for its army. The company
replied that it had sold to private persons 109,000 soft-nosed
bullets to supply a demand for a better sporting cartridge, that
they could not be used in the military rifle of any foreign
power; gave the names of the persons to whom they had been
sold in lots of from 20 to 5,000, and proved that only 960 had
gone to British North America, and 100 to British East
Africa.

11. "British warships are permitted to lie off American
ports and intercept neutral vessels." Representation had been
made to the British Government that the presence of war ves-
sels off New York was offensive, and a like complaint to the
Japanese Government as to cruisers near Honolulu. In both
cases they were withdrawn.

12. "Submission without protest to disregard by Great
Britain and her Allies of American naturalization certificates,

42 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

American passports." Eearers of American passports, was the
answer, have been arrested in all countries at war, and in every
case the American Government has entered vigorous protest.
Authentic cases have come to the notice of the Department in
jvhich American passports have been fraudulently obtained and
used by certain German subjects. At least four persons of Ger-
man nationality had been arrested for having obtained Amer-
ican passports under pretense of American citizenship, and for
the purpose of returning unmolested to Germany. There were
indications of a systematic plan for obtaining passports by
fraud that German officers and reservists might return to Ger-
many in safety.

13. "Change of policy in regard to loans to belligerents."
War loans were disapproved because inconsistent with the spirit
of neutrality, and the disapproval affected all countries alike.
Such loans if offered for popular subscription would be taken
up chiefly by sympathizers with the country offering the loan.
Large numbers of the American people might thus become earn-
est partisans which would result in intense bitterness.

14. "Submission to arrest of native-born Americans on
neutral vessels and in British ports and their imprisonment."
That such cases had occurred was true, but Americans in Ger-
many had suffered in the same way. Every case known to the
Department had been investigated and if the facts warranted
a demand for release, it was made.

15. "Indifference to confinement of noncombatants in de-
tention camps in England and France." All the belligerents,
save Russia and Serbia, had made complaints about noncom-
batants confined in detention camps, and those for whom the
Government was acting had asked investigations which had been
made impartially by representatives of the Government. Their
reports showed that the treatment of prisoners was as good as
possible, and there was no more reason for saying they were
mistreated in one country than in another, or that this Govern-
ment had been indifferent in the matter.

16. "Failure to prevent transshipment of British troops
and war materials across the territory of the United States."

There were no cases of passage of convoys or troops across
our territory. The Canadian Government had requested per-

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 43

mission to ship equipment across Alaska to the sea. The re-
quest was refused.

17. "Treatment and final internment of German steam-
ship Geier and the collier Locksun at Honolulu." The Geier,
said the Secretary, entered Honolulu on October 15, in an un-
seaworthy condition, was allowed three weeks to make repairs,
and while doing so, the Japanese cruiser appeared off the port,
and the Geier interned. Soon after the Geier came to the port
the steamer Locksun arrived. She had delivered coal to the
Geier at sea and had followed her to Honolulu. By so doing
she became a tender to the Geier and was interned.

18. "Unfairness to Germany in rules relative to coaling
of warships in Panama Canal Zone."

Regulations for coaling warships, their tenders or colliers
in the Canal Zone were framed through the collaboration of
the State, War and Navy Departments without reference to
favoritism to belligerents. Fuel may be taken by belligerent
warships with consent of the canal authorities and in such
amount as will enable them to reach the nearest neutral port.
This it had been said is unfair, because Great Britain has col-
onies near by where her ships may coal while Germany has not.
The United States therefore should balance the inequality of
geographical position by refusing to allow any warship of bel-
ligerents to coal in the Canal Zone during the war. As no
German warship has sought to obtain coal in this Zone, the
charge of discrimination rested on a possibility that had not
materialized.

19. "Failure to protest against the modifications of the
Declaration of London by the British Government."

As the Government of the United States was not now inter-
ested in the adoption of the Declaration by the belligerents,
their modifications were of no concern save as they infringed,
the rights of the United States. In so far as they had the De-
partment had made every effort to obtain redress.

20. "General unfriendly attitude of Government towards
Germany and Austria."

To this charge Mr. Bryan replied: "If any American cit-
izens, partisans of Germany and Austria-Hungary, feel that
this administration is acting in a way injurious to the cause

44 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of those countries, this feeling results from the fact that on the
high seas the German and Austro-Hungarian naval power is
thus far inferior to the British. It is the business of a bellig-
erent operating on the high seas, not the duty of a neutral, to
prevent contraband from reaching an enemy.

"Those in this country who sympathize with Germany and
Austria-Hungary sappear to assume that some obligation rests
upon this Government, in the performance of its neutral duty,
to prevent all trade in contraband, and thus to equalize the dif-
ference due to the relative naval strength of the belligerents.
No such obligation exists ; it would be an unneutral act, an act
of partiality on the part of the Government to adopt such a
policy if the Executive had the power to do so. If Germany
and Austria-Hungary cannot import contraband from this
country it is not, because of that fact, the duty of the United
States to close its markets to the Allies. The markets of this
country are open upon equal terms to all the world, to every
nation, belligerent or neutral."

As the German armies swept through Belgium, burning and
plundering the towns, killing men, women and children, de-
stroying farms and shooting peasants at work in the fields or
met with on the roads, the civil population fled before them,
leaving their all behind. After the fall of Brussels in August
and Antwerp in October, a million refugees, it was said, had
found safety in Holland. In one week, in October, seventy
thousand reached London. Such as remained were reduced to
dire want. Seizure of cattle by the Germans left them without
beef, milk, cheese. The shops had no food to sell; the people,
deprived of their usual occupations, had no money to buy. The
lace makers of Brussels were out of work. The tapestry fac-
tories of Mechlin were in ruins. The diamond cutters of Ant-
werp were scattered. Belgium in times of peace produced but
a sixth of her food, and drew largely on the United States for
grain. This was cut off by the war, and the bakeries were shut.
Liege, Louvain, Namur, Charleroi, Mons, Dinant were so shat-
tered by shell fire that half the population were without decent
shelter.

At Brussels a relief committee was organized, a goodly sum
of money raised and Mr. Willard Shaler, an American mining

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 45

engineer just back from the Congo when the war opened, was
asked to go to London, buy as much food as possible, arrange
for sending it across the frontier and report on the prospect
of securing more in the future. Assurances were given by the
German authorities that supplies imported for the use of the
civil population would not be requisitioned. Mr. Shaler set
off at once and reached London towards the close of Septem-
ber, and early in October was followed by Mr. Hugh Gibson,
Secretary of our Legation at Brussels. He found that Mr.
Shaler had purchased food, but had not received permission
from the Foreign Office to ship it through the blockade.

That there might be no doubt as to the German pledge,
Mr. Page, American Ambassador in London, on October 7
cabled to Mr. Bryan that a Belgian Committee had been
formed in Brussels under the patronage of the American and
Spanish ministers; that its object was to import food for the
poor of Belgium; that the German authorities in the occupied
country had consented, that the British Government had given
permission for food to be exported, provided it were sent by the
American Embassy at London consigned to the American Lega-
tion at Brussels, and that Mr. Shaler, an American, was then
in London purchasing supplies. It would be well, Mr. Page
thought, that a definite assurance be obtained from Germany
of her approval of this humane project.

Mr. Gerard was at once instructed to take up the matter,
informally, with the German Foreign Office, and while await-
ing a reply he received a cablegram from Mr. Whitlock.

The Committee for the Provisioning of Brussels had re-
quested that Mr. Gibson return to London and seek to arrange
a permanent agreement with the British Government by which
the civil population of all Belgium might be provisioned. It
was concerning this matter that Mr. Whitlock telegraphed the
Secretary of State, on October 16. "A grave situation," he
said, "confronts the land. In normal times Belgium produces
only one-sixth of the foodstuffs she consumes. Within two
w,eeks there will be no more food in Belgium. Winter is com-
ing on and there are thousands who are without homes and
without hope. Therefore it is necessary to extend this relief
work to the whole of Belgium. My Spanish colleague and I.

46 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

have been requested by the local Belgian authorities and by the
German military authorities to permit the organization, under
our patronage, of a committee that will undertake to revictual
all of Belgium, and we have secured from the German military
authorities formal official assurance that all foodstuffs shipped
into Belgium in the care of the committee and intended for
the feeding of the impoverished civil population will be re-
spected by the soldiery and not made the object of military
requisition. ,It is now necessary to obtain permission from the
English Government that foodstuffs may be shipped into Bel-
gium. In view of this fact Gibson goes to London to-morrow
with messages from the Spanish Minister and me to the re-
spective Ambassadors of our countries to lay the subject be-
fore them. Baron Lambert and Mr. Franqui, representing the
Belgian Relief Committee, will accompany him to acquaint the
Belgian Minister in London with the situation and ask him to
present the matter to the British Government. Our hope is
that the Belgian Minister can arrange, and if there be no im-
propriety in their so doing, that the American and Spanish
Ambassadors may assist him in arranging for the passage of
the provisions which the Commission is ready to buy.

"I trust the Department will approve this course and fur-
ther it by instructions to London. It is not money but food
that is needed. If some appropriate means can be found to call
the attention of our generous people at home to the plight of
the poor in Belgium I am sure that they will send succor and
relief for the winter that is drawing near."

The German Government approved the plan; the British
and French Governments promised the unmolested passage of
neutral food ships from the United States to Holland, for Bel-
gium; the German Government agreed to allow unneutral
ships to carry food for Belgians to Dutch ports; the American
Government endorsed the plan as outlined by Mr. Whitlock
and the great work of feeding Belgium began.

At London Mr. Gibson found good friends of Belgium who
raised £150,000, formed a committee with Mr. Herbert Hoover
as Chairman, and undertook the work of feeding the Belgian
civil population. The British Government stipulated that the
work be carried on by a neutral organization under the pat-

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 47

ronage of the American and Spanish Ambassadors in London
and Berlin, and the American and Spanish Ministers at Brus-
sels, and that the food he consigned to the American Minister
at Brussels by the London American Relief Committee with
Mr. Hoover at its head. All the local Belgian Relief Com-
mittees were to be united and form one national committee.
But, as the members were all prisoners of the Germans, the
British Government stipulated that all responsibility be as-
sumed by the American Committee and that those of the Bel-
gians become distributing agencies.

Early in November the first consignment of food reached
Brussels, other barges followed, and in response to an appeal
by Mr. Hoover a number of American Rhodes Scholars dropped
their work at Oxford and went to Brussels to do their part in
distributing food to the Belgians.

Appeal after appeal, meanwhile, was made to our country-
men. The Belgian Legation asked food and clothes for women
and children. Cardinal Gibbons plead for them. The suffer-
ing of the Belgians, he said, was beyond words. Their coun-
try had become the battlefield of nations. Innocent of wrong
doing, they had been driven from their homes into England,
France and Holland. They could not look to these countries for
help. Therefore, when the cry came to us we should hear it.
All in our country who could should give relief, for Belgium
deserved the sympathy of all. Cardinal Mercier, through the
American Committee in London, begged for food, for pota-
toes, peas, grain, flour, meat. Everything was lacking.

Mr. Whitlock reported that less than two weeks' supply
of food remained in the Belgian cities; that a hundred soup
kitchens were feeding a hundred thousand needy in Brussels;
that Louvain had flour enough to last four days and that
Liege had none at all. Nearly half the peasants were wander-
ing from town to town seeking food and shelter.

The response was quick. Relief Committees were organ-
ized the land over, and money, clothing, food were freely given
and hurried to New York for shipment to Holland.

At New York late in October, after an exchange of cable-
grams with Mr. Page in London and Dr. Van Dyke in Hol-
land, $300,000 was Set apart by the Belgian Committee for

48 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the purchase of food to be sent at once. Half of the money
came from the American Commission for Belgian Relief in
London for no more food was obtainable in England. The
Rockefeller Foundation in the opening days of November char-
tered a steamer and dispatched her to Rotterdam with four
thousand tons of flour, rice and beans, and sent a commission
to Europe to visit the warring countries and obtain expert ad-
vice as to the time, place and means of rendering aid most
effectively. The Red Cross cabled money for relief of Belgian
refugees in Holland.

A cablegram from Mr. Page to the President of the Bel-
gian Relief formed in Philadelphia announced that "there
are 3,000,000 starving men and children in Belgium. The
Commission makes an appeal to all neutral countries for a
total of $5,000,000 a month for the winter. There has never
been such dire want in any land in our time." No sooner was
it received than Mr. John Wanamaker, who had chartered the
Norwegian ship Thelma to carry food, called a meeting of the
owners and managers of the chief newspapers in Philadelphia
who agreed to do their best to arouse the people to fill the ship.
An executive committee representing seven newspapers took
up the work, made the appeal and in four days the ship was
filled and ready to sail.

Announcement was now made that the steamship North-
western Miller would sail from Philadelphia, in December,
loaded with flour contributed by the millers of the northwest.
Their gift of forty-five thousand barrels would be carried free
by the railroads. Scarcely had the Thelma gone when prepara-
tions were made to send a second ship, and two others were
chartered by the Rockefeller Foundation to carry food pur-
chased by the New York Belgian Relief Committee. The
urgency of the situation, said the Committee in their appeal
for funds, cannot be overestimated. The suffering among the
women and children and other noncombatants for lack of
food is daily becoming more acute. The statement was borne
out by the report of one who went with the first cargo of food
sent from London to Rotterdam by the American Commission
for Relief in Belgium.

"Nothing that has been written exaggerates the misery in

PRO-GERMAN PROPAGANDA— BELGIAN RELIEF 49

Belgium. We drove for miles through graveyards. Stakes, on
some of which were soldiers' tattered coats and helmets, were
the tombstones, deserted fields are cemeteries. As we entered
the villages women and children sought refuge in the ruins
of roofless homes, terrified lest we were some fresh visitation of
war.

"The Belgian peasant has in many districts no home in
which to sleep, no seed to sow, no implements with which to
work, no transport to reach a market, and finally no heart to
struggle against the inevitable. It is unbelievable that war
ever produced such a complete and tragic paralysis as we saw
in many parts of Belgium."

Sir Gilbert Parker in a letter to Cardinal Gibbons and to
the heads of a great corporation in Philadelphia, asked "for
food, for starving Belgium. I am here/' said he, "on the bor-
ders of Belgium, watching the refugees fleeing into Holland
from their devastated -country. Many towns and cities are
absolutely destroyed. Countless homes are in ashes.

"Unless America renders immediate aid starvation will
destroy more Belgians than have been killed in war. The
American Commission for Relief in Belgium asks for less than
half a soldier's ration for each Belgian. They ask for bread
and salt only. Will you not help to save the names of Chris-
tianity and civilization by gifts of money?"

In Brussels, where several hundred thousand men, women
and children were fed, the ration was a little potato soup and
six ounces of bread. Such as could paid a cent for the meal,
which cost three cents, and the money was used to buy more
food.

To help speed the good work, the American Commission in
London opened an office in New York. It came not to meddle
with the relief committees already in the country, but to attend
to transportation of supplies. It had the funds and had made
all diplomatic arrangements. What Belgium needed most of
all was food, any kind of food, that would stand ocean trans-
portation. Wheat, flour, beans, peas, preserved meat were
needed, but above all condensed milk for the children, for Bel-
gium was stripped of cattle.

As the need of relief grew greater and greater it became

50 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

quite clear that so stupendous an undertaking could not be
carried on by charitable gifts, and through our Ambassador
Mr. Hoover appealed to the governments of Great Britain and
France. The call was heard and £500,000 per month was
granted by Great Britain and 12,500,000 francs per month by
France. To this was added by French institutions 25,000,000
francs per month for the relief of the inhabitants of the area
in Northern France occupied by the Germans. June 1, 1917,
when our Government took over the financing of the work of
relief for Belgium and Northern France, the Commission for
Eelief in Belgium had received from Great Britain $89,-
500,000, from the French Government $66,000,000 for Bel-
gium and $108,000,000 from France for use in the occupied ter-
ritory. Some $16,000,000 in cash and clothing came in ad-
dition from committees and individuals in the British Em-
pire; $11,500,000 from the United States and $3,000,000
from the rest of the world. June 1 our Government loaned
$75,000,000 to be paid in six monthly instalments of $12,-
500,000, of which $7,500,000 was to go to Belgium, and
$5,000,000 to France.

CHAPTER III

NEUTKAL TRADE

THE entrance of the great commercial nations of Europe
into the war at once involved our country in a struggle for its
neutral rights. With the German merchant shipping swept
from the seas, and the German fleet, save a few commerce
raiders, driven into the ports and harbors of Germany, Great
Britain was free to turn her attention to the destruction of that
neutral trade from which Germany might obtain supplies of
a warlike character. Water-borne traffic of this sort going
direct to Germany in neutral bottoms was easily stopped. But
to cut off the supply which found its way through neutral
countries she was forced to adopt a policy which pressed heav-
ily on the commerce of the neutrals concerned.

At the outbreak of the war the Department of State in-
structed our Ambassador at London to inquire if the Govern-
ment of Great Britain would agree "that the laws of naval
warfare as laid down by the Declaration of London of 1909,"
should "be applicable to naval warfare during the present con-
flict in Europe," provided all the governments with whom Great
Britain was or might be at war would do the same. Like in-
structions were sent to our Ambassadors at Paris, Berlin, Vi-
enna, St. Petersburg and the Legation at Brussels. Austria-
Hungary and Germany agreed; Eussia replied that whatever
course of action Great Britain took she would follow. Great
Britain "decided to adopt generally the rules and regulations
of the Declaration in question, subject to certain modifications
and additions," and set forth these additions in orders in
Council. They consisted of new lists of absolute and condi-
tional contraband, in lieu of those contained in articles 22 and
24 of the Declaration; of the announcement that the British
Navy would "treat as liable to capture a vessel which carried
contraband of war with false papers if she were encountered

51

52 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

on the return voyage"; of the conditions under which the
existence of a blockade "shall be presumed to be known," and
of other modifications too technical to be stated. Thereupon
the Department of State bade our Ambassador at London,
Mr. Page, announce that the Government of the United States
withdrew its suggestion, and that it "will insist that the rights
and duties of the United States and its citizens in the present
war be defined by the existing rules of international law and
the treaties of the United States irrespective of the provisions
of the Declaration of London."

Trade between neutral countries in neutral bottoms was now
no longer regarded as presumably innocent; the final destina-
tion of the cargo determined its innocence; the accepted list of
contraband articles was greatly extended, and our vessels,
seized on the high seas, were taken into port for examination
and often detained there for weeks before they were released.
In September two shipments of copper to Holland were seized
because the final destination was held to be the Krupp Works
at Essen. In October three more were stopped at Gibraltar
on their way to Italy consigned "to order." Italy had forbid-
den the export of copper but not its transit through the coun-
try. Next came the seizure of three tankers owned by the
Standard Oil Company of New York. These three were the
John D. Rockefeller, which cleared from New York in Sep-
tember for Copenhagen, and was taken off the Orkneys and
ordered to Kirkwall ; the Brindilla, seized when on her way to
Alexandria, Egypt, and brought into Halifax; and the Pla~
turia, stopped off the coast of Scotland and sent to Hornoway.
The Brindilla and Plaiuria, when the war opened, were the
property of a German company, one of the subsidiaries of the
Standard Oil Company, but their registry had been changed
and when captured they were under the American flag. The
John D. Rockefeller, which had always been under the Amer-
ican flag, and was not subject to any question which might arise
from the change of registry after the war began, was there-
fore made the subject of a protest, and was promptly released.
Demand was then made for the release of the Brindilla; the
case against her for change of registry was dropped, and, by
order of Sir Edward Grey, the British Ambassador explained

NEUTRAL TRADE 53

the position of his Government. During the last few weeks,
he said, there had been a marked increase in the export of cer-
tain articles to neutral countries adjacent to Germany. Thus,
while the value of the chief exports from the United States
during September, 1914, as compared with September, 1913,
had fallen off $107,000,000, the export of gasoline, naphtha,
etc., had risen from 20,000,000 to 23,000,000 gallons, and that
of fuel oil from 36,000,000 to 58,000,000. A large part of the
exports had been consigned to neutral countries and from them
had been sent into a belligerent country. Desirous not to be
used as a basis for hostilities by either belligerent, these neutral
countries were making arrangements which would prevent the
export from them of articles which might be used for war.
When completed it was hoped trade between neutrals would be
subject to little or no hindrance. The Rockefeller had been de-
tained for examination because her cargo of oil was going to
a port near the chief naval port of a belligerent, and was con-
signed to order. There was, therefore, no guarantee that it
would not be forwarded to an enemy.

And now the Kroonland, of the Ked Star Line, with pas-
sengers, rubber and copper, while on her way from New York
to Naples, was stopped at Gibraltar. Her destination, Naples;
the consignment of her copper "to order"; and the fact that
Italy had not prohibited the shipment of copper by land to
Austria or Germany were the reasons for seizing and sending
the cargo before a prize court to decide whether it was or was
not destined for Germany.

November 2 the Department of State was informed that
the Platuria, had been released. That same day the British
Admiralty announced that the whole North Sea was a military
area.

For some weeks past the Germans had been sowing mines in
the waters north of. Ireland. "Peaceful merchant ships," said
the British Admiralty in their order of November 2, "have
been blowgi up by this agency. The White Star liner Olympic
escaped disaster through pure good luck, and, but for warning
given by British cruisers, other British and neutral passenger
ships would have been destroyed." These mines had not been
laid by a German warship, but by some merchant ship flying a

54 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

neutral flag, "which came along the trade route as if for pur-
poses of peaceful commerce," and sowed the route with mines.
"This mine-laying under neutral flags and reconnaissance con-
ducted by trawlers, hospital ships and neutral ships are ordi-
nary features of German naval warfare." Exceptional meas-
ures were necessary to meet this novel way of conducting war at
sea. The Admiralty therefore gave notice "that the whole
North Sea must be considered a military zone." Within it
merchant shipping of every kind, traders of all countries,
fishing craft, vessels of every sort, were exposed to destruction
from mines it had been found necessary to lay, and from war-
ships "searching vigilantly, night and day, suspicious craft."

After November 5 all vessels "passing a line drawn from
the northern point of the Hebrides, through the Faroe Islands
to Iceland, do so at their own peril." Ships bound for Den-
mark, Norway and Sweden should come by the English Chan-
nel to the Strait of Dover for sailing directions.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands promptly
protested to Great Britain and Germany against mine sowing
in the North Sea save at the entrance of harbors, and were
understood to intimate a hope that the United States would
take part in a joint protest against mine planting. But the
Secretary of State waited until the close of the year and then
protested against the whole maritime policy of Great Britain,
so far as it interfered with American trade. Instructions to
communicate his views to the British Government were cabled
to the. American Ambassador on December 26; but the com-
munication was not made public until the last day of the year.

It was needless, Secretary Bryan said, to point out to Great
Britain, usually the champion of the freedom of the seas, that
trade between neutrals should not be interfered with by nations
at war unless absolutely necessary to protect their safety and
even then only so far as was absolutely necessary. But the
present policy of his Majesty's Government towards neutral
ships and cargoes exceeded the manifest necessity of a bellig-
erent and imposed on the rights of American citizens on the
high seas, restrictions not justified by international law or the
requirements of self-preservation. "Articles listed as absolute
contraband, shipped from the United States and consigned to

NEUTRAL TRADE 55

neutral countries," had been seized and detained because the
countries to which they were destined had not forbidden the
export of such articles.

Detentions of this kind were unwarranted and the situation
was made worse by the indecision of the authorities in applying
their own rules. A cargo of copper shipped to a specified con-
signee in Sweden was held because Sweden had placed no em-
bargo on copper. Italy had not only prohibited the export of
copper, but had forbidden shipments of copper to Italian con-
signees or ato order" to be exported or transshipped. Yet the
British Foreign Office had declined to affirm that copper con-
signed to |Italy would not be molested. Seizures, thirty-one con-
signments amounting to 19,350 tons, worth some $5,500,000,
had by that time been made, were so numerous and the deten-
tions so long that steamship lines would not take copper to
Italy, insurance companies would not insure it, and a lawful
trade was greatly impaired through the uncertainty as to treat-
ment at the hands of the British authorities.

Foodstuffs and articles of common use in all countries had
been stopped despite the presumption of innocent use because
destined for neutral countries, and without facts which war-
ranted a belief that the shipments had a really belligerent desti-
nation. Mere suspicion was not evidence. Nor was reimburse-
ment for interrupted voyages and detained cargoes after inves-
tigation failed to discover enemy destination sufficient. The
injury was to American commerce diverted from neutral coun-
tries.

The Government of the United States readily admitted the
right of a belligerent to visit and search, on the high seas, Amer-
ican vessels or neutral vessels carrying American goods, "when
there is sufficient evidence to justify a belief that contraband
articles are in their cargoes." But it could not permit, without
protest, American ships or cargoes to be taken into British
ports, there to search for evidence of contraband.

The situation brought about by the policy of Great Britain
was "a critical one to the commercial interests of the United
States." Great industries were suffering because their products
were denied long established markets. "Producers and export-
ers, steamship and insurance companies" were pressing, and

56 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

with reason, for relief "from the menace to transatlantic trade,"
which gradually but surely was ruining their business and
"threatening financial disaster."

In conclusion, the Secretary wished to impress upon His
Majesty's Government that the condition of trade was such that
if it did not improve it might "arouse a feeling contrary to
that which has so long existed between the American and Brit-
ish people. Already it is becoming the subject of public criti-
cism and complaint."

The reply was made in two notes, both friendly in tone.
The first, presented on January 7, contained "preliminary ob-
servations," for Sir Edward Grey saw fit to postpone to a later
date his full discussion of the issues raised by Secretary Bryan.
His Majesty's Government, the note stated, concurred in the
principle that trade between neutrals should not be interfered
with by belligerents save when absolutely necessary to protect
their safety; and that Great Britain would endeavor to keep
within the limit, but claimed the right to interfere with trade
in contraband destined to the enemy's country. There seemed
to be much misconception as to the extent to which she had in-
terfered. The Secretary seemed to hold her responsible for
the present state of trade with neutral countries. But such
statistics of the export trade from New York as were at hand
gave proof that the exports to Denmark in November, 1913,
amounted to $558,000 and in 1914 to $7,101,000; to Sweden
$377,000 in November, 1913, and $2,558,000 in November,
1914; to Norway $477,000 in 1913 and $2,318,000 in 1914;
and to Italy in November, 1913, $2,971,000 and $4,781,000 in
the same month in 1914.

It was true there had been a falling off in the export of cot-
ton ; but Great Britain had not interfered with cotton. It was
still on the free list. The adverse effect of 'the war on that and
other industries was due to the diminished purchasing power
of Germany, France, Great Britain.

The Secretary had referred to the detention of copper. Ex-
ports of copper from the United States to Italy during the
months of August, September, October, November, and the first
three weeks of December, 1913, amounted to 15,202,000
pounds; for the same period in 1914 to 35,285,000 pounds.

NEUTRAL TRADE 57

To Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland during this
period in 1913 there went 7,271,000 pounds of copper, and in
1914 during a like period 35,347,000 pounds of copper. From
such shipments it must be presumed that the bulk of the copper
recently sent to these countries was intended not for their own
use, but for a belligerent who could not import it direct. There
was in possession of his Majesty's Government positive evidence
to show that four shipments of copper and aluminum definitely
consigned to Sweden were really destined for Germany.

Foodstuffs ought not to be detained and put into prize courts
without presumption that they are for the use of the armed
forces of the enemy or the enemy Government. From August
4, 1914, to January 3, 1915, the number of ships going from
the United States to Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and
Italy was 773. Of them but 45 had consignments or cargoes
put in the Prize Courts, and of the ships only eight were held,
one of which had been released. Under modern conditions it
was necessary that the ship be brought into port for examina-
tion. In no other way could the right of search be exercised.
Rubber had been shipped from the United States under an-
other name to escape notice. Cotton had not been put on the
list of contraband. Precisely for this reason ships carrying
cotton bales had been selected to carry concealed contraband.
No ships had so far been detained for carrying cotton; but
should his Majesty's Government have reason to believe that in
the case of a particular ship the bales of cotton contained cop-
per or other contraband, the only way to prove it was to weigh
and examine the bales, a process that could only be carried out
by bringing the vessel into port.

We are confronted with the growing danger that neutral coun-
tries contiguous to the enemy will become on a scale hitherto unprece-
dented a base of supplies for the armed forces of our enemies and
for materials for manufacturing armament. The trade figures of
imports show how strong this tendency is, but we have no complaint
to make of the attitude of the Governments of those countries which
so far as we are aware have not departed from proper rules of neu-
trality. We endeavor in the interest of our own national safety to
prevent this danger by intercepting goods really destined for the
enemy, without interfering with those which are for lona fide
neutrals.

58 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

To our countrymen the note was far from satisfactory. The
citation of statistics to show the large increase in our ship-
ments to neutral nations was thought not to the point and mis-
leading. These increases, it was said, were due to the rise in
price of American goods and to the inability of neutrals to get
supplies from belligerent countries near them. Unable to get
copper from Germany and Austria, Italy had turned to us.
Unable to get wheat from Bulgaria and Rumania, Italy had
been forced to buy in the United States. Ever since the begin-
ning of the war the United States has sought to obtain the
reasons for the detention of our ships and has asked in vain.
The Government knows only from shippers and exporters that
scores of ships have been detained. A press dispatch from
Copenhagen to the London News reported that M. Scavenius,
the Danish Foreign Minister, had declared that the increase
in exports from the United States to Denmark from $600,000
in 1913 to $7,000,000 in 1914 was because Denmark's normal
sources of supply were cut off by the war.

The British Embassy now issued a statement on the deten-
tion of our ships. Jt could not give a pledge that all ships
then in prize courts would be released on bail, because the
decision in each case must rest with the Judge. But His
Majesty's Government was anxious to relieve the shortage in
tonnage and would not therefore oppose release on bail of ships
then in prize courts if bail were offered. Only seven vessels
were then in prize courts, and but five were detained for exam-
ination of the character of their cargoes. No one of these was
under the American flag.

Besides the cases of ships seized and detained, the Depart-
ment of State had before it the cases of two ships sure to be
seized* At the opening of the war the Hamburg- American Line
steamship Dacia was interned at Port Arthur, Texas. Early in
January she was bought by Mr. E. N". Breitung, of Mar-
quette, Michigan, and given an American registry ; the German
captain and crew were replaced by Americans, and orders is-
sued to load her with cotton at Galveston and clear for Bremen.
The question then was, Will Great Britain and France recog-
nize this transfer of a German ship to the American flag dur-
ing war time ? France had held that even a bona fide sale could

NEUTRAL TRADE 59

not be recognized so long as the purpose of the sale was to evade
capture. A vessel so sold might be seized by a belligerent.

Reports from London left no doubt that she would be
seized by the British because it was unfair that a vessel be-
longing to a belligerent should be transferred to a neutral flag
that she might escape capture. Reports from Washington an-
nounced that the Department of State had proposed that the
destination of the Dacia be changed to the neutral port of Rot-
terdam ; that she be allowed to make the voyage there and back
unmolested; and that the larger question of the legality of the
transfer be left for future consideration. It might well be
that the purchase was a test of the feasibility of the sale to
Americans of all the German vessels interned in our ports.
The Government of Great Britain replied with a refusal of safe
conduct. It was loath to cause loss to the shippers of the
cargo, but could not agree that the transfer was valid in inter-
national law. "If, therefore, the Dacia should proceed to sea
and should be captured, the British Government will find them-
selves obliged to bring the ship (apart from the cargo) before
the prize court." As to the cargo, if it were solely owned by
American citizens, the British Government would either buy
it "at the price which would have been realized by the ship-
pers if the cargo had reached its foreign destination," or would
forward the cotton to Rotterdam without cost to the shippers.

The Berlin Vossische Zeitung held it was clear that there
must be cases in which ships of belligerents may be transferred
to a neutral flag, without any suggestion that it was done to
escape capture. The Dacia was such a case. The Hamburg-
American Line did not dream of transferring its fleet or any
part of it to the American flag. There was in the United States
a demand for ships to carry freight. An offer was made for
the Dacia and the owners sold her.

A Paris journal thought the Germans were seeking to put
Anglo-American relations to the test; to give aid to those who
in America were leading the attack on Great Britain in the
name of American commerce, and to save those vessels interned
in our ports.

While the Dacia was preparing to sail from Galveston, the
American steamship Wilhelmina, loaded with flour, grain and

60 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

foodstuffs, cleared from New York for Hamburg. She had
been chartered from the Southern Products Company by a firm
in St. Louis, and the cargo consigned to a branch of the firm
in Hamburg. The food was for the use of civilians in Ger-
many. No shipment of food from our country to Germany
had been made since the war began. By many this shipment
was looked on as a test case, as an attempt to determine whether
or not the British Government would stop American vessels
on their way to German ports with food for the use of civilians
solely.

If the British Government had any doubts as to what it
should do they were quickly removed by the action of Ger-
many. The Wilhelmina sailed on the twenty-second of January
and on the twenty-sixth the Federal Council at Berlin issued
an order for the conservation of food.

All stocks of corn, wheat and flour are ordered seized by Febru-
ary 1.

All business transactions in these commodities are forbidden from
January 26.

All municipalities are charged with the duty of setting aside suit-
able supplies of preserved meat.

The owners of corn are ordered to report their stocks immedi-
ately, whereupon confiscation at a fixed price will follow.

A Government distributing office for the negotiation of consump-
tion will be established, distribution being made according to the
number of inhabitants.

The Imperial Gazette explained that such action was neces-
sary in order that there might be a regular and sufficient sup-
ply of breadstuff's to last "until the next threshing of the new
harvest," and that the order gave assurance that "our enemy's
plan to starve Germany will be upset, and assures us of plenti-
ful bread until next harvest."

As soon as the order was made known in our country the
German Ambassador made haste to give verbal notice to the
Department of State that no foodstuffs from the United States
to Germany would be seized for military or governmental use.

The German Vice Chancellor took pains to explain that the
designation of regions wherein imported grains could be sold
only to municipalities had been revoked by the Bundesrath.

NEUTRAL TRADE 61

The Bundesrath regulations for dealing in grain, he said, did
not' contemplate the seizure of grain for the use of the Govern-
ment or the army, but merely its equitable distribution for pri-
vate use. It was a measure of protection of the individual
against speculation. Paragraph forty-five of the regulations, he
pointed out, read: "The stipulations of this regulation do not
apply to grain or flour imported from abroad after January
31." The German Government "had also declared its readi-
ness to deliver trade in such imported products to American
organizations for the duration of the war."

All this Ambassador von Bernstorff had officially stated a
few days before in a note.

The decision of the Federal Council concerning foodstuffs,
which England had assigned as her reason for declaring con-
traband food products going to Germany, related solely to wheat,
rye, both mixed and unmixed with other products, and to
wheat, rye, oats and barley flour. The Federal Council again
in Section 45 had expressly provided that "The stipulations
of this regulation do not apply to grain or flour imported from
abroad after January 31." The Federal Council's order pro-
vided that imported cereals and flours could be sold exclusively
to certain municipalities and specially designated organizations.
This was to throw imported grains and flour into such channels
as supplied the civilian, and protect them against speculators
and engrossers. Nevertheless this provision had been rescinded
so as to leave no room for doubt. The German Government
called attention to the fact that municipalities do not form part
of, or belong to, the Government, but are self-administrative
bodies, elected by the people of the commune. The German
Government was amenable to any proposition looking to con-
trol of the cargoes by a special American organization under
consular offices. That imported food products would be con-
sumed by civilians exclusively the Government gave absolute as-
surance. England therefore had no excuse for stopping Amer-
ican food products on their way to Germany.

Meantime, lest the cargo of the Wilhelmina should fall
under the German order and become liable to seizure by Great
Britain, attorneys for the shipping company applied to Am-

62 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

bassador von Bernstorff for a guarantee that the food would not
be taken for military purposes. The Ambassador replied :

I, as representative of the German Government, guarantee to you
that the foodstuffs will not reach the German Government, its agents
or contractors, nor the military and naval forces. I will, further,
take the necessary steps which will insure that the German Govern-
ment will not make use of its right of preemption.

The order was intended to prevent the cornering, and specu-
lation in foodstuffs in Germany, and did not "affect foodstuffs
imported from neutral countries and exclusively for noncom-
batants."

Despite these assurances, the British Foreign Office on Feb-
ruary 4 announced that if the destination of the cargo of the
Wilhelmina was Germany, and the vessel were intercepted, its
cargo would be put in prize court that the situation created by
Germany might be examined. ~No proceedings would be taken
against the ship. Her owners would be indemnified for delay
and the owners of the cargo paid for any loss caused by the
action of the British authorities. It was quite clear that the
Germans did not intend to capture merchant vessels and bring
them into port but sink them by submarines, regardless of the
lives of the crews and civilians on board. Even hospital ships
would not be spared. This raised the question whether more
stringent measures should be adopted against German trade.
But care would be taken not to inflict loss on neutral ships
which sailed before warning had been given.

January 31 the Dacia sailed from Galveston, and Febru-
ary 2 Ambassador Page telegraphed from London that the
British fleet had been ordered to treat as conditional contraband
subject to seizure, all cargoes of grain and flour destined for
Germany. The Wilhelmina having sailed before the German
Federal Council issued its order, an exception would be made
in her case. She would be released but the cargo would be
taken and paid for at invoice price.

That same day Mr. Page sent information far more im-
portant. The German Admiralty, he reported, had warned all
merchantmen not to approach the north and west coasts of
France, and cautioned all bound for the North Sea to go north

NEUTRAL TRADE 63

around Scotland. Two days later the German War Zone order
mentioned by Mr. Page was made public. The waters around
Great Britain and Ireland, including the whole of the English
Channel, were declared a war zone from and after February
18. Every enemy merchant ship found therein would be de-
stroyed even if it were impossible to save the passengers and
crew. Neutral ships would also be in danger, because of the
misuse of neutral flags ordered by the British Admiralty on
January 31, and because of athe hazards of naval warfare,
neutral vessels cannot always be prevented from suffering from
the attacks meant for enemy ships." The routes of navigation
around the north of the Shetland Islands, ain the eastern part
of the North Sea, and in a strip of at least thirty nautical miles
along the Dutch coast/' were "in no danger."

This order, it was pointed out, was not only extraordinary
but without precedent, and was either an empty threat or a
war against humanity. All nations had an equal right to the
sea. Belligerents might search a neutral ship for goods contra-
band of war, might shut it out of a port by blockade in force,
but could do nothing more. But Germany had done more than
violate international law by declaring the waters around the
British Isles a war zone. She had announced that every enemy
merchant ship found in the zone would be sunk without regard
for the lives of crew and passengers. One of the first duties of
a captor of a merchant ship is to provide for the safety of non-
combatants on board. Germany had asserted that British ships
had misused neutral flags and because of this a neutral flag
would afford no protection if there were the least suspicion of
its genuineness, but commanders of German submarines might,
if they wished, sink every merchant ship they capturecj-

A memorandum issued by the German Government ex-
plained the necessity of the war zone.

The writer began with a long statement of grievances
against Great Britain. Her conduct of commercial warfare
had been a mockery of all principles of the law of nations. She
had declared her naval forces should be guided by the stipula-
tions of the Declaration of London and had then repudiated
them in the most essential points; had put on the list of con-
traband articles not at all, or only indirectly, capable of use in

64 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

war ; had abolished all distinction between conditional and abso-
lute contraband by confiscating articles of conditional contra-
band destined for Germany no matter what the port of desti-
nation, and no matter whether they were or were not for uses
of war or peace; had taken from neutral ships German sub-
jects capable of bearing arms; had declared the whole North
Sea the seat of war and so in a way blockaded neutral ports
and coasts, and had done these things not only to strike at
German military operations, but to deliver over the whole
German people to famine.

The writer then complained of the conduct of neutrals,
charging them with, in the main, acquiescing in the measures
of Great Britain; with failure to secure the release of German
subjects and goods taken from their vessels; with aiding Great
Britain in her defiance of the principle of the open sea by for-
bidding the export and transit of goo'ds destined for peaceful
uses in Germany./

Because of these things Germany found it necessary to re-
taliate. "Just as England declared the whole North Sea be-
tween Scotland and Norway to be comprised within the seat of
war, so does Germany now declare the waters surrounding Great
Britain and Ireland, including the whole English Channel, to
be comprised within the seat of war, and will prevent by all
the military means at its disposal all navigation by the enemy
in those waters. To this end it will endeavor to destroy, after
February 18 next, any merchant vessels of the enemy which
present themselves at the seat of war above indicated, although
it may not always be possible to avert the dangers which may
menace persons and merchandise." Neutral powers were there-
fore "forewarned not to continue to entrust their crews, passen-
gers, or merchandise to such vessels." To "recommend their
own vessels to steer clear of these waters" ; for in view of the
"hazards of war, and of the misuse of the neutral flag ordered
by the British Government, it will not always be possible to
prevent a neutral vessel from becoming the victim of an attack
intended to be directed against a vessel of the enemy." It is
expressly declared "that navigation in the waters north of the
Shetland Islands is outside the danger zone, as well as naviga-

NEUTRAL TRADE 65

tion in the Eastern part of the North Sea and in a zone thirty
marine miles wide along the Dutch coast."

While Germany was charging Great Britain with seizing
her subjects and goods found on neutral ships and complain-
ing that neutrals tamely submitted, she was busy sinking neutral
vessels by means of mines and submarines. Between August
8, 1914, and February 4, 1915, the dates of her war zone order
and her memorandum, she had destroyed in these ways, nine
Dutch, ten Swedish, nine Norwegian, and eight Danish, in all
thirty-six neutral vessels. Great Britain had not sunk one.

In the war zone proclamation was a charge of "misuse of
neutral flags ordered on January 31, by the British Govern-
ment." Germany in her Prize Ordinance August 3, 1914,
authorized her ships of war to fly a neutral flag for the purpose
of making an attack. If it were permissible for a ship of war
to use such a flag to make an attack it was equally allowable
for a merchantman to use it to avoid attack. The cause of the
complaint was the action of the captain of the Orduna, who on
January 31, out from Queenstown, raised the American flag.

A statement issued on February 7 from the British Foreign
Office defended the act. Within certain limits, it was held, the
use of a neutral flag was a well established ruse of war. The
object, in the case of a merchantman, was to force the enemy
to satisfy himself as to the nationality of the vessel and cargo
by an examination before capture. The British Government
had always considered the use of British colors by foreign ves-
sels to enable them to escape capture as no breach of interna-
tional law. Therefore it held that the use of a foreign flag by a
British merchantman in order to escape capture was no breach
of international law.

Germany was bound to ascertain the character of a mer-
chant vessel and cargo before capture. To destroy ship, non-
combatant crew and cargo, as she had declared her intention
of doing, was nothing less than an act of piracy on the high
seas.

With this statement from the Foreign Office there came
from London a report that on Saturday morning, February 6,
when the Lusitania was off the coast of Ireland her captain re-
ceived from the Admiralty a wireless message ordering him to

66 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

hoist the American flag and sail under it to Liverpool. For
this act the Americans on board were truly grateful ; but if the
Admiralty did send forth such an order responsibility was
shifted from the Cunard Company to the British Government
and trouble was likely to arise.

Our Government acted promptly and February 10 addressed
notes to Germany and Great Britain. That to Germany began
by calling the attention of the Imperial Government to the
"serious possibilities of the course of action apparently con-
templated under the 'war zone proclamation/ " and requesting
it "to consider, before action is taken, the critical situation in
respect of the relations between this country and Germany,
which might arise were the German naval forces in carrying out
the policy foreshadowed in the Admiralty's proclamation to de-
stroy any merchant vessel of the United States or cause the
death of American citizens." To attack and destroy any vessel
entering a prescribed zone without first determining the bel-
ligerent character of the vessel and the contraband character
of its cargo would be an act so unprecedented that the Gov-
ernment of the United States was loath to believe the Imperial
Government "contemplates it as possible.'7

Suspicion that enemy ships were using neutral flags im-
properly created no just presumption that all ships crossing a
prescribed area were subject to the same suspicion. Should
the commanders of German vessels of war act on the presump-
tion that the flag of the United States was not being used in
good faith, "and destroy on the high seas an American vessel,
or the lives of American citizens, it would be difficult for the
Government of the United States to view the act in any other
light than as an indefensible violation of neutral rights which it
would be very hard indeed to reconcile with the friendly rela-
tions now so happily subsisting between the two governments."

The Imperial German Government would readily appre-
ciate "that the Government of the United States would be cpm-
pelled to hold the Imperial German Government to a strict
accountability for such acts of their naval authorities and to
take any steps it might be necessary to safeguard American
lives and property and to secure to American citizens the full
enjoyment of their acknowledged rights on the high seas."

NEUTRAL TRADE 67

The note to Great Britain opened with the statement that
the Government of the United States had been advised by the
declaration of the German Admiralty on February 4, that the
use of neutral flags by British vessels for the purpose of avoid-
ing recognition had been explicitly authorized by the British
Government. Reports had been seen in the newspapers that the
captain of the Lusitania, acting under orders from British
authorities, had raised the American flag as his vessel ap-
proached the coast, and from "an alleged official statement of
the Foreign Office," it appeared that the use of a neutral flag by
a belligerent to escape capture or attack, had been defended.

Supposing these reports to be true the Government of the
United States reserved the consideration of the legality and
propriety of such use of a neutral flag for future considera-
tion. But it desired "very respectfully to point out to His
Britannic Majesty's Government the serious consequences which
may result to American vessels and American citizens if this
practice is continued." The occasional use of a neutral flag un-
der stress of pursuit, was a very different thing from an. explicit
sanction by a belligerent government for the use of such a flag by
its merchant vessels within certain areas of the high seas pre-
sumed to be frequented by hostile warships. Because of the
avowed "purpose of the German Admiralty to engage in active
naval operations in certain delimited sea areas adjacent to the
coasts of Great Britain and Ireland," the Government of the
United States would view with anxious solicitude any general
use of our flag "by British vessels traversing those waters," be-
cause "such practice would greatly endanger the vessels of a
friendly power navigating those waters, and would even seem to
impose upon the Government of Great Britain a measure of
responsibility for the loss of American lives and vessels in case
of an attack by a German naval force."

It was understood, was the reply of Great Britain, Febru-
ary 16, 1915, that the German Government had ordered the
sinking of British merchantmen at sight by torpedoes, without
making any provision for saving the lives of noncombatant
crews and passengers. It was because of this threat that the
Lusitania raised the American flag on her inward voyage. On
her next outward voyage, American passengers who were em-

68 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

barking asked that the American flag be raised, to insure their
safety. His Majesty's Government did not advise the com-
pany how to meet this request, and believed the vessel left
Liverpool under the British flag.

As to the use of foreign colors by British merchantmen, the
British merchant shipping act permitted it in times of war
in order to escape capture. When a neutral Great Britain al-
ways accorded to vessels of other states the use of the British
flag as a means of protection against capture. The United
States had so used it during the Civil War. It would therefore
be unfair, now that conditions were reversed, for the United
States and other neutrals to grudge Great Britain the liberty
to take similar action. The duty of a belligerent was to ascer-
tain definitely for itself the nationality of a merchant vessel
before capturing, sinking or destroying it. If that obligation
were fulfilled the hoisting of a neutral flag on board a British
merchantman could not possibly endanger neutral shipping. If
loss were suffered because of disregard of this principle, it was
on the enemy vessel disregarding it, and on the Government
ordering that it be disregarded, that the sole responsibility for
the injury ought to rest.

Well aware that neutral flags would not be respected by
German submarine commanders, owners of neutral vessels about
to sail from New York had the names of their ships painted in
huge letters on the sides as a means of identification. In many
cases the flag of the neutral country to which the ship belonged
was added.

Both notes were heartily approved by our people. The
President, it was said, has again shown that the interests of the
country are safe in his hands. His position is sound in law
and correct in form. There is no jingoism in the note, no
bluster, but a firm and temperate statement of what is in the
minds of the American people. ~No belligerent has the right,
and none has hitherto claimed the right, to sink unarmed mer-
chantmen without warning. Does Germany intend to adopt
this policy? Instead of announcing a purpose to search and
seize vessels carrying contraband goods, the German Foreign
Office makes a thinly veiled threat of lynch law against neutrals.
There is more than a warning in a clearly defined war zone.

NEUTRAL TRADE 69

It is a threat that neutral vessels may be "accidentally" tor-
pedoed instead of being overhauled and searched by German
submarines.

The notes to Great Britain and Germany make it clear to
the belligerents that the neutrality of the United States is to
continue fearlessly impartial. The subject is not one permit-
ting delicacy of treatment. If the language used in the protest
to Germany is vigorously plain it is none the less a friendly
warning. Germany, said the New York Staats-Z eitung , will
undoubtedly take the note in good part. "She will undoubtedly
overlook the insult which it contains. The American people
cannot. We stand to-day a nation in danger. We are ruled by
a man and not by a Congress.'7

By the British press the flag note was held to be fair. No
exception could be taken to the tone in which it was couched.
It would not be difficult to satisfy the United States that in
using her flag to defeat the intentions of the German warships
to torpedo merchantmen without warning, Great Britain was
acting in the interests of humanity and civilization. It was
quite natural that the United States should view with anxiety
any general use of the American flag by British vessels crossing
the waters barred by Germany. But no claim to make such
general use of any neutral flag has yet been advanced. The
utmost the Foreign Ofiice claimed was the right of a British
vessel when escaping from attack to fly a neutral flag as a
ruse de guerre. To promise that under no circumstances shall
a British vessel hoist the Stars and Stripes is more than the
President asks and more than our Government could grant.
But we could readily agree to limit its use to cases of real
necessity.

When something does not suit the Yankees, said the Berlin
Po$t, they adopt as threatening and saber-rattling a tone as pos-
sible. They think the person thus threatened will be fright-
ened, and yield. If he does not, if he pays no attention and
is not scared, the swaggering Yankees soon quiet down. The
Hamburger NachricJiien thought the threatening sentences in
the American note quite unimpressive.

Just at this time, on February 13, the Lusitania sailed from
Liverpool for New York. When about to depart her Captain

70 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

announced that if necessary he would again fly the American
flag. Most of her passengers were Americans. They were
entitled to the protection of their flag, and so, if the German
pirates sank the ship, the Americans should have the satisfac-
tion of dying under their own national emblem.

On February 16 Ambassador von Bernstorff delivered a
note by way of a preliminary answer to the note of the United
States. From sources absolutely reliable, the note said, it was
known that British merchant ships intended to oppose armed
resistance to German men-of-war in the area declared a war
zone by Germany. Many were already armed and all were to
be speedily. They were instructed to sail in small fleets, and
to ram the German submarine while the examination was under
way or if the submarine lay alongside drop bombs or over-
power the examining party as it came on board. A large
reward had been offered for the destruction of the first Ger-
man submarine by a British merchantman. Therefore, British
merchant vessels could no longer be considered as undefended,
but might be attacked without warning or search. The British
admitted that instructions had been given to misuse neutral
flags and it thus became necessary to ascertain the identity of
neutral vessels, unless they sailed in daylight under convoy.
Attacks to be expected from masked British merchantmen made
a search impossible as the submarines themselves would be
exposed to destruction. The safety of neutral shipping in the
war zone therefore was seriously threatened. There was also
danger from mines which were to be laid in the zone to a
great extent. To this kind of warfare Germany had been
driven by the murderous ways of the British who sought to
destroy lawful neutral trade and starve the German people.
Germany would be obliged to hold to the principles announced
until England submitted to the rules of warfare established
by the Declarations of Paris and London or until she was forced
by neutral powers to do so.

Without waiting for the Foreign Office to formally reply
to the American note, Admiral Behncke made a statement on
February 16, to Lieutenant Commander Gherardi, naval at-
tache to the American Embassy. England, he said, was bent
on subduing Germany by starvation. Germany in every way

NEUTRAL TRADE 71

had attempted to bring to the attention of neutral powers her
need of food for her civilian population. Her efforts resulted
in nothing. Now that the cutting off of food "had come to a
point where Germany no longer had sufficient food to feed her
people, it became necessary for her to bring England to terms
by the use of force." By the submarine she could be brought
to the condition of needing food for her people. Germany did
not wish to harm American ships or their cargoes unless con-
traband of war. But she was "in a position where her life
depends upon her putting into effect the only means she has
of saving herself. She must and will use this means." In
spite of the great effect the submarine would have on shorten-
ing the war, "the Admiralty does not wish/' Admiral Behncke
continued, "to put it into effect to the detriment of neutral
commerce and the rights of nations on the high seas. They
have, therefore, stated that if Great Britain will abide by the
Declaration of London, without modification, or by the Treaty
of Paris, whereby food supplies necessary for the civilian popu-
lation can be freely brought into Germany, the whole matter
of a submarine blockade will be dropped by Germany." The
Admiral further suggested that American ships should proceed
under convoy and so be exempt from search.

On the nineteenth of February, the day after the War Zone
order went into force, the text of Germany's reply to the
American note was made public.

Up to the present time, this note said, Germany had
scrupulously observed "valid international rules regarding naval
warfare," and had done so even to the injury of her military
interests. Thus Germany "allowed the transport of provisions
to England from Denmark until to-day though she was well
able by her sea power to prevent it." England on the other
hand had not hesitated to infringe international law a second
time, in order to paralyze the peaceful commerce of Germany
with neutrals.

All these encroachments were made in order to cut off all
supplies to Germany and so starve her civil population, "a pro-
cedure contrary to humanitarian principles." America, it was
true, protested, but could not induce England to depart from
her course of action. Thus the American ship Wilhelmina had

72 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

been stopped by British, although, her cargo was destined solely
for the German civil population and the German Government
had expressly declared it should be used "only for this pur-
pose."

Germany was "as good as cut off from her overseas supply
by the silent or protesting toleration of neutrals," not only of
such goods as are absolute contraband, but such also as before
the war were merely conditional, or not contraband at all.
Great Britain on the other hand, with the toleration of neutral
governments, was not only supplied with goods conditionally
contraband, or not contraband, but also with those which are
held by her to be absolutely contraband if sent to Germany,
as provisions, raw materials and the like.

Germany felt "obliged to point out with the greatest em-
phasis, that a traffic in arms, estimated at many hundreds of
millions," was going on between American firms and the
enemies of Germany.

Because of this situation, Germany, "after six months of
patient waiting," had been forced "to answer Great Britain's
murderous method of naval warfare with sharp counter meas-
ures." Great Britain having summoned hunger as an ally in
order to force seventy millions of people to choose between star-
vation and submission to her commercial will, Germany had de-
cided to appeal to similar allies. The German Government
was determined by every means in her power to suppress the
importations of war material to Great Britain and her allies,
and took it for granted that neutrals which had taken no meas-
ures to stop the traffic in arms to her enemies would make no
complaint because of its forcible suppression by Germany.

Therefore the Admiralty had proclaimed a war zone with
limits exactly defined. Germany would seek to close this zone
with mines, and would endeavor to destroy hostile merchant
ships in every possible way. The German Government did not
fail to recognize the danger to neutral ships, but it was jus-
tified in expecting that "neutrals will acquiesce in those meas-
ures as they have done in the case of grievous damages upon
them" by Great Britain.

Germany had announced the destruction of all enemy mer-
chant vessels found within the zone, but not all merchant ves-

NEUTRAL TRADE . 73

sels as the United States has erroneously supposed. Germany
was ready to deliberate with the United States as to the best
way to secure the safety of the lawful shipping of neutrals in
the war zone ; but two things made this difficult, the misuse of
neutral flags by British shipping, and the trade in war ma-
terial in neutral ships. Great Britain again had furnished
arms to British merchant ships and had instructed them for-
cibly to resist German submarines. It would be hard, there-
fore, for submarines to recognize neutral ships. Search in most
cases could not be made because in the case of a disguised
British merchant ship, from which an attack might be ex-
pected, both searching party and submarine would be exposed
to destruction.

The suggestion was then made that the United States "make
their ships which are conveying peaceful cargoes through the
British war zone discernible by means of convoys." Germany
would be "particularly grateful" if American vessels were rec-
ommended to avoid the war zone until the flag question was set-
tled. If the United States should find a way to remove the
causes which made the war zone and the submarine warfare
necessary, and "in particular should find a way to make the
Declaration of London respected," Germany would "gladly
draw conclusions from the new situation."

In Germany the note was naturally approved. Neutrals
must either force Great Britain to fight fairly or else keep their
ships out of the war zone. It left no doubt of Germany's
intention to make reprisals on Great Britain, and neutrals must
understand that all Germany desires this, and that this policy
will be carried out. The note had none of the excited tone used
by America when a single shipload of weapons was delivered
in Mexico by Germany. America's bluff assumption that Ger-
many would assume responsibility for endangering her ships
is flatly rejected. German submarine commanders had been
instructed not to injure American ships when recognizable, but
they would be recognizable as such only when accompanied by
American warships. To assume that the American flag made
them recognizable was to misread the note.

The German note referred to the Wilhelmina case. On
February 9, under stress of weather, her captain took her into

74 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the port of Falmouth. There the cargo of foodstuffs, but not
the vessel, was seized and put in prize court. The Secretary
of State as soon as possible, protested, and February 19 Sir
Edward Grey replied.

When His Majesty's Government, he said, ordered the seiz-
ure of the cargo as contraband they had before them the text
of a decree of the German Federal Council under which all
grain and flour imported after January 31 must be delivered to
certain organizations under direct control of government, or of
municipal authorities. The Wilhelmina was bound for Ham-
burg, one of the free cities of the German Empire, the govern-
ment of which is vested in the municipality.

Information had only just reached His Majesty's Govern-
ment that by a decree of February 6, the provisions as to grain
and flour delivery had been repealed for the express purpose, it
would seem, of making difficult the anticipated proceedings
against the Wilhelmina.

But the German decree was not the only ground on which
the submission of her cargo to a prize court was justifiable.
The German Government had treated every town or port on
the east coast of England as a fortified place, and base of
operations, and had bombarded Yarmouth, Whitby and Scar-
borough. Neutral vessels sailing from English ports had been
seized and brought before German prize courts. The Dutch
vessel Maria from California with grain consigned to Dublin
and Belfast, had been sunk by the Karlsruhe.

"The German Government cannot have it both ways." If it
thought itself justified in destroying the lives and property of
peaceful civil inhabitants of English open towns and in seiz-
ing and sinking ships and cargoes of conditional contraband
bound thither, because they considered them consigned to a
fortified base, His Majesty's Government had the right to treat
Hamburg, partly protected by fortifications at the mouth of the
Elbe, as a fortified town and base of supply. If the owners
of the cargo of the Wilhelmina felt aggrieved by the action of
His Majesty's Government they could present their case before
the prize court. The owners of the vessel and the owners of
the cargo, if found to be contraband, would be indemnified.

Germany had maltreated the civil population of Belgium

NEUTRAL TRADE 75

and of such parts of France as she held; had planted mines in
the high seas long hef ore any had been sown hy Great Britain ;
had sunk neutral ships and their unoffending crews; fired on
English towns and defenseless British subjects; bombarded
from airships quiet country towns and villages devoid of de-
fense; torpedoed British ships at sight without warning to the
crew and without a chance to save their lives; fired on a
British hospital ship in daylight, and had threatened with de-
struction all British merchantmen and neutrals found near the
British Isles.

Faced by such a situation it was unreasonable to expect
Great Britain and her Allies to remain bound by rules and
principles which they recognized as just if impartially ob-
served as between belligerents, but were openly set at defiance
by the enemy.

Germany having suggested that the United States should
seek a way to make the Declaration of London respected, and
to remove the grounds which made her course of action neces-
sary, the Secretary of State on February 20 addressed identical
notes to Great Britain and Germany suggesting a basis of set-
tlement.

In view, each said, of the correspondence which had passed
between the United States and Great Britain and Germany
relative to the war zone enclosed by Germany and the use of
neutral flags by British merchantmen, the Government of the
United States ventured to express a hope that the two belliger-
ent governments might reach a basis for an agreement which
would relieve neutral vessels from the dangers which beset
them in waters adjacent to the coasts of the belligerents. This
basis might be reached by reciprocal concessions, and as a means
of drawing forth the views of the two belligerents the United
States would suggest:

1. That neither sow floating mines on the high seas, or in
territorial waters ; that neither plant on the high seas, anchored
mines save within cannon range of harbors ; that all mines bear
the stamp of the Government planting them; and be so con-
structed as to become harmless if they drifted from their
moorings.

76 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

2. That neither use submarines to attack merchantmen
save for the purpose of visit and search.

3. That each forbid its merchant ships to use neutral flags
as a ruse de guerre.

Germany was to agree that all foodstuffs sent to her from
the United States shall be consigned to agencies designated by
the United States ; that these American agencies shall have en-
tire charge of the receipt and distribution of all importations;
that they should be distributed to none but retailers having
licenses from the German Government; and that such food-
stuffs will not be requisitionecj by the German Government for
any purpose whatsoever.

Great Britain was to agree that food and foodstuffs will
not be made absolute contraband, nor interfered with nor de-
tained if consigned to the American agencies in Germany, and
distributed by them to licensed German retailers for the use
solely of noncombatants.

February 28, the German Government answered that it was
prepared to make the declaration concerning floating mines, and
the construction of anchored mines, and affix a Government
stamp to all that were laid; but did not think it possible to
fully renounce the use of anchored mines for purposes of of-
fense.

German submarines, it was willing to agree, should use
force against merchant vessels of whatever flag only in so far
as necessary to carry out the right of visit and search. Should
the enemy character of the ship, or the presence of contraband
be proved, the submarine must be free to act according to inter-
national law. All this, however, was "contingent on the fact"
that the enemy merchant ships did not use neutral flags or
other "neutral distinctive marks." They must also be unarmed
and not resist by force.

"The regulation of legitimate importations of food into
Germany" suggested by our Government seemed to be in gen-
eral acceptable. But such regulations must be confined to im-
portations by sea, and to indirect importations by way of neu-
tral ports. The German Government was therefore willing to
make the declarations provided for in the American note, so
that the importation of food and foodstuffs solely for the non-

NEUTRAL TRADE 77

combatant population would be guaranteed. But the enemy
governments must also allow the free importation into Ger-
many of the raw materials on the free list of the Declaration
of London.

March 1, the Allies, Great Britain and France, announced
their policy towards Germany because of her submarine block-
ade. Germany, they said, had declared the waters around the
British Isles, the English Channel and the north and west
coasts of France a war zone, and had claimed the right to
torpedo without warning any merchant vessel under any flag.
As Germany could not maintain any surface craft in these
waters the attack must be by submarine. The law and customs
of nations had always required that the captor bring his prize
before a prize court, where the regularity of the capture may
be challenged. The responsibility of discriminating between
neutral and enemy ships had always rested with the captor. So
also the duty of providing for the safety of the crew and pas-
sengers. But the German submarine observes none of these
obligations. She does not take her prize into any court, uses
no means to discriminate between neutral and enemy property,
does not receive on board for safety the crew of the vessel she
sinks. The German declaration substitutes indiscriminate de-
struction for regulated capture. Her opponents are, therefore,
driven to retaliation in order to prevent commodities of any
sort reaching Germany. These measures, however, will be en-
forced without risk to neutral property or the lives of non-
combatants. The British and French Governments will be free
to detain and take into ports ships carrying goods of presumed
enemy declaration, but will not confiscate such vessels and car-
goes unless they would otherwise be liable to confiscation.

Great opposition was made to this announcement in our
country. A strong protest by the Government was expected,
for the effect was to end our commerce with Germany.

March 5, the Secretary of State addressed a note to each of
the belligerents asking how the embargo on commerce with Ger-
many was to be carried into effect. The intent seemed to be
to take into custody all vessels trading with Germany whether
outgoing or incoming. This was in effect a blockade of Ger-
man ports. Nevertheless the rule of blockade that a ship at-

78 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

tempting to break this blockade may, regardless of its cargo,
be condemned is not asserted. Great Britain and France, it
was declared, were to be "free to detain and take into ports
ships carrying goods of presumed enemy destination, ownership
or origin. But neither vessels nor cargoes were to be con-
fiscated unless otherwise liable to condemnation."

The first sentence asserted a right arising only from a
state of blockade. The last sentence proposes "a treatment of
ships and cargoes as if no blockade existed."

By the rules governing the export of enemy goods from an
enemy country only enemy goods in enemy bottoms are subject
to seizure. Yet the declaration proposes to seize and take into
port all goods of enemy ownership and origin.

The use of the word "origin" was significant. Except in
case of blockade the origin of goods found in neutral ships on
their way to neutral countries had never been a ground for for-
feiture. Delay, then, and nothing else could come from such
seizure. What would be done with such cargoes if found to
belong to a neutral ? If found to belong to an enemy ? Would
there be different rules for different ownership ?

The United States was fully alive to the fact that the sub-
marine might make the old-fashioned means of blockade impos-
sible. But there should be some limit to the "radius of ac-
tivity." "It would certainly create a serious state of affairs,
if, for example, an American vessel laden with a cargo of
German origin should escape the British patrol in European
waters only to be held up by a cruiser off New York and taken
into Halifax."

France replied on March 14 : "As well stated in the Amer-
ican note, the old methods of blockade could not be entirely
adopted because of the use of the submarine by Germany, and
the geographical situation of that country. Because of the
declaration of war zone along the coasts of Great Britain and
of France, on the Channel, the allied Government had been
forced to cut off all maritime communication with the German
Empire" and thus keep it blockaded by the naval power of the
two Allies.

The Government of the Republic, therefore, reserved the
right to bring into a French or allied port, any ship carrying

NEUTRAL TRADE 79

a cargo of presumed German origin, destination or ownership.
But no neutral ship would be seized unless it carried contra-
band. Should a neutral prove his ownership of goods destined
for Germany he might dispose of them subject to certain re-
strictions. If the owner of the goods were a German they
would be sequestered during the war. Goods of enemy origin
would not be sequestered unless owned by an enemy. Goods
belonging to neutrals would be held at the disposal of the
owner to be returned to the port of departure.

Great Britain, by way of reply, sent a copy of new Orders
in Council to be issued March 15, and stated that the purpose
of the British Government was "to establish a blockade to
prevent vessels carrying goods for or coming from Germany."
Reluctant to exact from neutral ships all the penalties of a
breach of blockade, the belligerent right to confiscate ships or
cargoes would not be exercised, but merely the cargoes stopped
on their way to or from the enemy's country. It was "not in-
tended to interfere with neutral vessels carrying enemy cargoes
of noncontraband nature outside European waters, including
the Mediterranean."

On the same day, March 15, on which Mr. Page received
the copy of the Order in Council and the note, he was handed
a long memorandum dated March 23, in reply to the American
note suggesting a basis of concession.

It appeared, Sir Edward Grey said, from the answer of
Germany to the suggestion, that she would not cease sinking
British merchant vessels by submarines, nor abandon the use
of mines for offensive purposes on the high seas. The British
Government might, therefore,, make no further reply than to
take note of the German answer. But the British Govern-
ment desired "to take the opportunity of making a fuller state-
ment of the whole position, and of our feeling with regard
to it."

The United States wished to see the war conducted accord-
ing to the rules of international law and the dictates of human-
ity. Such had been the conduct of the British forces. ~No
instance of improper proceedings, either in the conduct of hos-
tilities, or the treatment of prisoners or wounded, could be laid
to the charge of British forces on land or sea.

80 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

On the German side it had been different :

I.1 "The treatment of civilian inhabitants in Belgium and
the north of France had been made public," by the French and
Belgian Governments "and by those who have had experience
of it first hand. Modern history afforded no other instance
of such suffering inflicted on a defenseless and noncombatant
people."

2. From time to time terrible accounts had been received
of the barbarous treatment of British prisoners on their way
to German prison camps.

3. Germany had laid mine fields in the high seas without
warning and many neutral and British vessels had been sunk
by these.

4. Submarines had stopped and sunk British merchant-
men so many times that the sinking of such vessels had become
si German practice. A German armed cruiser had sunk an
American ship, the William P. Frye, carrying wheat from
Seattle to Queenstown. Her cargo should not have been con-
demned without the decision of a prize court, nor should the
vessel have been sunk. The fortified, open and defenseless
towns, as Scarborough, Yarmouth and Whitby, have been bom-
barded, and civilians, including women and children, killed.
German air craft have dropped bombs on the east coast of
England.

It is said that British naval authorities have laid anchored
mines. They have, but the mines were so constructed that
they would be harmless if they went adrift. Nor had this been
done until long after the Germans had made it a regular prac-
tice to sow mines in the high seas.

It had been said that -the British Government had departed
from their old position that foodstuffs should not be interfered
with when destined for a civil population. The charge was
based on the fact that the cargo of the Wilhelmina had been
submitted to a prize court. Why this was done had already
been explained to the United States.

The Government of Great Britain and that of France had
frankly declared their intention to meet German attempts to
stop supplies of every sort from leaving or entering British or
French ports, "by themselves stopping supplies going to or from

NEUTRAL TRADE 81

Germany. The British fleet has instituted a blockade effec-
tively controlling by cruiser cordon all passes to or from Ger-
many by sea."

The difference between the two policies is that Great
Britain proposes to attain her end without sacrificing neutral
ships, taking the lives of noncombatants "or inflicting upon
neutrals the damage that must be entailed when a vessel and
its cargo are sunk without notice, examination or trial.

One important fact, said the critics, clearly established by
the notes, is 'the admission that the cutting off of trade with
Germany is a blockade. Of this no neutral, no matter how
much its trade may suffer, can complain. Whether a blockade
can "be* established at so great a distance from an enemy's ports
is another question. But the promise that ships carrying car-
goes to German ports will not be confiscated, and that neutral
vessels out of German waters will not be molested, .makes the
question of little importance. That neither power will depart
from its position is certain, and nothing short of the use of
force remains for the United States save protest.

CHAPTEK IV

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFTJLNESS

FEBRUARY 18, 1915, the German war zone proclamation
went into effect and the campaign of frightfulness on the sea
opened at once. The Secretary of State, in his note, had de-
clared that the United States would ahold the Imperial Ger-
man Government to strict accountability" if American ships
were sunk without warning, and would take steps "to safeguard
American lives and property and to secure American citizens
the full enjoyment of their rights on the high seas." But
Germany cared nothing whatever for the warning and on the
twentieth of the month the Evelyn was sunk off the Borkum
Islands, and three days later the Carib went down off the coast
of Germany. Both were American vessels laden with cotton
for Bremen and each was destroyed by a German mine. The
first case of deliberate sinking of an American vessel became
known on March 10, when the German auxiliary cruiser Prinz
Eitel Friedrich, to the astonishment of the whole country, en-
tered Newport News and her commander reported that he had
sunk the American vessel William P. Frye.

The Prinz Eitel Friedrich sailed from Tsing Tau and while
cruising in the south Atlantic fell in with the Frye on January
27, put an armed force aboard and took possession.

Wheat was not contraband, but the commander of the cruiser
decided it was and ordered the cargo thrown into the sea. On
February 28, finding this proceeding too slow, he ordered the
crew aboard his ship and sank the Frye with gun fire.

March 28, when south of St. George's Channel, the British
ship Faldba, out of Liverpool, bound for the west coast of
Africa, was attacked by a German submarine and five minutes
allowed the passengers and crew, some 250 in number, to take
to the lifeboats. But before even that short time elapsed a
torpedo struck near the engine room, exploded, killed many,

82

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 83

and in ten minutes the Falaba sank. Among the passengers
lost was an American citizen, Mr. Leon Thrasher, on his way
to Africa.

Another instance of defiance was the case of the German
merchant ship Odenwald. After lying in the port of San Juan,
Porto Rico, since the opening of the war, her Captain decided
to take the risk of going to sea and applied for a clearance.
It was not given, whereupon the Captain started for sea with-
out a clearance, was fired on by the fort and forced to turn
back.

The German Embassy at once requested an investigation
and gave its own version of the affair. The Captain, it was
said, had asked clearance papers for Hamburg, and the Oden-
wald was twice searched under orders from Washington. The
result was satisfactory to the Custom House authorities and
papers were promised. After waiting three days without re-
ceiving any, the Captain, fearing the enemy cruisers would
assemble off the port, started for sea without his papers, and
was fired on from the Morro Castle without the usual "blind
shot" of warning. That he should defy the laws of the United
States and attempt to leave the port in an unlawful manner was
of no importance to the German Ambassador. That the Oden-
wald was fired on before a blank shot had been sent across her
bows was a grievance to be investigated.

Clearance papers, Secretary Bryan replied, had been with-
held under orders from Washington; the Captain of the Oden-
wald had twice been warned not to leave without his papers
lest he be fired on from the fort, and in defiance of the warning
had raised anchor and started for sea on the afternoon of
March 21. As he passed close to the San Augustine Bastion,
the officer in command hailed him several times; but the
Odenwald went on her way and some 75 shots from a machine
gun were fired and fell in front and short of her. Lest vessels
ahead of her should be injured 15 shots were fired astern of the
Odenwald. These were small solid shot, were not intended to,
and did not, strike her, and were used as a warning because
blank cartridges could not be used in a machine gun. As the
Odenwald gave no heed to the warning, a shot was fired from a
4.7 inch gun on the Morro Castle, and struck the water 300

84 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

yards in front of her and short of her projected course. She
then stopped and was brought back to her anchorage. By her
attempt to leave port "without papers" she "committed a willful
breach of the navigation laws of the United States."

A claim for $228,059.44 damages in the case of the Frye
having been promptly presented, Herr von Jagow replied that
the wheat was consigned to Queenstown, Falmouth, or Plym-
outh "to order" ; that each of these ports was strongly fortified
and served as a base for the British naval forces and that
the commander, therefore, "acted quite in accordance with the
principles of international law as laid down in the Declaration
of London and the German prize ordinance." Wheat, von
Jagow held, was food, was conditional contraband, and because
it was on its way to a fortified port was to be considered as
destined for the armed forces of the enemy and became con-
traband.

The sinking of the ship was permissible "since it was not
possible for the auxiliary cruiser to take the prize into a Ger-
man port" without endangering his own operations. The legal-
ity of the measures taken by the commander of the cruiser
would be examined by a prize court as soon as the ship's
papers were received. But Article XIII., of the Prussian-
American treaty of 1799, and Article X,IL, of the treaty of
1828, provided that contraband belonging to the subjects or
citizens of either party could not be confiscated by the other,
but only detained or used subject to payment of full value.
Because of these Articles the owners of ship and cargo would
be compensated even if the court decided the cargo contra-
band.

The prize court found that the cargo was contraband, that
the Frye could not have been taken into port, that the sinking
was therefore justified, and the German Government was liable
for damages; but the court could not fix the amount for lack
of necessary information. An interchange of notes now fol-
lowed and months passed away before it was agreed that the
matter of damages should be settled by two experts; that if
they disagreed an umpire should be appointed, and that the
difference over the interpretation of the treaty should be sub-

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 85

mitted to arbitration. With this the case rested and nothing
more had been done when we entered the war.

Concerning the Falciba, the German Embassy on April 6
announced that the Ambassador had received from Berlin this
official message:

"A report from the submarine has not yet been received.
However, according to trustworthy reports the submarine re-
quested the steamship Falaba, to put passengers and crew into
lifeboats when other ships came up. Lately English merchant
ships have been provided with guns by the British Govern-
ment and advised to warn or otherwise attack German sub-
marines. This advice has repeatedly been followed in order to
win promised rewards. Military necessity, consequently, forced
the submarine to act quickly, which made granting of longer
space of time and the saving of lives impossible.

"The German Government regrets sacrifices of human lives,
but both British ships and neutral passengers on board such
ships were warned urgently and in time not to cross the war
zone. Responsibility rests, therefore, with the British Gov-
ernment which, contrary to international law, inaugurated com-
mercial war against Germany and, contrary to international
law, has caused merchant ships to offer armed resistance."

And now the Prinz Eitel Friedrich was interned. As soon
as possible after her entrance a survey of the ship was made to
determine what repairs were needed and fourteen working days,
dating from March 20, were allowed in which to make them.
At midnight on April 6, they must be finished, and twenty-four
hours later, at midnight on April 7, she must leave the waters
of the United States or be interned for the duration of the
war. As the time for departure drew near a great show of
preparation was made. Coal and provisions were taken aboard,
the band played German airs, and it seemed she would sail
early in April. But she did not and when the time expired
her Captain announced that he feared capture if he went to
sea, and the Prinz Eitel Friedrich was formally interned on
April 10.

The next day, April 11, the German sea raider Kronprinz
Wilhelm also arrived at Newport News. She had slipped out
of Hoboken on August 3, 1914, had found the Karlsruhe wait-

86 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ing for her at sea with a new captain, two guns and 50 men,
and during 251 days had roamed the sea as a raider. Two
more guns were taken from a prize. Her prizes were fifteen
in number, ten British, four French and one Norwegian. She
also was interned on April 26.

On the twenty-eighth of April, a German aeroplane dropped
three bombs on the American steamer Gushing. From the story
told by her Captain, it appears she was steaming along at
eleven knots an hour in the North Sea when an aeroplane was
seen circling around her. It was early in the evening and broad
daylight and the maltese cross and the German colors were
plainly seen on the aeroplane a thousand feet above the ship.
Suddenly a waterspout rose about a foot off the port quarter
and tons of water came on deck. Then a second spout rose in
the same position and about the same distance from the
Gushing. The crew were ordered to shelter just as a third
bomb struck the rail near the smokestack, exploded, and splin-
ters flew about the deck, several passing through the American
ensign.

Three days later the American oil tank steamship Gulflight
when off the Scilly Islands on her way from Port Arthur,
Texas, to Rouen, France, was torpedoed by a German sub-
marine but did not sink. Her captain died from shock, and
ten of her crew who jumped overboard were drowned. The
rest of the crew were taken off by a patrol boat, and the Gulf-
light was towed into Crow Sound and beached.

The attack was made on Saturday, the first of May, and on
that day this notice appeared in the newspapers :

"NOTICE!

"Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are
reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her
allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war
includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in ac-
cordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German
Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any
of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 87

travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or
her allies do so at their own risk.

"IMPEKIAL GEEMAN EMBASSY,
"Washington, D. C., April 22, 1915."

The story of the origin of that famous notice has since been
told by Mr. John E. Eathom, Editor of the Providence Jour-
nal. When the war opened in 1914, and spread from nation
to nation, Mr. Eathom, convinced that the German Government
would at once begin an organized propaganda to consolidate the
German-Americans in the United States and that in this at-
tempt Germany would stop at nothing, determined to discover
the plots and activities of the German and Austrian officials
in the United States, and succeeded in placing secretly a dozen
trusted agents in as many important German and Austrian
offices. One secured a post in the German Embassy in Wash-
ington; the others were placed in the German consulates in
Boston, in New Orleans, in Denver and St. Louis ; in the Ger-
man consulates-general in New York, Chicago and San Fran-
cisco; in the Austrian consulate in Cleveland and in the Aus-
trian consulates-general in New York, Chicago and Philadel-
phia. Erom these men came, almost daily, documents and re-
ports which revealed every phase of scores of German plots,
great and small, and every phase of German propaganda, and
furnished evidence which drove more than one German official
out of the country or sent him to jail.1

But the Providence Journal also maintained a wireless sta-
tion which at two o'clock on the morning of April 29, 1915,
caught a code message from Nauen to Sayville, which read :

"From Berlin Foreign Office,

To Botschaft, Washington.

669 (44-W) Welt nineteen fifteen warne 175, 29, 1 stop
175 1 2 stop durch 622 2 4 stop 19 7 18 stop LIX 11 3 4 5 6."

It created, Mr. Eathom states in his account in the World's
Work, "great interest in the Journal office because it followed

1 For the story of the work of Mr. Rathom and his men see the World's
Work, December, 1917, February, March, etc., 1918.

88 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

none of the known codes and in form was unlike any other
message that had been received at Sayville up to that time."
"Every attempt to decipher it failed until somebody with a line
on the internal activities of the German Embassy remembered
that on the morning of April 29 Prince Hatzfeldt had been
hunting for a New York World Almanac. The first two words
of the message 'Welt 1915' supplied the clue and, following
the numbers as representing page, line, and word in the World
Almanac, the Journal men decoded the message as follows:
'Warn Lusilania passenger (s) through press not voyage across
the Atlantic.' "

The notice, dated April 22, was sent on that day by the
Councilor of the German Embassy to an advertising agent
in Washington with the request to ahave it printed as an ad-
vertisement in the newspapers on the enclosed list once a week
during the next three or four weeks," and May 1, with the date
April 22 unchanged, it was inserted in the newspapers under
the advertisement of the Cunard Line, giving notice of the sail-
ing of the Lusilania on May 1. The warning was general. No
vessel was named ; but the wireless message shows that the Lusi-
tania had been deliberately chosen for destruction and that it
was her passengers that were to be warned.

'No official at Washington would comment on the attack on
the Cushing and Gulflight. But coming so soon after the cau-
tion of the German Embassy, and despite the President's notice
to Germany, they were admitted to form the most serious inci-
dent that had arisen between the United States and any bel-
ligerent. The President had told the German Government that
"if the commanders of German vessels of war should act. upon
the presumption that the flag of the United States was not being
used in good faith and should destroy on the high seas an Amer-
ican vessel, or the lives of American citizens, it would be dif-
ficult for the Government of the United States to view the act
in any other light than as an indefensible violation of neutral
rights."

Did not the attack on the Gulfligfit and the consequent loss
of life constitute aan indefensible violation of neutrality" ?
But the Government must make sure of the facts. The Secre-
tary of State pointed out that the American consul at Plym-

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 89

outh, England, in reporting the attack on the Gulflight did not
give his authority, and that his message read as if he were re-
porting on information given by another. A full report would
therefore be called for, from the consul, and Ambassador
Gerard would be instructed to make' inquiry of the German
Government.

By many of our countrymen meantime the attack was re-
garded as justifying a suspicion that the German Government
was making persistent efforts to irritate the United States. Re-
cent occurrences led to the belief that Germany had begun to
show her resentment because of the shipment of arms to her
enemies, and the widespread sympathy for the cause of the
Allies. The von Bernstorff note, the manner of its publication,
and the warning to Americans not to take passage on ships un-
der the flags of Great Britain or any of her Allies, all pointed,
it was said, to such animosity on the part of Germany. What
was she doing? Why should she spend so much money in
trying to gain the support and sympathy of America and then
by official acts and utterances deliberately injure her cause?
Did Germany now think that threats would succeed where
pleadings had failed? Was she seeking the enmity of the
whole world as a good reason for peace ?

The meaning of the warning notice from the German Em-
bassy printed in the newspapers of May 1 and repeated in
many of them on May 8, now became apparent. On
May 1 the Cunard mail steamship Lusitania sailed from
New York, with 1,251 passengers and a crew of 667. On May
7, when eight miles off Old Head of Kinsale, or the south
coast of Jreland, she was struck by two torpedoes discharged
from a German submarine, and in a few minutes foundered
and went down bow first. No warning was given. Many of
the passengers were at luncheon; but in the few minutes be-
fore she sank such as could found a refuge in ten life boats.
The wireless operator sent call after call for help, and tugs,
steam trawlers, every available vessel was hurried from Queens-
town. Of the 1,918 human beings on board 1,153 were
drowned. Of the 188 Americans, 114 men, women and chil-
dren lost their lives. Among them were many men well known
in their walks in life.

90 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ISTo event since the sinking of the Maine so stirred the coun-
try. A cry of mingled horror and rage rose from every part
of it. Beyond all doubt, it was said, the destruction of the
Lusitania was carefully and deliberately planned. The warn-
ing notice in the newspapers 'it now appears had been preceded
by anonymous letters and telephone messages to many of the
passengers. American citizens traveling peacefully had been
sent to their death by the deliberately planned act of Em-
peror William and his advisers. America must and will resent
this invasion of her rights. The Government is in duty bound,
emphatically, without shrinking from the proper epithets, to
denounce the greatest international outrage of modern times.

By the German language press the deed was justified. Said
one journal, War is war. A nation forced to fight for life
against a world of enemies should not be guided by sentiment.
The Lusitania, loaded to its capacity with explosives, ammuni-
tion, war material, was, to the Germans, a warship. To accept
passengers under such circumstances was a crime of the worst
kind. Considering the character of the cargo, some of it was
picric and liable to explode at the slightest shock, it may well
be that an inside explosion wrought the destruction of the
Lusitania. Survivors tell of asphyxiating gases. Torpedoes
do not produce them, but they can be traced back to the horrible
explosives in the hold. Does not this show that it was simply
an atrocious crime to carry men, women and children in such
a ship? If Americans wish to go to Europe and use neutral
vessels not carrying contraband of war they will be perfectly
safe.

Another, the Cincinnati Freie Presse, remarked that the
Lusitania was a British, not an American, ship ; that American
passengers knew their lives were in danger because they had
been warned; that having taken the risk after ample warning,
there was no cause for complaint now that the ship was sunk
and lives lost. Said a third, the Chicago Abendpost, responsi-
bility for the loss of the Lusitania and American lives rests
with Great Britain. The steamer, armed, commanded by a
naval officer, freighted with ammunition, was clearly subject
to attack within the war zone.

When the news was carried by a reporter to the office of

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 91

the German consul in Philadelphia it was received with cheers.
German- Americans everywhere found the sinking of the ship
a cause for rejoicing. The passengers who were drowned, they
held, should not have been on hoard.

Dr. Dernburg, now accepted as the Kaiser's spokesman in
America, took this view of the matter. "Any ship," he said
in an interview, "carrying goods to Great Britain is to be
, sunk." It was "the usage of war that vessels could be stopped,
seized and searched. Vessels that carried contraband could be
destroyed if they could not be taken into port. It has been
customary to give innocent people warning and a chance to
get away. A submarine is only one hundred and fifty feet
long; it has no accommodations for others than its crew of
probably twenty-four men. Consequently it is unable to take
off passengers."

"Any American traveling on an American boat under the
American flag will be safe. There are, moreover, any number
of neutral ships. There is also this condition, an American
ship or any other neutral vessel must carry no munitions of
war. It is easy for an Aonerican who wants to travel to find
out what a ship carries. All ships make their manifests to
the Custom House and they are public.

"Everybody takes a risk if they want to. Anybody can
commit suicide if they want to.

"We have done and will do the best we can to avoid such
trouble, but we cannot allow Americans to be used as shields
to get articles of war into the hands of its Allies. The death
of the Americans might have been avoided if our warning had
been heeded. We put in advertisements and were careful to
put them in next the advertisements of the Cunard Line's
sailing dates."

As feeling rose higher and higher, What will the Govern-
ment do ? was asked on every hand. Some thought Congress
should be assembled as quickly as possible. Some thought
the German Ambassador should at once be handed his pass-
ports. Others were for a declaration of war against Germany.
Senators and Representatives when asked by the New York
Times and Philadelphia Ledger for their views advised the
people to be calm, and forego hasty action while the facts were

92 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

investigated. "Every one should recognize the folly of urging
hasty or precipitate action." "The situation does not call for
the assembly of Congress." "The sinking of the Lusitania is
an awful thing to contemplate, and the feeling of resentment
may raise our blood to the boiling point. But let us place our
confidence in the President of the United States. He has kept
us free from entangling alliances so far." "Let us handle the
present situation .with patience and calmness, trusting to the
President to take the proper course."

As soon as possible the German Foreign Office dispatched a
note to the Embassy to be delivered to Secretary Bryan.

The German Government [the note reads] desires to express its
deepest sympathy at the loss of lives on board the Lusitania. The
responsibility rests, however, with the British Government, which,
through its plan of starving the civilian population of Germany, has
forced Germany to resort to retaliating measures.

In spite of the German offer to stop the submarine war in case
the starvation plan was given up, British merchant vessels are being
generally armed with guns, and have repeatedly tried to ram subma-
rines, so that a previous search was impossible. [Moreover, the
Lusitania on her last voyage "carried 5,400 cases of ammunition, while
the rest of the cargo consisted chiefly of contraband."]

If England, after repeated official and unofficial warnings, consid-
ered herself able to declare that that boat ran no risk, and thus light-
heartedly assume responsibility for the human life on board a
steamship which, owing to its armament and cargo, was liable to
destruction, the German Government, in spite of its heartfelt sym-
pathy for the loss of American lives, cannot but regret that Americans
felt more inclined to trust to English promises than to pay attention
to the warnings from the German side.

Two months after this note was received, July 17, the
Providence Journal announced that from translations of Say-
villc wireless messages in its possession it appeared that the
warning was not only sent out by the German Embassy, but the
very text was provided by the Admiralty, and it "was sent out
from Berlin six clays before it actually appeared in the news-
papers." "The message also shows that the first official knowl-
edge in the possession of the German Government as to the
character of the cargo of the Lusitania reached it three days
after that ship was sunk.

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 93

"On May 10, the following message was sent over the
Sayville wireless station by Captain Boy-Ed to the head of the
Admiralty Department in Berlin:

"Your message of the thirtieth of April was given to American
travelers in all important newspapers in the United States, warn-
ing them from the war zone and the use of English steamers. The
Lusitania had 5,400 cases of ammunition on board and her cargo
was almost exclusively contraband, with a total value of about
3,000,000 marks."

The note from the Foreign Office served but to confirm the
belief that the Lusitania had been deliberately chosen for
destruction, that the attack had been carefully planned, and
that the notice had been given for no other purpose than to
enable the German Government to say that American lives
would not have been lost had American travelers paid "atten-
tion to the warnings from the German side." To this the New
York World answered: "The fact that A formally announces
his intention to murder B at three o'clock to-morrow after-
noon does not make the subsequent murder of B an innocent
or justifiable act." At Kinsale, the coroner's jury which inves-
tigated the cause of the deaths from the sinking of the Lusi-
tania, in its verdict said: "We also charge the officers of said
submarine and the Emperor and Government of Germany,
under whose orders they acted, with the crime of wholesale
murder before the tribunal of the civilized world."

A resolution adopted by the House of Representatives of
Pennsylvania described the sinking of the Lusitania and its
attendant horrors as "a deed unknown by the laws of war, or
the principles of civilization," and an "affront to the American
nation," such as called for action to obtain reparation; con-
demned the action of the German nation as "a dastardly deed
worthy of none save a barbarous and uncivilized nation," and
demanded an apology from Germany, full reparation for the
loss of American lives and property, and guarantees that such
"a cowardly action will never again be permitted by it to
occur." A resolution introduced into the Pennsylvania Senate
declared that the Imperial German Government, by the sinking
of the Frye, by the drowning of Mr. Thrasher on the Falaba,,

94 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

by the sinking of the Gulflight, and the sinking of the Lusi-
tania, had shown its utter indifference to the safety of the lives
and property of citizens of the United States, and pledged the
support of the Commonwealth to the President in any measures
he might take to uphold the honor, dignity and safety of the
nation.

In Tennessee, resolutions of support were also adopted. At
New York City, the sons of political leaders and of men fore-
most in professional life signed a message to the President
stating their conviction "that national interests and honor im-
peratively require adequate measures both to secure reparation
for the past violations by Germany of American rights and
secure guarantees against" violations in the future.

On the tenth of May the President came to Philadelphia
for the especial purpose of addressing some four thousand
newly naturalized citizens on the duties, responsibilities and
privileges of American citizenship. The occasion was made a
great one. The meeting was held in the Convention Hall, was
presided over by the Mayor of the city and, besides the four
thousand new citizens, those gathered in the hall numbered
some sixteen thousand. That the President would use the
occasion to speak on the nation's foreign relations was fully
expected. He made no allusion to the Lusitania, he spoke
solely to the new citizens, and in the course of his speech used
some expressions which went round the world.

"The example of America," he said, "must be a special
example. The example of America must be an example not
of peace because it will not fight, but of peace because peace is
the healing and elevating influence of the world and strife is
not. There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight.
There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not
need to convince others by force that it is right."

The words "too proud to fight" were understood both at
home and abroad to refer to the Lusitania crime, and to define
the policy of the President towards Germany. Under no cir-
cumstances will the Government permit its indignation over
the drowning of Americans on the Lusitania to lead to war with
Germany, was the common interpretation. This was not his
meaning, the President told callers who came to the White

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 95

House on the day after the speech. He did not, he said, con-
sider the Philadelphia meeting a proper occasion on which to
give any intimation of policy on any special matter. He was
defining a personal attitude, but did not have anything specific
in mind.

"President Wilson," said the London Evening Standard,
"is a high-minded man and we can understand what he meant
by this rather unpolitical remark — 'too proud to fight.' Un-
fortunately, Germany does not understand this kind of right-
eousness." The London Star thought the words meant that
"the guilt of those who murdered American citizens on board
the Lusitania is so manifest that America can rely on the
righteousness of her cause without drawing the sword to defend
it." All England was waiting to see what the President would
do, and so was all America. There were those who insisted
that Germany must be held to "strict accountability/' as threat-
ened in the note of February 10. There were those who held
"strict accountability" should apply only when American ships
were sunk and not when Americans lost their lives because
of the sinking of a merchant ship under the flag of a belligerent.
There were those who wished to see diplomatic relations broken
at once; there were those who stood for "peace-at-any-price,"
and there were those who insisted that we prepare at once for
the war which was sure to come.

On May 13, the Department of State made public the first
Lusitania note, the first also of a series of notes in which the
President stated and defended the principles of neutrality.

Because of the recent act of German authorities in viola-
tion of American rights on the high seas, the note said, it was
clearly desirable that botli Governments come to a "full under-
standing as to the grave situation which has resulted." The
sinking of the Falaba, the aeroplane attack on the Gushing,
the torpedoing of the Gulflight, the destruction of the Lusi-
tania, formed "a series of events which the Government of the
United States had observed with growing concern, distress and
amazement."

The Government of the United States "was loath to be-
lieve— it cannot now bring itself to believe — that these acts so
contrary" to the rules, practices and spirit of modern warfare

96 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

could be sanctioned by the Imperial German Government, and
felt in duty bound "to address the Imperial German Govern-
ment concerning them with the utmost frankness."

The Government of the United States had been informed
that the Imperial German Government felt compelled "by the
extraordinary circumstances of the present war, and the meas-
ures adopted by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off
from all commerce, to adopt methods of retaliation which go
much beyond the ordinary methods of warfare at sea, in the
proclamation of a war zone from which they have warned neu-
tral ships to keep away."

The Government of the United States had already informed
the Imperial German Government that it could not "admit the'
adoption of such measures or such a warning of danger to
operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of
American shipmasters or of American citizens bound on lawful
errands as passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nation-
ality; and that it must hold the Imperial German Government
to a strict accountability for any infringement of those rights,
intentional or accidental." These rights it did not understand
the German Government to question. On the contrary, it
assumed that the German Government "accept as of course the
rule that the lives of noncombatants, whether they be of neu-
tral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, cannot
lawfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction of
an unarmed merchantman, and recognize also, as all other
nations do, the obligation to take the usual precaution of visit
and search to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in
fact of belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying contraband
of war under a neutral flag."

Objection to this method of attack, by the Imperial Ger-
man Government, on "the trade of their enemies" lay in the
fact that it was not possible to use submarines to destroy com-
merce without "disregarding those rules of fairness, justice and
humanity which all modern opinion regards as imperative."
It was "impossible for the officers of a submarine to visit a
merchantman at sea and examine her papers and cargo," or
make a prize of her, or put a prize crew aboard, or "sink her
without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the mercy

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 97

of the sea in her small boats. These facts it is understood the
Imperial German Government frankly admit." In the cases
of the Faldba, the Cushing, the Gulflight and the Lusitania,
"even that poor measure of safety was not given, and in at least
two of the cases cited not so much as a warning was received."

Recently there had been published in newspapers in the
United States a warning, "purporting to come from the Impe-
rial German Embassy," addressed to the people of the United
States, stating in effect that if they exercised their "right of
free travel upon the seas" they did so at their peril if they
entered the war zone. Reference was not made to this in order
to call attention "to the surprising irregularity of a communi-
cation from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington
addressed to the people of the United States through the news-
papers," but to point out "that no warning that an unlawful
and inhuman act will be committed can possibly be accepted
as an excuse or palliation for that act or as an abatement of the
responsibility for its commission."

The Government of the United States could not believe that
these "acts of lawlessness" were done by submarine commanders
save "under a misapprehension" of orders, and confidently
expected, therefore, "that the Jmperial German Government
will disavow the acts of which the Government of the United
States complains, that they will make reparation, so far as
reparation is possible, for injuries which are without measure,
and that they will take immediate steps to prevent the recur-
rence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of
warfare." Expressions of regret and offers of reparation for
the destruction of neutral vessels sunk by mistake might satisfy
international obligations when no lives were lost. They could
not justify a practice the effect of which was "to subject neu-
tral nations and neutral persons to new and unmeasurable
risks." , .

"The Imperial German Government will not expect the
Government of the United States to omit any word or any act
necessary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintain-
ing the rights of the United States and its citizens and of safe-
guarding their free exercise and enjoyment."

By our countrymen in general the note was heartily ap-

98 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

proved. The President, it was said, has spoken and spoken to
the point. Germany cannot have the slightest doubt as to his
meaning. It is to be held to "strict accountability" as he
promised it should be. Truly it can no longer expect "the
Government of the United States to omit any work or any act
necessary to the performance of the sacred duty of maintain-
ing the rights of the United States and its citizens, and safe-
guarding their safe exercise and enjoyment." This was not
a threat, unless Germany chose to so consider it. The whole
country resounded with approval of the note. Governors of
the States, Senators, Representatives, public men in response
to newspaper queries, declared it to be the duty of every Ameri-
can to support the President in the firm stand he had taken.
Here and there a Senator declined to express an opinion or
dreaded war. One from Nebraska "would not be willing to go
to war for -the purpose of securing to American citizens the
right to travel in the war zone on an English ship loaded with
arms and ammunition." Another from California declared
that, unless we were prepared to go to war, "the protest will
prove to be an idle thing." He did "not believe our people
are ready to go to war with Germany for such a cause." It
"would be much better for us to stop sending munitions of war
to the belligerents and be what we loudly proclaimed ourselves
to be, strictly neutral. It is this violation of the spirit of neu-
trality that has made most of the trouble."

The leading newspapers, north, south, east and west, with
scarce an exception, in editorials, approved the tone and tenor
of the note. The German-language press gave the President
no support. Said the Chicago Staats-Zeitung:

The jingo Anglo-American press is doing its utmost to arouse the
public to make a demonstration against Germany. Let the Americans
consider what war would mean. War on Germany by this country
would give Japan free rein to seize the Philippines and become mis-
tress of the Orient. What has been claimed for several months past,
that this great Republic is the ally of England in fact, if not in name,
now seems to be fully established.

Said the Cincinnati Freie Presse:

The part of the note dealing with the loss of lives in the Lusitania
catastrophe more properly ought to have been addressed to London.

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 99

England alone is responsible for the Lusitania destruction through
her brutal threat to starve a nation. We are not obliged and have
no right to set ourselves up as the protectors of British shipping.

The Louisville Anzeiger agreed with the President that
the German Government should "explain the loss of lives of
American passengers," but did "not think that the loss of
American lives gives the President the right to demand the
cessation of Germany's undersea warfare against British com-
merce." The Cincinnati Volksblatt found the note "disap-
pointing in that it disregards the just complaints of Germany
and appears to espouse the cause of Great Britain." The
Indianapolis Telegraph-Tribune thought it impossible for Ger-
many "to comply with the President's extravagant demand,
which amounts to German disarmament on the seas. All that
will be required to safeguard British armed merchantmen
carrying contraband will be to put passengers, preferably
Americans, on board and they will be immune from attacks of
German submarines. It is a palpable injustice of President
Wilson to demand that Germany should lay aside its most
effective weapon of attack."

The St. Paul Volkszeitung was glad to see the President
"take such a strong stand for upholding the rights of American
citizens" and hoped he would "demand that hereafter all coun-
tries will respect our rights to the sacred freedom of the seas."

A rumor from Washington that the German Embassy had
allowed it to be known that the Imperial Government would
not accept the proposals made by the President was now offi-
cially denied by Ambassador von Bernstorff. Another that the
Ambassador intended to warn editors of German newspapers
to modify their editorial comment, because of strained rela-
tions with Germany, was scoffed at by the editors concerned.
Another that, because of speeches and statements made in justi-
fication of the sinking of the Lusitania, Dr. Dernburg was
about to leave the United States, the German Embassy admitted
was true. "He is leaving of his own volition. I do not know
where he is going," said the Ambassador.

Feeling in Germany, as expressed in the newspapers by
prominent men, was that if the United States could so arrange

100 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

it that British merchant ships no longer sailed under false
flags, were no longer armed, and that contraband goods were
no longer protected by American passengers, the United States
would find Germany on her side in the effort to make sub-
marine war more humane. Jf America could not do this, she
must put up with the submarine war as waged. The sinking
of the Lusitania, it was hoped, would teach neutrals not to
travel on British vessels. She must take care that her citizens
avoid the war zone as they would the firing lines near Arras,
Lisle or Przemysl.

To the German Government the destruction of the Lusir
tania and the loss of lives was a great event. Berlin and other
cities were decked with flags, the school children were given
a holiday and a medal was struck to commemorate the event
and sold by thousands to the people. On one side was a rude
representation of the Lusitania sinking into the sea, and the
words, "~No contraband. The liner Lusitania sunk by a Ger-
man submarine May 5, 1915." On the other was a long line
of travelers waiting their turn to buy tickets at a Cunard Com-
pany's window, behind which stood Death as the ticket agent,
and the words, "Business as usual."

Attention at home and overseas was now drawn from the
Lusitania and the American note to the entrance of Italy into
the war. Her declaration against Austria was made on May 23,
and our countrymen were expectantly waiting for what was
to happen when the newspapers reported that on May 25 the
American steamship Nebraskan on her way from Liverpool to
the Delaware Breakwater, in ballast, had been attacked some
forty miles west southwest of Fastnet, Ireland, and a huge
hole blown in her bow. No warning was given and the Cap-
tain saw no submarine, but he was sure the vessel had been
torpedoed and had not struck a mine. The flag was down,
for it was eight o'clock in the evening when the explosion
occurred ; but it was still light and the name of the vessel was
painted, in letters six feet high, on each of her sides.

The crew took to the boats, stood by for a couple of hours,
and then returned to the Nebraskan and about half-past ten
headed her for Liverpool. At half-past one in the morning

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 101

she fell in with two vessels sent to her aid in response to a
wireless call. One of them went with her to port.

Our countrymen were astonished. That the German Gov-
ernment, in the face of the excitement in America, should
permit a submarine to attack an American vessel and endan-
ger the lives of an American captain and an American crew,
was almost unbelievable, unless Germany intended to drive us
into war. Again feeling rose high, and was not allayed when
on May 31 the Secretary of State made public the reply of
von Jagow.

The American Embassy, he said, in the cases of the Gulf-
light and Gushing, had been informed that the German Gov-
ernment had no intention of submitting neutral vessels, guilty
of no hostile acts, to attack in the war zone by submarines or
airships. If neutral ships had suffered through submarine
warfare because of mistakes in identification, it was the fault
of Great Britain's abuse ,of flags and the suspicious or culpable
behavior of the masters of the ships. Whenever a neutral ship,
not itself at fault, had been damaged by German submarines
or aviators, the German Government had expressed regret and
offered indemnity.

The Cushing and the Gulflight would be treated in this
manner. An investigation was then under way and it could,
if necessary, be supplemented by an appeal to the Hague
Tribunal. The commander of the submarine which sank the
Falaba intended to give the passengers and crew time to escape.
Only when the master tried to escape and summoned help by
rocket signals did the submarine commander order the passen-
gers and crew to leave the Falaba in ten minutes. He really
gave twenty-three minutes and fired the torpedo only when sus-
picious craft were hastening to her aid.

For the loss of life occasioned by the sinking of the Lusi-
tania the German Government had "already expressed to the
neutral governments concerned its keen regret."

The United States assumed that the Lusitania was an ordi-
nary unarmed merchantman. The Lusitania in reality was
one of the largest and fastest of British merchant ships, was
an auxiliary cruiser, and was carried as such on the navy list,
and "had dannon aboard which were mounted and concealed

102 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

below decks." The British Admiralty, moreover, "in a confi-
dential instruction issued in February, 1915, recommended its
mercantile shipping not only to seek protection under neutral
flags and distinguishing marks, but also, while thus disguised,
to attack German submarines by ramming." German subma-
rine commanders were, therefore, no longer able to observe
the usual "regulations of the prize law." Finally the Lusi-
tania on her last trip carried Canadian troops and war mate-
rial, "including no less than 5,400 cases of ammunition
intended for the destruction of the brave German soldiers."
The German Government, therefore, believed it was justified
in "seeking with all the means of warfare at its disposal to
protect the lives of its soldiers by destroying ammunition
intended for the enemy."

The British shipping company, in taking passengers on
the Lusitania^ "attempted deliberately to use the lives of Ameri-
can citizens as protection for the ammunition aboard and acted
against the clear provisions of the American law which
expressly prohibits the forwarding of passengers on ships carry-
ing ammunition and provides a penalty therefor. The com-
pany, therefore, is wantonly guilty of the death of so many
passengers." There could be no doubt that the quick sinking
of the Lusitania was "primarily attributable to the explosion
of the ammunition shipment caused by the torpedo. The Lusi-
tania's passengers would otherwise in all probability have been
saved."

The reply was disappointing. The claim that the Lusitania
was armed had been denied by the Collector of Customs at New
York. The statement that in all human probability the pas-
sengers would have been saved had it not been for the explo-
sion of ammunition in the cargo was not only trivial but false.
The charge that the Cunard Line and not the German Govern-
ment was responsible for the loss of life was regarded as a
quibble. Germany had given no pledge to abandon unrestricted
submarine warfare, and in charging the Cunard Line with
using American citizens to protect ammunition and in assert-
ing that the Lusitania was an auxiliary armed cruiser had
raised new issues.

By the press of the country the answer was declared "not

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 103

responsive to our demand" ; it "does not meet the issue" ; "it
is worse than evasion. It is insincere"; it "will not satisfy
American opinion" ; "it is an answer which purposely does not

answer."

The German-language press found the answer most encour-
aging. It met every expectation which the American note
aroused; was courteous, logical, straightforward; touched all
matters having to do with the violation of American neutral
rights; did not discuss Germany's methods of submarine war
on Great Britain and her Allies, as Germany was in no way
hound to do. It showed beyond dispute that Germany was
most anxious to live at peace with ^America. Germany wished
to be shown where she was wrong, and fair-minded men would
concede that the Lusitania being carried on the navy list as an
auxiliary cruiser, it was but fair to believe that the subma-
rine's officer supposed her to be armed.

If the men in Washington act as prosecuting attorneys, the
Pittsburgh VolJcsblatt held, it would be a great misfortune.
The clamor of the mob was to be avoided "just now above all
times." Calm deliberation was our true policy. The Cin-
cinnati Freie Presse believed the reply showed that "the hand
is out for a settlement of differences." It did not say the
American position was untenable, but asked that facts be
established.

Two days after the German note was made public, Ambas-
sador von Bernstorff requested an interview with the President.
What took place was not divulged. But the Providence
Journal, "from an authoritative source," probably its spy at the
Embassy, gave what it claimed to be "the details of the state-
ment by the Ambassador." He was sure he could obtain from
the Imperial German, Government certain concessions if time
permitted before the President's answer. The concessions were
that Germany would stop her attacks on vessels known to carry
citizens of the United States, if the American Government
would suggest to our citizens that in future, when going to
Europe, they should take passage on such ships only as car-
ried no goods contraband of war; that the German submarines
would attack no merchant vessels save such as were known to
be carrying contraband of war ; that this would be made easier

104 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

if the President, by proclamation, would forbid the ships of
belligerent nations to carry as passengers citizens of the United
States; and that if the United States would bring about these
conditions, German submarines would not attack any merchant,
neutral or belligerent, carrying passengers, whether the ship did
or did not have contraband goods on board, without first giving
passengers and crew a chance to seek safety in boats and on
rafts.

A statement was current that the Ambassador expressed
regret that his Government was deprived of means of getting
confidential reports from him concerning the feeling in the
United States, aroused by .the sinking of the Lusitania, and
the determination of the President that Germany abandon her
submarine warfare against merchant ships. The unsatisfac-
tory character of the German reply, the Ambassador was said
to have represented, was due to his inability to communicate
with von Jagow. To this the Providence Journal replied the
statement was not based on facts. "The Ambassador is not
only in constant communication with Berlin, both by wireless
and cables, but he actually read and edited the von Jagow note
and sent it back to Berlin with some minor changes made by
himself before it was delivered to Ambassador Gerard."

Be that as it may, Ambassador von Bernstorff asked permis-
sion to send to Berlin, through the Department of State in the
American code, a detailed report on the condition of affairs in
the United States. The President consented and approved a
plan to dispatch a special envoy of the German Embassy to
Berlin to acquaint the German Government with the excited
feeling in our country caused by the loss of life when the
Lusitania went down. Dr. Anton Meyer-Gerhardt was chosen,
and sailed June 3 under safe conduct obtained from the Allies.

Not long after the sinking of the Lusitania the German
Ambassador submitted to the Department of State four affi-
davits to prove that the vessel was armed and was a warship.
An investigation by the District Attorney at New York soon
brought to light the fact that the affidavits of Gustav Stahl and
others were obtained by German secret service agents, that
their operations led directly to the office of Captain Boy-Ed,
naval attache to the German Embassy, and that the affidavit of

SUBMARINE FRIGHTFULNESS 105

Stahl, that he had visited the Lusitania on April 30 and had
seen four guns, two on the fore deck and two aft, mounted
on wooden blocks and covered with leather, was false. Stahl
was accordingly arrested and indicted by a Grand Jury for
perjury. September 8 Stahl pleaded guilty and was sent to
prison for eighteen months.

The reply of von Jagow on May 28 was followed on June 1
by a note treating of the cases of the Gul flight and Cushing.
As to the Gul flight, he said, the commander of a German sub-
marine, on the afternoon of May 1, when near the Scilly
Islands, saw, coming towards him, a large merchant steamer
accompanied by two smaller vessels. The position of the two
was such, "that they formed a regular safeguard against sub-
marine attacks; moreover, one of them had a wireless appa-
ratus, which is not usual with small vessels." Judging from
appearances the submarine commander supposed it to be aa case
of English convoy vessel" and that the steamer must be of
considerable value to the British Government to be so guarded.
"The commander could see no neutral markings on it of any
kind, that is, distinctive marks painted on the free board
recognizable at a distance." The American flag on the steamer
was not seen until the shot had been fired. The attack was to
be "attributed to an unfortunate accident" and not to the fault
of the commander. The German Government expressed "its
regret to the Government of the United States concerning this
incident, and declares itself ready to furnish full recompense
for the damage thereby sustained by American citizens."

That the Cushing had been attacked was still in doubt.
From such official reports as were available it appeared . that
only one merchantman was attacked by German flying machines
near Nordhinder Lightship. The German aviator was forced
to consider the vessel as hostile because no flag, no neutral
markings were visible. That the Cushing was the ship attacked
was possible, but the German Government must ask for the
evidence.

CHAPTEE V

NOTES

IT was now the duty of the Department of State to reply
to the note from von Jagow concerning the Gushing, Gulflight
and Lusitania. That the President was preparing such a reply
was well known in Washington; but rumor had it that the
Cabinet was at odds. Mr. Bryan, it was said, wished a note
sent to Great Britain demanding all the rights of neutrals un-
der international law; did not approve of the length to which
the President went in his "strict accountability" threat; and
feared, unless the terms of the new note were modified, or the
protest sent to Great Britain at the same time, diplomatic
relations with Germany would be broken. Indeed, he might
resign.

On June 8, 1915, Mr. Bryan did resign, and in his letter
to the President said: "Obedient to your sense of duty and
actuated by the highest motives, you have prepared for trans-
mission to the German Government a note in which I cannot
join without violating what I deem to be an obligation to my
country, and the issue involved is of such moment that to
remain a member of the Cabinet would be as unfair to you
as it would be to the cause which is nearest my heart, namely,
the prevention of war." The resignation was "to take effect
when the note is sent, unless you prefer an earlier hour."

Beset by interviewers, as soon as the resignation became
known, Mr. Bryan said: "The differences between the Presi-
dent and myself on the question of these notes did not spring up
suddenly to-day or this week. They have existed since the Fala-
~ba case. We have had many talks about the questions involved,
and the difference in our attitude has gradually grown wider.
Finally we agreed to disagree. We decided upon that one day
last week."

His aet made a great sensation, and because of it he was

106

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 107

both praised and heartily condemned. He deserts the Presi-
dent, said one journal, at a moment of grave international com-
plication, does all in his power to create prejudice against the
note about to be sent, and gives aid and comfort to the oppo-
nents, in Germany and here, of the firm assertion of our rights
on the sea. "The country looks upon Mr. Bryan as a deserter,"
said another. Americans, said a third, understand Mr. Bryan's
quixotic devotion to his ideals. But Germany does not know
him as Americans do. It will see in his resignation a divided
government, a divided people, the one thing Germany has
sought to bring about since the war began.

Mr. Kobert Lansing, Counselor to the Department of State,
now became Acting Secretary, and June 9 the note, over his
name, was started on its way to Berlin. That day Mr. Bryan
made a further statement of his views. There were, he said,
two points on which he differed with the President. The first
was "the suggestion of investigation by an international com-
mission." The second was "warning Americans against trav-
eling on belligerent vessels or with cargoes of ammunition."
We should, he held, "frankly state to Germany that we are
willing to apply, in this case, the principle which we are bound
by treaty to apply to disputes between the United States and
thirty countries." No matter what disputes might arise be-
tween us and any one of these nations, war must not be declared,
nor hostilities begin until the matter in dispute has been inves-
tigated by an international tribunal and one year allowed in
which to investigate and report. "Germany has always been a
friendly nation, and a great many of our people are of Ger-
man ancestry. Why should we not deal with Germany accord-
ing to this plan ?"

As to the second point of difference, Mr. Bryan asked:
"Why should an American citizen be permitted to involve his
country in war by traveling upon a belligerent ship when he
knows that the ship will pass through a danger zone $"

The question was not whether an American citizen has a
right, under international law, to travel on a belligerent ship.
The question was whether he ought not, out of consideration
for his country, if not for his own safety, avoid danger when
avoidance is possible. He did -not know how far the Govern-

108 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ment could legally go in actually preventing American citizens
from traveling on belligerent ships, but it could, and it "should,
earnestly advise American citizens not to risk themselves or
the peace of the country."

''President Taft advised Americans to leave Mexico," and
"President Wilson has repeated the advice." This Mr. Bryan
thought eminently wise and the advice should be repeated. "It
is the duty of the Mayor to suppress the rnob and to prevent
violence, but he does not hesitate to warn citizens to keep off
the streets during the riots. He does not question their right
to use the streets, but for their own protection and in the inter-
est of order he warns them not to incur the risks involved in
going on the streets when men are shooting at each other."

This new statement of Mr. Bryan's views caused another
outburst of dissent, and a hearty approval of the course of
the President. To Mr. Bryan it was said, There is no legal
difference between warning Americans out of Mexico, which
is foreign soil, and warning them off the high seas, which
belong to us as much as to Germany. If there be any American
who was not reconciled yesterday morning to Mr. Bryan's
resignation, he must be reconciled to-day, in the light of Mr.
Bryan's own justification of his action. "When a man," said
another, "quits the service of a private employer he is bound
in honor not to disclose his employer's trade secrets." Mr.
Bryan resigns his office, stating his reasons at sufficient length
and with all due clearness. Yet on the day following he puts
forth a statement in which he does not hesitate to publish to all
the world facts in respect to an important state paper of which
he had knowledge only as a trusted adviser of the President,
and which the President has not yet made public. Said a
third, the resignation is to be deplored because it will give the
world a mistaken idea that the people of the United States
are not standing strongly behind the President.

The German- American press gave approval. "Mr. Bryan
frankly stated his object was the prevention of war. Mr.
Bryan will have the support of all sane Americans on any
reasonable proposition which will keep the country out of war."
"Whether the departure of Mr. Bryan will exercise great influ-
ence on the course of events so far as relations with Germany

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 109

are concerned is an open question. At all events, the peace
party in the country as a whole has found a leader who is a
fighter, who to-day still has a large following in Congress and
out of it." "Bryan's stand for fair play forces his resigna-
tion. Bryan's resignation at this critical moment is the great-
est service the Commoner has ever rendered his country, be-
cause it has aroused the people to see the danger of the foreign
policy now pursued by the President. The warning of George
Washington against excessive partiality for one foreign nation,
and excessive dislike for another, seems to be forgotten in
Washington." Said the Fatherland: aThe President in his
present course has not behind him the majority of the American
people, since even his own advisers desert him."

The English press regarded the resignation as of great
significance. It meant "a death blow to the Germanic powers."
It meant "that America has crossed the Rubicon" ; that "the
greatest republic on earth has resolved to be true to itself and
its ideals." "By far the most important event of to-day is the
announcement which comes to us from Washington that Mr.
Bryan has resigned his office."

The second Lusitania note was made public June 11.

The Government of the United States noted with gratifica-
tion that in discussing the cases of the Gulflight and Gushing,
the German Government fully recognized the principle of the
freedom of the open seas to neutrals, and was willing to meet its
liability when neutral ships, guilty of no hostile act, were at-
tacked by air craft or submarines. But the Government of the
United States was surprised to find the German Government
contending, in the case of the Falaba, that an attempt on the
part of a merchant vessel, to escape attack and secure help
altered the obligation of the officer, seeking to capture her,
to respect the safety of the lives of those on board even after
she had ceased her attempt to escape.

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
passengers and crew.

110 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Yon Jagow had expressed his belief that the Government
of the United States was not aware of the character and outfit
of the Lusitania, not aware that she carried masked guns,
trained gunners and special ammunition, not aware- that she
had transported troops from Canada and a cargo not permitted
under the laws of the United States to go in a vessel carrying
passengers.

Were these statements true, the Government of the United States,
[Mr. Lansing replied,] would have been bound to take official cog-
nizance 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 serv-
ing as a transport, that she did not carry a cargo prohibited by the
Statutes of the United States, and that if, in fact, she was a naval
auxiliary of Great Britain she should not receive her clearance as a
merchantman, and it performed that duty and enforced its statutes
with scrupulous vigilance through its regularly constituted officials.
[The Government of the United States was able, therefore,] to as-
sure the Imperial German Government that it has been misinformed.

But whatever the contention of the German Government
as to the carriage of contraband of war, or the explosion of the
cargo by the torpedo, "these contentions are irrelevant to the
question of the legality of the methods used by the German
naval authorities in sinking the vessel."

But the sinking of passenger ships involves principles of hu-
manity 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 be quick to recognize
and acknowledge, out of the class of ordinary subjects of diplomatic
discussion, or of international controversy. Whatever be the other
facts regarding the Lusitania, the principal fact is that a great
steamer, primarily and chiefly a conveyance for passengers, and carry-
ing more than a thousand souls who had no part or lot in the conduct
of the war, was torpedoed and sunk without so much as a challenge
or warning and that men, women and children were sent to their
deaths in circumstances unparalleled in modern warfare. . . .

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. . . .

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 111

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 or of
American citizens bound on lawful errands as passengers on mer-
chant ships of belligerent nationality. It does not understand the
Imperial German Government to question these rights. It under-
stands it, also, to accept as established beyond question the prin-
ciple that the lives of noncombatants 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 pre-
caution to ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of
belligerent nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war under
a neutral flag.

The Government of the United States, therefore, deems it reason-
able to expect that the Imperial German Government will adopt the
measures necessary to put these principles into practice in respect
to the safeguarding of American lives and American ships, and asks
for assurances that this will be done.

iln the newspapers, side by side with the note, was another
statement or appeal from Mr. Bryan. It was addressed "To
the American People" and reads:

You now have before you the text of the note to Germany, the
note which it would have been my official duty to sign had I re-
mained Secretary of State. I ask you to sit in judgment on my
decision to resign rather than to share responsibility for it. ...

[If the difference were a personal one between the President and
himself it would matter little.] But the real issue is not between
persons; it is between systems. [In dealing with each, other govern-
ments used either force or persuasion.] Force speaks with firmness
and acts through the ultimatum. Persuasion employs argument,
courts investigation and depends upon negotiation. Force represents
the old system, the system that must pass away. Persuasion repre-
sents the new sytem, the system that has been growing all too slowly,
it is true, but growing for 1900 years.

[If he] "correctly interpreted the note to Germany, it conforms
to the standard of the old system rather than to the rules of the
new/' [and he cheerfully admitted that] it is abundantly supported
by precedents written in characters of blood upon almost every page
of human history. Austria furnishes the most recent precedent.; it
was Austria's firmness that dictated the ultimatum against Serbia
which set the world at war.

A tree is known by its fruit. The war in Europe is the ripened
fruit of the old system. This is what firmness supported by force

112 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

has done in the old world; shall we invite it to cross the Atlantic?
Already the jingoes have caught the rabies from the dogs of war;
shall the opponents of organized slaughter be silent while the disease

A humble follower of the Prince of Peace, a firm believer
in the prophecy that "they who take the sword shall perish by
the sword/' he wished to be "counted among those who ear-
nestly urge the adoption of a course in the matter which will
leave no doubts of our Government's willingness to continue
negotiations with Germany until an amicable understanding
is reached, or at least until the stress of war is over, we can
appeal from Philip drunk with carnage to Philip sobered by
the memories of an historic friendship, and by our recollection
of the innumerable ties of kinship that bind the Fatherland to
the United States."

Having made his appeal to the America people, Mr. Bryan
followed it with one "To the German-Americans." After some
complimentary remarks intended "as an introduction to an
appeal which I feel it my duty to make to them," he proceeded
to make it under four heads:

"First. If any of them have ever in a moment of passion
or excitement suspected the President of lack of neutrality
or lack of friendship towards the German Government and the
German people, let that thought be forgotten, never again to
be recalled." Since his resignation Mr. Bryan had "received
numerous telegrams from German-Americans and German-
American societies commending" his action. These senders
of telegrams understood his position, but that all might under-
stand it he would state it again.

"The President is not only desirous of peace, but he hopes
for it, and he has adopted the methods which he thinks most
likely to contribute towards peace. My difference from him is
as to the method, not the purpose, and my utterances since
resigning have been intended to crystallize public sentiment
in support of his efforts to maintain peace, or to use a familiar
phrase, 'peace with honor.'

"Second. Knowing that the President desires peace, it is
your duty to help him secure it, and how? By exerting your
influence to convince the German Government of this fact, and

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 113

to persuade that Government to take no step that would lead
in the direction of war."

He feared that the German Government "might, despair-
ing of a friendly settlement, break off diplomatic relations,
and thus create a condition out of which war might come with-
out the intention of either country."

"Third. Do not attempt to connect the negotiations which
are going on between the United States and the German Gov-
ernment with those between the United States and Great
Britain. . . .

"Fourth. I hope that Germany will acquiesce in the
demands that have been made, and I hope that she will acqui-
esce in them without conditions. She can trust the United
States to deal justly with her in the consideration of any
changes that she may propose in the international rules that
govern the taking of prizes."

In Germany the Berlin press found nothing in the Presi-
dent's note likely to change the methods of submarine warfare.
One declared "the torpedoing must go on" ; another asserted
the right of Germany to stop, by any means, the shipment of
munitions; another defended the sinking of the Lusitania;
another thought the note might put off a settlement but could
not bring it about.

Mr. Bryan's notes, and especially his appeal to German-
Americans, were followed by an invitation to speak at a great
peace meeting in New York held under the auspices of the
"Friends of Peace," the German- American Alliance of Greater
New York, United Irish Societies, American Truth Society,
American Independence Union, American Humanity League,
American Women of German Descent, German-American
Peace Societies, and many other societies, each committed to
a propaganda against the export of munitions of war. Tht?
chairman was the president of the United German-American
Societies of the State of New York. Among 'the speakers
besides Mr. Bryan were Mr. Frank Buchanan, a member of
the House Committee on Naval Affairs; Mr. Henry Vollmer,
late a member of Congress from Iowa, and Mr. Jeremiah
O'Leary. Among those present were the Turkish Ambassador ;
Dr. Dumba, the Austrian Ambassador ; Captain Boy-Ed, naval

114 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

attache, and Captain von Papen, military attache to the Ger-
man Embassy. The great auditorium of Madison Square Gar-
den was filled. Thousands, unable to enter the hall, stood in
the street and were addressed by speakers from six stands.

When denouncing his pro-German speech, a charge was
made in the newspapers that on the day the Lusitania note was
given to the public Mr. Bryan conferred with Ambassador
Dumba, told him that the note had been written by the Presi-
dent "for home consumption," to satisfy the public feeling and
to overcome the effect of his words "too proud to fight" used
in his speech to the new citizens. This statement, it was
charged, when telegraphed to Vienna and Berlin gave the Ger-
man Government the impression that the note was not to be
taken seriously and led it to refuse to stop submarine warfare

and suggest negotiation. To this Mr. Bryan replied :

jf

I have noticed that a number of jingo papers are publishing a
statement to the effect that after the sending of the first note to
Germany I gave Ambassador Dumba the impression that the note
was not to be taken seriously. I am not willing that the uninformed
shall be misled by that portion of the press which is endeavoring to
force this country into war. I reported to the President the con-
versation which I had with Ambassador Dumba and received his
approval of what I said. When we learned that the conversation had
been misinterpreted in Berlin I brought the matter to the attention of
Ambassador Dumba and secured from him a statement certifying to
the correctness of the report of the conversation that I had made
to the President. Ambassador Dumba's statement was sent to our
Embassy at Berlin and Ambassador Dumba also telegraphed the Ger-
man Government affirming the correctness of my report of the inter-
view and denying the construction that had been placed upon it.
These are the facts in the case.

His critics now pointed out that, while he had much to say
about the jingo press, he failed to state exactly what he said
to Ambassador Dumba. If innocent, why not give it to the
public, why keep it secret after revealing so many secrets of
the Cabinet? Whatever it was, did not the fact remain that
the German Government failed to take the Lusitania note
seriously? The reply showed this.

The Providence Journal now came forward with the state-
ment that, after the note of February 10 had been dispatched,

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 115

Mr. Bryan saw Ambassador Dumba "at least three times at
the State Department and twice at his home" ; that at these
meetings the note was frankly discussed, and that at the last
one the Ambassador presented to Mr. Bryan a typewritten
statement of what he believed "to be the attitude of the Admin-
istration in connection with the note as outlined to him by
Mr. Bryan."

First. Germany is willing to discontinue submarine attacks on
vessels aboard which it is known there are United States citizens',
unless such vessels are known to be carrying contraband of war.

Second. That provision be made for such passenger boats.

Third. Proclamation to be issued by the President of the United
States, advising United States citizens that they must not, in the
future, take passage aboard vessels sailing under a belligerent flag
which are carrying contraband of war, either from the United States
or from any other point anywhere from any country in the world.

"Mr. Bryan then and there agreed with the Austrian
Ambassador that if this proposition were put up to President
Wilson in the form outlined it would be accepted."

Count von Bernstorff was at once notified, sent the "entire
story of the conferences" to the Foreign Office in Berlin, and
was duly "instructed to visit the President of the United States
and agree to the terms." But "it was not until he unfolded
the scheme to Mr. Wilson that he knew anything about it."

"The above statements," said the Journal, "are correct in
3 very particular."

As week followed week and von Jagow made no reply to
the Lusitania note of June 9, a change in the attitude of Ger-
many towards the United States became apparent. It was
shown by the German press, which now for the first time
divided on the question, How shall America be treated ? It was
shown by the temporary suspension of the Tageszeitung, be-
cause of a savage reply by Count von Reventlow to some
remarks, in the Lokal Anzeiger, on the importance of American
friendship. It was shown by Admiral Oscar von Truppel, who
in an article in Der Tag warned its readers not to think lightly
of a break with the United States. A German- American war,
he said, or even a rupture of diplomatic relations, would do more
injury to German prospects than was generally believed.

116 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

America at first could give little military aid to the Entente
Allies save by hastening the supply of ammunition. But "it
could in time cooperate, with considerable land and sea forces
and with first-class submarines and aeroplanes, in the com-
plete isolation of Germany." America could also "exercise
such pressure on the few remaining neutral countries that these
would probably be arrayed actively or passively in the ranks
of our enemies." Can we hope, he asked, "so far as we are
able to foresee, to force England to her knees through subma-
rine warfare against her commerce ?" If the answer were no,
then German submarines could be put to a better use in attacks
on "hostile warships, particularly in the hunting grounds of
the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal," and
submarine warfare against merchantmen "could be modified or
abandoned to obtain a more favorable neutrality from, and the
friendship of America which would be of great value to Ger-
many after the war." If the answer were yes, then Germany
was justified in using to the fullest extent her superiority in
submarines, "and we can calmly accept all the consequences."
It was shown by an effort of the Foreign Office to arrange by
informal discussion a formula for a note acceptable to both
Germany and the United States. Herr Zimmermann, under
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the report said, and Ambassador
Gerard, had a conference on Saturday, July 3, and the draft
of the note was discussed. Reports from Washington stated
that the seriousness of the issue had so impressed the authori-
ties at Berlin that they were seeking to find out just what
changes in submarine warfare would satisfy America without
lessening the effectiveness of that kind of warfare against
Great Britain; that the draft submitted to Ambassador Gerard
was intended to draw from him an expression of opinion, that
he promptly asked for instructions from Washington, and the
President, then at his summer home at Cornish, was consid-
ering a reply.

On July 8, according to dispatches from Berlin, the Ger-
man Foreign Office was informed that the American Govern-
ment would not enter into preliminary negotiations respecting
the note from Germany, and therefore it would be presented

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 117

to Ambassador Gerard at once. The note, dated July 8, was
made public in our country on the tenth.

The Imperial Government, von Jagow said, learned with
great satisfaction "how earnestly the Government of the United
States is concerned in seeing the principles of humanity
realized in the present war." Ever since the time when "Fred-
erick the Great negotiated with John Adams, Benjamin Frank-
lin, and Thomas Jefferson, the treaty of friendship and com-
merce of September 5, 1785, between Prussia and the Republic
of the West," the two countries had stood together in the strug-
gle for "the freedom of the seas." (If "in the present war the
principles which should be the ideal of the future have been
traversed more and more the longer its duration, the German
Government has no guilt therein." Great Britain was to blame.
On November 3, 1914, she declared the North Sea a war zone,
planted poorly anchored mines, captured vessels, made it dan-
gerous for neutral vessels to enter the sea, and thus blockaded
neutral coasts and ports contrary to international law. On
November 16, 1914, her Prime Minister declared in the
House of Commons that one of the great tasks of England was
to prevent food reaching Germany through neutral ports. Since
March 1, she had been taking from neutral ships all merchan-
dise bound to or from Germany, even when neutral property.

While the enemies of Germany were thus conducting a war
without mercy for her destruction, she was fighting "in self-
defense" for her "national existence and for the sake of peace
of assured permanency." Forced to adopt a submarine war-
fare to meet the intentions of its enemies, the German Govern-
ment on February 4, in its memorandum "recognized that the
interests of neutrals might suffer from the submarine war-
fare." The case of the Lusitania showed "with horrible clear-
ness to what jeopardizing of human lives the manner of con-
ducting the war employed by our adversaries leads." "All
distinction between merchant ships and vessels of war had
been done away with" by the orders to British merchantmen
to arm themselves, by instructions "to ram submarines and the
promise of rewards therefor." Had the German commander
of the submarine which sank the Lusitania caused the crew
and passengers to take to the boats before firing the torpedo,

118 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

his own vessel would surely have been destroyed. Experience
justified the helief that the Lusitania would have floated long
enough to enable all aboard of her to take to the boats, had it
not been for the large quantity of highly explosive material
she carried.

In the spirit of old friendship the Imperial Government
would do all it could "to prevent the jeopardizing of lives of
American citizens." But to prevent "unforeseen dangers to
American passenger steamships/' they must be amade recogniz-
able by special markings'7 and German submarine commanders
must be "notified a reasonable time in advance.'7

That American citizens might not suffer for "adequate fa-
cilities for travel across the Atlantic," the German Government
would suggest that "a reasonable number of neutral steamers
under the American flag" be used in passenger service. There
would thus be "no compelling necessity" for American citizens
to travel under an enemy's flag. The, Imperial Government
was "unable to admit that American citizens can protect an
enemy ship through the mere fact of their presence on board."
If an adequate number of neutral passenger steamers could
not be acquired, the Imperial Government would not object to
placing under the American flag four enemy passenger steam-
ships, "for passenger traffic between North America and Eng-
land."

By the London press the note was called impudent and eva-
sive. The Times described it as a "compound of evasion, mis-
statement and effrontery, such as only Teutonic diplomacy
could have brewed," and not likely "to ease the tension between
the two countries. The assurances twice demanded by the
United States1 are not even mentioned." "As far as insult
and insolence can be carried on without resort to actual lan-
guage of contempt and defiance," said the Daily Telegraph,
"they are carried on in this document." "The Washington
Government has been shown," said the Post, "that Germany
does not care a snap of its fingers for American lives, rights or
property." The Paris Figaro did not know whether "the im-
pudent cynicism of German diplomacy or the extraordinary pre-
sumption leading them to believe that the United States would
be satisfied with such a reply" was the more remarkable. Said

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 119

Petit Parisienne, "It offers America derisive guarantees and
openly seeks to prolong indefinitely the negotiations that it
never intended to end."

Much the same resentment found expression in the American
press. "The fact that the Germans have thrice over responded to
the demands of the United States with evasive notes ; that they
have with such scant courtesy as to border upon insult neglected
the demands of the United States for reparation for the Lusi-
tania incident, and have offered nothing as to future protection
for American interests which the United States can consider
with dignity or safety, has not failed to impress itself upon the
American mind," said one journal.

The difficulty, it was said, in making the German Govern-
ment understand how seriously the manner of conducting the
submarine war is viewed in the United States is due to Mr.
Bryan's statement to Ambassador Dumba, to Mr. Bryan's resig-
nation and his subsequent propaganda, to his adoption of the
German point of view regarding the shipment of ammunition
and the barring of American travelers from belligerent ships,
and to the statements in the German press that our Western
States are solidly opposed to the policy of the President.

There was little talk of war ; but the general opinion was that
the two nations had now come to the parting of the ways, and
diplomatic relations ought to be severed; that if another note
were sent the Government should limit its words to a final state-
ment of its position. Some thought, as Germany for two months
past had refrained from attacks violating our rights, the United
States could still consider the issue.

To calm, if possible, the growing indignation and remove all
doubt as to what would be done, the President authorized his
secretary to announce "that from the moment of the arrival of
the official text of the German note, I have given the matter the
closest attention, keeping constantly in touch with the Secre-
tary of State and with every source that would throw light on
the situation ; that so soon as the Secretary of State and I have
both maturely considered the situation I shall go to Washington
to get into personal conference with him and with the Cabinet,
and that there will be as prompt an announcement as possible of
the purposes of the Government."

120 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Another indication of the seriousness with which the Im-
perial Government regarded the strained relations with our
country was a note presented on July 12. Jt had to do with the
Nebraskan. As yet our Government had made no complaint.
The Imperial Government, however, had "received from news-
paper reports the intelligence that the American steamer Ne-
braskan had been damaged by a mine or torpedo on the south-
west coast of Ireland/' had investigated and was "convinced
that the damage" had been done "by an attack by a submarine."

"On the evening of May 25 last, the submarine met a
steamer bound westward without a flag and with no neutral
markings on her freeboard, about 35 miles west of Fastnet
Rock." In "the twilight which had already set in, the name of
the steamer was not visible from the submarine." Obliged to
assume "that only English steamers," and no neutral steamers,
traversed this zone without flag and markings, "he attacked" be-
lieving "that he had an enemy vessel before him." Some time
after the shot the American flag was hoisted and "he refrained
from further attack." Hence it was clear that it was "to be
considered an unfortunate accident." The German Govern-
ment expressed its regret, and was ready to "make compensa-
tion for damages" sustained.

Another attack, this time with the loss of American citizens,
which had been passed by in silence was that on the Dominion
liner Armenian.

When the facts were revealed it appeared that shortly before
seven o'clock on the evening of June 28, when off Trevose Head
on the northwest coast of Cornwall, the captain of the Armenian
sighted a submarine and attempted to escape. The submarine
gave chase, firing as she came on, and at the end of an hour,
when thirteen of the crew of the Armenian lay dead on deck
and the vessel was on fire, the Captain surrendered. Ample
time was allowed the crew to take to the boats before she was
torpedoed and sunk. Those who were killed, died of wounds,
or were drowned numbered nineteen, of whom eleven were
Americans. The vessel was on her way from Newport News,
Virginia, to Avonmouth with 1422 mules; of the Americans
many were negro muleteers.

Here was a case of a British vessel carrying contraband of

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 121

war, and when attacked seeking to escape, carrying no passen-
gers and engaged in Admiralty business. These facts greatly
simplified the situation and left the Government of the United
States nothing to complain of save the barbarous method of sub-
marine warfare which made it impossible to care for human
life. "Nothing," said the President in his Lusitania note of
June 9, "but active forcible resistance, or continued effort to
escape by flight when ordered to stop, on the part of the mer-
chantman has ever been held to forfeit the lives of her passen-
gers and crew." "The Armenian had made continued effort to
escape by flight."

The next to escape was the Orduna. She left Liverpool
July 8, with a crew of 265 and a passenger list of 227, of whom
21 were Americans. Early on the morning of July 9, when
about 37 miles south of Queenstown, a German submarine,
without warning, fired a torpedo which missed the stern by a
few feet. The Orduna fled, and the submarine, rising to the
surface, gave chase, shelling as she pursued till the Orduna was
.out of reach. July 17, a few days after the Nebraskan note,
the Orduna reached New York.

The President, as he said he would, having "maturely con-
sidered the situation" produced by the German note of July
8, made his reply on the twenty-first.

The note from the Imperial German Government he was
obliged to say was "unsatisfactory because it fails to meet the
real differences between the two governments, and indicates
no way in which the accepted principles of law and humanity
may be applied in the grave matter in controversy, but proposes,
on the contrary, arrangements for a partial suspension of those
principles which virtually set them aside." The Government
of the United States "noted with satisfaction" that the Imperial
Government recognized that "the high seas are free" ; that the
character and cargo of a merchant ship must be known before
she can lawfully be destroyed; that the lives of noncombatants
must in no case be put in jeopardy unless the vessel resists or
tries to escape. But it regrets that the Imperial Government
regards itself "as in a large degree exempt" from the observance
of these principles, "even when neutral vessels are concerned,"
because of the acts of Great Britain.

122 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

"Illegal and inhuman acts, however justifiable they may be
thought to be against an enemy who is believed to have acted in
contravention of law and humanity, are manifestly indefensible
when they deprive neutrals of their acknowledged rights, par-
ticularly when they violate the right to life itself." If a bellig-
erent could not retaliate without injury to the lives and
property of neutrals, "a due regard for the dignity of neutral
powers should dictate that the practice be discontinued." The
Government of the United States was ready to make reasonable
allowances for the novel aspects of submarine war, but could
not consent to abate any essential right of its people "because of
a mere alteration in circumstances."

Events of the last two months had shown that submarine
operations in the so-called war zone could be conducted accord-
ing to the "accepted practices of regulated warfare."

The Government of the United States could not "accept the
suggestion" that certain vessels be designated which should be
free "on the seas now illegally proscribed." Such an agreement
"would, by implication, subject other vessels to illegal attack"
and would be "an abandonment of the principles for which this
government contends." The note closed with this warning.
"Friendship itself prompts" the Government of the United
States "to say to the Imperial German Government that repeti-
tions by the commanders of German naval vessels of acts in con-
travention of those rights must be regarded by the Government
of the United States, when they affect American citizens, as
deliberately unfriendly."

The German-American press was outspoken in condemna-
tion of the note. It "bears no more the nature of an ulti-
matum," said the Milwaukee Germania-Heroldj, "than can be
said of its predecessors. That the tone is distinctly sharper can-
not be denied," but that need not "disturb us" for possibly
"those parts in which Mr. Wilson uses the most energetic lan-
guage are more for 'home consumption' than for Germany."
According to the Chicago Staats-Z eitung Germany could never
submit "to the tone of it," and would give no other answer than
the breaking off of diplomatic relations. The note showed "the
President will break with Germany at all hazards. He should
first ask the people of the United States if they are satisfied to

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 123

be driven into war. The note is unworthy of the Republic. We
hope that Germany will not blame the people for the present
Government's action."

By the American press the note was regarded as the final
word to Germany on the sinking of the Lusitania and the sub-
marine attacks on American merchantmen. It was not an ul-
timatum in form, but it was in substance. The United States
no longer cared what Germany said but what Germany did.
It swept away all uncertainty and left the way open for that
"act" so clearly foreshadowed in the note of May 13. The
President's position is this: Whatever your words maybe, it is
by your acts we shall judge you. We have drawn a line across
which Germany must not step. The future is with Germany.
There will be no war unless Germany wills it.

To the press in Berlin, indeed in Germany everywhere, the
note was disappointing and the words "deliberately unfriendly"
offensive. Why the proposals of Germany were brushed aside
without even a counter proposal was puzzling. The Tageblatt
found "Mr. Wilson's standpoint" directly opposite "common
sense and right." It was useless to seek for "perfume between
the thorns in the American note." "The American Government
demands that its citizens travel in safety in war time, where
and when they please. If they sit on a powder keg, any one
lighting a cigar in their vicinity would be guilty of an un-
friendly act." The Koelnische Zeitung found the German and
American standpoints as far apart at the end as at the begin-
ning. An understanding was impossible. "Germany will
neither disown the sinking of the Lusitania nor offer indemnity
for the lives of the reckless Americans who perished on the
steamship. Germany will continue her submarine warfare in
the same manner as in the past two months." The Frankfurter
Zeitung declared "Germany cannot afford to abandon her sub-
marine warfare because of threats, and if President Wilson per-
sists in his dogmatic views the world must bear the conse-
quences."

That Germany had no intentions of yielding to any demand
was once more made apparent by the sinking of another Ameri-
can ship on July 25. As the Leelanaw was on her way from
Archangel to Belfast with flax, she was attacked by a German

124 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

submarine some 60 miles north of the Orkneys. Ample time
was given the crew to leave the ship, and after the Leelanaw
had been torpedoed and sunk, the men were taken aboard the
submarine with the life boats in tow. About half-past eight
in the evening another steamship was seen approaching, where-
upon the crew were ordered into the boats and made their way
to Kirkwall. The cargo was contraband and foreign owned,
and could not be made the subject of a claim. But the ship
was American owned and her destruction, as was that of the
Frye, was a violation of old treaties.

During a few weeks ruthlessness in submarine warfare
seemed to have been abandoned. Ships were warned, and crews
and passengers were given a chance for life. At last the pro-
tests of the United States, it was thought, had produced some
effect; but on August 20, when our countrymen took up their
morning newspapers, they read that on the previous day the
White Star liner Arabic, while on her way from Liverpool to
New York, was torpedoed without warning off the south coast
of Ireland, not far from where the Lusitania went down, and
sank in eleven minutes. Aboard of her were 423 souls, of whom
forty-four, including two American citizens, lost their lives.

That such an act should be committed in the face of the
warnings of February 1, May 13, June 9, and July 21, as-
tonished and enraged all right thinking Americans. The
Arabic, it was said, was on her way to ]STew York, therefore she
carried no ammunition, no contraband. Clearly the purpose
of the submarine commander was to destroy the ship and the
lives of all on board. The rights of our citizens, in defense of
which we have warned Germany we should omit no act or word,
have been stripped from them. In every detail the destruction
of the Arabic fulfills President Wilson's definition of an act
"deliberately unfriendly to the United States." There is then
only one road open, only one course to pursue — without delay,
without further protest diplomatic relations must be broken and
the German Ambassador given his passports.

,It is useless to heap up words to show how serious is the
situation. The whole tale is not yet told, but enough is known
to prove that the submarine commander acted in defiance of the
plain warning of the President. Germany flouts our claim, de-

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 125

nies our demands, and chooses to forfeit our friendship and es-
teem. Over all our country the press insisted that the "un-
pardonable offense," the "deliberately unfriendly act," has been
committed and Count von Bernstorff must go. Newspapers
everywhere, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Kichmond,
Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans, Montgomery, Mobile,
Knoxville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis,
Duluth, called earnestly for a severance of relations and a firm
support of the President.

Not so the German language press. "The situation is seri-
ous," said the New York Staats-Zeitung, "because the policy of
our Government, indorsed, applauded, pushed and. stimulated by
a pro-British press, which, despite all protestations of peace,
wantonly excited to war, carried in itself the germ of an in-
evitable conflict ; because, as the case of the Arabic again shows,
the German Government, if it would not commit suicide, never
more will or can agree to the terms of our Government." Said
the Cincinnati Freie Presse, "The Arabic has carried an im-
mense amount of war material, and it cannot be estimated how
many German soldiers have bled as the result of wounds re-
ceived from American bullets. Therefore we may be satis-
fied that the trips of this British ammunition ship have ceased.
If our administration cannot be persuaded to stop the unlimited
export of arms and ammunition, then Germany must protect
herself." Said the Cincinnati Volkesblatt, "This uncomfort-
able state of affairs could easily be removed by applying com-
mon sense, which would, and ought to, induce the President to
tell American citizens to save their country from embarrass-
ment by traveling under the American flag." Said the Louis-
ville Anzeiger, "So far we know nothing except what the British
censor passed. We do not know the circumstances of the sink-
ing of the Arabic, but in spite of this, the Anglo-American
press breaks into a clamor for war." Said the Detroit Abend
Post, "As President Wilson flatly refused to issue an embargo
on the export of war material, Germany was justified in carry-
ing on the war by submarine. The Arabic was a swimming
arsenal." Said the Illinois Staats-Z 'eitung , "The Arabic chiefly
tarried war supplies since the outbreak of the war. The crew
formed a rifle club and practiced daily with long-range rifles

126 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of heavy caliber. If Americans knew this and used the boat
just the same they are to bear the consequences of their reck-
less actions." If they did not know it, England was to blame.

Mr. Bryan now made for the press a signed statement of his
views. He had read the editorial opinions concerning the sink-
ing of the Arabic as collected by a Chicago newspaper, and
thought they avoided "the most important question." The real
question was not whether American citizens had a right to
travel in the war zone. That was admitted. "The question
just now is whether an American citizen should put his con-
venience or even his rights above his nation's welfare. If
American citizens refuse to consider their own safety or the
safety of the nation, then a second question arises, namely,
whether the Government should permit a few persons to drag
this country into this unparalleled war."

The Government had made its protest but that "did not nec-
essarily mean that we were going to war." Diplomacy had not
yet been exhausted. Even if it failed "we have recourse to
the treaty plan which must be resorted to in case of disputes
with Great Britain, France, Italy, and Russia, and should be
resorted to before going to war with any other belligerent na-
tion."

"If the treaty plan fails we still have a choice between en-
tering this war and the postponement of final settlement until
peace is restored." It was time the unneutral portion of the
press put aside its bias and helped the President "keep the
country out of war." Pro- Ally papers were insisting on war
with Germany for the benefit of the Allies. The pro-German
papers were insisting on an embargo on arms and ammunitions
for the benefit of Germany. If the two groups would join and
urge measures to prevent American citizens from going on bel-
ligerent ships in the war zone, and American passenger ships
from carrying arms and ammunition, they would help to pre-
vent war and enable our country "to act as peace-maker when
the time for peace arrives."

Germany through her Ambassador asked that no stand be
taken until facts were known.

"So far no official information is available concerning the
sinking of the Arabic" said the note. "The German Govern-

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 127

ment trust that the American Government will not take a def-
inite stand on hearing only the reports of one side, which, in
the opinion of the ^Imperial Government, cannot correspond
with the facts, but that a chance will he given to Germany to
he heard equally."

Although the Imperial German Government does not doubt the
good faith of the witnesses whose statements are reported by the news-
papers in Europe, it should be borne in mind that these statements
are naturally made under excitement, which might easily produce
wrong impressions.

If Americans should actually have lost their lives, this would
naturally be contrary to our intentions.

The German Government would deeply regret the fact, and begs
to tender sincerest sympathies to the American Government.

Many interpretations were placed on the note. In official
circles it was pointed out that the words "if Americans should
actually have lost their lives, this would naturally be contrary
to our intentions," were satisfactory so far as they went. But
the Government must know whether or not there was an inten-
tion to destroy the Arabic without warning, when bound from
and not to England, and when certainly carrying American citi-
zens. The words "would deeply regret" and "begs to tender sin-
cerest sympathies" might mean that Germany intended to make
such amends as would insure a continuance of good relations.
At all events it was certain that Germany was anxious to avoid
a break with the United States at this time.

Much of the evidence gathered by Mr. Page having reached
the Department of State, it was announced that the evidence
was summarized and sustained six points : that the Arabic was
torpedoed; that she was given no warning; that she made no
attempt to escape ; offered no resistance and did not attempt to
ram the submarine; that there was no time to ram the sub-
marine even if it had been seen; and that there was not suf-
ficient time to escape after the torpedo was first seen.

That the Government would suspend action until Germany
had presented her side was a matter of course. The action of
Germany was regarded as an admission that the Kaiser was not
insolently maintaining the right to sink unarmed, unresisting
merchantmen. If he were, he would have been silent. The

128 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

statement of the German Ambassador was exceedingly en-
couraging. "Germany/7 it was said, "feels obliged to offer an
explanation. We are glad to hear that Germany has realized
such an act of common decency was due us." The note is a
"hopeful indication that Berlin has finally come to see the
criminal folly of compelling a diplomatic rupture with the
United States."

From Berlin came reports that the German Government was
really seriously concerned about the situation. So seriously
that the Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, made a statement
to the Associated Press. "As long,'7 he said, "as the circum-
stances surrounding the sinking of the Arabic have not been
fully cleared up, it is impossible for me to make a definite
statement. Thus far we have secured no report about it.
Now, we do not even know whether the sinking of the ship
was caused by a mine or by a torpedo fired from a German sub-
marine, nor do we know whether in this latter case the Arabic
herself may not by her actions, perhaps, have justified the pro-
ceedings of the commander of the submarine.

"Only after all these circumstances have been cleared up
will it be possible to say whether the commander of one of our
submarines went beyond his instructions, in which case the
Imperial Government would not hesitate to give such complete
satisfaction to the United States as would conform to the
friendly relations existing between both Governments."

The people of Germany knew nothing of the excitement in
our country. Save short telegrams of British origin nothing
was printed on the subject: but officials of the Foreign Office,
while refusing to express an opinion on the situation, made it
clear that Germany had no intention of defying the United
States.

August 26, the German Ambassador had a long interview
with the Secretary of State, and September 1, 1915, sent him
a note.

With reference to our conversation this morning, I beg to inform
you that my instructions concerning our answer to your last Lusi-
tania note contains the following passage:

Liners will not be sunk by our submarines without warning and
without safety of the lives of noncombatants, provided that the liners
do not try to escape or offer resistance.

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 129

Although I know that you do not wish to discuss the Lusitania
question until the Arabic incident has been definitely and satisfac-
torily settled, I desire to inform you of the above because this policy
of my Government was decided on before the Arabic incident
occurred.

When making public this note Mr. Lansing added the words,
"In view of the clearness of the foregoing statement it seems
needless to make any comment in regard to it, other than to say
that it appears to be a recognition of the fundamental princi-
ple for which we have contended."

Everywhere the press hailed the note with satisfaction.
Said the Boston Herald, "For the President's Delphic phrase
that some people are 'too proud to fight' he has suffered many
a jibe. All the world now needs to know is that he did not fight
when he might have done so, and that the aim of his endeavors,
so far as American interests on the sea are concerned, has been
amply realized." "It is a triumph not only of diplomacy but
of reason, of right, of humanity, of justice and of truth." * "The
President by his unyielding devotion to vital principles of law
and humanity had brought peace with honor out of the German
crisis." 2 "The outcome is a diplomatic triumph which will
bring enduring renown to the administration of Woodrow Wil-
son and put his critics — the war party and the peace-at-any-
price party — to confusion. The scene now shifts to England." 3

The American Peace and Arbitration League sent a tele-
gram to the President begging him to "Please accept" its con-
gratulations "upon the gratifying outcome" of his "negotiations
with Germany," and another to von BernstorfL The League
thought "his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Germany -and
your Excellency should share in the felicitation which we most
heartily extend."

In the midst of the rejoicing, news came that just as dark-
ness was falling on the evening of Saturday, September 4,
the Allan Liner Hesperian with 350 passengers and a crew of
300 men, bound from Liverpool to Montreal, was torpedoed by
a German submarine some seventy miles off Fastnet. Most

1 New York Times.
'"New York World.
"Baltimore 8vn.

130 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

happily the vessel remained afloat and all were saved by rescue
steamers called by wireless. In the crew of the Hesperian were
two Americans.

A dispatch from the American consul at Queenstown an-
nounced that "Admiralty boats landed passengers and troops
at 8.30 A. M. Have returned to bring Hesperian. . . . There
were about 45 Canadian troops on board, unorganized and
mainly invalided. Also one 4.7 gun mounted and visible on
stern."

At Washington it was believed that the incident, grave as
it was, would not lead to a renewal of the crisis between Ger-
many and the United States. On September 1, Count von
Bernstorff quoted to Mr. Lansing these words from the com-
ing German note on the Lusitania: "Liners will not be sunk
by our submarines without warning and without safety of the
lives of noncombatants, providing that the liners do not try to
escape or offer resistance." In the face of such an assurance
Germany must disavow the act.

While the State Department awaited the facts in the case
a wave of astonishment and indignation swept the country, and
as usual found expression in the comments of the newspapers.
Some were sure Germany would disavow the act and punish
the perpetrator. She owed it to her own sense of self respect,
if she wished to appear before the world as standing up to her
recent assurance to our Government. Others asked did this
act mean that Germany intends to renew and carry on her cam-
paign of f rightfulness ? f.t was disheartening that at the mo-
ment we were rejoicing over the promise of a complete under-
standing with Germany, this reversion to frightfulness should
come to destroy our peaceful expectations. There will of course
be more explanations and excuses. But the burden of proof
is on Germany. No nation, not even our own, can long endure
such trifling with its dignity and honor. In less than a week,
it was said, Germany has broken her solemn promise. Are
her promises made only to be broken ? Was von Bernstorff's
note only another "scrap of paper" ? What explanation does
the Ambassador propose to make? What apology does the Im-
perial Government propose to offer? To blame the submarine
commander is useless. He knew that if he sent the Hesperian

THE "LUSITANIA" NOTES 131

and every soul on board to the bottom of the sea he would be
commended, not condemned, by the Kaiser. Nor can the com-
mander plead a mistake. The German Government does not
tolerate mistakes on the part of its officers, naval or military.

The consul of Queenstown, in his dispatch, said there were
troops on board and a four-inch gun mounted in the stern.
These statements were now seized on by the pro-German press
to prove Germany justified. Judging from the consular tele-
gram, said the New York Staats-Z eitung , the Hesperian, under
international law, was not "a harmless passenger ship," but "a
war craft, for the dispatch says that the liner, despite the fact
that she had criminally taken passengers aboard, was armed.
Doesn't it appear to be about time for Washington to warn
American citizens of the dangers that menace them aboard
British passenger ships?"

"The attack on the Hesperian/' said the New York Herold,
"will scarcely afford the jingoes a cause of war." 'Nothing
was said about her being warned but "it was evidently attempt-
ing to escape; besides, it had a gun mounted on deck. These
circumstances will undoubtedly be sufficient to relieve our
Government of the necessity of writing new notes or putting
new questions to Germany." Said the Cleveland WaMer und
Anzeiger, "Even according to cable reports, the Hesperian had
British and Canadian horse and a mounted gun on board, there-
by being an army transport. So Germany seems to have been
well within her rights as a belligerent, and since no American
lives were lost it is a matter between the belligerents alone,
which does not concern America at all."

CHAPTER YI

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED

As month followed month and the war showed no signs of
a speedy ending, there sprang up in our country, chiefly in the
states along the Atlantic seaboard, a feeling that the time had
come for the United States to prepare for defense. We have, it
was said, a small but highly trained and efficient regular army.
We have a small but undoubtedly efficient navy, and a National
Guard with depleted ranks and antiquated guns and probably
no ammunition. But the most careless observer of events in
the old world must have seen that three implements of war-
fare, never before used, have made the means of defense once
sufficient on land and sea now little better than useless. These
three are the submarine, the aeroplane and the great siege
guns which battered down the forts around Liege. Siege guns
are not likely ever to trouble us; but have we submarines and
aeroplanes and heavy long range guns to defend our coast,
and where are the men to man them ? If it is necessary to have
an army of any size and a navy of any number of ships, it is
equally necessary that the army and navy shall be large enough
and so equipped with the very latest implements of warfare that
they may really defend the country, for we know not when our
day may come.

That Germany in her greed for world dominion might find
it necessary to deal with us had not passed unnoticed by her
military writers. Only a few years before this time General von
Edelsheim, a member of the German General Staff, had duly
considered it in his pamphlet "Operationen tiber See."

Operations against the United States of North America would
have to be conducted in a different manner. During the last years
political friction with that state, especially friction arising from com-
mercial causes, has not been lacking, and the difficulties that have
arisen have mostly been settled by our giving way. As this obliging

132

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 133

attitude has its limit, we have to ask ourself what force we can pos-
sibly bring to bear in order to meet the attacks of the United States
against our interests and to impose our will. Our fleet will probably
be able to defeat the naval forces of the United States, which are
distributed over two oceans, and over long distances. But it would
be a mistake to suppose that the defeat of their fleet will force
the United States with their immense resources into concluding
peace. . . .

Considering the great extent of the United States, the conquest
of the country by an army of invasion is not possible. But enter-
prises on the Atlantic coast, and the conquest of the most important
arteries through which imports and exports pass, will create such an
unbearable state of affairs in the whole country that the Government
will readily offer acceptable conditions in order to obtain peace.

If Germany begins preparing a fleet of transports and troops for
landing purposes at the moment when the battle fleet steams out of
our harbors, we may conclude that operations on American soil can
begin after about four weeks, and it cannot be doubted that the
United States will not be able to oppose to us within that time an
army equivalent to our own.

At present the regular army of the United States amounts to about
65,000 men, of whom only about 30,000 could be used. Of them
about 10,000 are required for watching the Indian territories, and
for guarding the fortifications on the seacoast. Therefore, only about
20,000 men of the regular army are ready for war. Besides, about
100,000 militia are in existence, of whom the larger part did not come
up when called out during the last war. Lastly, the militia is not
efficient, it is partly armed with muzzle-loaders, and its training is
worse than its armament. . . .

[The] task of the fleet would be to undertake a series of large
landing operations through which we are able to take several of their
important and wealthy towns (on the Atlantic seaboard) within a
brief space of time. By interrupting their communications, by de-
stroying all buildings serving the State, commerce and 'defense, by
taking away all material for war and transport, and lastly, by levying
heavy contributions, we- should be able to inflict damage on the United
States.1

While the need of preparedness was under discussion, Mr.
Gardner, a representative from Massachusetts, brought the
matter before the House of Representatives on October 15,
1914, by offering a joint resolution providing for a National
Security Commission, to ascertain if the United States is pre-
pared for war.

1 "Modern Germany," J. E. Barker, 1912.

134 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

The United States, he said, is totally unprepared for a war,
defensive or offensive, against a real power. We have been
trying to believe that no one would dare to attack us; but are
we so sure of this in view of what is happening in Europe ?
We are the most prosperous nation on earth and to the south
of us lies the wonderful South American Continent, which we
have closed to European colonization by the Monroe Doctrine.
This doctrine cannot be maintained unless we are ready to fight
for it. Does any one suppose that if, after the war, Germany
finds the Monroe Doctrine in her way, she will pay the slight-
est attention to it, if the increase of her population forces her
to look for colonial outlet?

"But no matter which side wins, we must remember that
since the beginning of time victorious nations have proved
headstrong and highhanded. We must begin at once to re-
organize our military strength if we expect to be able to resist
highhandedness when the day of necessity comes. " The resolu-
tion went to the Committee on Rules and nothing more was
heard of it during the session.

General Leonard Wood, speaking to the Medical Club of
Philadelphia, declared we had never fought "a really first class
nation" and were "pitifully unprepared, should such a calamity
be thrust upon us.'7 The regular army numbered but 103,000
men, scattered through China, Alaska, the Philippines, Hawaii
and the United States. Should war descend on us suddenly, as
it did on Europe, the regular army "available to face such a
crisis" would be "just about equal to the police forces of Boston,
New York, Philadelphia and Chicago."

The administration at this time saw no need for such an
investigation as Mr. Gardner wished. Indeed, after an inter-
view with the gentleman from Massachusetts, on the eve of the
meeting of Congress in December, the President was reported
to have authorized the statement that he thought the method
proposed an unwise way of handling a question that might cre-
ate a very unfavorable international impression.

What were the views of the President was clearly stated
in his speech to Congress on December 8, 1914:

It is said in some quarters that we are not prepared for war. What
is meant by being prepared ? Is it meant that we are not ready upon

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 135

brief notice to put a nation in the field, a nation of men trained to
arms? Of course we are not ready to do that, and we shall never
be in time of peace so long as we retain our present political princi-
ples and institutions. And what is it that it is suggested that we
should be prepared to do? To defend ourselves against attack? We
have always found means to do that, and shall find them whenever
it is necessary without calling our people away from their necessary
tasks to render compulsory military service in times of peace. . . .

[We were at peace with all the world, did not dread the power of
any nation, were not] "jealous of rivalry in the fields of commerce,"
[meant to live and let live]. We are a true friend to all the nations
of the world, because we threaten none, covet the possessions of none,
desire the overthrow of none. . . . We are the champions of peace
and of concord. And we should be very jealous of this distinction
which we have sought to earn. . . .

From the first we have had a clear and settled policy with regard
to military establishments. We never have had, and while we retain
our present principles and ideals we never shall have, a large stand-
ing army. If asked, are you ready to defend yourselves? we reply,
Most assuredly, to the utmost ; and yet we shall not turn America into
a military camp. We will not ask our young men to spend the best
years of their lives making soldiers of themselves. . . . We must
depend in every time of national peril, in the future as in the past,
not upon a standing army, nor yet upon a reserve army, but upon a
citizenry trained and accustomed to arms.

Men of every shade of opinion, pacifists and advocates of
preparedness, anti-militarists, pro-Germans and German-
Americans, now made haste to organize and urge their views.
One evening in early December some two hundred and fifty
men of affairs in the city of New York met and founded the
National Security League. Their purpose was to obtain by
investigation exact information as to the condition of our
military and naval defenses; find out how much the present
annual appropriation for this purpose would have to be in-
creased to secure the utmost efficiency; and bring about such
organizations of our citizens the country over, "as may make
practical an intelligent expression of public opinion and may
insure for the nation an adequate system of national defense."

Scarcely had the National Security League been founded
when a meeting called by Bishop Greer, President Butler
of Columbia University in the City of N"ew York, Mr. Villard
and others, formed the American League to Limit Armament,

136 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

and "voice a protest against agitation for increased armament
in this country." The day Congress assembled bills and joint
resolutions bearing on the war were offered in both Senate and
House. From Mr. Lodge in the Senate came a joint resolution,
similar to that of Mr. Gardner, providing for a National Se-
curity Commission of three Senators, three Representatives
and three civilians to investigate and report on the need of na-
tional preparedness. Senator Hitchcock offered a bill making
it unlawful and a breach of neutrality for any person, part-
nership or corporation to sell or deliver arms, ammunition, ar-
tillery, explosives of any sort whatever to be used against a
country with which the United States is at peace, or even ex-
port them unless sworn proof that they were not to be used
against such a country was filed with the Secretary of Com-
merce. December 8, 1914, Mr. Lobeck offered a similar bill in
the House. December 10, Senator Works of California offered
a bill to make it unlawful for any person, corporation or as-
sociation, a citizen or resident of, or doing business in the
United States, to contract for, sell, supply or furnish to any na-
tion engaged in war, or its armies, or soldiers, any food, cloth-
ing, supplies, arms, ammunition, horses, or war supplies of any
kind whether they were or were not contraband.

When speaking on the subject of his bill a few days later
the Senator read from "the proof of an editorial" that was to
appear in the Journal of tlie Knights of Labor:

Ever since the war began, [said the writer,] we find everywhere
expressed the faith and hope of the people that we are to gain greater
prosperity thereby, and are to become richer by the vast trading which
it is claimed is thereby opened to us. Now this is all very well and
proper under certain circumstances. But if the sending of our exports
abroad has a tendency to aid the combatants and to continue the war-
fare in Europe, then, if we square our actions with our words, we
will not send these warring peoples a dollar's worth of our products
until they stop fighting. We are a lot of greedy hypocrites as long
as we express our desire for peace in Europe and at the same time
continue to send the nations at war there munitions of war or provi-
sions which enable them to continue their warfare. The supply should
be stopped. Will we do this thing? The answer is we shall not do
this thing because our protestations and prayers for peace are in the
main sheer hypocrisy and beneath them all lies unbounded greed.
Every shipment of wheat, corn, flour, meat should be stopped. Then

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 13?

it would be utterly impossible for their armies to be fed, and so great
would be the needs and necessity of the working masses there that
the cry for bread would drown out all thoughts of war.

The writer therefore strongly urged the passage of Sena-
tor Work's bill.

Senator Chamberlain presented a bill to establish a Council
of National Defense composed of the Secretaries of State, War
and Navy and the Chairmen of the Appropriation, Military,
Naval and Foreign Affairs committees of the Senate and
House.

The wishes of German- Americans found expression in joint
resolutions offered in the House by Mr. Yollmer and Mr. Bart-
holdt, forbidding the export of arms, ammunition, and muni-
tions of war from the territory or any seaport of the United
States.

At a meeting of the directors in Washington in January,
1915, of the Biennial Congress of the American Peace Society,
it was resolved that "we do not favor, and we do not believe the
people of this country will favor, a policy which, will bring
about the glorification and enrichment of a few at the expense
of the many. We believe that at this moment when militarism
is destroying itself rapidly in Europe, it is inopportune, il-
logical and a betrayal of the higher interests of civilization for
America to declare itself more strongly than heretofore on
the side of force."

The German- American Alliance at Minneapolis telegraphed
a member of the House, "In the name of Christian humanity
and the spirit of neutrality we beg your support for Bartholdt's
bill aiming to stop munitions of war from America reaching
Europe." Dr. Hexamer, President of the National German-
American Alliance, went to Washington and appeared before
the Committee in charge of the Bartholdt resolution and urged
its adoption.

The recently formed American Neutrality League of Phila-
delphia now announced that a great neutrality meeting would
be held on the evening of January 28, 1915, and the Secre-
tary of the League invited the Bishop of Pennsylvania to be
one of the Vice-Presidents. The purpose of the meeting, the
Secretary said, was to urge "that no violation of neutrality on

138 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the part of any citizen of the United States be permitted by
the National Government, and to advocate the passage of laws
to prevent the shipping of munitions to any belligerent nation
by any individual firm or corporation within the United States."

From information which has come to me lately, both in Washing-
ton and here, [Bishop Rhinelander replied,] I have learned that most
of the agitation at present being made to prevent the shipping of war
material from this country to belligerent nations is being made, not
really in the interest of neutrality, but in hostility to the allied
nations,, and with the hope of helping Germany and Austria in their
campaign. Is the proposed meeting here fairly chargeable with the
same purpose, and if not, is there any available evidence to the con-
trary with which you can provide me?

As an American citizen pledged to uphold American ideals, I am
altogether against Germany and Austria in this war, on the ground
that they are threatening, and would destroy, as far as they have
opportunity, those political and personal liberties and rights which we
Americans have made the foundation of our government.

Feeling as I do, you will readily understand that I cannot have
part in any meeting or movement which has for its real object,
whether or not explicitly avowed, the support of a cause- to which I
personally am resolutely opposed.

This patriotic letter in the opinion of the Secretary showed
that the Bishop "is a partisan, and, of course, that would make
him ineligible to act as vice-president of a neutrality meeting."

The meeting was held in the Academy of Music, the house
was packed with German-Americans, and a great throng of
men and women unable to enter the building was turned into
an overflow meeting which showed its neutrality by singing
Die WaM am RJiein and Deutschland Uber Alles. Within
doors Governor Brumbaugh presided, Congressmen Vollmer,
Metz and Porter made bitter anti-British speeches, and the
crowd went through the form of adopting these resolutions:

With deep feeling of sympathy for the victims of the horrible war
now going on in which millions of men are engaged, we citizens of the
United States in mass meeting assembled appeal to our President, to
our Senators and Congressmen, to perform one of the greatest acts
of mercy that it has ever been in the power of a President and Con-
gress to perform.

Let the tear-bedimmed eyes of the mothers of all nations now at
war be dried by a chivalrous act of the Government of the greatest of

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 139

the nations, the refuge of the oppressed of all lands. With that hope
in view, with charity for all and malice for none, we urge that real
neutrality be enforced by the Government of these United States.

We hold that real neutrality can only be enforced by the placing
of an embargo on all supplies of war that can in any way be used by
any of the belligerents to further continue the present conflict.

We hold that such an embargo if rigidly enforced will bring about
a speedy termination of the war, and restore to millions of suffering
people peace and happiness.

Therefore be it resolved: That we earnestly urge and call on all
our fellow citizens to demand the enactment of a law which will
empower our President to enforce a real neutrality so that peace may
be brought about among the warring nations.

Two days later, January 30, another meeting of Germans
and German sympathizers was held at Washington. Mr.
Bartholdt presided and among his fellow workers were Congress-
men Lobeck, Vollmer and Porter. Then and there was formed
the American Independence Union, to secure "genuine Ameri-
can neutrality and to uphold it free from commercial, financial
and political subserviency to foreign powers." Resolutions
adopted demanded "an American cable controlled by the
Government of the United States" in order "to insure the pos-
session of an independent news service"; a free and open sea
"for the commerce of the United States and unrestricted traf-
fic in noncontraband goods as defined by law" ; the "immediate
enactment of legislation prohibiting the export of arms, am-
munition and munitions of war," as a "strictly American
policy," and the "establishment of an American merchant ma-
rine." That these things might be secured, "we pledge our-
selves individually and collectively to support only such candi-
dates for public office, irrespective of party, who will place
American interests above those of any other country and who
will aid in eliminating all undue foreign influence from of-
ficial life."

The real purpose of this and all similar pro-German leagues
and associations was to carry on a propaganda in behalf of the
Central Powers, to start a popular agitation against the ex-
port of munitions of war to the Allies, by appeals to humanity,
to feelings of resentment against Great Britain for her re-
strictions on American commerce, and by charges that we were

140 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

not truly neutral so long as British supremacy on the sea pre-
vented Germany from also buying munitions of war in our
markets. That Germany needed to buy arms and ammunition
from us, or would have bought any save to prevent them falling
into the hands of the Allies, is beyond all probability. A news-
paper in commenting on this meeting said with truth,

With a persistence worthy of a better cause, German sympathizers
in this country, hyphenated and plain, are trying to involve the people
of the United States in the European war. The conference at Wash-
ington, Saturday, January 30, with the professed purpose of forming
a national agency to reestablish genuine American neutrality, may
obtain the cooperation of well-meaning and short-sighted advocates
of peace, but its pledge to take international questions into national
politics is intended to serve Germany only.

To form such associations now became a craze and before
six months passed away the American Truth Society, American
Peaceful Embargo Society, Friends of Peace, Friends of Truth,
Labor's National Peace Council and the Women's Peace Party
sprang into existence.

The Women's Peace Party had for its objects the imme-
diate calling of a convention of neutrals in aid of early peace,
limitation of armaments and the nationalization of their manu-
facture, the organization of opposition to militarism in our
country, popular control of our foreign policy, humanizing
government through Woman suffrage; replacing the "balance
of power" by a concert of nations ; gradual substitution of law
for war and international police for rival armies and navies;
removal of the economic causes of war, and the appointment by
our Government of a commission of men and women to pro-
mote peace among all nations.

Of all the efforts to bring world peace the strangest was that
set afoot by Mr. Henry Ford. A rumor which came from De-
troit and went the rounds of the press declared he was ready
to spend ten million dollars in the cause of peace and anti-
militarism. Nothing was known of his plans .until late in No-
vember, 1915, it was announced at New York that negotiations
had been opened with the Scandinavian- American Line for the
charter of the steamship Oscar II to carry a peace party to
Europe to attempt to end the war. Pacifists, peace-at-any-

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 141

price men and women, representatives of peace societies were
to be invited to go as guests of Mr. Ford, to some place in a
neutral country, there to meet with friends of peace from all
the neutral nations of Europe.

aWe wish to have an organization," his manager, the Secre-
tary of the Chicago Peace Society, was reported to have said,
"to which the warring nations can appeal as soon as they are
ready for peace. Also we will send out feelers, unofficially, to
learn just what chances there are to get them together."

"I hope," said Mr. Ford, "that every mother in the world
will bring all the pressure she can to bear on every one in order
that the boys can be brought out of the trenches by Christmas
and the war ended." Great pressure was brought to bear upon
the President to call a conference of neutral nations to urge
peace and thousands of telegrams reading, "Work for Peace,
the mothers of America pray for it," were sent to the White
House. Men and women of note and prominence, ex-President
Taft, Mr. Edison, Mr. Bryan, Miss Jane Addams, the Govern-
ors of North Carolina, of Georgia, Mississippi, North Dakota,
Indiana and a host of others were invited. Many declined ; but
when the Peace Ship was about to sail there had been gathered
from all parts of the country, 139 men and women, advocates
of peace, newspaper correspondents, students from various col-
leges, members of the staff and moving picture men. Not half
a dozen were known by name to the p'ublic at large. No plan
for procedure had yet been made. "All we know," said Mr.
Ford, "is that the fighting nations are sick of war, that they
want to stop, and that they are waiting only for some disin-
terested party to step in and offer mediation. Some people in
this world have seen fit to be skeptical about the success of our
plan, but when we return I think they will change their views."2
Mr. Bryan, who came to see the party off, was in heartv
sympathy with the peace movement and hoped to join later
at The Hague.

Mr. Ford is making an earnest and unselfish effort in behalf of
peace and he ought to have the good wishes and sympathetic support
of all who desire peace, even though some may not fully share his
faith in the immediate success of this trip. Of course those who

Philadelphia Press, December 4, 1915

142 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

want the war to continue ridicule the effort, especially those who
speak for big munition factories which are* exporting war material
at a large profit. This was to be expected.

Ridicule is the favorite weapon of those who desire to oppose
any movement. If any of the people on the Ark had been making
money out of the flood, they probably would have ridiculed Noah for
sending out the dove. Success to Mr. Ford and companions! May
they return with an olive branch.

The sailing of the Ark of Peace aroused comment abroad.
A request in the British House of Commons that an intima-
tion be sent to Mr. Ford and party that this peace mission to
England would be "irritating and unwelcome at the present
time" brought from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for
Foreign Affairs the reply that the passports issued to the mem-
bers of the peace party were for neutral countries only and
the contingency feared could not arise. "Speaking for myself,
I think it would be in the highest degree undignified for
the Government of this country to send any intimation to a lot
of ladies and gentlemen who, whatever their merits may be, are
of no particular importance." To the German press the expedi-
tion seemed but an instance of American eccentricity.

December 4 the Oscar II sailed from New York, was
stopped by the British and taken into Kirkwall in the Orkney
Islands, was released after a short detention and made port
at Christiania. The party having landed, Mr. Ford said,
"Every nation in the world will now look upon the American
peace pilgrims as taking the initiative in stopping history's
worst war. The landing of the peace expedition in Europe will
be recorded as one of the most benevolent things the American
Republic ever did." 3 Eager as were the members of the party
for peace in Europe they could not keep peace among them-
selves. Already the party was split. At Christiania it was hos-
pitably but unofficially received, excited no enthusiasm and was
not recognized by the Norwegian peace party. Mr. Ford fell ill
and while the rest of the party went on to Stockholm he re-
turned to Bergen and sailed for home.

Thus Christmas night came with the boys still in the
trenches, with Mr. Ford on his way home, and the party in
charge of a General Manager and a Committee of Administra-
8 Philadelphia Press, December 20, 1915.

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 143

tion, and as yet without any plan for promoting peace. An-
nouncement was therefore made that a plan drawn up with
the aid of men versed in international law would be submitted
to the warring nations. If rejected or ignored it would be modi-
fied and offered again and again until persistence attracted at-
tention.

At Copenhagen, whither the party went from Stockholm,
peace meetings were forbidden for the Danish Government
would not allow aliens to lecture on the war or the belligerent
powers. Unless Germany would permit the pilgrims to cross
her territory it would be necessary to go by vessel from Copen-
hagen to The Hague. The prospect of a trip through the mine
sown North Sea was far from agreeable and the German Min-
ister was requested to obtain leave for the party to travel by
train without stop. Although their passports did not allow
them to travel in a belligerent country, consent was given pro-
vided the doors of the cars were sealed, that no written, printed
or typewritten papers, cameras, post cards, opera glasses or gold
coin were taken out of Denmark. At the end of a week the col-
lege students were sent home and a few days later some seventy
members of the peace party sailed on the Rotterdam for New
York, leaving behind a committee known as the Neutral Confer-
ence for Continuous Mediation. The Committee moved to
Stockholm where it addressed a letter to the belligerents sug-
gesting ways of ending the war, and another to neutrals urg-
ing that a conference for mediation be called.

Congress having adjourned on March 4, 1915, without
enacting a law forbidding the sale or export of arms, ammuni-
tion and foodstuffs to the Allies, German- Americans and pro-
Germans determined to attack the supply of such articles at
the source and took up the task of crippling the plants where
the materials of warfare were made and one day in early April,
1915, published in the newspapers an "Appeal to the American
People." The signers were the owners, or editors, of 389 news-
papers published in foreign languages, in Polish, Hungarian,
Slav, Greek, Arabic, Lithuanian, Ruthenian, Croatian, Yid-
dish, Syrian, in short, in all the languages and dialects of
Europe, and called on the working men to cease making
powder, shrapnel, shells and cartridges.

144 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Because, the signers said, of the receipt of "hundreds of
thousands of letters, cables, messages, containing "heartbroken
appeals, prayers and pleas from the people of our mother
countries," the editors and publishers had decided to appeal to
"the great American People on behalf of our readers," "to the
high-minded and courageous American press," to the makers "of
powder, shrapnel and cartridges," to "the workmen engaged in
the plants devoted. to the manufacture of ammunition for use
by the nations at war to immediately cease making powder,
shrapnel and cartridges destined to destroy our brothers,
widow our sisters and mothers and orphan their children."
They appealed especially "to American manufacturers and
their workmen engaged in manufacturing any of these articles
to suspend at once the manufacture of powder and bullets
which are being made for the cruel and inhumane purpose of
mutilating and destroying humanity." Workmen in such fac-
tories were urged "even at the sacrifice of their positions to go
on record as being unalterably opposed to being employed for
the purpose of manufacturing ammunition to shatter the bodies
and blot out the lives of their own blood relations."

In Chicago, at the time of the publication of this advertise-
ment, the campaign for the election of a mayor was drawing to
a close. In the last days of it, leading Austrians and Germans
signed a circular urging voters of German, Austrian and Hun-
garian descent to vote for Robert M. Sweitzer, the Democratic
candidate, as an "endorsement" of the war policies of the
Kaiser. On the circular were three flags in color, and photo-
graphs of the Kaiser and the Emperor of Austria. The letter
stated that a vote for Mr. Sweitzer was a vote of confidence for
Kaiser Wilhelm and Emperor Eranz Joseph and would "save
the Fatherland."

Most happily Mr. Sweitzer was beaten by a plurality of
139,000 votes. This propaganda, the Providence Journal now
declared, was the work of the German Embassy, which was
spending millions of dollars in a publicity plot intended to pro-
duce three results : To discredit the administration by creating
a belief that the President and the Cabinet officers are dis-
criminating against Germany. To create conditions and manu-
facture evidence to show that the Allies were breaking the rules

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 145

of neutrality, and then discovering this evidence, to make mem-
bers of Congress helieve that "all the foreign elements among
the voters" were united in demanding that the exportation of
arms and ammunition cease. To promulgate the "doctrine in
pulpits occupied by German pastors," and to coerce newspapers
through "advertisers of German birth or affiliations throughout
the country."

The full page advertisement which had lately appeared in
many newspapers, protesting against the sale of munitions of
war to the Allies, and signed by many publishers of foreign
language newspapers, was written and paid for by agents of
the German Government. Captain Boy-Ed, the German naval
attache, passed on the advertisement and through his secretary
designated the newspapers in which it was to appear.

The recent election in Chicago was to have been a triumph
for the German cause. "The German-Austrian appeal circu-
lated during the campaign was proposed in the German Em-
bassy," and since the election those citizens of German birth
who did not vote for Mr. Sweitzer had been roundly abused by
members of the Embassy staff.

The President of the Association of Foreign Language pe-
riodicals denied the charge. He and his secretary had written
the appeal and together had made out the list of newspapers in
which it was to appear. Of the 575 periodicals in the associa-
tion 455 had authorized him to sign for them, 21 had refused
such authority and the others made no response.

Had proof of the activity of the German Embassy in this
propagandist work been needed, it was now laid before the peo-
ple by Ambassador von Bernstorff himself. April fifth the De-
partment of State received from him a "memorandum" pro-
testing against the failure of the United States to force Great
Britain to release the Wilhelmina, and against the export of
arms and munitions to the Allies, and one week after its re-
ceipt, without consulting the Secretary of State, the Ambassa-
dor gave a copy to the press.

The British orders in council, the memorandum stated, had
changed the well established rules of international law in such
"a one-sided manner" that they arbitrarily suppressed neutral
trade with Germany. Before the American protest of Decem-

146 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

her 28, 1914, not one shipment of foodstuffs had gone from the
United States to Germany. Since that date one shipment (that
by the Wilhelmina) had been attempted and both ship and
cargo had been seized by Great Britain. As a pretext for the
seizure the British Government had cited a decree of the Ger-
man Federal Council concerning the meat trade, although this
covered grain and flour and no other foodstuffs, although im-
portation of all other foodstuffs were especially excepted, and
the Geriaan Government guaranteed their exclusive consump-
tion by the civil population.

Under these circumstances the seizure of an American ship
was contrary to international law. "Nevertheless the United
States Government has not to date secured the release of the
ship and has after the duration of the war of eight months"
been able to protect its lawful trade with Germany. This
seemed equivalent to complete failure, and the Imperial Em-
bassy "must therefore assume that the United States Govern-
ment acquiesces in the violations of international law by Great
Britain."

Passing to "the attitude of the United States, in the ques-
tion of the exportation of arms," the Ambassador said, Condi-
tions in former wars were not like those in the present war.
Therefore it was not fair to point to the fact that in former
wars Germany had supplied belligerents with war material.
The question then was not whether any war material was to be
furnished to the belligerents, but which one of the competing
neutrals should furnish it. E"ow all nations, save the United
States, capable of producing any important amount of war
material, are either at war, or completing their armament, and
have laid embargoes on the export of war material. In the true
spirit of neutrality the United States should do the same. On
the contrary an enormous industry in war materials is being
built up for the purpose of supplying the enemies of Germany,
a fact by no means modified by "the theoretical willingness to
supply Germany also," if shipments thither were possible.

"If it is the will of the American people that there shall be
a true neutrality, the United States will find means of prevent-
ing this one-sided supply of arms, or at least of utilizing it to

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 147

protect legitimate trade with Germany, especially that in food-
stuffs."

The memorandum closed with the reminder that according
to a member of Congress, on February 4, 1914, President
Wilson on lifting the embargo on arms to Mexico said, "We
should stand for genuine neutrality," and that "because Car-
ranza had no ports, while Huerta had them and was able to im-
port these materials, that it was our duty as a nation to treat
(Carranza and Huerta) upon an equality if we wished to ob-
serve the true spirit of neutrality as compared with a mere pa-
per neutrality."

The more the memorandum was read the more it came to
be regarded as an impudent arraignment of the policy of the
administration. The bold condemnation of the United States
for its failure to obtain the release of the Wilhelmhia; the
charge that it had done nothing to safeguard lawful trade with
Germany; the assertion that this was equivalent to complete
failure; the assumption that the United States accepted Eng-
land's "violations of international law;" the complaint that the
United States was violating the true spirit of neutrality; the
intimation of something like an appeal to the American people
as against their Government contained in the words — "If it is
the will of the American people that there shall be a true neu-
trality, they will find means of preventing this one-sided supply
of arms" ; the reference to our treatment of Huerta and Car-
ranza; the way in which the memorandum was given to the
press, made the conduct of the Ambassador most offensive.

Bearing no signature, accompanied by no statement of its
source, the Government and the people were left in doubt
whether the memorandum was the work of the Ajnbassador, or
was sent under directions from Berlin. Whatever its source,
there could be no doubt that it correctly expressed the attitude
of the German Government and the German people towards the
United States. The bitterness felt towards our country by both
could not be denied. The memorandum was but another effort
to sow discord between the United States and nations at war
with Germany.

At Washington, the manner of publication, without first
consulting the Government to which it was sent, gave great of-

148 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

fense. Jt was dated April fourth, was received on the fifth,
was in German and was sent to the translator, and when re-
turned contained matter so astounding that it was thought to
be inexact and was sent back and not returned until April
ninth. That day a forecast of its contents appeared in the pub-
lic prints, and the full text on the eleventh.

Statements of many sorts, as to what the Government would
do, now became current. No answer could be made until the
country had cooled off ; Minister Gerard had been 'instructed to
inquire if the German Government accepted responsibility for
the language and matter of the memorandum. None of these
rumors was true, and all in good time the memorandum was an-
swered.

While the people waited Dr. Dernburg gave out what
seemed to be an inspired letter. He had been invited to address
a meeting at Portland, Maine, on "The German View Point."
The speech would probably have been badly reported or not re-
ported at all. He decided, therefore, to stay away and sent a
letter every word of which went the rounds of the press.

Peace, he said, when made should be no perfunctory patch-
ing up, but of a lasting sort. A recurrence of war should be
made most remote. The great highway along which thoughts
and things travel is the high seas. He could with authority dis-
claim any ambition on the part of his country to world domin-
ion. Events had shown that world dominion could be secured
only by dominion of the high seas. "The aim of Germany is to
have the seas as well as the narrows kept permanently open
for the free use of all nations, in times of war as well as in
times of peace."

The sea is nobody's property and must be free to everybody.
But a free sea is useless unless combined with the freedom of
cable and mail communication with all countries, belligerents
or at peace. He should like to see all cables owned jointly by
the nations of the world, and a world mail service system over-
sea established by common consent.

Germany had been taxed with disregarding treaty obliga-
tions, tearing up as a scrap of paper a solemn engagement as
regards Belgium. If it were a breach of international law at all
"it has been followed up by all other belligerents by destroying

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 149

other parts of that code." Two German men-of-war had been
sunk in neutral waters, without a protest by the United States.
Great Britain's violations of international sea law and the
rights of neutrals were too many to count. Chinese neutrality
had been violated, Egypt and Cyprus had been annexed by
Great Britain; the diplomatic representatives of Germany had
been driven from China, Morocco, Egypt, all sovereign countries
at the time. There was virtually no international law -that
could stand the test.

Germany was not seeking territory in Europe. She did not
believe in conquering unwilling nations. Belgium commands
the western outlet of German trade, is the natural foreland of
the Empire, and had been conquered at the cost of untold sacri-
fice of blood and treasure. It offered to German trade the only
outlet to the sea, and had been maintained and defended by Eng-
land in order to keep these advantages from Germany. "So
Belgium cannot be given up."

"However, these considerations could be given up if all the
other German demands, especially a guaranteed free sea, were
fully" granted. Germany is a country smaller than California,
but populated 36 times as thickly as that State. She loves and
fosters family life. German parents have no desire to see a
considerable number of her children emigrate every year. This
means that her industrial development should go on unham-
pered. The activity of her people should have an outlet in
such foreign parts as need development.

Great Britain had shown little foresight in blocking such
efforts, in putting Morocco into the hands of the French, a na-
tion that has been stationary for forty-four years. A lasting
peace "will mean that this German activity must get a wide
scope without infringement on the rights of others." Germany
should be encouraged to go on in Africa and Asia Minor for
the benefit of the whole world. The brunt of the war had been
borne not by the men who fight, but by the women who suffer,
and one of the proudest achievements of Germany will be re-
warding in a permanent beneficiary way the enormous sacri-
fice of womanhood.

That the letter was inspired from Berlin was generally be-
lieved. Dr. Dernburg had often insisted that he held no of-

150 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ficial post. Yet it seemed beyond belief that he should express
such views without the approval of his Government. That he
had set out the things that Germany desired, was thought to
admit of no doubt.

Transmitted to England the Dernburg Letter was hailed as
a "trial balloon," a new move to enlist American support to
Germany.

Having stated the seven conditions of peace, Dr. Dernburg
in the New York World gave ten reasons why Germany could
not be beaten, therefore could enforce her terms when the time
to make peace came. She had all the ammunition necessary,
held all the territory she had taken, had fortified it strongly and
could not be dislodged by the Allies.

Reports from abroad now announced that in the fighting
around Ypres the Germans had used asphyxiating gas. Con-
cerning this Dr. Dernburg said that when in November, 1914,
reports were published describing "an astounding French inven-
tion for the purpose of asphyxiating enemies by nauseating
gases contained in shells," no exception was taken in America,
no inquiry was addressed to the French correspondents of the
newspapers to find out if the reports were true or false. "But
as soon as the Germans used the same kind of weapon in this
battle around Ypres," they had been roundly abused.

"This is exactly what Germany complains of; that the
press of this country very often measures with two standards;
that what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander,
and that if the Allies do one thing it is covered with a mantle of
charity, excused and smoothed over, and if Germany afterwards
does the very same thing she is held up for it by the American
public as the real infractor of established law and decent cus-
tom.

"This is why Germany protests, and why they do not believe
in the impartiality of public opinion in this country and why
they do not take kindly to" the United States as a mediator in
the world war.

About a week before this letter of Dernburg' s appeared Mr.
Bryan replied to von BernstorfPs complaints. Though the note
bore the signature of the Secretary of State the language, the

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 151

literary style and rumors from Washington convinced the peo-
ple that the author was no other than President Wilson.

Your Excellency, said the Secretary in substance, has re-
ferred to the interference of Great Britain with trade from the
United States. Your Excellency's long experience in interna-
tional affairs must have made you aware "that the relations of
two Governments with one another cannot wisely he made a
subject of discussion with a third Government which cannot be
fully informed as to the facts, and which cannot be fully cogni-
zant of the reasons for the course pursued." He had hoped the
position of the Government in respect to its obligations as a
neutral power "had been made abundantly clear," but he was
"perfectly willing to state it again."

"This seems the more necessary and desirable, because, I
regret to say, the language whiten your Excellency employs in
your memorandum is susceptible of being construed as im-
pugning the good faith of the United States in the perform-
ance of its duties as a neutral. I take it for granted that no
such implication was intended, but it is so evident that your
Excellency is laboring under certain false impressions that I
cannot be too explicit in setting forth the facts as they are
when fully reviewed and comprehended."

In the first place, at no time and in no manner had the
United States yielded "any one of its rights as a neutral to
any one of the present belligerents." The right of visit and
search, the right to apply the rules of contraband of war, the
right of blockade if actually maintained had been acknowl-
edged and admitted "as a matter of course." They were but
the well-known limitations placed on neutral commerce on
the high seas. "But nothing beyond these has it conceded."

In the second place, the Government had sought to secure
from Great Britain and Germany concessions with regard to
the measures they had adopted for the interruption of trade on
the high seas. It did so as a sincere friend of both parties.
"The attempt was unsuccessful, but I regret that your Excel-
lency did not deem it worthy of mention in modification of
the impressions you expressed."

In the third place, it was noticed "with sincere regret" that,
"in discussing the sale and exportation of arms by citizens of

152 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the United States to the enemies of Germany," the German
Ambassador seemed "to be under the impression that it was
within the choice of the Government of the United States,
notwithstanding its professed neutrality, and its diligent efforts
to maintain it in other particulars, to inhibit this trade and
that its failure to do so manifested an unfair attitude towards
Germany." The Government held that any change in its laws
of neutrality, made during the war, "which would affect,
unequally, the relations of the United States with the nations
at war, would be an unjustifiable departure from the principles
of strict neutrality" and "none of the circumstances urged in
your Excellency's memorandum alters the principle involved."
Placing "an embargo on the trade in arms at the present time
would constitute such a change and be a direct violation of
the neutrality of the United States." It was "out of the ques-
tion for this Government to consider such a course."

A Berlin newspaper called the answer a mockery of the
German standpoint. Nobody, outside of the White House,
believed that the delivery of arms was not a violation of neu-
trality, and that its prohibition would be unneutral. But Mr.
Bryan proclaims that the weapon trade with one belligerent is
real neutrality. This attitude, said another journal, will not
be forgotten in Germany. The American attitude, said a
third, can be explained only by the profits of the armament
firms.

Nevertheless, the answer of the United States put an end,
so far as Germany was concerned, to her protests against the
export of arms and to the activity of the pro-German propa-
gandists in its behalf.

But with the retirement of Germany from the controversy
she assigned the duty of further protest to Austria, from
whom, on June 29, came a note of remonstrance. The far-
reaching effects, it said, of the traffic in munitions of war
between the United States, Great Britain and her Allies, while
Austria-Hungary as well as Germany were "absolutely ex-
cluded from the American market," had "from the very begin-
ning attracted the attention of the (Imperial and Royal Govern-
ment."

Although "absolutely convinced" of the intention of the

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 153

United States to preserve the strictest neutrality, it was a ques-
tion whether the conditions developed during the war did not
in effect thwart the intentions of the Washington Cabinet, as
the American Government was surely aware the "meaning and
essence of neutrality are in no way exhaustively dealt with
in the" provisions of the several Hague Conventions. The
wording of Article 7 of the Fifth and Thirteenth Conventions
might indeed afford "a formal pretext for the toleration of
traffic in munitions of war now being carried on by the United
States." But "to measure the true spirit and import of this
provision" it was only necessary to point out that "the detailed
privileges conceded to neutral states in the sense of the pre-
amble . . . are limited by the requirements of neutrality
which conform to the universally recognized principles of inter-
national law."

By none of "the criteria" laid down by writers on inter-
national law could "the exportation of war requisites" from
the United States as it is being carried on in the present war be
"brought into accordance with the demands 'of neutrality."
That industry had "soared to unimaginable heights." In
"order to turn out the huge quantities of arms, ammunition,
and other war material" ordered in the past few months by
Great Britain and her Allies, old plants had not only been
enlarged, but new ones had been started, and workmen of all
trades had flocked into this branch of industry in such num-
bers that far-reaching changes in the economic life of the whole
country had become necessary. That the American Govern-
ment had the right to prohibit the export of munition by
embargo could not be questioned. If it would use that power
it "<jould not lay itself open to blame," for while it is true
"that a neutral stiate may not alter its rules in force" for its
treatment of a belligerent while war is being waged, yet it
appears from the preamble of the Thirteenth Hague Conven-
tion that this principle "suffers an exception in the case 'ou
Pexperience acquise en demontrerait la necessite pour la
sauvegarde de ses droits,' " which being interpreted means
"where experience has shown the necessity thereof for the pro-
tection of its rights."

To the objection that while American manufacturers were

154 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

as willing to furnish supplies to Austria-Hungary as to Great
Britain and her Allies, but could not do so because "of the
war situation/' it might be answered "that its Federal Gov-
ernment is undoubtedly in a position to improve the situation."
It might "confront the opponents of Austria-Hungary and Ger-
many" with a threat to prohibit "the exportation of food-
stuffs and raw materials" unless lawful commerce with the
Central Powers was allowed.

The Government of the United States, Mr. Lansing replied,
is surprised to find the Austro-Hungarian Government imply-
ing that the observance under present conditions of the law
is not sufficient, and asserting that "the Government should go
beyond the long recognized rules governing such traffic by
neutrals and adopt measures to 'maintain an attitude of strict
parity with respect to both belligerent parties.7 ?

Neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary had ever applied
the principle urged by the Imperial and Royal Government.
During the Boer War between Great Britain and the South
African Republics the coasts of neighboring neutral colonies
were patrolled by British naval vessels, supplies of arms and
ammunition were cut off from the Republics, and they were
in a situation almost identical in this respect with that in which
Germany and Austria-Hungary find themselves at present.
Yet, despite the complete commercial isolation of one belliger-
ent, Germany and Austria-Hungary sold to Great Britain, the
other belligerent, explosives, gun-powder, cartridges, shot, and
weapons. If at that time Germany and Austria-Hungary had
refused to sell munitions to Great Britain because so to do
would violate the spirit of strict neutrality, Austria-Hungary
"might with greater consistency and greater force urge its pres-
ent contention." During the recent war between Italy and
Turkey arms and ammunitions were sold to the Ottoman
Government by Germany. During the Balkan wars the
belligerents were supplied with munitions by both Germany
and Austria-Hungary. These instances clearly show the long-
established custom of the two Empires.

In view of this record the United States could not believe
that Austria-Hungary would charge it with a lack of impartial

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 155

heutrality because it furnished the Allies with munitions of
war which the Imperial and Royal Government, because of
present war conditions, was not able to obtain in the American
market.

But there was another reason, and "a very practical and
substantial reason, why the United States has from the foun-
dation of the Republic to the present time advocated and prac-
ticed unrestricted trade in arms and military supplies." Jt
had never been our policy to keep up in time of peace large
armies, or great stores of munitions "sufficient to repel inva-
sion by a well-equipped and powerful enemy." We desired
to remain at peace and to avoid any appearance of menacing
such peace by the threat of armies and navies. We had always
relied on the purchase of arms and munition from neutrals,
and this right which we claimed for ourselves we could not
deny to others.

The assertion that the exportation of arms and munitions
was contrary to the preamble of the Hague Convention No. 13,
Mr. Lansing answered by pointing out that one of the rules
"explicitly declares that a neutral is not bound to prohibit
the exportation of contraband of war." To the assertion that
a neutral state may alter its rules "concerning its attitude
towards belligerents while war is being waged" when "experi-
ence has shown the necessity thereof for the protection of its
rights," Mr. Lansing replied that "the right and duty to deter-
mine when this necessity exists rests with the neutral and not
with the belligerent." If a neutral "does not avail itself of
the right, a belligerent is not privileged to complain." Such a
complaint "would invite just rebuke." To the assertion that
the best text writers were unanimously of the opinion that the
exportation of contraband was unneutral, the Secretary
answered that "a careful examination of the principal authori-
ties on international law" showed that less than one-fifth of
them "advocated unreservedly the prohibition of the export
of contraband." Even such a German authority as Paul
Einicke had declared "such prohibitions may be considered
as violations of neutrality, or at least as unfriendly acts, if
they are enacted during a war with the purpose to close unex-

156 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

pectedly the sources of supply to a party which heretofore
has relied on them."

The effect on a disordered mind of the agitation for an
emhargo on the exportation of munitions was responsible for
an attack on the life of Mr. J. P. Morgan, of New York. A
half-crazy fanatic who called himself Frank Holt went, on
July 3, to the summer home of Mr. Morgan, forced the butler,
by showing two revolvers, to admit him to the house, entered
the parlor, and finding two children there, compelled them to
follow him upstairs. There he was met by Mr. Morgan, who
attempted to disarm him, but in the scuffle Mr. Morgan was
ahot twice. The purpose of the visit was stated by Holt after
his arrest.

I went to the Morgan house in order to ask him to use his great
influence to stop the shipment of explosives. That is why I took some
explosives with me, in order to be able to demonstrate to him what
the use of a machine of murder means, but of course I did not mean
to hurt any one.

I wanted him to be in the same danger (him and-his family) that
we are imposing on Europe. I wanted to send him out to the manu-
facturers and men of influence to plead for American neutrality, while
I held his wife and dear children as hostages in some upper room of
his house.

Holt, an accomplished linguist, was instructor in German
at Cornell University and turned out to be Erich Muenter, one
time instructor in Harvard University, who disappeared after
indictment for the murder of his wife by poison in 1906. He
committed suicide a few days after his arrest.

A letter forwarded by his second wife to the Department
of State contained the statement that "a steamer leaving New
York for Liverpool, July 3, should sink, God willing, on the
seventh. I think it is the Philadelphia or Saxony (Saxonia)/'
Warnings by wireless were at once sent off to both steamers,
and by a strange coincidence on that day, July 7, a fire caused
by an explosion broke out in the hold of the Minnehaha, which
sailed on the fourth of July, and caused her to race back to
Halifax. That Holt placed the bomb is not likely. Both be-
fore and after his death bombs had been discovered on several

AN EMBARGO DEMANDED 157

steamships and had been the cause of fires while in port. In
March the Touraine had so suffered. In May two vessels from
Havre and Falmouth were found to have unexploded bombs in
their holds, placed there before sailing. In September the
Sant'Anne and in November the Rochambeau were set on fire
by this means.

CHAPTER VII

TBEACHEROTJS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS

THE war was scarcely three weeks old when Hans Adam
von Wedell, with the knowledge and approval of Ambassador
von Bernstorff, made a flying visit to Berlin. He reached there
in September, a bearer of dispatches to the Foreign Office, and
in November was again in New York, eager to put into execu-
tion a great plan to help the Fatherland. While in Berlin
he ascertained that the German Government cared nothing
for the return of the reservists in our country, but would gladly
have the services of the officers scattered over the United States,
Mexico and South America. The purpose of von Wedell was
to send them back by means of passports bought from Span-
iards, Swiss, Swedes, natives of any neutral country who for
twenty-five dollars would make application and deliver the
papers. All went well until von Wedell sought for an Ameri-
can to aid him in the work and so avoid suspicion. A Tam-
many lawyer found the man who agreed to deliver passports
for thirty dollars each, and then promptly informed the Sur-
veyor of the Port, who notified the Treasury Department,
which informed the Department of State, which referred the
matter to the Department of Justice. This done, the man
returned to von Wedell, declared he could not go on, and prom-
ised to find a substitute.

Before the substitute came von Wedell heard from Captain
von Papen that Dr. Stark, a bearer of one of the false pass-
ports, had been stopped by the British at Gibraltar ; was warned
by others that he was watched, and fled to Nyack on the Hud-
son. Ere he went he picked out Carl Ruroede, a lawyer, to
carry on the work, and it was before Ruroede that the substi-
tute, an agent of the Bureau of Investigation, appeared in the
guise of a Bowery tough and gave the name of Aucher. He

158

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 159

agreed to obtain the passports needed, and in time brought a
genuine one made out in the name and bearing the photograph,
duly stamped with the seal of the United States, of another
agent of the Bureau of (Investigation and especially prepared
at the request of the Department of Justice.

Four photographs of German officers were then given
Aucher by Ruroede, who wished to have passports at once
that these men might sail on January 2, 1915, in the Nor-
wegian Line Steamship Bergensfjord. Four were provided.
But on January 2, 1915, Ruroede was put under arrest, and
as the Bergensfjord was going down the bay on her way to sea
she was brought to by a revenue cutter, all her passengers were
lined up, and four Germans, reserve officers, were taken from
her deck. Their names were Sachse, Myer, Wegener and
Miiller ; but their passports bore the names of Wright, Hansen,
Martin and Wilson, and had all been furnished by Aucher.

In the course of his many visits to the office of Ruroede the
secret agent, Aucher, found out that Captain von Papen sup-
plied the money for the passports and for the needs of the
returning officers, and that there was a fund for this purpose.
Among the papers seized in the office of Ruroede were visiting
cards of "Captain Franz von Papen, Military Attache to the
German Embassy, Washington, D. C.," and of "Arthur Mudra,
LL.D., Imperial German Consul, Philadelphia, Pa.," used to
introduce the reservists; lists sent by von Papen of officers
to be supplied with passports, and instructions to German
officers telling them how to behave when traveling on false
passports.

1. On no condition and in no way whatever must anything be let
out in regard to the conditions under which the voyage was effected.

2. During the passage one should keep aloof from other passen-
gers and make no acquaintances on board.

3. Deportment on board, during the trip, should, as far as it is
at all possible, be in harmony with the particular characteristics
described in the passport.

4. Should any questions be asked, answer with reserve, and more-
over, it is fitting to make use, as far as practicable, of the need created
by sea-sickness for remaining in seclusion.

5. Finally, everything will depend on the maintenance, in every
respect, of absolute reticence. All incitements to political or similar

160 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

discussions of the war or of soldiers and their obligations must be
absolutely avoided. ,

6. It should by no means be understood that on landing one
should tell everybody everything that happened ; on the contrary, then
too is silence absolutely necessary, lest through too much talking it
become impossible for others to likewise get to the other side.

7. Briefly, the watchword, always and at all times, is "Silence."

March 8, Ruroede and the four reservists were found guilty
and sentenced. At that time the espionage act had not been
passed by Congress. Their sentences therefore were light.
Ruroede was sent to the penitentiary at Atlanta for three years,
and each of the reservists was fined two hundred dollars. On
the Bergensfjord when they were arrested was von Wedell,
but his presence there was not suspected until Ruroede in a
fit of anger made known the fact. Then the British Govern-
ment was communicated with, and on January 11 the Ber-
gensfjord was stopped by a British cruiser and Rosato Sprio,
or Hans Adam von Wedell, was taken out of her. The cruiser
was torpedoed on her way to port and went to the bottom with
von Wedell on board.1

Scarcely had Ruroede been placed under arrest and his
office put in charge of one of the agents of the Bureau of
Investigation when "Wolfram von Knorr, Captain of Cruiser,
Naval Attache, Imperial German Embassy, Tokyo," entered.
He insisted on seeing Ruroede, was taken by the agent to an
office of the Bureau of Investigation under the pretense that
Ruroede was there, and was met by another agent, who pre-
tended to be the man he wished to see. From the Captain
it was then learned that von Papen had sent him, and had
given him a memorandum which he presented. On it, among
others, was the name of Werner Horn.

A month later, February 3, 1915, the whole country knew
that Werner Horn had attempted to blow up the international
bridge at Vanceboro, Maine.

According to his confession, he had come, at the opening
of the war, to New York in hope of returning to Germany,
for lie was a first lieutenant in the German army, subject

*For the facts concerning von Wedell and Ruroede I am indebted to
"Fighting Germany's Spies," by French Strother, in The World's Work for
March, 1918.

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 161

to call for military duty; had failed in the attempt to return
and while in E"ew York had made an arrangement with certain
persons to destroy the bridge. December 29, 1914, accordingly,
he boarded the midnight train for Boston with a suitcase full
of dynamite, which he placed under a lower berth in the sleep-
ing car. Beaching Vanceboro in safety, he was seen to hide the
suitcase under a woodpile near a siding, visit the bridge,
recover his suitcase and go on to the Exchange Hotel. There
he remained until the night of December 31, when he gave up
his room and set forth on his errand. The thermometer was
at thirty degrees below zero; the wind blew eighty miles an
hour; but he crossed the bridge, narrowly escaping destruc-
tion by two passing trains, and placed the dynamite against a
girder near the Canadian shore. Lest another train should
come along before the fifty minute fuse he had was consumed,
he cut off a part, leaving enough to burn for a few minutes, lit
it with his cigar and hurried back to the hotel with ears, nose,
hands and feet frozen.

The explosion of the dynamite wrecked the bridge suffi-
ciently to make it unsafe and broke the glass in half the win-
dows in Vanceboro. Wakened by the noise of the explosion,
the proprietor of the hotel leaped from his bed and, thinking
the boiler had burst, was hurrying to the cellar when he beheld
Horn standing in the bathroom. "I freeze my hands," he said,
and the proprietor, opening the window, gave him snow to rub
on them. The proprietor now went out to see what had hap-
pened, and on his return Horn asked for a room, went to bed
and slept until in the course of the morning he was wakened
and put under arrest. He was charged with malicious mis-
chief for breaking the glass in the windows of one of the
houses, plead guilty and was sent to the county jail at Machias
for thirty days. Meantime the authorities of the Department
of Justice appeared and obtained a full confession. That
von Papen was at the bottom of the scheme was perfectly clear,
for Horn admitted that he met the Captain at the German Club
in New York, but nothing could induce him to say that
von Papen sent him to blow up the bridge. Early in March,
Horn was indicted before a United States Commissioner on a

162 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

charge of violating the law regulating the transportation of
explosives.2

Another case of the attempted use of a fraudulent American
passport was brought to light on February 24, by the arrest
in New York of Eichard Peter Stegler, said to be a reservist
in the German navy. Papers found in his possession bore
the signature of Captain Boy-Ed. In his statement Stegler
said that the Captain was the head of a German secret organi-
zation for sending reservists into England as spies by supply-
ing them with fraudulent American passports, and that the
Captain had planned to send him to ascertain the strength
of the British fleet in St. George's Channel; find out all he
could concerning the fitting out at Belfast of British merchant-
men to be sent, disguised as German vessels, to the mouth of
the Elbe and sunk in order that Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven
might be effectively blockaded.

All this Captain Boy-Ed denied.

March 1, at New York, the Hamburg- American Line and
five men were indicted by a Eederal Grand Jury, charged
with having conspired to defraud the United States by false
statements, false clearances of vessels from our ports, and false
manifests of cargoes made in order that the vessels might go,
not to the places for which they were cleared, but to deliver
coal and supplies to German warships at sea. One of the men
was Carl Biinz, managing director of the New York office;
another of the five was the superintendent of the line ; a third
had been supercargo of the Lorenzo, which was surprised and
captured by the British while delivering coal to the German
raider Karlsruhe; the fourth had been supercargo of the steam-
ship Berwind which cleared for Buenos Aires and arrived two
weeks late; the fifth was Adolph Hachmeister. By the first
indictment they were charged with conspiracy "to defraud the
United States in and by causing collectors of customs, by means
of false statements, to make record and transmit untrue and
inaccurate records." The second charged them with con-
spiracy "to defraud the United States in and by obtaining
clearance papers by means of false manifests."

a The story of Werner Horn is told in detail, with photogravures of
documents, i'n The World's Work, April, 1918.

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 163

In other words, from the day Germany declared war on
Russia the office of the Hamburg- American Line had been to
all intents and purposes an American branch of the German
Admiralty, had turned New York into a German naval base,
and had from that port and others in our country dispatched
no less than twelve vessels loaded with supplies for German
ships of war in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and had cleared
these vessels by means of false manifests.

Germany and Great Britain had each complained of such
aid to its enemy. Late in October, despite the fact that the
Hamburg- American Line had been sending coal and supplies
to German cruisers, Ambassador von Bernstorff wrote the Secre-
tary of State that on the night of September 31, 1914, the tug
F. B. Dalzell left New York "to carry provisions to the British
cruiser Essex/' lying some five miles off Gedney Channel, that
she had delivered "about forty tons of fresh meats wrapped
in cloth," and that in doing so passed "under the searchlight of
the American warship Florida that was lying in front of the
channel." Acting Secretary of State Lansing replied that
the matter had been "thoroughly investigated," but the Gov-
ernment had "not been able to find sufficient evidence" to
prove that the Dalzell had furnished supplies to British
warships.

The British Ambassador now complained, acting under
instructions from his Government, that the Italian steamship
Amista, chartered by the Berwind- White Coal Mining Com-
pany, had left Newport News loaded with coal, under a strong
suspicion that it was for German cruisers. She had cleared
on October 17 for Montevideo, by way of Barbadoes, and should
have arrived there "at the slowest speed" on the twenty-fourth,
but had not. "I have to add," he said, "that the systematic way
in which neutral ships have left American ports in order to
supply German cruisers, and have been allowed to operate
freely in the ports of the United States, in spite of the warn-
ings which have been given, is a matter which causes grave
anxiety to His Majesty's Government," and to request that
measures "be taken to prevent the use of the ports of the
United States for this unneutral purpose."

Mr. Lansing answered that every suspicious case of a vessel

164 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

leaving American ports to supply German cruisers, when there
was any basis of fact to support such suspicion, had been
investigated in order to determine whether the transaction was
bona fide or such as must be interfered with for the preserva-
tion of the neutrality of the United States. Further than this,
the Government "did not understand that its duty" required it
to go. "Otherwise the war would impose upon the United
States the burden of enforcing restrictions which are not pre-
scribed by the rules of international law."

Following out this course of action, several vessels were
detained and two Norwegian steamships were forced to unload
their coal. Because of this Ambassador von Bernstorff, on De-
cember 15, protested. The position taken by the United States
that the delivery of coal and supplies to "warships of the
belligerent states" was a violation of neutrality was, he said,
"in the opinion of the Imperial German Government, untenable
in international law." This opinion was fully stated in a
memorandum which, under instructions, he forwarded.

The neutrality declaration of the United States, von Berns-
torff said, contained the words: "All persons may lawfully and
without restriction by reason of the aforesaid state of war,
manufacture and sell within the United States arms and muni-
tions of war and other articles ordinarily known as contraband
of war." In spite of it, however, various American port
authorities had denied clearances to merchant vessels "which
would carry needed supplies or fuel to German warships either
on the high seas or in other neutral ports." According to inter-
national law a neutral need not stop supplies of this sort, nor
could it, "after allowing the adversary to be furnished with
contraband, either detain or in any way disable a merchant ship
carrying such a cargo." Only when the ports were turned
"into bases of German military operations would the unilateral
stoppage of the trade of those vessels become a duty." Such
would be the case if Germany "kept coal deposits in the ports,
or if the vessels called at the port in regular voyages on the
way to German naval forces." But the occasional sailing of
a vessel with coal or supplies for German warships "does not
turn a neutral port into a German point of support contrary
to neutrality."

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 165

"Our enemies draw from the United States contraband of
war, especially arms worth several billion of marks. This in
itself they are authorized to do. But if the United States will
prevent our warships occasionally drawing supplies from its
ports, a great injustice grows out of the authorization, for it
would amount to an unequal treatment of the belligerents and
constitute a breach of the generally accepted rules of neutrality
to Germany's detriment."

November 22, the case of the Hamburg-American Line and
the four officials indicted in March came up for trial in the
United States District Court at New York.

We shall show, said the prosecuting attorney, that this con-
spiracy extended from New York and Philadelphia to San
Francisco and New Orleans; that a man named Kulenkampff
was employed by Dr. Biinz to clear two vessels in a hurry
from Philadelphia immediately after the opening of the war;
that one of these vessels, the Berwind, was loaded with coal;
that soon after her departure Kulenkampff received from some-
where in Germany $750,000 ; that he deposited the money in
two New York banks, and was notified by Captain Boy-Ed
that it was to be expended as the Captain directed; that some
$500,000 of the fund was sent to San Francisco and was used
to charter and supply three vessels with coal and provisions,
and that these vessels sailed out and met the German cruiser
Leipzig and perhaps the Dresden.

Sixteen or seventeen ships the Government contended were
used by the defendants to carry coal, water, wine, sauerkraut
and supplies to the Leipzig, Dresden, Cape Trafalgar, Eber,
Santa Lucia, Eleanor Woerner and gther men-of-war; each
supply ship carried a supercargo bearing sealed instructions
to be opened at sea.

Counsel for the defendants admitted the charges of the
Government as to twelve vessels, admitted that Dr. Biinz had
sent them out to meet German cruisers as charged, admitted
that not merely $750,000 but nearly $2,000,000 had been ex-
pended for these purposes; but denied that the defendants had
been guilty of any offense against the laws of the United States,
denied any intent to defraud or deceive.

The offer of Concession was rejected and in the course of

166 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

trial it came out that in the autumn of 1913 Dr. Biinz was
notified by the head office at Hamburg that the Company had
signed an agreement with the German Government to become
operative in case of war, and that it might be seen at the office
of the consul general at New York. On reading the agree-
ment, Dr. Biinz testified, he found that the Hamburg-
American Line had agreed in the event of a war to send coal
and supplies to German warships in the Atlantic Ocean. So
the matter rested until July 31, 1914, when the Hamburg
office asked, by cablegram, aAre you ready to carry out our
agreement with German Government ?"

In carrying out the agreement it was admitted that twelve
vessels had been used, at a cost, for vessels and supplies, of
$1,419,394; but only one, the Berwind, accomplished her mis-
sion. The others either returned to port to escape capture or
never left port because they were held under suspicion, or failed
in "their mission because the war vessels they were to serve
had been sunk by the British.

All these relief ships had been cleared for Buenos Aires,
La Guayra, Monrovia or Cadiz, and their clearance papers had
been obtained by means of false manifests.

December 2, the jury found Dr. Karl Biinz, George Koel-
ter, Adolph Hachmeister, and Joseph Poeppinghaus guilty on
both charges. They had conspired to obtain clearance from
collectors of customs throughout the United States by means
of false shipper's manifests and false captain's manifest. They
had caused collectors of the ports throughout the United States
to make false statistics and to transmit such false statistics to
the Department of Foreign and Domestic Relations, thus falsi-
fying official records of the United States.

December 4, sentence was imposed. In sending coal, provi-
sions and supplies to German warships on the high seas, at a
time when the United States and Germany were not at war
with each other, the defendants had done no wrong, the court
held. Neither the law of Nations, nor any act of Congress,
forbade such an undertaking. But they had defrauded the
United States by obtaining from its officers clearances for
their vessels to which they were not entitled. For this the
Court sentenced Biinz, Hachmeister and Koelter each to

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 167

eighteen months imprisonment in the Federal prison at Atlanta,
and Poeppinghaus to a year and a day in the same institution,
and fined the Hamburg- American Line one dollar. An appeal
was taken to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, which
in January, 1917, sustained the action of the lower court.

Early in June, Paul Konig, head of the secret service of
the Hamburg-American Line, was brought before a Federal
Grand Jury in New York, that it might be determined whether
or not the four affidavits presented to the Department of State
by Ambassador von Bernstorff, declaring that the Lusitania was
armed, were true. One of them was sworn to by Gustav Stahl,
who disappeared as soon as it was made public. He was now
found and arrested in Albany, brought to New York, was placed
on the witness stand and swore that his affidavit was true.

"On the day prior to the sailing of the Lusitania I was
asked by my friend, A. Leitch (Leach), who was employed as
first cabin steward, to help him bring his trunk aboard. In
the course of the evening we went aboard without being hin-
dered by the quartermaster on guard. After having remained
for some time in the 'gloria' (stewards' quarters) we went to
the main stern deck. About fifteen or eighteen feet from
the entrance to the gloria, on port and starboard respectively,
J saw two guns of twelve and fifteen centimeters. They were
covered with leather, but the barrels were distinctly to be seen.
To satisfy my curiosity I unfastened the buckles to ascertain
the caliber of the guns. I could also ascertain that the guns
were mounted on deck on wooden blocks. . . .

"On the foredeck there were also two guns of the same
caliber and covered in the same manner."

As he left the stand he was arrested on the charge of per-
jury, was indicted a few days later and at his trial in Septem-
ber confessed he was guilty. All four affidavits were false and
had been obtained by Konig.

The Government had recently been furnished by the Provi-
dence Journal with evidence which led to the arrest of no less
a personage than Victoriana Huerta, one time Provisional
President of Mexico. When driven from Mexico, in 1914,
Huerta found a refuge in Spain, but came to the United States
in April and went through the form of making his home on

168 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLP WAR

Long Island. In June, under the pretense of visiting the
ama Exposition, he started, apparently for San Francisco, but
turned towards Mexico. As he left the train at Newman, New
Mexico, not far from El Paso, where an automobile was wait-
ing to take him across the border, he and his companion,
General Pascual Orozco, were arrested and carried to Eort
Bliss. He was charged with conspiracy to incite a revolution
against a friendly country, Mexico, and released on bail.
Orozco escaped on July 3, and Huerta and five others were
arrested on new charges of violating the neutrality of the
United States. The death of Huerta early in July ended the
matter so far as he was concerned. Aided by Germany, he
was really on his way to stir up another revolution and bring
on war with the United States and so prevent the exportation
of munitions. In proof of this the Providence Journal, in
August, published a mass of evidence gathered by its secret
agents.

The arrest of Huerta at El Paso, it said, closed the first
chapter of a plot to involve the United States and Mexico in
war and so stop the exportation of arms to the Allies. The
German Foreign Office was not only aware of the plot from
the day it was put in operation at Barcelona, Spain, but orig-
inated and directed it. "It was when Captain Boy-Ed, acting
as the mouthpiece of Count von Bernstorff, tried to hire some
American citizens to secure Iluerta's safe conduct into Mexico
and to undertake the work of transporting German reservists
across the border that the exposure came."

"The moment this offer was made, the Providence Journal
was notified of it, and, acting under the advice of this news-
paper, the men to whom this infamous proposal came went to
Washington and laid the entire matter before President
Wilson."

Huerta and his fellow plotters were thereupon shadowed,
and when he left New York under pretense of going to the
Panama Exposition at San Erancisco, the Department of
Justice was warned. "Had Huerta proceeded to California he
would not have been molested at that time. The moment he
turned south and headed for El Paso it was decided to arrest
him on his arrival in that city."

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 169

The German Embassy, when it became aware that evi-
dence of the plot was in possession of the authorities in
Washington, "became panic-stricken," and Captain Boy-Ed
spent two weeks in New York "doing his best to break down
any possible evidence that the United States secret service men
might find against him."

The purpose of the plot was "to divert the public mind in
the United States from the crime of the sinking of the Lusi-
tania." "To bring about a condition that would compel the
Government, in order to carry through a successful campaign
in Mexico, to insist that manufacturers of arms and munitions
should cease supplying foreign governments until home de-
mands were filled." To force the lease or purchase of the
Hamburg-American and North German Lloyd ships in New
York harbor for transport service. To cut off from Great
Britain and France their supply of oil from Mexico. To force
the President to lay an embargo on arms going to Mexico, and
"use this declaration in an attempt to bring before the Ameri-
can people the apparent difference in the Washington policy as
between Mexico and the Allies in this respect."

Large sums of money, the Journal said, had been paid
Huerta since his arrival in this country; prominent Germans
with property in Mexico had "known of the plot from the
beginning" ; the German Embassy had been "repeatedly in com-
munication with the Foreign Office in Berlin with regard to
this matter," and the Journal was "in possession of wireless
messages which prove the interest and activity of the German
Embassy in Mexican affairs."

Huerta was arrested on June 28; on July 8 the wireless
station at Sayville, Long Island, owned apparently by the
Atlantic Communication Company, but really by the great
Telefunken Company of Berlin, was taken over by the Federal
Government.

By the press the charges against the German Embassy were
thought very serious, but the Providence Journal is a news-
paper of standing, it was said, and presumably has adequate
proof, and the men involved are suspicious characters. Again
and again they have teen concerned in acts for which they
ought to be brought to book. Many a minister has been handed

170 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

his passports for less weighty offenses. The utter unscrupu-
lousness of Ambassador von Bernstorff does not need to be dem-
onstrated. He has often used his office to^embarrass the Gov-
ernment. That he should find in Huerta a useful tool is not
surprising. The man the Government had been instrumental
in driving out of Mexico cherished vindictive feelings. Why,
then, should he take up residence in the country whose Gov-
ernment had caused his fall? Because if he went back to
Mexico as a German agent he could do 'much mischief. He
might bring on war. In that event the exportation of arms
to the Allies would be stopped; the export of oil from Mexico
might be stopped, and if the United States sent troops to Mex-
ico it would be hampered in enforcing its demands on Ger-»
many. The whole intrigue is only too characteristic of the
pro-German campaign. The denial of the Secretary of State
of any knowledge does not meet the issue. The Journal says
it laid the proof before the President. If so, why did he not
lay it before the public?

Count von Bernstorf? now announced that, because of the
report that he and others had planned to send Huerta to Mex-
ico to create conditions that would draw the United States and
Mexico into war, he had made to the Secretary of State a
formal complaint in behalf of the Imperial German Govern-
ment.

Meantime, on July 31, Dr. Albert, Financial Adviser of
the German Embassy, while traveling on the Elevated Rail-
way in New York, lost a portfolio containing documents of
various sorts. It was stolen from him, he said, by a British
spy. However this may be, they came into the possession of
the N"ew York World, and on August 15 and following days
were published. Some of the letters shown by photo-engravings
bore the signatures of Count von Bernstorff, Captain von
Papen, Dr. Albert, Herr Hugo Schmidt, representing the
Deutsches Bank of Berlin, and of many others whose names
meant nothing to the public.

The story as told by the World was, in substance, that it
had in its possession a correspondence revealing unmistakably
the fact that representatives of the German Government were
promoting ventures directed not only against the powers with

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 171

which it was at war, but against the United States as well;
that the chief actors were Ambassador von Bernstorfi, Captain
Franz von Papen, Dr. Albert, Herr Hugo Schmidt, repre-
senting the Deutsches Bank of Berlin, and that the work of
these agents was to get control of and influence the press of
the United States, establish news services, finance professional
lecturers, and moving picture shows, and "to enlist the sup-
port of American citizens and publish books for the sole pur-
pose of fomenting internal discord among the American people,
to the advantage of the German Empire."

The German Government through its agents sought control
of the New York* Evening Mail, and of the American Press
Association, was% building a large munitions plant, was responsi-
ble for the strikes in the Remington Works, was conniving with
disloyal trade union leaders to foment others, and while spend-
ing large sums to arouse the people to demand that war muni-
tions be not shipped to the Allies, the German Government
was arranging to manufacture munitions for itself in the
United States, and had financed the Fatherland. The docu-
ments in possession of the World, the editor of the Fatherland
said, had been stolen by a British spy from Dr. Albert.

The Providence Journal now asserted that secret infor-
mation from the departments at "Washington had come to the
German Embassy ; that Horn had confessed that he was ordered
to blow up the Vanceboro bridge by an attache of the Embassy,
that this attache was Captain Franz von Papen, and that from
records of all wireless messages sent from and received at Say-
ville, furnished the State Department by the Journal, the Depart-
ment believed that during the period "covering the week prior
to the Lusitania's sailing and the day of her destruction" code
messages were sent by Captain Boy-Ed, giving to the German
Admiralty information as to the route and daily position of the
Lusitanw, furnished by a spy in the office of the Cunard
Company.

All these charges, Ambassador von Bernstorff said, would
be given official attention at the proper time. "It would be
undignified to answer them piecemeal at the present time."

Nevertheless, on August 18, he made to Secretary Lansing
a long statement "concerning the facts." Most of the docu-

172 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ments found in Dr. Albert's portfolio, lie said, were insignifi-
cant. They were proposals, offers, advice of the. most "unbal-
anced and irresponsible" kind, coming from every conceivable
source. As to the proposals to hamper munition plants, both
the German and Austro-Hungarian Governments considered it
their "right and duty, so long as Great Britain continued her
piracy on the high seas, to protect themselves against this inter-
national system of robbery by placing difficulties, as far as pos-
sible, in the way of the export of war materials for the Allies,
either by the purchase of the factories or of war material, in
spite of the fact that at present we are not in a position to
make use of these goods for our own protection." He pro-
tested against branding as German propaganda any attempt
to control the output of a single American factory. As to the
false suggestions "based on certain letters that I, or some one
else who has relations with the German Government, have taken
part in instigating or forwarding strikes in munition factories,
I can only say that such assertions or insinuations are ground-
less."

Prom the Providence Journal came still more charges. At
the request of the President, it said, documents which proved
that for several years before the war a German spy system
existed in the United States had been laid before Secretary
Daniels and the members of the ISTeutrality Board. Dr. Prank,
head of the Sayville Wireless Station, in January, 1009, sought
to obtain admission to parts of an American ship, not open
to visitors, in order to obtain the secret of its fire control
system. That in 1911, during the Morocco trouble, the naval
attache at the German Pmbassy attempted to use the Sayville
Station to send orders to the German fleet cruising in the
British Channel and North Sea. That in 1910 the same
attache attempted to obtain full and accurate information con-
cerning the entire wireless service in the United States, the
naval radio service included. That in May, 1911, the Telefun-
ken Company of Berlin, under orders from the German Por-
eign Office, sought to submit to the United States Government
a bid for supplying and installing a large number of wireless
stations in the Philippines, at stations marked on a special
map supplied to the Telefunken Company by the German Gov-

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 173

eminent. That in 1913 the general manager of the Telefunken
Company and an officer of the German army sought to ohtain
control of "an entire chain of private wireless stations, and of
stations owned hy other Governments in South and Central
America working through Sayville."

Further evidence presented to Secretary Daniels went to
show that a civilian employed in the electrical service of the
Navy Department was in the pay of Germany, and that in
1913, when the Department ordered a report on conditions at
Sayville, "the report was in the possession of the German Gov-
ernment before it reached the United States Government."
German interests had done "everything in their power to force
the ship purchase hill through Congress" as a means of forc-
ing "the purchase of the Hamburg- American ships tied up in
New York Harbor."

Evidence, supporting many of the charges made by the
Providence Journal, now came from a most unexpected source.
On August 30, an American newspaper correspondent, Mr.
James J. F. Archibald, on his way to Germany on the Rot-
terdam, was detained by the British authorities at Falmouth.
He was the same Mr. Archibald who in April had traveled
about the country delivering a pro-German illustrated lecture
intended to set forth the power and efficiency of Germany.
In his possession were found some thirty-four documents which
he was to deliver in Berlin and Vienna. Among them were
letters of recommendation to the German and Austro-
Hungarian authorities from Dr. Dumba, Count von Bernstorff
and Captain von Papen. He "is again going to Germany and
Austria-Hungary," said von Papen, "to collect new impressions
from the point of view of the strictly impartial journalist that
he has always been'." "I have heard with pleasure," said
von Bernstorff in a letter to Mr. Archibald, "that you wish
once more to return to Germany and Austria after having
promoted our interests out here in such a zealous and successful
manner."

The all important letter which was at once cabled to New
York from London and promptly published in the newspapers
was written by Dr. Dumba to Baron Burian, the Austro-
Hungarian Foreign Minister, inclosing an aide memoire from

174 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the editor of an Hungarian newspaper suggesting how a strike
might be brought about at the Bethlehem Steel and Munition
works.

"Yesterday evening Consul General von Nuber received
the enclosed aide memoir e from the chief editor of the locally
known paper, Szcibodsog, after a previous conference with him
and in pursuance of his proposals to arrange for strikes in the
Bethlehem Schwab Steel and Munitions War factory, and also
in the Middle West.

"Dr. Archibald, who is well known to your Lordship, leaves
to-day at twelve o'clock on board the Rotterdam for Berlin and
Vienna. I take this rare and safe opportunity to warmly
recommend the proposal to your Lordship's favorable consid-
eration.

"It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up
for months, if not entirely prevent, the manufacture of muni-
tions in Bethlehem and the Middle West, which, in the opinion
of the German military attache, is of great importance and
amply outweighs the expenditure of money involved.

"But if the strikes do not come off it is probable that we
should extort, under pressure of the crises, more favorable con-
ditions of labor for our poor, downtrodden fellow-countrymen.
In Bethlehem these white slaves are now working for twelve
hours a day and seven days a week. All weak persons succumb
and become consumptives. So far as German workmen are
found among the skilled hands, a means of leaving will be pro-
vided for them. Besides this, a private German registry office
has been established, which provides employment for persons
who have voluntarily given up their places, and is already work-
ing well. They will also join and the widest support is
assured us.

"I beg your Excellency to be so good as to inform me with
reference to this letter by wireless telegraphy, replying whether
you agree."

Dr. Dumba when seen at Lenox by the newspaper corre-
spondents was not at all disturbed, admitted writing the letter,
and said, "I can't understand how Archibald could have been
so stupid." Everything could be explained. The proposals
to embarrass the steel works were nothing more than "a very

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 175

open and proper method to be taken to bring before our races
employed in the big steel works the fact that they are engaged
in enterprises which are unfriendly to their Fatherland and
that the Imperial Government would hold the workers in muni-
tion plants where contracts are being filled for the Allies, as
being guilty of a serious crime against their country.'7 In
order to bring this before the natives of Bohemia, Moravia,
Camiola, Galicia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, and other races
from Austria-Hungary he had "subsidized many newspapers
published in the languages and dialects of the divisions men-
tioned, attempting in this way to bring their felonious occu-
pations to their attention." This seemed to him "a peaceful
and entirely satisfactory means of preventing the making and
shipment of war material to our Allies."

The Government thought otherwise and on September 8
requested that Dr. Dumba be recalled.

Mr. Constantino Dumba, the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at
Washington, has admitted that he proposed to his Government plans
to instigate strikes in American manufacturing plants engaged in
the production of munitions of war. The information reached this
Government through a copy of a letter of the Ambassador to his
Government. The bearer was an American citizen named Archibald
who was traveling under an American passport. The Ambassador has
admitted that he employed Archibald to bear official dispatches from
him to his Government.

By reason of the admitted purpose and intent of Mr. Dumba to
conspire to cripple legitimate industries of the people of the United
States and to interrupt their legitimate trade, and by reason of the
flagrant violation of diplomatic propriety in employing an American
citizen, protected by an American passport, as a secret bearer of
official dispatches through the lines of the enemy of Austria-Hungary
. . . Mr. Dumba is no longer acceptable to the Government of the
United States as the Ambassador of his Imperial Majesty at
Washington.

Dr. Dumba desired to return on a leave of absence, but the
Secretary of State insisted on a recall. Thereupon he addressed
an impudent note of protest to the Secretary of State and made
it public through the newspapers.

While the newspapers were attacking Dumba for his inso-

176 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

lence, a White Paper, containing the thirty-four letters taken
from Mr. Archibald, was laid before Parliament, on Septem-
ber 21, and the documents, immediately telegraphed to the
United States, were published in the newspapers. Among them
were three letters from Dumba. One was that already made
public. Another was a report on the documents lost by Dr.
lleinrich Albert on July 31. The letter of Dr. Dumba was
dated August 20.

A portfolio containing a number of papers was stolen from the
Financial Adviser of the German Embassy here, evidently by the
English Secret Service. These papers were all typewritten, unfin-
ished copies, or else memorials from petitioners (Eingaben von
Bittstellern). The documents were immediately published as a great
sensation and with much tom-tom beating by the World, which has
entirely gone over to the English jingo camp. The gravest accusa-
tions are made by the papers against the German Embassy, Count
von Bernstorff, the military attache, Captain von Papen, and Geheim-
rat Albert, in particular in that they had secretly conspired against
the safety of the United States by purchasing arms and munition
factories, by making false contracts with Russia and France, by
acquiring great quantities of materials for explosives, also by attempt-
ing to corrupt the Press, and to stir up strikes in munition factories ;
also by organizing in every class in America a widespread agitation
in favor of effecting a general embargo. The other great New York
papers second the World, though less violently. Their leading articles
deal with the exposure of the facts, and accuse Germany of every
possible and impossible machination ; for instance, they, like the
World, assert that the German Government wishes to prevent the
supply of ammunition in the case of the Allies, and at the same time
secretly to send over large quantities from here for their own use.

Count von Bernstorff took up the position that these slanders
required no .answer and had the happy inspiration to refuse any
explanation. He is in no way compromised. On the contrary, it
appears from the published correspondence of various press agents
that he had put his veto on the purchase of a press agency.

Geheimrat Albert, on the other hand, published a very clever
explanation, the text of which I permit myself to lay before your
Excellency. The German Embassy derives especial benefit from hav-
ing already on the fifteenth of June officially announced to the State
Department that they were obliged to buy as much war material as
possible in this country to control its delivery in order to prevent the
enemy from acquiring it. This material is now at the disposal of the

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN .OFFICIALS 177

American Government, either in whole or in part, at favorable prices,
and its acquisition by the United States would only serve to increase
their preparedness for war.

This knocks the bottom out of the ridiculous accusation of a con-
spiracy. Moreover, with regard to the accusation of stirring up
strikes, there is no evidence to support the bare charge. In spite of
this, everything German here will be still more energetically and
consistently slandered and befouled. No impartial person could fail
to be impressed by a feeling of gratitude at the wide activity of
Geheimrat Albert. There are, however, very few impartial people in
New York. The torpedoing of the Arabic, should she have been sunk
withou,t warning, or should any American passengers have lost their
lives, will have a more unfavorable effect as regards Germany on pub-
lic opinion in the United States of America than all the newspaper
revelations.

The Royal and Imperial Ambassador,

DUMBA.

The third letter from Dr. Dumba related to Mr. Lansing's
reply to the Austro-Hungarian note of June 29.

New York, August 20, 1915.

Subject: Uselessness of attempts to bring about an embargo on
weapons and munitions. The prohibition of shipping munitions in
passenger ships to be attempted afresh.

1. Enclosure.

To His Excellency the Foreign Minister,
Freiherr von Burian.

The reply of Mr. Lansing to the note of the twenty-ninth of June,
in which your Excellency protested against the enormous deliveries
of weapons and munitions to the Allies from the United States of
America was published here — I do not know whether with the agree-
ment of the Austrian Government — on the 16th ult.

As was to be expected, the refusal was quite categorical. The
legal arguments are certainly very weak, for the reference to the
articles supplied by Germany and Austria during the Boer War are
not to the point and are misleading, for at that time Germany claimed
the right to send foodstuffs to the Boers via the neutral port of
Lorenzo Marques and — if I am not mistaken — carried the point, after
the war, against England.

The true ground of the discouraging attitude of the President
lies — as his confidant, Mr. House, already informed me in January
and has now repeated — in the fact that authoritative circles are con-
vinced that the United States of America in any serious crises would
have to rely on neutral foreign countries for all their war material.
At no price and in no case will Mr. Wilson allow this source to dry up.

178 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

For this reason I am of opinion that the return to the question,
whether officially by a reply from your Excellency, or by a semi-official
conversation between myself and the Secretary of State, is not only
useless, but even, having regard to the somewhat self-willed tempera-
ment of the President, harmful. In this matter I agree entirely with
the view expressed by Consul Schwegel in the report attached. The
President has broken all the bridges behind him and has made his
point of view so definite that it is impossible for him to retreat from
this position. As last autumn, he can always, through his personal
influence, either force the House of Representatives to take his point
of view against their better judgment or, on the other hand, in the
Senate, can overthrow a resolution, already voted, in favor of pro-
hibiting the export of guns and munitions.

In these circumstances any attempts to persuade individual States
to vote parallel resolutions through their legislative bodies offer no
advantages, apart from the internal difficulties which the execution
of this plan presents.

The proposal to forbid passenger ships to carry munitions stands
on a different footing, however. Mr. Bryan and his democratic sup-
porters would stand for this prohibition rigorously, and I believe that
the President would not show himself so "intraiisigeant" with regard
to this action.

As for the note of protest against the British interference with
shipping (Seeubergriffe), which has so often been notified and as
often postponed, I learn that the issue has been delayed in conse-
quence of the imminent declaration of cotton as contraband. The
feeling which obtains amongst the great American importers is accu-
rately represented in Mr. Meagher's speech, quoted by Consul
Schwegel. Mr. Meagher is one of the principal exporters of the
United States of America, for he is a partner of the Chicago firm of
Armour & Co., who, with the firm of Swift, control the meat market
of the whole Western Hemisphere.

Mr. Meagher, whom I recently met on a yacht, and whose acquaint-
ance I had already made in Chicago, is absolutely furious with regard
to England's arbitrary acts. No fewer than thirty-one ships with
meat and bacon shipments of his firm for Sweden, in value nineteen
million dollars, have been detained in English ports for months under
suspicion of being ultimately intended for Germany. The negotia-
tions are being so long drawn out because Mr. Meagher and his com-
panions will not accept a lame compromise, but insist on full compen-
sation or release of the consignments in which the bacon may be still
sound. My informant further gave me to understand that he had not
yet played his last trump — namely, the refusal to import meat to
England in any circumstances. He, that is to say, the two above-
named slaughtering houses, controlled the Argentine market. At the
present moment they are paralyzed here also by the action of the
British Admiralty, for the latter have commandeered most of the

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 179

English freight ships intended for the transport of meat from the
Argentine. If England stood face to face with the danger of not
being able to get any meat from the United States of America, or
the Argentine, she would soon give in.

What the immediate result of making cotton contraband will be
is hard to say. The anger of those interested in cotton will be
enormously increased. On the other hand, the fear of the threatened
confiscation may make the leaders of the Cotton Trust so yielding
that they, against their better judgment, may agree to the sale of the
greater part of the present supply en bloc to England, who would be
in the position in the future to control the whole cotton market, and,
on peace being declared, to force on the whole world fantastic prices
for this essential raw material.

The Imperial Ambassador,

C. DUMBA.

There were also two letters from Captain von Papen.
These related to the papers lost by Dr. Albert, and reviewed
the effect of their publication from a business point of view.

BRIDGEPORT PROJECTILE COMPANY : — The report of the treasurer of
this society of June 30, which I forwarded on July 13, J. No. 1888, to
the Imperial War Office, was among the stolen papers.

The statement published in the newspapers of the president of the
Etna Explosives Company, that he wished to repudiate the powder
contract with the Bridgeport Projectile Company, is naturally only
newspaper gossip, and was weakened yesterday by a new announce-
ment of the firm.

I do not think that the manufacturers will put many difficulties
in our way with regard to the delivery of the presses, for the careful
phrasing of the contract makes an attack upon the Projectile Com-
pany, under the well-known Sherman Law, out of the question, and
the view that the manufacturers had thought that the consignments
were intended for the Allies — that is to say, that we obtained the
contracts under false pretenses — is not strong enough from a legal
point of view to expose the manufacturers to the expenses and conse-
quences of a legal action.

The only actual damage consists therein, that the Russian and
English Commission broke off their negotiations with the Bridgeport
Projectile Company at once, and accordingly our prospects of pre-
venting other firms here from embarking on the supply of war mate-
rial by the undertaking and the non-delivery of a shrapnel contract
have come to nothing.

The purchase of phenol by Dr. Schweitzer from the Edison Com-
pany, which was discovered at the same time, has been settled by the

180 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

public declaration that this phenol was only to be used for medicinal
purposes.

Most of all, our attempts with regard to the purchase of liquid
chlorine have been hindered, as any control (Bindung) of the Castner
Chemical Company, which is friendly to England, through a middle-
man seems now out of the question.

I will make use of the means put at my disposal (information of
Mr. Grithen) in order to come to an agreement with the Electro-
Bleaching Gas Company.

The publication of the negotiations with regard to the acquisi-
tion of the Wright patents is without importance, because our view
that we could obtain a legal decision against the Curtiss Company
probably could not have been maintained.

The culminating point of all attacks against us lies in the asser-
tion of the "unstraightforwardriess and deceit" of German policy,
which, on the one hand, carries on with all the means at its disposal a
propaganda for the prohibition of the export of arms, and, on the
other hand, secretly purchases war material for Germany. This accu-
sation could not better be refuted than by the publication of the
memorandum which the Imperial Ambassador already on the twelfth
of June addressed to this Government at my request.

It is worthy of note that in reply to the telegraphic request of his
Excellency to the State Department to be good enough to publish this
memorandum the reply was : "We cannot find it, please send a copy."

The existence of the memorandum is evidence beyond all doubt
that, in the first place, the purchase of war material by us was a
consequential part of our propaganda for the prohibition of the export
of war material, and that, in the second place, our action met in the
widest sense the views of the United States Government with regard
to strengthening their own fighting power at the present moment.

From this point of view the publication can only be regarded as
advantageous.

PAPEN.

His second letter, the "idiotic Yankees" letter, was written
to his wife.

New York, August 20, 1915.

We have great need of being "bucked up," as they say here. Since
Sunday a new storm has been raging against us — and because of
what ? I'm sending you a few cuttings from the newspapers that will
amuse you. Unfortunately they stole a fat portfolio from our good
Albert in the Elevated (English secret service, of course!), of which
the principal contents have been published. You can imagine the
sensation among the Americans! Unfortunately there were some
very important things from my report among them, such as the buy-

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 181

ing up of liquid chlorine and about the Bridgeport Projectile Com-
pany, as well as documents regarding the buying up of phenol (from
which explosives are made) and the acquisition of the Wright
aeroplane patent.

But things like that must occur. I send you Albert's reply for
you to see how we protect ourselves. We composed the document
together yesterday.

It seems quite likely that we shall meet again soon. The sinking
of the .Adriatic (sic) may well be the last straw. I hope in our
interest that the danger will blow over.

How splendid on the Eastern front. I always say to these idiotic
Yankees they had better hold their tongues — it's better to look at all
this heroism full of admiration. My friends in the army are quite
different in this way.

A sixth document was a copy of a note from Ambassador
von Bernstorff to the Secretary of State. It was written on
August 18, just at the time the New York World was publish-
ing the papers lost by Dr. Albert.

Because of "the wide publicity given to documents and
letters stolen from a member of my staff/7 and "the entirely
false and unjustifiable conclusion attempted to be drawn from
these documents as appears in the press comments and leading
articles," he had decided "to make a short statement confirm-
ing the facts."

As the representative of one of the great nations involved
in the world war, it was inevitable that he "should receive
from every conceivable source and from most unbalanced and
irresponsible authors, proposals and advice." Most of the
documents found in the stolen portfolio, he said, were of this
kind.

"It is asserted that the documents show that the German
Government" is acquiring ammunition factories while at the
same time demanding that the export of war material to the
Allies be stopped, and that it was supporting "a propaganda
in favor of this." He could not "understand on what grounds
criticism of our behavior in this respect can be based." He
regarded it as "a right and duty, so long a$ Great Britain con-
tinued her piracy on the high seas," to place "difficulties as far
as possible in the way of the export of war material for the
Allies either by the purchase of factories or war material, in

182 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

spite of the fact that for the present we are not in a position
to make use of these goods for our own protection."

"If," he continued, "we possessed the means and oppor-
tunities, we would buy up every munition factory in the United
States of America, if in this way we could deprive the enemy
of munitions and our proceeding would not involve a lack of
logic or mala fides" To show that the proposed plan to pur-
chase war material was not unknown to the Department of
State, he quoted from a note of June 12.

Criticism of the plan "to prevent the export of liquid
chlorine to the Allies, through buying the output," was unjusti-
fied "when one bears in mind the fact that the British Govern-
ment would not supply rubber or wool to a manufacturer save
on condition that he sells the whole output through a British
agency, and is prevented from selling to Germany or Austria-
Hungary" ; that producers of copper "are forced to proceed
in the same manner with regard to their output," and that
manufacturers of "preserved provisions equally are forced to
refuse to supply their goods to neutral countries unless Great
Britain, through her own agents, allows them to carry out their
contracts." The moment the German Government tries to get
control of the output of a single factory, "this perfectly lawful
proceeding is branded far and wide as a propaganda which
'entangles the United States in the European war,' and 'in-
volves a flagrant breach of the spirit and object of the American
anti-trust law.' '

"To the false suggestion, based on certain letters, that I,
or some one else who has relations with the German Govern-
ment, has taken part in the instigation and forwarding of
strikes in munition factories, ,1 can only say that such asser-
tions and insinuations are groundless."

Nevertheless, such strikes had occurred to an extent never
known before. During July, August, September and October
there were one hundred and two strikes and six lockouts of
machinists employed in munition plants. Fifty of these were
in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to the report of the
Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor, to
its annual convention, attempts had been made by German
and Austrian agents to buy labor leaders to foment strikes.

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 183

According to the testimony of a score of men arrested and
convicted of conspiracy to destroy munition ships and muni-
tion plants, the representatives of Germany and Austria were
not guiltless.

The purchase of ten pounds of picric acid, a chemical used
in the manufacture of high explosives, led on October 24 to the
arrest in Jersey City of Robert Fay and Walter Scholz, on
suspicion of connection with explosions in ammunition works,
and of bombs on board steamers carrying supplies to the ene-
mies of Germany. Fay in a confession claimed he was a lieu-
tenant in the German army, and, while serving with his regi-
ment in the Champaigne district, invented so clever a device
for exploding mines without electrical wiring that he was put
in touch with the German Secret Service by his colonel and
sent to the United States. His object in coming was to cut
off the supply of ammunition to the Allies by attaching to the
sterns or propellers of ammunition-laden vessels the mines of
his invention, so timed that they would explode when the
steamer was in mid-Atlantic. "Both Captain von Papen and
Captain Boy-Ed refused to make any use of my device in
this country." More arrests followed and soon seven men
were in the hands of the Federal authorities.

Ambassador von Bernstorff having assured the Department
of State that Fay had no connection with the German Secret
Service, nor with the German Government, the Department
left the matter to be settled by the Courts, and on November 8,
Fay, Max Breitung, Walter L. Scholz, Paul Deache, Dr. Her-
bert Krenzle, and Bronkhorst were duly indicted on two counts.
The first charged that Fay and his associates devised "a metal
box containing springs, coils and other mechanisms and loaded
with dynamite, trinitrotoluol and other explosives" and had
conspired to attach it to steamships sailing out from New
York.

The second charged them with conspiracy to injure persons
who had underwritten policies of insurance on the vessels they
sought to destroy. December 13, all save Deache were rear-
raigned to plead to five new charges.

Dr. Joseph Goricar, for many years in the Austro-Hun-
garian consular service, and who resigned in December, 1914,

184 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

now came forward with specific charges in the Providence
Journal. The United States, he said, were honeycombed with
German and Austrian spies, all working directly under
von Bernstorff and Consul General von ]$Tuber; that every
Austro-Hungarian consul in the country was a center of propa-
ganda for the destruction of munition factories, for the crea-
tion of strikes. The office of von Nuber in New York was the
center of the plot for securing fraudulent passports under
which hundreds of German and Austrian reservists had been
able to return to their colors.

"The United States," he said, "is not awake to the danger
which threatens her from the activities of German and Aus-
trian agents who since the beginning of the war have spent
$30,000,000 to $40,000,000 in this country in their efforts to
destroy life and property.

"I charge that the German Ambassador, knowing that the
Austrian consulates have far more influence among their
people here than the German consulates have among theirs,
has worked through Ambassador Dumba and Consul General
von Nuber to cause every Austrian consulate in the United
States to become a center of intrigue of the most criminal
character." He charged that the Austrian consuls at Cleve-
land, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, and St.
Paul were the men on whom von Bernstorff and von Nuber
depended "to carry out their infamous work" and that they
held regular conferences with von Nuber. He charged that
von ISTuber had in his employ "a gang of men who are regu-
larly subsidizing foreign language newspapers." Many times
since Dumba7 s departure von Nuber had been doing the very
same sort of acts as those which led to Dumba's dismissal.
"Within the past week von Nuber, at the suggestion of Ambas-
sador von Bernstorff," Dr. Goricar charged, had ordered his con-
suls scattered over the country "to close in on the campaign to
get workers out of munition factories," and to force them out
was working through the great secret societies and fraternal
organizations with which the men were connected.

The consols accused by Dr. Goricar one and all denied the
charges and denounced him as a traitor and a renegade; and
some one in behalf of the Austro-Hungarian Embassy issued

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 185

a statement. This, too, was almost wholly given up to de-
nouncing Dr. Goricar, and dismissed his charges with the words
"the Embassy must emphatically declare these accusations as
false and absolutely groundless."

The Journal thereupon began the publication of documen-
tary evidence in support of its charges. Among these docu-
ments were facsimiles of letters from the Austrian Consul
General in New York and the Austrian consul in Philadelphia
to certain workers in munition factories who had written asking
tie meaning of an advertisement which had appeared in the
foreign language newspapers.

"The Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Embassy,"
this warning said, acting under orders from the home Govern-
ment, gave notice to "all Austrians and Hungarians, including
the men who belong to Bosnia and Herzegovina," that all who
were making arms or ammunition for the Allies were "commit-
ting a crime against the military safety of their Fatherland,"
a crime punishable by imprisonment for from ten to twenty
years, or it might be with death. Against those who violated the
order "the whole force of the land will be brought in the event
of their return to their own country."

So specific were the charges made by Dr. Goricar, so con-
vincing was the evidence presented by the Journal, that the
Department of Justice at once began to investigate. Had other
evidence been needed it might have been found in the startling
series of explosions and fires which just at this time wrecked
parts of some of the great munition plants in the East. On
November 10, flames consumed a machine shop at the Bethlehem
Steel Company, destroyed machinery and war material valued
at $1,000,000 and threw out of employment some 2,100 men.
That same day a building used for the storage of patterns, be-
longing to the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Eddystone, was
burned to the ground. Twenty-four hours later a new wire-
rope shop belonging to the John A. Roeblings' Sons Company at
Trenton was totally destroyed by fire. The firm declared they
had no war orders, but the origin of the fire was as mysterious
as were those at Bethlehem and Eddystone.

While the causes of these fires were under investigation,
the Chief of the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of

186 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Justice was sent to confer with the editor of the Providence
Journal and Dr. Goricar. On his return to Washington the
Department of Justice announced that "much information of
a valuable nature was obtained concerning the activities of
Austrian Consul General von N"uber and his associates, the
details of which cannot be disclosed at present. Prompt inves-
tigation, however, will be made. Information was also obtained
which probably will lead to further indictments for passport
frauds."

A Reuter dispatch giving a summary of the charges of
Dr. Goricar having reached Vienna, Baron Burian at once
instructed the Austrian charge at Washington to make a "cate-
gorical and official denial of these inventions."

"According to Reuter," so ran the message, "former Austro-
Hungarian Consul Goricar has made totally false statements
in the Providence Journal about Austro-Hungarian and Ger-
man espionage in the United States. You are authorized to
make categorical and official denial of these inventions."

Baron Erich Zwiedinek, Austro-Hungarian charge, accord-
ingly visited the Department of State and protested against
the issuance in the name of the Department of Justice of the
statement which he claimed tended to confirm the alleged
unlawful activities of the Austrian consular offices made by
Dr. Joseph Goricar.

To this the Providence Journal made reply that, in view
"of the astounding action of Baron Zwiedinek, the Journal now
feels called upon to declare it has placed in the hands of the
Department of Justice conclusive proof not only of the guilt
of Baron von Nuber and Vice Consul Samuel Augyal of the
New York consulate, but also of Consul General von Grivicio,
formerly of Philadelphia, and Baron Lother von Hanser of the
Pittsburgh consulate.

"Furthermore, the Journal has also given to the Depart-
ment of Justice conclusive proof of the guilt of Baron von
Zwiedinek himself on several occasions since the departure of
Ambassador Dumba." Proof of the guilt of the Austrian offi-
cials, the Journal said, "rests almost entirely on documents
over their own signatures, and this is particularly true in the
case of Baron Zwiedinek himself.

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 187

A rumor having been set afloat that because of the failure of
the Department of Justice to get wind of the activities of the
consuls, and the country-wide plots to destroy ammunition
works, the Secret Service force of the Treasury Department
would take charge of such investigations, the Secretary of the
Treasury and the Attorney General thought it wise to make a
joint denial and on November 19 made this statement :

"In view of the widespread statements to the effect that
the Secret Service force of the Treasury Department has been
put in charge of investigation of all bomb plots, ship burnings,
munition factory explosions and the like, and the determina-
tion of whether the criminal statutes of the United States have
been violated," they wished to say that the different depart-
ments of the Government had been and were furnishing each
other with all information that was useful; that there was no
disagreement between them, and none expected; that it was
the duty of the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of
Justice to investigate all information indicating violations of
criminal statutes of the United States, conspiracies, passport
frauds and violation of interstate commerce statutes included;
and that the Secret Service of the Treasury Department had
been instructed to turn over to the Bureau for Investigation of
the Department of Justice any information acquired by the
former that would be of use to the latter.

Whether Federal statutes could be applied to the burning
of munition plants owned by individuals or corporations was
a doubtful question, and some suspicion was expressed by
officials in the Department of Justice that State officials had
started no prosecutions as a result of munition plant fires. It
was time, however, that the government acted. Actual war-
fare had been conducted by German and Austrian officials
against the United States. Guns had not been trained on our
citizens, armies had not been landed on our shores, but the
torch had been set to munition plants, bombs had been pre-
pared to sink ships at sea, plots had been hatched to prevent
manufactured goods reaching their destination, passports for
German and Austrian spies had been forged, and strikes
fomented. Plotters, conspirators, schemers must be ferreted
out, no matter who they were. But in punishing plotters

188 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

against manufacturing plants the Federal Government was
badly handicapped. If bombs are made in one State and sent
into another for criminal purposes the Government has juris-
diction under the interstate commerce act. But when an indus-
trial plant is set on fire the State has jurisdiction and must act.

To overcome this difficulty the United States Attorney
General, on November 20, issued an appeal to local authorities.

"^Information," he said, "indicating attacks upon lawful
American industries and commerce through incendiary fires
and explosions in factories, threats to intimidate employees
and other acts of violence, has so often developed during the
past few months as to demand searching investigations and
prosecutions." The Department of Justice would continue
to investigate all such acts, prosecute all violations of Federal
statutes, and seek indictments under the Federal law forbid-
ding interstate transportation of explosives, under the Sherman
law, the law concerning conspiracy to commit an offense
against, or defraud the United States, and the laws against
crimes on ships and on the high seas. But Federal criminal
laws because of our dual form of government were limited
in their scope. Many could be enforced only where the Gov-
ernment has special jurisdiction. It was hoped, therefore,
that the State officials would be active, and whenever evidence
was found, by the agents of the Department of Justice, that
State laws had been violated, it would be placed at the service
of State authorities.

Prosecutions of such offenders as the Government had been
able to detect went on, meantime, with vigor. Chief among
these were Captain von Papen and Captain Boy-Ed.

Captain Franz von Papen was right in his surmise when
he wrote his wife, "It seems quite likely that we shall meet
again soon/' A careful investigation of the activities of
von Papen and Boy-Ed forced the Secretary of State to inform
Ambassador von Bernstorff on November 30 that they were
"no longer acceptable or personce gratce to this Government,"
and to ask their recall because "of what this Government con-
siders improper activities in military and naval matters."

The Providence Journal now asserted, basing its assertion
"on the highest authority, that the recent Hamburg- American

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 189

trial had nothing whatever to do" with the demand for the
recall of the Captains. Captain Boy-Ed was recalled, it said,
because the Government had positive proof of his connection
with Stegler and the passport frauds. A mass of letters and
telegrams showing his direct connection with the frauds was
in the possession of the Government. He was recalled because
the Government had positive evidence that he had been active
in the attempt of certain officials of the Hamburg-American
Company in the spring ato embroil the Government of the
United States and the British Government by the production
of false affidavits tending to show that certain tugboat captains
had been carrying supplies from New York Harbor to Ger-
man cruisers. He had been recalled because the Government
had conclusive proof that the Huerta conspiracy, hatched in
Barcelona, was carried on through Captains Boy-Ed and
von Papen and Dr. Dumba.

Captain von Papen would be recalled because of his con-
nection with the Huerta plot, the storage of large quantities
of arms in New York and the discovery among the Archibald
papers of two cipher dispatches and the manner in which they
were sent abroad.

December 10, the German Ambassador formally notified
the Secretary of State that the Emperor "had been pleased to
recall Captain Boy-Ed and Captain von Papen in compliance
with the wishes of the United States Government"; Decem-
ber 22, Captain von Papen sailed, and six days later was fol-
lowed by Captain Karl Boy-Ed.

When about to sail von Papen handed to representatives of
the press a written statement. He refrained, he said, at the
hour of his departure, from again refuting the stories told about
him in the newspapers, most of which stories, "like the silly
Huerta tales," were invented by the Providence Journal. This
paper, with its British-born Mr. Rathom, has done its utmost
to create an almost hysterical suspicion of spying throughout
the country in order to prejudice public opinion against
Germany."

"Your farewell statement to the American people," said
the Providence Journal in a long wireless to the Captain, "in
so far as it relates to the Providence Journal, is a willful and

190 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

deliberate falsehood. Has the Providence Journal created a
hysterical suspicion concerning the destruction of American
factories, the murder of American workmen, or the daily plots
against the peace and safety of this Government and its citi-
zens, almost all of which acts have been fathered and financed
from your office ? Every word of what the Journal has pub-
lished with regard to your personal connection with these plots
has been true, and nobody knows it better than yourself."

But it was not only in the East that such deeds had been
done. Agents of Germany had been busy on the Pacific coast,
falsifying manifests to clear ships laden with supplies for
German cruisers, plotting the destruction of bridges and tun-
nels in Canada, and hiring -men to place bombs on board of
ships carrying munitions of war. In December, in San Fran-
cisco, Charles C. Crowley, a detective in the employ of the
German consulate, Baron George William von Brincken, the
Vice Consul General, and a woman were indicted for con-
spiracy to interfere with and destroy commerce with the Allies,
and use the mails to incite arson, murder and assassination by
burning certain buildings of munition making firms at ,Ishpe-
ming, Michigan, and Pinole, California. An affidavit, pub-
lished in the Providence Journal, set forth that Franz Bopp,
the German Consul General at San Francisco, had employed
the affiant Koolbergen to blow up tunnels on the Canadian
Pacific Railway, that Bopp and von Brincken worked out the
details, and that Koolbergen in collusion with the officials of
the Canadian Pacific Company caused statements to be pub-
lished in the newspapers to the effect that they had been
blown up mysteriously. More arrests followed as the plot
developed until in February, 1916, thirty-two conspirators
were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury.

A telegram from Chicago, December 5, announced that two
artisans of that city had gene to New York in obedience to a
subp03na to appear before a Federal Grand Jury and testify
as to the activities of Labor's National Peace Council. This
organization, it was said, had taken a part in the warfare
headed by von Papen and Boy-Ed against munition plants, and
the Department of Justice was seeking indictments against
Congressman Buchanan of Illinois; former Congressman Fow-

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 191

ler of Illinois; the notorious "Wolf of Wall Street," David
Lamar ; Franz von Rintelen, and sundry others.

"In view," said the United States Attorney at New York,
"of the publicity given in the morning newspapers of to-day
of the story concerning Labor's National Peace Council, I will
state that for some time I have had information that this
organization was financed through money furnished by Franz
von Rintelen, through David Lamar. A part of the activities
of Labor's National Peace Council consisted in stirring up
strikes in various plants which engaged in the manufacture of
war munitions."

Franz von Rintelen came to our country in April, was
believed to have financed the sorcalled "peace meeting" held
in June in New York, the meeting addressed by Mr. Bryan,
and on his way to Germany in August under .the protection of
a passport, obtained by fraud, was stopped at Falmouth by
the British and lodged in the Tower of London. Labor's Na-
tional Peace Council was formed late in June by the promoters
of the "peace meeting" at New York. Its President for a
few weeks was Congressman Buchanan. . H. Robert Fowler
was its general counsel, and Frank S. Monnett, one time Attor-
ney General of Ohio, was Chairman of a Committee. These
men, with Henry B. Martin, Secretary, Henry Schulteis, David
Lamar, and Franz von Rintelen, were duly indicted on De-
cember 28, 1915.

The defendants, it was charged, had "conspired together to
restrain our foreign commerce in munitions of war," rifles,
vehicles of transportation, building material, articles of many
sorts useful in war on land and sea; had conspired to insti-
gate strikes and walkouts in munition factories, and in places
where such material was shipped; and by bribing and dis-
tributing money among labor officials, tried to induce them to
use their influence to cause employees to drop their work.

Efforts were now made to secure the support of organized
labor, on their behalf, and on December 30 a statement was
issued warning laboring men of the "great danger which awaits
their future struggles for economic liberty and justice should
a precedent be established by the courts in upholding a prose-
cution and conviction under such a construction of this stat-

192 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ute as is now proposed by the United States Attorney Marshal."
These and many other acts of treachery by aliens and dis-
loyal citizens of alien birth were so serious and menacing that
President Wilson on two occasions had denounced the hyphen-
ates roundly. The first occasion was on the evening of Novem-
ber 4: at a banquet given by the Manhattan Club in New York
City.

The only thing within our borders that has given us grave con-
cern in recent months has been that voices have been raised in Amer-
ica professing to be the voices of Americans which were not in deed
and in truth American but which spoke alien sympathies, which
came from men who loved other countries better than they love
America, men who were partisans of other causes than that of Amer-
ica, and had forgotten that their chief and only allegiance was to
the great government under which they live.

These voices have not been many, but they have been very
clamorous. They have proceeded from a few who were bitter and
who were grievously misled [They were] the spokesmen of small
groups whom it is high time that the nation should call to a reck-
oning.

A month now passed away and on December 7 the President
made his annual address to Congress. During that month fires
had destroyed shops of the Bethlehem Steel Company, of the
Baldwin Locomotive Works, at Eddystone, and of the Roebling
Wire Works at Trenton; Goricar had made known the plots
of the Austrian Consuls to destroy ships and cripple munition
works, and the Attorney General of the United States had ap-
pealed to the State authorities to aid him in prosecuting the
plotters everywhere.

In his annual address to Congress at the opening of its ses-
sion the President, therefore, again denounced the hyphenates
and asked for means to restrain their activities.

I am sorry to say that the gravest threats against our national
peace and safety have been uttered within our own borders. There
are citizens of the United States, I blush to admit, born under other
flags, but welcomed under our generous naturalization laws to the
full freedom and opportunity of America, who have poured the poison
of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life; who have
sought to bring the authority and good name of our Government
into contempt, to destroy our industries wherever they thought it

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 193

effective for their vindictive purposes to strike at them and to debase
our politics to the uses of foreign intrigue. Their number is not as
great as compared with the whole number of those sturdy hosts by
which our nation has been enriched in recent generations' out of virile
foreign stocks; but is great enough to have brought deep disgrace
upon us and to have made it necessary that we should promptly make
use of processes of law by which we may be purged of their corrupt
distempers.

America never witnessed anything like this before. It never
dreamed it possible that men sworn into its own citizenship . . .
would ever turn in malign reaction against the Government and peo-
ple who had welcomed and nurtured them and seek to make this proud
country once more a hotbed of European passion.

A little while ago such a thing would have seemed incredible. Be-
cause it was incredible we made no preparation for it. ... But the
ugly and incredible thing has actually come about and we are with-
out adequate Federal laws to deal with it.

I urge you to enact such laws at the earliest possible moment and
feel that in doing so I am urging you to do nothing less than save the
honor and self-respect of the nation. Such creatures of passion,
disloyalty and anarchy must be crushed out. They are not many,
but they are infinitely malignant, and the hand of our power should
close over them at once. They have formed plots to destroy prop-
erty ; they have entered into conspiracies against the neutrality of the
Government; they have sought to pry into every confidential transac-
tion of the Government in order to serve interests alien to our
own. . . .

I wish that it could be said that only a few men, misled by mis-
taken sentiments of allegiance to the governments under which they
were born, had been guilty of disturbing the self-possession and
misrepresenting the temper and principles of the country during
these days of terrible war. . . . But it cannot. There are some men
among us, and many resident abroad who, though born and bred in
the United States and calling themselves Americans, have so for-
gotten themselves and their honor as citizens as to put their passionate
sympathy with one or the other side in the great European conflict
above their regard for the peace and dignity of the United States.
They also preach and practice disloyalty.

These charges met with a quick response from those con-
cerned. In the House a resolution was carried calling on the
President to furnish the names and former allegiance of per-
sons involved in alleged criminal and otherwise unneutral plots
together with, specific information regarding such plots. The
Committee on Judiciary reported the resolution adversely. The

194 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Attorney General by a second resolution was then called on to
furnish the names and former allegiance of persons involved
in alleged criminal plots. He sent a list of names of 71 per-
sons and four corporations ; but the Judiciary Committee again
reported adversely.

A week later the directors of the Northeastern Saenger-
bund, happening to hold their meeting at Baltimore, took oc-
casion to express their sentiments towards the President and
certain measures then pending in Congress. Whereas, they
said, the President having by "innuendo in his message'7 of De-
cember, 1915, "accused American citizens of German birth of
being traitors to their adopted country," and the Attorney Gen-
eral in response to a call by the House "for a probe of these al-
legations" having "submitted a list of the persons arrested or
charged with offenses against the laws of the United States"
referred to by the President, and there appearing in the list
the names of but three or four American citizens of German
birth, therefore it was resolved that, as American citizens, they
protest against the charges of the President in his message
as an attack upon and an insult to "a large and loyal part of the
citizenship of the United States." The "attack and charges"
were "made upon insufficient information without cause, and, as
shown by the Attorney General's report had no foundation in
fact."

The directors therefore recommended the members of the
Saengerbund to oppose the renomination and re-election of
Woodrow Wilson as President of the United States, and 'en-
dorsed and urged all members to endorse the bills to prohibit
the sale and export of arms ; prohibit the issue of passports for
use on vessels of a belligerent country; prohibit vessels from
carrying American citizens as passengers and contraband of
war at the same time; and the bill to authorize the President
to forbid any national banking association to make a loan to any
of the signatory Powers to the Declaration of London which
shall be found to be obstructing the neutral commerce of the
United States.

To a mass meeting of Hungarians held at New York City
about the same time to take action on the President's remarks
he sent a message through a personal representative.

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 195

In good time the speech of the President reached Berlin,
alarmed the Imperial Government by the vigor of the attack on
German-American plotters and drew forth a disavowal of the
acts of its agents and a plea that Germany had been misunder-
stood. No official note or memorandum was sent to Washing-
ton, but the Berlin correspondent of the New York Times was
authorized to make a long statement which he sent by wireless
on December 29. "I am authorized," said the correspondent,
Mr. Garrett, "to make the following statement":

The German Government, naturally, has never knowingly
accepted the support of any person, group of persons, society
or organization seeking to promote the cause of Germany in the
United States by illegal acts, by counsels of violence, by con-
travention of law, or by any means whatever that could offend
the American people in the pride of their own authority. If it
should be alleged that improper acts have been committed by
representatives of the German Government they could easily be
dealt with. To any complaints, upon such proofs as may be
submitted by the American Government, suitable response will
be duly made.

As is well known, the means of communication between
Germany and the United States are very unsatisfactory. It is
practically impossible for the German Government to keep it-
self in touch with the American sentiment. It has often to de-
pend upon the Foreign Press for information concerning
American affairs. The Message of President Wilson to the
Congress, in which the activities of German sympathizers in
the United States were discussed, will serve as an illustration.

A brief summary of this Message which was received in Ger-
many referred to riots and conspiracies against peace and or-
der in the United States, and the effect produced thereby on the
public sentiment in Germany was probably more painful than
the American Government knew. A different impression might
have been produced by the full text of the Message, but, un-
fortunately, that was not available in Germany until the Ameri-
can newspapers arrived in Germany by mail a fortnight or three
weeks later, except such portions as might be taken, with doubt
and reservations, from the English Press.

In the meantime confidential communications between the

196 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

German Government and its diplomatic representatives in the
United States, by wireless or cable, are impossible for reasons
which the American Government knows.

Apparently the enemies of Germany have succeeded in giv-
ing the impression that the German Government is in some way,
Mr. Garrett continued, responsible for what Mr. Wilson has
characterized as anti- American activities, comprising attacks on
property and the violation of the rules which the American
Government has seen fit to impose on the course of neutral
trade. This the German Government absolutely denies. It
cannot specifically repudiate acts committed by individuals over
whom it has no control, and of whose movements and actions it
is neither officially nor unofficially informed. It can only say
it does most emphatically declare to Germans abroad, to the
United States and to the American people all alike, that who-
ever is guilty of conduct tending to associate the German cause
with lawlessness in thought, suggestion, or deed against the
life, property, and order in the United States is, in fact, an
enemy of that very cause, and a source of embarrassment to the
German Government, nothwithstanding anything he or they
may believe to the contrary.

It happens regularly that Press messages from Germany are
taken from the air by the English and are reproduced as rep-
resenting the official German point of view, the assumption be-
ing that the German censor will only pass such things as the
German Government wishes the world to believe. Finally, ow-
ing to these conditions, all German expression of opinion falls
under an awkward restraint. Jf the German Government could
speak, and alone, to the American Government, out of the hear-
ing of the rest of the world, and if it could communicate con-
fidentially with its diplomatic representatives in the United
States, much misconception, Mr. Garrett was sure, could be
avoided. By the use of wireless, it is true, the German Govern-
ment may communicate with its Ambassador in Washington in
a private code known only to the American Government; but,
as all other Governments may communicate by cable in an ab-
solutely secret code, the German Government feels that to be
alone deprived of this same privilege, and to be required, as
no other Government is, to correspond with its representatives

TREACHEROUS ACTS OF GERMAN OFFICIALS 197

in a code open to the American Government, is an unfair dis-
crimination. This, therefore, is an obstacle that combines both
fact and feeling, and if one adds thereto the misfortune that the
German Government thinks it has reason to distrust the neu-
trality of the United States, it will be seen how serious it is. We
need not inquire whether the German Government is justified
in regarding American neutrality with reservation. The doubt
exists, and hinders every approach to an understanding.

The reason for denying the German Government the privi-
lege of using a secret code by wireless was, in the beginning,
that it might communicate in this way with its ships at sea,
but the German Government thinks that if this reason were ever
valid it has ceased to exist, since there are no more German
ships upon the seas.

CHAPTEE VIII

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING

THE Imperial German Government having inquired into
the circumstances of the sinking of the Arabic, and having ob-
tained a report from the commander of the submarine from
which the torpedo was fired, Ambassador von Bernstorff de-
livered to the Secretary of State a note in which Germany re-
fused "to acknowledge any obligation or grant any indemnity in
the matter."

On August 19, 1915, it said, a German submarine stopped
the British liner Dunsley about sixteen miles south of Kinsale,
and was about to sink her by gun fire when the commander be-
held a large steamship making towards him. This steamer, the
Arabic, was recognized as an enemy vessel because she did not
fly any flag and had no neutral markings. "When she ap-
proached she altered her original course, but then again pointed
directly towards the submarine." Sure that the Arabic "had
the intention of attacking and ramming him," the commander
gave the order "to dive and fired a torpedo at the steamship."

"The German Government most deeply regrets that lives
were lost," and "particularly expresses this regret to the
Government of the United States on account of the death of
American citizens." But "the German Government is unable,
however, to acknowledge any obligation to grant indemnity in
the matter, even if the commander should have been mistaken
as to the aggressive intentions of the Arabic." Should the two
Governments find it impossible "to reach a harmonious opinion
on this point" the German Government was ready "to submit
the difference of opinion, as being a question of international
law, to The Hague tribunal." In doing so, the German Govern-
ment assumed "that, as a matter of course, the arbitral deci-
sion shall not be admitted to have the importance of a general

198

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 199

decision on the permissibility of, or the converse, under in-
ternational law, of German submarine warfare."

Thus was the hope that the commander of the submarine
would be disciplined and his act disavowed, dispelled. But
the German Ambassador after conferences with the Secretary
of State declared in an interview that he was sure all differ-
ences would soon be adjusted. "Ordinarily," he said, "I give
only prepared interviews over my signature. To-day I shall
make an exception. You may say for me that I am sure that
within a fortnight all supposed difficulties between the United
States and Germany will have been settled and permanently set-
tled, and the nations will be more friendly than they ever have
been."

A Berlin newspaper, the National Gazette, remarked that
"for the moment it does not seem to have been recognized with
sufficient clearness in America that Count von BernstoriFs
principal statement and the Arabic note are two totally differ-
ent expressions of intention on the part of the German Govern-
ment and only superficially connected."

The destruction of the Arabic was "in no sense a diminish-
ing of assurances given shortly before in Washington, and
which were hailed with lively satisfaction in America, show-
ing the wish of the overwhelming majority of the American
people to maintain peace between Germany and America.
There can be no talk about Germany having broken her word
to the United- States, or of trying to liberate herself from a
given promise."

The Imperial Government having denied responsibility for
indemnity in the case of the Arabic now returned to that of the
Frye; and to the manner of fixing the damages. It proposed to
do away with an umpire, settle the damages by means of two ex-
perts, and name its own expert, agreed to separate the question
of indemnity from that of interpretation of the Prussian treaties
of 1799 and 1828, and to refer this dispute to The Hague Tri-
bunal.

To the question, whether in the meantime, Germany would
govern her submarine operations according to the American or
the German interpretation, the answer was, that "it is not pre-
vented, in its opinion, from proceeding against American ships

200 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

conveying contraband, according to its interpretation, until the
question is settled by arbitration." Nevertheless, as evidence
of its "conciliatory attitude" the German Government had or-
dered its naval forces "not to destroy American merchantmen
which have loaded conditional contraband," but allow "them to
continue their voyage unhindered, if it is not possible to take
them into port." But it reserved "the right to destroy vessels
carrying absolute contraband" whenever allowable under the
Declaration of London.

In its note on the Arabic the German Government had de-
clared itself unable "to acknowledge any obligation to grant
indemnity in the matter even if the commander should have
been mistaken as to the aggressive intentions of the Arabic."
From this position the Imperial Government now retreated and
on October 5, Count von Bernstorff informed Secretary Lansing
that, prompted by a desire to reach a satisfactory agreement
with respect to the Arabic incident, his Government had in-
structed him to say His Imperial Majesty had issued such
stringent orders "that the recurrence of incidents similar to the
Arabic case is considered out of the question.

"According to the report of Commander Schneider of the
submarine which sank the Arabic and his affidavit as well as
those of his men, Commander Schneider was convinced that
the Arabic intended to ram the submarine.

"On the other hand, the Imperial Government does not
doubt the good faith of the affidavits of the British officers of
the Arabic, according to which the Arabic did not intend to
ram the submarine. The attack of the submarine, therefore,
was undertaken against the instructions issued to the com-
mander. The Imperial Government regrets and disavows this
act, and has notified Commander Schneider accordingly," and
would pay indemnity for the lives of Americans lost on the
Arabic.

Before the month ended, Germany, in a note explaining
the attack on the Orduna, renewed her pledge that large pas-
senger steamers were "only to be torpedoed after previous warn-
ing and after the rescuing of passengers and crew."

At about a quarter past seven on the morning of July 3,
said the note, a German submarine sighted a steamer some

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING

201

five miles away and a sailing vessel a mile distant. The steamer
showing no flag or neutral markings, was taken to be an enemy
ship and the submarine submerged and fired a torpedo which
missed its mark. Thereupon the submarine rose to the surface
and gave chase, firing shells which did no harm as the sub-
marine was pitching about and the distance great.

"The first attack on the Orduna was not in accordance with
the existing instructions which provide that large passenger
steamships are only to be torpedoed after previous warning and
after the rescuing of passengers and crew. The failure to ob-
serve the instructions was based on an error, which is at any
rate comprehensible, and the repetition of which appears to be
out of the question, in view of the more explicit instructions is-
sued in the meantime."

The surrender of Germany seemed to be complete, and was
generally attributed to the good work done by Ambassador von
Bernstorff. The triumph of American diplomacy seemed to be
a notable one, for it had forced an arrogant nation to abandon
its campaign of maritime frightfulness and acknowledge the
principles of humanity it had hitherto defiantly and wantonly
outraged. But the triumph was not to endure. From sources
good and reliable it appeared that Great Britain had captured
forty-four German submarines and had sunk some twenty-six
others. Alarmed at her losses Germany found it expedient to
suspend her campaign of frightfulness not only until her losses
had been made good, but until her fleet of submarines had been
greatly increased. Meantime, to avert a break with the United
States at that time, the Imperial Government adopted a policy
it did not intend long to pursue.

Confining its operations in the North Sea and the Channel
to raids, the German Admiralty now sent submarines to the
Mediterranean Sea to prey on transports carrying troops to
Salonika and Egypt, while Austria, which as yet had done lit-
tle with her submarines, turned them loose on neutrals as well
as enemy merchantmen.

Austria had made no promises not to sink ships without
warning, or to provide for the safety of passengers and crew.
In frightfulness, therefore, she soon equaled her ally and
quickly brought on a crisis in her relations with us.

202 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

On November 7, as the Italian liner Ancona, with 400 pas-
sengers and a crew of 170, was on her way from Messina to
New York she was torpedoed off Cape Carbona by a large sub-
marine flying the Austrian flag. About midday, according to
the account first received from Ferryville, Tunis, the Ancona
perceived two submarines which, because of the thick fog, the
sound of her whistle and her reduced speed, were able to ap-
proach her unperceived. Rescued passengers declared that
when first seen both submarines were flying the German flag
which was quickly lowered and replaced by that of Austria-
Hungary.

The Ancona attempted to escape but was fired upon and
hit, whereupon the captain ordered the boats lowered and just
as the eighth touched the water the Ancona pitched forward
and sank bows first, carrying down with her over two hundred
human beings, many of whom were killed by gunfire after
the torpedo struck. Of twelve Americans aboard nine lost their
lives.

A telegram from Rome announced that "a submarine ap-
proached the Ancona towards noon, and as soon as the steamer
saw it, an attempt was made to escape at full speed. The An-
cona was overtaken and stopped. Then the submarine fired on
the Ancona, sinking her amid the desperate cries of the pas-
sengers. The life boats were next attacked, the submarine like-
wise firing on them."

On November 14, 1915, the Italian Government addressed
a circular note to neutral governments giving its version of the
attack. The submarine, it charged, fired on the Ancona without
warning; fired at the wireless apparatus, at the sides and decks
and "even at the boats in which the terrorized passengers were
seeking refuge." Some who fell into the sea and approached
the submarine "were driven off with jeers."

That same day the Austro-Hungarian Admiralty Office
made a statement without waiting for the Foreign Office to
act. "The submarine," it said, "fired one shot in front of the
Ancona s prow, whereupon the steamer fled at full speed, in
accordance with the order issued by the Italian authorities,
which instructs ships' commanders to flee or sink the sub-

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 203

marine," was pursued and stopped only after being hit several
times.

"The submarine allowed 45 minutes for the passengers and
crew to abandon the steamer, on board of which panic reigned,
but only a small number of boats were lowered and these were
occupied principally by the crew.

"A great number of boats, probably sufficient to save all
the passengers, remained unoccupied.

"After a period of fifty minutes, and as another steamer
was approaching, the submarine submerged and torpedoed the
Ancona which sank after an additional 45 minutes.

*

"If any of the passengers lost their lives, this was due to
the fault of the crew, because the steamer tried to escape after
it had received orders to stop and then the crew only saved
themselves and not the passengers.

"Reports published in the foreign press that the submarine
fired on the Ancona' s life boats are mendacious inventions.
When the steamer stopped the submarine ceased firing."

As soon as the text of the Austrian Admiralty's statement
was received all doubt as to the nationality of the submarine
was removed. Rumors that it was really a German vessel were
set at rest, and the Secretary was free to call Austria to account.
Our Ambassador at Vienna was therefore furnished with a
copy of the Italian note, and instructed to ask whether or not
the Ancona was properly warned and if so how the warning
was given. Whether or not the Ancona tried to escape, after
warning shots were fired, and how long the firing continued.
Whether or not any shots were fired after the Ancona settled, and
if, as the Italian note asserted, the life boats were shelled while
passengers were entering them or after the boats were in the
water. And finally whether or not any efforts were made by
the submarine commander to save the lives of the noncom-
batants, and if not, then why not.

The cable to Mr. Penfield, our Ambassador at Vienna, was
passed by one from him embodying the text of a communica-
tion from the Austrian Foreign Office. This official statement
differed in no respect from that issued by the Admiralty.

After patiently waiting three weeks for a note from Austria
and receiving none the Secretary of State, on December 6, made

204 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

a demand for disavowal and reparation. Reliable information
furnished by American and other survivors, passengers on the
Ancona, shows, he said, that on November 7, a submarine fly-
ing the Austro-Hungarian flag fired a solid shot towards the
Ancona, that she attempted to escape, was chased, overhauled
and stopped, and that after a brief period, before all the crew
and passengers could take to the boats, a number of shells were
fired at her, and she was finally torpedoed and sunk while many
persons were still aboard, and that by gunfire and foundering
American citizens lost their lives.

The Austro-Hungarian Government had been advised,
through the correspondence between the United States and Ger-
many, of the attitude of the United States "as to the use of sub-
marines in attacking vessels of commerce, and of the acqui-
escence of Germany in that attitude; yet, with full knowledge
on the part of the Austro-Hungarian Government of the views
of the United States as expressed in no uncertain terms to the
Ally of Austria-Hungary," the commander of the submarine
had sunk the Ancona. The Government of the United States
considered that he violated the principles of international law
and humanity by shelling and torpedoing her before those on
board had been placed in safety. His conduct could "only be
characterized as wanton slaughter of defenseless noncom-
batants." As good relations must rest on a common regard for
the laws of nations and humanity the Government of the United
States could not "be expected to do otherwise than to demand
that the Imperial and Royal Government denounce the sink-
ing of the Ancona as an illegal and indefensible act; that the
officer who perpetrated the deed be punished, and that repara-
tion be made for American citizens killed or injured by the
attack."

The Government of the United States expected Austria to
"accede to its demand promptly, and it rests this expectation on
the belief that the Austro-Hungarian Government will not sanc-
tion or defend an act which is condemned by the world as in-
human and barbarous, which is abhorrent to all civilized na-
tions, and which has caused the death of innocent American
citizens."

That a rupture of diplomatic relations would follow was

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 205

thought more than likely. In diplomacy, it was said, the word
"demand" is a strong one, and has been twice used. In none of
the notes hitherto addressed to any of the belligerent powers has
language so direct and menacing appeared. The note had much
the character of an ultimatum. Austria must now either accept
or reject what is demanded. Which will she do ?

One London newspaper referred to the note as "stern, un-
compromising." Another, alluding to the mildness of the
Lusitania note, thought that to Austria "would have been more
impressive had it been addressed to the Power capable of in-
juring the United States instead of to its ally, from which the
United States has nothing to fear." A third remarked that the
President's description of the outrage' and his demand were
"perfectly justified; but would not both have been even more
justified in the Lusitania case? However, one may congratu-
late the President on his novel vigor."

Keports from abroad set forth that the note had given great
offense to the Austro-Hungarian Government, that it had
aroused intense anger, and that diplomatic relations were soon
to be broken; that Berlin was seeking to persuade Vienna to
adjust the difficulty and that a high personage had left Berlin
for Vienna "to assist in making the Austrians see the light."

As yet the Austro-Hungarian Government did not see the
light, but still sitting in darkness replied December 15, 1915,
that "the sharpness with which the Government of the United
States considers it necessary to blame the commanding officer
of the submarine concerned in the affair, and the firmness with
which the demands addressed to the Imperial and Royal Govern-
ment appear to be expressed, might well have warranted the
expectation that the Government of the United States should
precisely specify the actual circumstances of the affair upon
which it bases its case.

"As it is not difficult to perceive, the presentation of the
facts in the case in the aforesaid note leaves room for many
doubts." But even if the presentation were correct in every
respect, it did not "warrant attaching blame to the commanding
officer of the war vessel, or to the Imperial and Royal Govern-
ment."

"The Government of the United States has also failed to

206 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

designate the persons upon whose testimony it relies and to
whom it apparently believes it may attribute a higher degree
of credibility than to the commander of the Imperial and
Royal fleet. The note also fails to give any information whatso-
ever as to the number, names, and more precise fate of the
American citizens who were on board of the said steamer at the
critical moment.

"However, in view of the fact that the Washington Cabinet
has now made a positive statement to the effect that citizens of
the United States of America came to grief in the incident in
question, the Jmperial and Royal Government is in principle
ready to enter into an exchange of views."

It must however "raise the question why" the United
States failed to give reasons for its demands in "reference to
the special circumstances of the incriminating events upon
which it lays stress, and why, in lieu thereof, it referred to an
exchange of correspondence which it has conducted with an-
other Government in other cases. The Imperial and Royal
Government is the less able to follow the Washington Cabinet
on this unusual path, since it by no means possesses authentic
knowledge of all the pertinent correspondence of the United
States nor is it of the opinion that such knowledge might be
sufficient for it in the present case, which, so far as it is in-
formed, is in essential points of another nature than the case
or cases to which the Government of the United States seems
to allude. The Imperial and Royal Government may, there-
fore, leave it to the Washington Cabinet to formulate the par-
ticular points of law against which the commanding officer of
the submarine is alleged to have offended on the occasion of
the sinking of the Ancona.

"The Government of the United States has also seen fit to
refer to the attitude which the Berlin Cabinet assumed in the
above mentioned correspondence. The Imperial and Royal
Government find in the much esteemed note no indication what-
ever of the intent with which this reference was made.;> If,
however, the United States "intended to express an opinion"
that a precedent was thereby created for the guidance of the
Imperial and Royal Government in its "judicial consideration
of the affair in question, this Government must, in order to

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 207

preclude possible misunderstandings, declare that as a matter
of course it reserves to itself full freedom of maintaining its
own legal views in the discussion of the case of the Ancona."

Secretary Lansing in his "esteemed note" demanded that
the Imperial and Royal Government denounce the sinking
of the Ancona as an illegal and indefensible act; that the
commander of the submarine be punished; and that an indem-
nity be paid for the citizens of the United States who were
killed or injured. Not one of them was answered.

Baron Burian, said the Neue Freie Presse, a Vienna
journal, "has answered the uncouth note of the United States
with careful reserve. The White House at Washington is not
yet the Supreme Court of the whole world and its diction is
not yet the verdict good for all time. The burden of proof
rests upon the accuser. We await the proofs."

In Berlin the note was hailed with delight. "Something,"
the Gazette was sure, "has happened, only we don't exactly know
what. At all events, in a very polite form the Austrian Foreign
Office gives a receipt for Washington's Very esteemed note.'
The contents of the answer can be briefly summarized as 'What's
all the noise about.' ' The Kreuz Zeitung was much pleased
at "the delicious way" in which Austria had imparted some
elementary lessons in diplomatic procedure and wondered if
the President and Secretary of State would "accept their de-
feat or sever diplomatic relations." The Neueste Nachrichten
of Munich, thought that the dignified and business like tone of
the answer offered a pleasant contrast "to the weakness of the
reasoning on which Washington based its demands. The
American Government in drafting its demands left itself un-
covered at many points, but the diplomatic armor of the Aus-
trian representative has not a weak spot."

The London press ridiculed the note as a careful evasion of
the demands of the United States, an insult to American intel-
ligence, "more or less veiled in diplomatic phraseology." "Aus-
tria's insolent reply to U. S. A." was a headline in one news-
paper. Another pointed out "the extraordinary insolence of the
Austrian reply," and was sure the note "could not have been
sent without Germany's approval for nobody seriously doubts

208 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

that in this campaign, as in all the rest of her policy, Austria
is the subservient tool of her ally."

From the Washington headquarters of Labor's National
Peace Council, whose activities were then under investigation
by a Grand Jury at New York, came an attack on the Adminis-
tration for its reported action in the Ancona case. The Council
was "sternly opposed to any action on the part of the Ad-
ministration which in secrecy leads or tends to lead this country
up to the very verge of war with any country, and insists that
no action should be taken by the State Department tending
to break off diplomatic relations with any nation without the
full knowledge and consent of Congress." That body, it said,
"alone has the power to declare war, and any action on the part
of the executive which involves the country in war or makes
war inevitable is not only an invasion of the rights of Con-
gress, but of the whole people of this country, and a direct viola-
tion of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States."

As soon as possible, on December 19, Mr. Lansing answered
the Austrian note. On November 15, he said, Baron Zwie-
dinek, the Austrian charge d' Affaires, transmitted a report of
the Austro-Hungarian Admiralty on the sinking of the Ancona.
In this report it was admitted that the Ancona was torpedoed
after her engines had stopped and while passengers were still
on board. This admission was sufficient to fix, on the com-
mander of the submarine, "the responsibility for having will-
fully violated the recognized laws of nations, and entirely dis-
regarded those humane principles which every belligerent should
observe in the conduct of war at sea. In view of these ad-
mitted circumstances the Government of the United States feels
justified in holding that the details of the sinking of the
Ancona, the weight and character of the additional testimony
corroborating the Admiralty's report, and the number of
Americans killed or injured are in no way essential matters of
discussion."

The rules of international law and the principles of hu-
manity "thus willfully violated," were so manifest, and "so long1
and so universally recognized," that the Government of the
United States "does not feel called upon to debate them," nor

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 209

did it understand that the Imperial and Royal Government dis-
puted them.

"The Government of the United States therefore finds no
other course open to it, but to hold the Imperial and Royal
Government responsible for the act of its naval commander
and to renew the definite but respectful demands made in its
communication of the sixth of December."

And now the Imperial and Royal Government in its turn
surrendered and in a note of December 29 agreed "with the
Washington Cabinet that even in war the sacred demands of
humanity must be complied with ;" agreed "that hostile private
ships, in so far as they do not flee or offer resistance, may not
be destroyed without the persons on board having been placed
in safety;" announced that "the officer has been punished in
accordance with the rules in force in this matter, for exceed-
ing his instructions," and promised such indemnity as the
American citizens concerned were entitled to receive.

Much the greater part of the note, which was very long,
was devoted to an elaborate and detailed account of the sink-
ing. From the facts thus related Baron Burian claimed that
"the information reaching the American Government that a
solid shot was immediately fired towards the steamer," was in-
correct; that she was not overhauled by pursuit; that shells
were not fired at her after she had stopped, and that an un-
usually long time, forty-five minutes, was given to enable the
passengers to take to the boats ; and that after she was torpedoed
another period of forty-five minutes elapsed before she quietly
sank.

Nevertheless, the Imperial and Royal naval authorities had
decided that the commander "had failed to take into due con-
sideration the panic of the passengers, and the spirit of the rule
of the Royal and jlmperial Navy that officers must never refuse
to help any one in distress, not even an enemy." The officer
therefore had been punished for exceeding his instructions.

Investigation into the cause of the sinking of the Ancona
"as a matter of course" could not determine "to what degree
American citizens are entitled to a claim for indemnity." Aus-
tria could not be held responsible for injuries due to the "justi-
fied firing on the fleeing ship," nor for those caused by the cap-

210 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

sizing of the boats after they reached the water. The Im-
perial and Royal Government assumed that the Washington
Cabinet was able and willing to supply information of the cir-
cumstances under which American citizens were injured.
Should these circumstances be unknown because of lack of
proper material evidence, the Imperial and Royal Government
as a manifestation of its "friendly sentiments" would "overlook
this gap" and extend the indemnity also to those injuries the
direct cause of which could not be ascertained.

The text of the note was made public in our country on New
Year's Day, 1916, and was read with great satisfaction.

The threatened break with Austria-Hungary, it was said,
has been averted by the full compliance of the dual monarchy
with the demands of the United States. Not only are the im-
portant points of the demand squarely met, but indemnity is
promised and assurance is given that no more ships will be sunk
unless they flee or offer resistance. This is more far reaching
and satisfactory than the assurance from Germany. She only
pledged herself not to sink "liners" until the passengers were
in the boats. We can now face the new year with renewed pride
in our Government because of this great diplomatic success com-
ing as a fitting climax to a year of real diplomatic achievements.

These high hopes were quickly dashed for, on January 2,
the newspapers announced that the Persia had been sunk in
the eastern Mediterranean by a submarine, that of 550 passen-
gers and crew but 158 survived, and that among those drowned
was the newly appointed American consul on his way to his
post at Aden, Arabia.

Coming so soon after positive assurance from the Austro-
Hungarian Government that private ships, if they did not re-
sist or flee, would not be torpedoed until persons on board had
been placed in safety, this new act of frightfulness seemed like
a deliberate breaking of the pledge, a wanton act of defiance.
In great alarm the Austrian charge. Baron Zwiedinek, made
haste to explain. Judgment, he said, should be withheld dur-
ing an investigation of the real facts surrounding the sinking
of the Persia. It may have happened in many ways. It is not
yet proved that a submarine sank her. If so, and the destroyer
was an Austrian submarine, he was quite sure his Government

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 211

would not hesitate to settle the matter satisfactorily. It might
be that circumstances warranted the action. From the White
House came the statement that the President was taking every
means in his power to obtain the facts, and would act just as
soon as full information was at hand.

Much information was secured: but nothing that bore on
the point in dispute. At Alexandria the American consul
took the affidavits of many of the survivors ; but not one of them
had seen a submarine, or a torpedo.

Without waiting for action by the German Government,
Count von Bernstorff, on January 7, 1916, brought to the De-
partment of State a memorandum explaining the German
method of conducting submarine warfare in the Mediterranean.
From the beginning of the war, it stated, German submarine
commanders in that sea had been ordered "to conduct cruiser
warfare against enemy merchant vessels only in accordance
with the general principles of international law." Measures
"of reprisal, as applied in the war zone around the British
Isles, were to be excluded." Merchant vessels in the Mediter-
ranean therefore could be destroyed by submarines only after
passengers and crews had "been accorded safety" provided the
vessels did not attempt to escape or offer resistance. Destruc-
tion of such ships was officially investigated and so far as
American interests are concerned the results would be sent to
the American Government. "Thus also in the Persia case, if
the circumstances should call for it." If submarine com-
manders did not obey orders they would be punished and rep-
aration made for the death or injury of American citizens.

When investigation was made the German Government sent
assurances that it had heard from all its submarine commanders
in the Mediterranean Sea, and that each reported that he had
not attacked the Persia, and the Austrian charge declared that
no Austrian submarine commander, so far as heard from, had
sunk the ship. In the absence of evidence from survivors, and
in the face of such statements from Vienna and Berlin, the loss
of an American life by the sinking of the Persia could not be
made the subject of complaint. Perhaps a Turkish submarine
had done the deed. Turkey was therefore asked concerning the

212 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

operations of her submarines and denied they had anything to
do with the destruction of the Persia.

On the tenth of January, 1916, the newspapers announced
that Count von Bernstorff and Secretary Lansing, who had been
working for some time past for a settlement of the Lusitania
question, had agreed on a tentative arrangement and sent it to
the Foreign Office at Berlin. Although the utmost secrecy
surrounded the negotiation the assertion was made that the
draft as submitted by Germany made no mention of the warn-
ing issued by the German Embassy, and contained no admis-
sion of wrong doing on the part of the submarine commander
who sank the Lusitania, and that for these reasons the proposal
was rejected by the President. A new draft was therefore pre-
sented later in January. This too was rejected because, it was
said, Germany had not consented to admit legal liability for the
destruction of the Lusitania. Germany was willing to pay in-
demnity as an act of grace, but not as a matter of law or right
as the United States insisted she should. Another draft was
therefore drawn up and finally referred to Berlin. As sum-
marized by those who claimed to know, the terms of the memo-
randum were that Germany was not called on to make a specific
disavowal of the sinking of the Lusitania; that the destruction
of the vessel was an act of reprisal recognized by international
law, in retaliation for the illegal starvation blockade of Ger-
many by Great Britain; that Germany recognized that while
the sinking of the liner was a lawful reprisal, the consequent
killing of innocent neutrals was an illegal and unlawful act;
that realizing that the killing of American citizens was illegal
Germany would pay indemnity; and that she had abandoned
this form of reprisal and in future would not sink without warn-
ing.

On February 2, it was reported from Washington that new
instructions had come from Berlin, that there was a reasonable
hope of coming to an understanding; that important concessions
had been made ; that all danger of a break in diplomatic rela-
tions was over, and that from the German point of view all that
the United States asked had been, in substance, granted. Re-
ports from Berlin set forth that Germany could not and would
Hot acknowledge the sinking of a liner by a submarine to be

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 213

illegal; that the new instructions to von Bernstorff contained
merely a new formula by which it was hoped to satisfy Wash-
ington in this respect without humiliating Germany; that the
word "illegal" was not in the formula, which in other respects
went as far as possible toward meeting the wishes of America.

Tinder-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Alfred Zimmer-
mann, in an interview, said he hoped the formula would afford
a possible base of settlement, for Germany had reached the limit
of her concessions and under no circumstances would she con-
cede that her campaign in the war zone was illegal. "The
Government is willing *to do everything in its power to meet
American wishes, but there are limits beyond which even
friendship snaps. I do not understand America's course. We
thought the submarine issue settled, and the Lusitania question
on the way to arrangement, had agreed to pay indemnity and all
that, when the United States suddenly made its new demands,
which it is impossible for us to accept."

His firm stand, made it was afterwards charged for home
consumption, was heartily approved in Germany. The feeling
was bitter against our country because of the shipment of muni-
tions of war, and because of what was held to be our double
standard of neutrality as shown by not pressing Great Britain
as hard as Germany.

To the charge of Dr. Zimmermann, Secretary Lansing re-
plied, "I doubt very much that Dr. Zimmermann made such
a statement as he must know it is utterly false." The United
States, the Secretary said, had not increased its demands over
those in the notes of May 13, June 9., and July 12. In the first
Lusitania note, that of May 13, 1915, are the words "disavow
the act, make reparation and take immediate steps to prevent
the recurrence of anything as obviously subversive of the prin-
ciples of warfare." The second note, that of June 9, 1915,
"very earnestly and very solemnly" renewed the demands of
the first. In that of July 21, our Government, taking the
ground that the Imperial Government by pleading "the right of
retaliation in defense of its acts" admitted their illegality,
"could not believe" that it would "longer refrain from dis-
avowing the wanton act of its naval commander in sinking the

214 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Lusitania." It was this demand for disavowal three times re-
peated that prevented settlement.

Rumors of a settlement now became current. The language
of the new memorandum was said to have been approved, and
the formula made broad enough to cover all that had been de-
manded in the Lusitania case, and only the most unexpected
event could reopen discussion; but the rumors were false, the
formula was not accepted and the issue still remains unsettled.

And now, Germany once more explained her position in the
U-boat controversy, and March 8, 1916, the Department of
State received an undated memorandum. The Imperial
Government, Count von Bernstorff said, because of the friendly
relations which had always existed between the two great na-
tions, and earnestly desiring to continue them, wished to ex-
plain the U-boat question once more to the American Govern-
ment. At the opening of the war, the German Government,
acting on the suggestion of the United States, expressed willing-
ness to ratify the Declaration of London. Great Britain on the
other hand declined, began to restrict the lawful trade of neu-
trals as a blow at Germany, extended the list of contraband ar-
ticles, and by an order of the Admiralty declared the whole
North Sea a war zone within which merchant ships would be
in serious danger from mines and men of war. Protests from
neutrals were of no avail, and thenceforth neutral trade with
Germany was dead. Under these conditions Germany was
forced to resort to reprisals and chose for that purpose a new
weapon, the submarine boat. As both belligerents claimed that
their acts were "in retaliation for the violation of international
law by their opponents, the American Government approached
both" in the hope of reestablishing international law as it had
been before the war. "Germany was asked to adapt her new
weapon to rules" which applied to the old naval weapons.
Great Britain was asked not to cut off "the food supplies in-
tended for the noncombatant German population and to admit
their distribution under American supervision." Germany ex-
pressed her willingness to comply; England declined. Never-
theless, Germany after "neutral citizens had lost their lives
against the wish and intention of the German Government,"

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 215

complied with the wishes of the American Government in the
use of submarines.

"Thus England made it impossible for submarines to con-
form with the old rules of international law by arming nearly
all merchantmen, and by ordering the use of guns on merchant
vessels for attack," and supplemented the order by "instruc-
tions to the masters of such ships to hoist false flags and to ram
the boats." Finally "the principle of the United States not to
keep their citizens off belligerent ships has been used by Great
Britain and her Allies to arm merchant ships for offensive pur-
poses."

"Now Germany is facing the following facts": A blockade
contrary to international law which has cut off neutral trade
from her ports ; an extension of contraband provisions in viola-
tion of international law, which for eighteen months has ham-
pered the overseas trade of neighboring neutral countries; and
the interception of mails in violation of ^international law.
"Following the principle of 'might before right/ England had
prevented neutral trade on land with Germany so as to com-
plete the blockade of the Central Powers intended to starve
their civil population," and by arming merchant vessels for
offensive purposes had made it impossible for Germany to use
U-boats "according to the principles set forth in the London
Declaration."

On March 23, the Allies, through their representatives in
Washington, replied to Mr. Lansing's request that they dis-
arm their merchantmen, and declared themselves unwilling to
give up their "acknowledged right to arm," or to "agree that,
upon a non-guaranteed German promise, human life may be
surrendered defenseless to the mercy of an enemy who, in cir-
cumstances of this kind as in many others, has shown himself
to be both faithless and lawless."

The very next day a German submarine gave a fine illus-
tration of the worthlessness of German pledges by torpedoing
without warning an unarmed passenger steamer while crossing
the Channel.

The torpedoed vessel was the French passenger steamer
Sussex, regularly employed in transporting travelers between
Folkestone and Dieppe. She left Folkestone about half past

216 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

one o'clock on the afternoon of March 24, 1916, with a crew of
53 men and 325 or more passengers, of whom some 25 were
American citizens. She carried no armament, had never been
used as a troop ship, and was following a route not taken by
vessels transporting troops from England to Prance. At ten
minutes before three o'clock, when the Sussex was some thir-
teen miles from Dungeness, the captain saw, one hundred and
fifty meters off the port side of his ship, the wake of a torpedo,
and gave orders to port the helm and stop the engines, hoping to
swing the Sussex to starboard and allow the torpedo to pass
along the port bow. Before she could be turned sufficiently to
prevent her crossing the path of the torpedo it struck her just
forward of the bridge, exploded and tore away the forward
part of the vessel as far back as the first water tight bulkhead,
killing or wounding some eighty persons. Such was the story
of the captain.

The story of two American survivors as given in an affidavit
sets forth that about five minutes after three, when the Sussex
was about an hour and a half out from Folkestone, there was a
loud explosion; that wreckage and tons of water were thrown
into the air ; that when the affiants went forward they saw that
the forward part of the vessel including the bridge and fore-
mast were gone, and that many persons had been killed and
others had been thrown or had jumped into the water. Six
life boats were lowered, but, finding the ship did not sink, they
were later recalled, and taken aboard. Near midnight a French
trawler took off the women and children and some men, and
carried them to Boulogne. A British torpedo boat removed the
remainder of the passengers and crew and carried them to
Dover. The Sussex was towed into the harbor of Boulogne. A
careful and thorough examination of the vessel both inside and
out, by naval and military officers of the United States, at-
tached to our Embassy at Paris, and the finding of fifteen frag-
ments of what seemed to be a torpedo, established the fact that
it was a torpedo and not a mine that almost destroyed the
Sussex. Indeed, when the fragments were compared with Ger-
man torpedoes in England, no doubt remained that they were
parts not merely of a torpedo, but of one "made in Germany."

More sinkings now followed in rapid succession. The Eng-

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 217

lishman, and the Manchester Engineer, with Americans aboard,
were reported sunk, and because the Government could do noth-
ing before facts had been obtained, Ambassador Gerard was
instructed to inquire of the German Government if the Sussex,
the Englishman and the Manchester Engineer had been de-
stroyed by submarines. Investigation by the German Admiralty
was begun but before any reply was made to the American re-
quest news came that the steamers Berwindvale and Eagle
Point with Americans on board had been torpedoed, and Ger-
many was asked if they were sunk by submarines. "Who on
earth in Germany cares," said a Hamburg newspaper, "whether
these ships were torpedoed by German submarines or not?
They belonged to and were used by the enemy and were de-
stroyed. That is all we care about at this moment."

In the Reichstag resolutions were adopted declaring that
"Germany's sea warfare should be carried out by all means
most instrumental in securing a successful issue of the war."
In the course of debate leaders of all parties called for unre-
stricted submarine warfare. A National Liberal said, "America
has interpreted the idea of neutrality in a manner incompatible
with the German conception. It is an unjustifiable demand
that armed merchantmen should be permitted to sail unhin-
dered within the war zone." A Conservative member asserted
that "the German people are firmly resolved to disregard the
unjustifiable demands of America." A leader of the Center
complained that the people, press and Government of the United
States had shown by their acts that they sympathized with Eng-
land and not with Germany.

Little surprise, therefore, was expressed when reports from
Berlin announced that Germany would enter a flat denial that
a submarine had sunk the Sussex, and that in a day or two Am-
bassador Gerard would be handed the note. The report proved
to be true and on April 13, 1916, the note was made public.

On March 16, said the note, a steamer "which possibly was
the Berwindvale" was met, in sight of Bull Rock on the Irish
Coast, by a submarine running unsubmerged, attempted to es-
cape, was warned by a shot, put out all lights and continued to
flee, was fired on, forced to halt and then lowered her boats,
After the crew had entered them and rowed away she was sunk.

218 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Her name was unknown but as she "was a tank steamer like
the Berwindvale the identity of the ship may be assumed."

The steamer Englishman off the west coast of "Islay Heb-
rides" was summoned to stop, on March 24, but went on, was
fired on and "after an extended chase" made to halt. When the
crew had taken to the boats she also was sunk. That the Man-
chester Engineer was destroyed by a submarine was doubtful.
More information therefore was asked. The account of the
sinking of the Eagle Point, as told in the German note, was
much the same. She had been warned, chased, fired on, made
to halt and when the crew were in the boats, was sunk.

As to the Sussex, the facts, gathered with much difficulty,
were, that on March 24, aa long black craft without a flag, hav-
ing a gray funnel, small gray forward works and two high masts,
was encountered about the middle of the English Channel, by
a German submarine." The "plain unbroken deck," the form
of the stern, "sloping downwards and backwards like a war ves-
sel;" the "high speed developed" and her color, "like a war ves-
sel," led the commander of the submarine to believe she was
a war vessel, and "indeed a mine layer." Therefore she was
attacked while the submarine was submerged. "The torpedo
struck and caused such a violent explosion in the forward part
of the ship that the entire forward part was torn away to the
bridge." The violence of the explosion justified the belief that
"great amounts of munitions were aboard."

The German commander made a sketch of the vessel, "two
drawings of which" were enclosed as were two pictures of the
Sussex, "reproduced photographically from the English paper,
the Daily Graphic, of the 27th ultimo."

A comparison of the picture and the sketch showed, the note
said, such differences in the positions of the stacks and shape
of the sterns, that the craft attacked could not be the Sussex.
As no other attack by submarines occurred at the time she was
on the Folkestone — Dieppe route "the German Government
must therefore assume that the injury to the Sussex is attribu-
table to another cause than an attack by a German submarine."
Such a cause might be a mine, for "no less than 26 English
mines were exploded by shots by German naval forces on April

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 219

1 and 2, alone. The entire sea is, in fact, endangered by float-
ing mines and by torpedoes, that have not sunk."

Should any difference of opinion arise "between the two
Governments, the German Government now declares itself
ready to have the facts of the case established through mixed
commissions of investigation in accordance with the third title
of The Hague Agreement for the Peaceful Settlement of Inter-
national Conflicts, November 18, 1907."

April 18, the newspapers asserted that the President would
address Congress on the submarine issue on the nineteenth ; that
it was expected "he would not mince words" ; but, after re-
citing the long list of offenses committed against us by Ger-
many, would declare her guilty of bad faith, no more worthy
to be considered a friend, and would announce that diplomatic
relations with her were ended.

When the people opened their newspapers on the morning
of the nineteenth they found the note to Germany printed in
full, and learned that it would be in Berlin before the President
met Congress.

Information in the possession of the Government, the Presi-
dent said, fully established the facts in the case of the Sussex.
"A careful, detailed and scrupulously impartial investigation
by naval and military officers of the United States has con-
clusively established the fact that the Sussex was torpedoed
without warning or summons to surrender, and that the tor-
pedo by which she was struck was of German manufacture."

If the sinking of the Sussex were an isolated case the
Government of the United States might hope that the officer
responsible for the deed "had willfully violated his orders or
had been criminally negligent in taking none of the precau-
tions" required. On the contrary, the Government of the United
States was forced to conclude "that it is only one instance" of
"the deliberate method and spirit of indiscriminate destruc-
tion of merchant vessels of all sorts, nationalities and destina-
tions which have become more and more unmistakable as the
activity of German undersea vessels of war has in recent months
been quickened and extended."

The President then reviewed the German war zone order of
February, 1915, the earnest protest of the United States, the

220 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

grounds on which the protest rested, and continued, "In pur-
suance of this policy of submarine warfare against the com-
merce of its adversaries/7 German submarine commanders had
carried on "practices of ruthless destruction" which the Ger-
man Government could not restrain "as it had hoped and prom-
ised" to do. "Again and again the Imperial Government has
given its solemn assurances to the Government of the United
States that at least passenger ships would not be thus dealt with,
and yet it has repeatedly permitted its undersea commanders
to disregard those assurances with entire impunity." Vessels
owned by neutrals, bound from neutral port to neutral port, had
been destroyed "in constantly increasing numbers." Some had
been warned before they were attacked ; sometimes their pas-
sengers and crews "had been vouchsafed the poor security of
being allowed to take to the ship's boats." But again and again
no warning had been given and "great liners like the Lusitania
and Arabic and mere passenger boats like the Sussex have been
attacked without a moment's warning" and "in a manner which
the Government of the United States cannot but regard as
wanton and without the slightest color of justification."

The "roll of Americans who have lost their lives upon
ships thus attacked and destroyed has grown month by month
until the ominous toll has mounted into the hundreds."

The Government through all this repetition of tragedy af-
ter tragedy had been most patient. It had striven to be guided
by "sentiments of genuine friendship for the people and Govern-
ment of Germany." It had accepted every explanation and as-
surance as "given in entire sincerity and good faith." It had
"hoped even against hope" that the German Government would
be able "so to order and control the acts of its naval com-
manders as to square its policy with the recognized principles of
humanity as embodied in the law of nations." It had "made
every allowance for unprecedented conditions." ft had "been
willing to wait until the facts became unmistakable and were
susceptible of only one interpretation."

"It now owes it to a just regard for its own rights to say to
the Imperial Government that that time has come." If there-
fore it was still the purpose of the Imperial Government, to
prosecute relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING

of commerce by the use of submarines, there was but one course
for the Government of the United States to pursue.

"Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately
declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of
submarine warfare against passenger and freight-carrying ves-
sels, the Government of the United States can have no other
choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Em-
pire altogether."

An appendix to the note gave the evidence, affidavits of sur-
vivors, reports from the Captain of the Sussex and the Ameri-
can officers who examined her wreck, statements from the Brit-
ish Admiralty and the French Foreign Office and descriptions
of the fifteen pieces of metal, all of which went to prove that
the Sussex was struck by a German torpedo.

The speech to Congress was a review of our relations with
Germany, but what the President said added little to the con-
tents of the note. Indeed, whole passages were quoted from it
word for word.

By those who heard the address it was received with ap-
proval and disapproval. Some thought the issue was a matter
for the President and not for Congress to settle; that the ad-
dress pointed to a very grave situation ; that the President could
not have done less under the circumstances ; that it was a mere
statement of facts and might as well have been given to the
newspapers so far as Congressional action was concerned; that
coming after the note had been sent, the address was wholly un-
necessary; that the situation was serious, but that breaking
diplomatic relations did not necessarily mean war unless an-
other case like the Sussex occurred; that the time to have
threatened the breaking of diplomatic relations was when Bel-
gium was invaded, or the Lusitania sunk; that "the President
has never been neutral. He has been on the English side all
the time. What he said about Germany, while it is grossly ex-
aggerated, is a just complaint. But he could say just as much
about England, by substituting 'seizing ships' for 'sinking
ships'," that "the President has issued his ultimatum and now
asks Congress to sustain him. He has told Germany that she
must abandon submarine warfare, a modern institution that no
nation would for a single moment think of abandoning. I

222 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

know it is popular to say, 'stand by the President.7 I propose
to stand by that President when he is right, but in this instance
a nation fighting for her national life is not going to be harassed
or hounded by ancient, antiquated, antediluvian international
laws that have been resurrected at Germany's expense."

The German language press was outspoken against the
President. The New York Staats-Z eitung held it to be "un-
thinkable that the German Government should recognize" the
President as the spokesman of all neutral nations, "and grant
the peremptory demands of the President as long as the cause
for the inauguration of this submarine warfare, the illegal
British blockade," remained in force, "and as long as British in-
humanity against the civilian noncombatant population of Ger-
many is continued." "The President has brought about a dip-
lomatic situation which must involve the United States in a
war with Germany unless Congress intercedes in proper time."

The Illinois Staats-Z eitung was "not aware that Mr. Wil-
son ever received a mandate to represent humanity, and if he
did he ought to return his retainer, for he never represents hu-
manity, but the interests of ammunition makers." The Cin-
cinnati Freie Presse declared that "Wall Street wants war, and
Morgan wants it, but the majority of the American people
want no war, especially no war with a nation that has been our
friend for a hundred years."

The American press the country over approved the address
and the stand the President had taken. The patience of the
country, it was said, had been strained far beyond the point
where the forbearance of other nations would have ceased.
Only an accumulation of grievances, only a repeated violation
of pledges, made to us by the German Government, has at last
brought the President to the breaking point. |It is now for
Germany to decide whether or not her barbarous conduct is to
continue. The President does not seek war. There can be no
war unless Germany commits an overt act of war. If that is
what Berlin is bent upon nothing the United States can do
will prevent it, save shame and submission, a price no great
nation would ever pay. Whatever disposition fate may make of
the present emergency, the people will support the President
with every resource they command.

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 223

Germ an- Americans, however, were active in their opposi-
tion, and members of Congress from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, having German constituencies, received
hundreds of telegrams protesting against a break with Germany.

The London press expressed the opinion that there was now
no retreat for either party, and that Germany must either
yield or fight. That she would yield was not expected. Amer-
ica had now practically taken her place beside the civilized na-
tions of the earth. In Paris the press took the same view.
"France," said one, "awaits calmly the eventual rupture.
Ajnerica could not give us greater sympathy than she has al-
ready shown, but we will feel moral joy to see that noble na-
tion break all relations with a nation of pirates 'which precipi-
tated the present world tragedy."

The Berlin press, as reports from Geneva announced, was
angry. Germany, the Tages Zeitung declared, would never
yield to America because of Wilson's bluff. "The attitude of
the American press is in comical contrast to the really effective
power of that country. When the sword of Damocles remains
too long suspended we can see it is only a wooden one." The
Berlin Post had "heard enough of silly reproaches leveled at us
by America's seagoing citizens. If Washington gentlemen be-
lieve we have nothing more important to do than to investigate
whether any cattle driver had a lock of his precious hair ruf-
fled while crossing to Europe, then the people in the White
House are terribly mistaken. Why do Americans choose ships
in which they can be hurt? Does the American Government
deny that there are rascals among America's sons? If such
rascals are paid with British gold to make dangerous ocean
trips, why should Wilson make us responsible for their lives ?"

"We did not sink the Sussex" said Admiral von Holtzen-
dorff, of the German Admiralty, in an interview with the
agents of the United Press. "I am as confident of that as of
anything which has happened in this war. Many of our sub-
marines have returned from rounding up British vessels. They
sighted scores of passenger ships going between England and
America, but not one of these was touched." "We have defi-
nitely agreed to warn the crews and passengers of passenger
liners. We have lived up to that promise in every way, but we

224 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

cannot be asked to regard freight ships in the same manner."
"If diplomatic relations with America are broken our sub-
marines can attack an enemy ship without warning. But we
have no desire for a break with the United States. That would
be insanity. We shall not bring it about despite our desire to
push vigorously our submarine warfare.77 l

The reply from von Jagow was dated May 4. The German
Government, it said, had turned over to the proper naval au-
thorities the evidence submitted by the Government of the
United States concerning the Sussex, and by the results of the
investigation was led to believe it possible that the ship men-
tioned in the note of April 10, as having been torpedoed, was
the Sussex. But the German Government must reserve "fur-
ther communication until it had settled certain points77 of de-
cisive importance for establishing the facts in the case. Should
it turn out that the commander was wrong in assuming* the ves-
sel to be a man-of-war the German Government will not fail
to draw the consequence resulting therefrom.

The Government of the United States, von Jagow went on
to say, had made athe assertion that the incident is to be con-
sidered but one instance of a deliberate method of indiscriminate
destruction of vessels of all sorts, nationalities and destina-
tions, by German submarine commanders. The German Gov-
ernment must emphatically repudiate the assertion.77

But the German Government would not discuss the matter
"more particularly as the Government of the United States
omitted to substantiate the assertion by reference to concrete
facts.77 It would only state that "far reaching restraints upon
the use of the submarine weapon77 had been imposed solely "in
consideration of neutral77 interest in spite of the fact that these
restrictions are necessarily of disadvantage to Germany7s inter-
ests. N"o such consideration for neutrals had ever been shown
by Great Britain or her allies.

"The German submarine forces had, in fact, orders to con-
duct submarine warfare in accordance with the general princi-
ples of visit and search and destruction of merchant vessels as
recognized by international law, the sole exception being the

1 Dispatch of C. W. Ackerman, correspondent of United Press, Phila-
delphia Ledger, April 22, 1916.

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 225

conduct of warfare against the enemy trade carried on enemy
freight ships that are encountered in the. war zone surrounding
Great Britain. With regard to these no assurance has ever
been given to the Government of the United States. . . .

"The German Government attaches no less importance to
the sacred principles of humanity than the Government of the
United States," and fully takes into account that hoth Govern-
ments had for years sought to confine warfare on sea and on
land to the .armed forces of the belligerents and to safeguard,
as far as possible, noncombatants against the horrors of war.

"But, although those considerations are of great weight,
they alone would not, under the present circumstances, have
determined the attitude of the German Government." For
it was not Germany but the British Government that "has ex-
tended this terrible war to the lives and property of non-
combatants." . . . "In self-defense against the illegal conduct
of British warfare, while fighting a bitter struggle for her
national existence, Germany had to resort to the hard but
effective weapon of submarine warfare. As matters stand, the
German Government cannot but reiterate its regret that the
sentiments of humanity which the Government of the United
States extends with such fervor to the unhappy victims of
submarine warfare are not extended with the same warmth
of feeling to the many millions of women and children who,
according to the avowed intentions of the British Government,
shall be starved and who, by their sufferings, shall force the
victorious armies of the Central Powers into ignominious ca-
pitulation. The German Government, in agreement with the
German people, fails to understand this discrimination." . . .
"The German people know that the Government of the United
States has the power to confine this war to the armed forces
of the belligerent countries in the interest of humanity and
the maintenance of international law," by insisting "against
Great Britain on its incontestable rights to the freedom of the
seas. But, as matters stand, the German people is under the
impression that the Government of the United States, while
demanding that Germany, struggling for her existence, shall
-restrain the use of an effective weapon, and while making the
compliance with these demands a condition for the maintenance

226 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of relations with Germany, confines itself to protests against
the illegal methods adopted by Germany's enemies. More-
over, the German people know to what a considerable extent
its enemies are supplied with all kinds of war material from
the United States."

But the German Government had no desire that the sub-
marine question under discussion should "take a turn seri-
ously, threatening the maintenance of peace between the two
nations. As far as it lies with the German Government it
wishes to prevent things taking such a course." Therefore,
guided by this idea, it "notifies the Government of the United
States that German naval forces have received the following
orders: In accordance with the general principles of visit and
search and destruction of merchant vessels recognized by inter-
national law, such vessels, both within and without the area
declared as naval war zone, shall not be sunk without warning
and without saving human lives, unless those ships attempt to
escape or offer resistance.

"But neutrals cannot expect that Germany, forced to fight
for her existence, shall for the sake of neutral interests, restrict
the use of an effective weapon if her enemy is permitted to
continue to apply at will methods of warfare violating the rules
of international law." Therefore, "in consequence of the new
orders," the German Government did "not doubt that the Gov-
ernment of the United States will now demand and insist that
the British Government shall forthwith observe the rules of
international law" as laid down in the American notes to Great
Britain on December 28, 1914, and November 5, 1915.
"Should the steps be taken by the Government of the United
States not attain the object it desires to have the laws of human-
ity followed by all belligerent nations, the German Govern-
N ment would then be facing a new situation, in which it must
reserve itself complete liberty of decision."

As understood by the people, the note seemed to mean
that Germany was desirous to avoid a break with the United
States; that the Imperial Government sought to convey the
impression that its new instructions to submarine commanders
was a full compliance with the demands of the United States,
and that they were made in good faith. But there was good

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 227

reason to believe, in view of the record of the past, that the
spirit and perhaps the letter of the instructions would not be
carried out very long. On the other hand, there were expres-
sions and passages in the note that were offensive. "Must
emphatically repudiate" the assertion that the destruction of
the Sussex was but an instance of a deliberate destruction of
vessels was too strong. The "regret" that the sentiments of
humanity expressed for victims of submarine warfare were
not extended to the many millions, women and children, Great
Britain sought to starve was a little too ironical.

By the press the note was generally condemned. The new
pledge had a "string tied to it" and would not be kept unless
we forced Great Britain to lift her blockade. British viola-
tions affected only property, and could be atoned for with
money. Those of Germany affected human life and could not
be atoned for with money. Manifestly the tone of the note was
intended for Berlin ; the substance for Washington. All -told,
it had the appearance of being as little conciliatory as words
could make it. "The German Government makes damnable
faces all through its note, but the central thing required by
President Wilson it yields." Knowing the difficulties which
beset the German Government, we could therefore well afford
to overlook what under other circumstances would be impu-
dence. The concession was conditional, but it would bring
the conduct of submarine warfare into accord with our de-
mands. Expressions of opinion by forty-five daily newspapers
of importance, the Philadelphia Ledger declared, showed, while
eighteen approved and twelve were noncommittal, fifteen were
outspoken in their disapproval.2 Extracts from ten Ger-
man language newspapers 3 showed that, in their opinion, Ger-
many had gone more than halfway in an effort to meet Ameri-
can demands. The Toledo German Express considered the note
"not an ultimatum, but on the contrary a sincere and renewed
effort not to have the peaceful relations of the last hundred
years" severed. The Louisville Anzeiger called the note a
clear, frank, fearless exposition "in which, while the German
Government virtually accedes to American demands," it "at the

•Philadelphia Ledger, May 6, 1916.
» Ibid.

228 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

same time turns the issue neatly and leaves the final decision
with the United States."

The special concession thus wrung from Germany after
months of constant protest and negotiation was small, indeed.
Enemy freight ships found in the war zone were not to be
stopped, visited, searched and destroyed according to the prin-
ciples of international law; other merchant ships, if they did
not resist or attempt to escape, were to have the benefit of the
principles of visit, search and destruction as prescribed by
international law; but neutrals would not be granted even this
concession if Great Britain were permitted "to continue to
apply at will methods of warfare violating the principles of
international law." Yet it was of real importance to force
Germany to pledge herself to conduct her submarine warfare
ain accordance with the general principles of visit and search
and destruction of merchant vessels," for it was an admission
that hitherto she had not done so. But was this pledge worth
anything with the condition attached? The President and
his Cabinet thought not, and on May 8, 1916, Secretary
Lansing replied with a note, made public on May 9, in which
"the Imperial Government's declaration of its abandonment of
the policy which has so seriously menaced the good relations
between the two countries," was accepted and the condition
expressly rejected.

"The Government of the United States feels it necessary
to state that it takes it for granted that the Imperial German
Government does not intend to imply that the maintenance of
its newly announced policy is in any way contingent upon
the course or result of diplomatic negotiations between the Gov-
ernment of the United States and any other belligerent Govern-
ment, notwithstanding the fact that certain passages in the
Imperial Government's note of the fourth instant 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 in the slightest degree be made con-

SINKING WITHOUT WARNING 229

tingent upon the conduct of any other Government affecting
the rights of neutrals and noncombatants. Responsibility in
such matters is single, not joint; absolute, not relative."

Meantime on May 8, 1916, the German Government fin-
ished its investigation and in a note to Mr. Gerard acknowl-
edged that a German submarine damaged the Sussex. "On the
basis of the American material," said von Jagow, "the German
Government cannot withhold its conviction that the ship tor-
pedoed by the German submarine is in fact identical with the
Sussex, for in accordance with this material the place, the time,
and the effect of the explosion by which the Sussex was dam-
aged agree in the essential details with the statements of the
German commander, so that there can no longer be any ques-
tion of the possibility of two independent occurrences." Un-
doubtedly the German submarine commander thought he "was
facing an enemy warship."

But he formed his judgment too hurriedly in establishing
her character and did not, therefore, act fully in accordance
with the strict instruction which called on him to exercise
particular care.

"In view of these circumstances the German Government
frankly admits that the assurances given to the American Gov-
ernment" that "passenger vessels were not to be attacked with-
out warning has not been adhered to in the present instance."
Therefore, the German Government expressed "its sincere
regret regarding the deplorable incident and declares its readi-
ness to pay an indemnity." The note closed with the expres-
sion of a "hope that the American Government will consider
the case of the Sussex as settled by these statements."

CHAPTEK IX

,

PEEPAEEDNESS AND PACIFISTS

WHILE the Department of State was busy with the case of
the Ancona, Congress assembled and listened to the annual
speech of the President. He had much to say concerning our
policy towards Mexico; fuller justice for the Philippines and
Porto Rico; a great merchant marine; more revenue that we
might "pay as we go"; a commission to canvass the question
of proper regulation of railroads; and the mobilization of the
resources of the country, and asked for laws for the punishment
of citizens who, "born under other flags, but welcomed under
our generous naturalization laws to the full freedom and oppor-
tunity of America/' had "poured the poison of disloyalty into
the very arteries of our national life," and sought "to destroy
our industries wherever they thought it effective for their vin-
dictive purposes to strike at them and to debase our politics
to the uses of foreign intrigue."

But the portion of his speech which aroused the widest
interest was that in which he asked for preparedness for
national defense.

No one who understood the spirit of our people, he said,
could fail to perceive "that their passion is for peace." Great
democracies are not belligerent. They do not seek or desire
war. We regard war merely as a means of asserting the rights
of a people against aggression. We will not maintain a stand-
ing army except for uses as necessary in times of peace as
in times of war. But we do believe in a body of free citizens
ready and sufficient to take care of themselves and of the Gov-
ernment they have set up to serve them. But war has never been
a mere matter of men and guns. If our citizens are to fight
effectively they must know how modern fighting is done and
what to do when the summons comes, and the Government

230

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 231

must give them the training they need in order to care for
themselves and it.

With these ideas in mind plans had heen prepared hy the
Department of War "for more adequate national defense/'
which Congress was urged "to sanction and put into effect as
soon as they can be properly scrutinized and discussed."

The President would have the standing force of the regular
army increased from 108,013 officers and men to 141,843, rank
and file, and supplemented by "a force of 400,000 disciplined
citizens raised in increments of 133,000 a year throughout a
period of three years.'7 The men should be volunteers and bind
themselves to serve with the colors for two months during
each of the three years for purpose of training. Their three
periods of training over, they would be required to serve three
years more on furlough and be ready to join the colors at call
at any time. "At least so much by way of preparation for
defense seems to me to be absolutely imperative now. We can-
not do less," said the President.

Turning to preparedness in the navy, the President con-
tinued, we have always looked to it "as our first line of defense,
we have always seen it to be our manifest course of prudence
to be strong on the sea." His plan, therefore, called for the
building within five years of ten battleships, six battle cruisers,
ten scout cruisers, fifty destroyers, fifteen fleet submarines,
eighty-five coast submarines, four gunboats, one hospital, two
ammunition, two fuel oil ships, and one repair ship. There
should be 7,500 sailors, 2,500 apprentice seamen and 1,500
marines added to the personnel of the navy and at least 300
midshipmen to the Academy at Annapolis. Authority should
be given to appoint for engineering duty only graduates of
engineering colleges, and for service in the aviation corps a
certain number of men taken from civil life.

As the two Houses settled down to the routine business of
the session the effect of the President's appeal for national
preparedness for defense and his attack on disloyal citizens
born under other flags than ours became quickly apparent.
Senator Kenyon offered a resolution that, whereas it was appar-
ent from the President's speech that he desired revenue to be
raised for an elaborate system of national defense, and the gen-

232 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

era! welfare of the United States had been imperiled by the
manufacture and shipment of munitions of war in large quan-
tities to foreign nations, and the policy of preparedness advo-
cated by the President had been made necessary, if at all, by
the irritation caused to other nations by the shipment of arms
and munitions of war; and whereas a few manufacturers of
arms and munitions had made enormous profits thereby, and
the country none at all ; and whereas prosperity based on profits
from the making of instrumentalities to kill people could not be
a lasting prosperity, justice required that those making huge
profits should pay the expenses made necessary by their gains ;
therefore, taxation should be laid on arms and munitions of
war to such an extent as to produce sufficient revenue to pay
for preparedness.

Senator Gore introduced two bills. One prohibited belliger-
ent vessels from transporting American citizens as passengers
to or from ports in the United States; and American and
neutral vessels from carrying American citizens and contra-
band of war at one and the same time. The other forbade
the issuance of passports for use on vessels of a belligerent
country. Under existing laws, both national and international,
the Senator said, every American citizen has the legal right
to travel on any passenger vessel that sails the seas. He has
the legal, not the moral right, to run the risk of involving this
nation in war and causing the sacrifice of millions of lives and
billions of treasure. So long as the legal right exists it must
be defended, at whatever cost, for our Government cannot
suffer the rights of its citizens to be invaded with impunity.
He believed this right should be suspended. Great Britain
during the Russo-Japanese War had warned her subjects to
keep off belligerent ships. Here was a precedent; but we had
one of our own making, for the President had ordered Ameri-
can citizens to abandon their homes and business and leave
Mexico.

Senator Lodge now applied to the Legislative Reference
Division of the Library of Congress for information as to
when the British Government warned its subjects not to travel
on belligerent ships. The reply was that the statement orig-
inated in a letter from a C. L. Schlens, published in the New

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 233

York Sun, July 30, 1915. The British consulate at Shanghai,
China, during the Russo-Japanese War, the writer said, issued
this notice: "All subjects of the Crown are notified that the
British Government will not undertake to be responsible for
the safety of any British subject leaving this port on a ship
of either of the belligerent nations." August 7, 1915, this
notice under the heading, "An English Precedent for Wilson,"
was copied and commented on by the Gaelic American; found
its way, accredited to the Gaelic American, into a book pub-
lished in Richmond and entitled, "Documents on the War of
Nations, by C. L. Droste"; appeared in The Fatherland of
February 16, 1916, under the heading "The Warning," and
finally in the Outlook. The British Embassy was now applied
to for information, inquired of the Foreign Office, and
answered that the statement was untrue. The Foreign Office
had never heard that any consular office had ever issued such
a notice. If so, it acted contrary to instructions never to give
advice to merchants or other persons. No such name as C. L.
Schlens appeared in the New York City Directory for 1915.1

On another day Mr. Gardner in the House declared there
were three groups of persons who opposed preparedness,
pacifists, cotton kings, who sought to cut off ammunition from
Great Britain because she cut off their cotton from Germany,
and German- Americans who said : "American helps the Allies,
so, by hook or by crook, by laws or by strikes, by torpedoes or
by mines, by gold or by dynamite, we will do everything we
can to prevent the ammunition reaching the Allies." To this
Mr. Longworth of Ohio indignantly replied and said that in
purity of motives, in lawfulness of acts, the German- Americans
were the peers of any body of American citizens, and the House
applauded.

From the legislature of Georgia now came a joint resolu-
tion approving, and pledging it to support, the principles for
practical and adequate preparedness urged by the President
in his Manhattan Club speech. Any plan of preparedness
ought to include economic development of the country.
Georgia, therefore, called attention to the importance of her
great water power, and objected to the concentration of muni-
Congressional Record, 64th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 3514-3516.

234 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

tion plants along the coast from Connecticut to Virginia.
Senator Owen offered a resolution authorizing the President
to invite the nation's of the world to send delegates to meet
in Washington, in May, 1916, in conference to make more
certain, and properly declare, the rules of international law
and propose the means of enforcing them. Each nation should
have one vote for each 5,000,000 of its inhabitants, Tmt none
should have more than twenty.

From all parts of the country, from all sorts of societies,
associations, organizations, leagues, from Farmers' Unions,
Chambers of Commerce, religious bodies, from Workers'
Unions, and from the legislatures of Rhode Island and Vir-
ginia which sent instructions to their Senators, came petitions
for and against an embargo on the export of arms and muni-
tions. One, from The Organization of American Women for
Strict Neutrality, with headquarters at Baltimore, presented
by Senator Kenyon on January 27, 1916, was, he told the
Senate, fifteen and a half miles long and bore the signatures
of a million men and women, inhabitants of every State in the
Union. It was brought from Baltimore in a huge moving
van, was composed of a thousand rolls, each tied with red,
white and blue ribbon, and was carried into the Senate Cham-
ber in twenty clothes baskets. The signers declared they pro-
tested, for humane reasons, against the exportation from our
country of athe things that kill," for the use of nations engaged
in the present conflict. To sell arms and munitions to the
belligerents might be legally right, but was morally wrong;
while an embargo on the exportation of arms was both legally
and morally right, and was supported by precedent. Presi-
dent Taft had forbidden the export of arms to Mexico in 1912,
President Wilson had followed his example in 1913, and Great
Britain and Germany had not allowed munitions to be exported
during our war with Spain.

Of all the workers for an embargo on the exportation of
arms and munitions, the most active, persistent and effective
was the German organization known as the American Embargo
Conference at Chicago. How it worked was made known to
the Senate one day in April, 1916, by Senator Husting, of
Wisconsin. "I have here," he said, "some letters and tele-

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 235

grains sent to me which I think might be of interest to the
Senate, and to the people. I want first to offer about one thou-
sand letters which I received some time in February, and ask
to have the Secretary read one of them. They are all iden-
tical." The letter, signed by a German, was from Montello, Wis-
consin, under date of February 9, 1916. "I am addressing this
appeal to you, as my representative in the upper house of Con-
gress, to support the resolution placing an embargo upon the
further shipment of arms and ammunition to the belligerent
nations of Europe. ... I would point out to you that the
large majority of the Wisconsin Congressional delegation is in
favor of the embargo resolution, . . . and I feel that these
men are convinced that their constituents want an embargo,
and with this the situation in our State I respectfully request
that you will give the embargo your support."

To show the source of the thousand similar letters the
Senator then had, read a letter not addressed to him but for-
warded by one who had received it. It was a circular letter
sent out by the American Embargo Conference from Chicago,
dated February 9, 1916, and asked if the receiver would not
"join with us in the effort being made to induce United States
Senator Paul O. Husting, of your State, to join with practi-
cally all the other members of the Wisconsin Congressional
delegation in the work of bringing about such an embargo.

"Believing that you feel with hundreds of thousands of our
members that the United States should at least have no hand
in the war, and should not be reaping a harvest of blood-
stained money, and that you stand for a real and genuine neu-
trality for this nation, we are sending you with this letter some
letters addressed to Senator Husting.

"They are ready to be dated and signed and should then be
placed in separate envelopes and mailed as personal letters."

No attention was paid to them at that time; but in April
the State Department was exchanging notes with Germany on
the Sussex incident, the country was aroused, and there came
to Senator Husting a flood of telegrams, from New York, Mary-
land, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and places in Wisconsin hun-
dreds of miles apart, all dated April 24, 1916, and drafted
according to one or another of seven forms. One form read:

236 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

"Your constituents urge and expect you to stand like a rock
against the passing frenzy of insane and cruel folly on the
part of the small portion of interested persons who are clamor-
ing for war. We want peace. Nothing warrants any other
action."

Another form read: "Will you let me assure you that the
great majority of your constituents stand for peace, believe
war now unnecessary and uncalled for, and will resent being
participated into the European conflict." Scores upon scores
in this form coming from places far apart contained the word
"participated," showing they had a common origin. A letter
and inclosure from a constituent to Senator Husting proved
they all originated with the American Embargo Conference.

The letter from the Conference read:

"Feeling confident that as one of the patriotic citizons of the
United States you are anxious to see this country held out of the
present terrible war in Europe, we are making this extraordinary
appeal to you because we know from the most positive information
that is possible to be obtained at this time that the situation war-
rants it.

"We cannot find words strong enough to tell you of the gravity
of the situation, and we assure you in the most earnest manner pos-
sible that the only way in which this country can keep from becoming
involved is an immediate and great expression of the real sentiment
of the people of the country who want peace.

"We also most solemnly assure you that it is too late to mail an
expression of this sentiment to Washington. It must be telegraphed.
We have prepared night letters to be signed by the voters. At the
top of this sheet we ask that you hold these sheets until we give you
notice to telegraph them. Now we ask that you have the night let-
ters signed as rapidly as possible and that you send them from the
telegraph office without a moment's delay. . . . Then send the bills
to us and a check will be mailed you immediately." a

Inclosed in this letter was a sheet on which were seven
forms of night letters, from which had been selected the forms
of the "two or three hundred thousand" telegrams received
by the Senator. Other Senators had been favored in the same
Way. A Senator from Kansas had that morning received 35
On form one; 27 on form two; 15 on form three; 9 on form

* Congressional Record, 64th Congress, 1st Session, p. 6891.

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 237

four; 30 on form five, and 20 on form six, all from Kansas
City. Another Senator had received 4,000.

Well aware that his plan would be bitterly opposed in Con-
gress, in his own party and by a large part of the people, espe-
cially in the Middle West, the President in January, 1916, set
forth on a speaking tour that he might in this way explain the
need of national preparedness and appeal for support directly
to his fellow countrymen. The first speeches were made at
New York City on January 27, one before the Clerical Con-
ference of the New York Federation of Churches, another be-
fore the Motion Picture Board of Trade, and the third before
the Railway Business Men's Association.

January 28, the President set off on his tour of the Middle
West, spoke at Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and on the thirty-
first reached Milwaukee. There he was in the hotbed of
Socialism, in a city whose population was largely German-
American and strongly pro-German. To them he said:

tcl know that you are depending upon me to keep this nation out
of war. So far I have done so, and I pledge you my word that, God
helping me, I will — if it is possible.

"You- have laid another duty upon me. You have bidden me see
that nothing stains or impairs the honor of the United States. And
that is a matter not within my control. That depends upon what
others do, not upon what the Government of the United States does,
and therefore there may be at any moment a time when I cannot both
preserve the honor and the peace of the United States. Do not exact
of me an impossible and contradictory thing, but stand ready, and
insist that everybody who represents you should stand ready, to pro-
vide the means for maintaining the honor of the United States."

From Milwaukee the President passed to Chicago and
Des Moines, where he said to the crowd that gathered to hear
him: "America cannot be an ostrich with its head in the sand.
America cannot shut itself out from the rest of the world,
because all the dangers at this present moment, and they are
many, come from her contact with the rest of the world." He
had not come to tell his hearers that there was danger to our
national life from anything the Government might do, but
to tell them that "there is danger to our national life from
what other nations may do." And if something did happen,

'238 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

"do you want the situation to be such that all the President
can do is to write messages, to utter words of protest ? If these
breaches of international law which are in daily danger of
occurring should touch the very vital interests and honor of
the United States, do you wish to do nothing about it? Do
you wish to have all the world say that the flag of the United
States, which we all love, can be stained with impunity ?"

At Davenport the President denied that munition makers
had anything to do with the policy of the Government. At
Kansas City he said "there may come a time, I pray God it
may never come, but it may, in spite of everything we can do,
come upon us, and come of a sudden, when J shall have to ask,
'I have had my say, who stands back of me?' Where is the
force by which the majority and rights of the United States
are to be maintained and asserted?"

"I have seen editorials written in more than one part of
the United States sneering at the number of notes that were
being written from the State Department to the foreign Gov-
ernments and asking, 'Why does not the Government act ?' And
in those same papers I have seen editorials against the prepara-
tion to do anything effective if those notes are not regarded.
Is that the temper of the United States?"

When St. Louis was reached the tour came to an end.
There the President said : "So far as America is concerned, no
man need go about preaching peace. We are disciples of peace
already. But suppose my neighbor's house is on fire, and
my roof is of combustible shingles, and the fire eats into the
wood ?" The danger was not from within, but from without.
"And I am bound to tell you that danger is constant and imme-
diate, not because anything new has happened, not because
there has been any change in our international relationship
within the last several weeks or months, but because the danger
comes with every turn of events." Commanders of submarines
had their instructions; but one reckless commander of a sub-
marine, putting his own construction on what his Government
told him to do, "might set the world on fire." . . . "Speaking
with all solemnity, I assure you there is not a day to be lost.
. . . This month should not go by without something decisive
being done."

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 239

The return of the President to Washington was quickly
followed by the resignation of Mr. Lindley M. Garrison, Sec-
retary of War. Since the opening of the year the House Com-
mittee on Military Affairs had been busy on a bill for national
defense. Hearings had been held, experts had testified, and
though they differed on many points, agreed that the military
power of the country should be greatly increased at once. As
to what should be the strength of the Regular Army differences
in opinion were slight. But great differences existed as to the
character of the force by which it was to be supported. Gen-
eral Scott, Chief of Staff, was for a continental army raised
according to the plan of Secretary Garrison and explained by
the President in his speech at the opening of the session. Mr.
Hay, Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, and the
National Guard Association, which maintained an active lobby,
were for the federalization of the National Guard. Against
this plan Mr. Garrison, January 12, 1916, protested in a letter
to the President. The military part of the program of national
defense, he said, was facing a critical juncture. Unless the
situation was dealt with promptly and effectively, there was
no hope of good results. Nothing but a national force under
exclusive control and authority of the National Government
would be effective. The plan of Mr. llay to add a few thou-
sands to the strength of the regular army; a few regiments
of artillery to that branch of the service; abandon the idea of
a federal force of national volunteers, and grant direct aid to
the enlisted men and officers of the State troops would never
succeed. The issue must be clearly drawn. It had nothing
whatever to do with the number of men or with the way of
raising them. It was between two absolutely different systems.
One was based on the nation's undertaking on its own respon-
sibility to raise and manage the national troops. The other,
the system in use ever since the founding of the Government,
was to rely on the States to do this thing for the nation, leaving
the Government to rely on a military force it does not raise,
does not officer and does not control.

The President replied, in substance, that he was ready
to abandon the plan of the Secretary for a continental volun-
teer force and accept that of Mr. Hay for a Federalized militia

240 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

if it would accomplish the desired result. Mr. Garrison then,
January 14, 1916, restated his position briefly and forcibly,
and January 17 the President replied that he understood his
views. "You believe, as I do, that the chief thing necessary
is that we should have a trained citizen reserve, and that the
training, organization and control of that reserve should be
under immediate Federal direction. But apparently ,1 have
not succeeded in making my own position equally clear to you,
though I feel sure that I have made it perfectly clear to Mr.
Hay. It is that I am not irrevocably or dogmatically com-
mitted to any one plan of providing the nation with such a
reserve, and am certainly willing to discuss alternative
proposals."

The President returned from his western tour on Febru-
ary 4. Mr. Garrison was to speak on preparedness on
February 10, and lest, in urging his plan, he should be acting
contrary to the policy of the President, he wrote again on
February 0, restated his position and asked from the Presi-
dent a final expression of his views. There were two matters
of pressing importance on which in the course of his speech
he must positively and definitely declare himself. One was
the Clarke amendment to the Philippine bill. The other was
the question of a continental army or a Federalized militia.
He considered reliance on militia for national defense an
unjustifiable imperiling of the nation's safety* ~Not only was
it a sham in itself, but if enacted into law would prevent,
perhaps destroy, the opportunity to obtain measures of real
national defense. He could neither accept it, nor acquiesce
in its acceptance. If the President did not agree with him
on these matters, then he could not with propriety remain the
seeming representative of the administration in respect to them.

The President answered and said that he was not yet
convinced that the Hay plan would prove acceptable; that it
was his duty to keep an open mind; that the Clarke amend-
ment seemed unwise at the present time, but it would be most
inadvisable to take the position that he must disapprove "should
both houses concur in a bill embodying that amendment."
When this reply reached him Mr. Garrison at once resigned,

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 241

and after a delay of a few weeks Mr. Newton D. Baker became
Secretary of War.

Mr. Garrison resigned on February 10, 1916, and on that
day Count von Bernstorff and Baron Zwiedinek appeared at
the Department of State and announced that the German
and Austro-Hungarian Governments woud instruct their sub-
marine commanders that, after February 29, they were to treat
armed merchantmen as auxiliary cruisers. Secretary Lansing
some weeks before, on January 18, addressed an informal note
to the representatives of the Entente Powers in Washington,
urging that their Governments agree to disarm merchant
vessels.

As obtained "from a European correspondent" and pub-
lished by the Chicago Herald, the text of the note set forth that
the Government was deeply interested to bring to an end the
dangers to life which attended the use of submarines for the
destruction of enemy commerce. Despite the appalling loss
of life among noncombatants, without regard to age or sex,
the Secretary did not think that a belligerent should be de-
prived of the proper use of submarines, but believed that
submarine warfare might be brought within the general rules
of international law and the principles of humanity by the
adoption of a formula or rule which would appeal to the sense
of justice of all belligerents. As a basis for such a rule he
suggested that a noncombatant had a right to traverse the seas
on a merchant ship flying a belligerent flag: a right to rely on
the observance of the rules of international law, a right to
know that if the vessel on which "he sailed were approached by
a warship of another belligerent it would not be attacked with-
out being ordered to stop. When so ordered by an enemy
submarine it should stop immediately. If, after the order to
stop, a merchantman attempted to resist or flee it might be
fired on, but the firing should end when the vessel ceased to
resist or flee. If impossible to put a crew aboard or convey the
prize to port it might be sunk, provided crew and passengers
had been removed to a place of safety.

The Secretary was not unmindful of the obstacles which
would be met with by the submarine. Prior to 1915 commerce
destroying on the high sea had been done by cruisers heavily

242 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

armed, and international law allowed merchantmen to carry
arms for defense.

This right of merchantmen ships to carry guns, he said,
"seems to have been predicated on the superior defensive
strength of ships of war, and the limitation of armament to
have been dependent on the fact that it could not be used
effectively in offense against enemy naval vessels, while it could
defend merchantmen against the generally inferior armament of
piratical ships and privateers." Submarines had changed these
relations. They depended for protection on their power of
submerging and were almost defenseless in point of construc-
tion. "Even a merchant ship carrying a small caliber gun
would be able to use it effectively for offense against a sub-
marine." Pirates and sea rovers had been swept from the great
channels of trade and privateering had been abolished. Plac-
ing guns on merchant ships in these days of submarines, there-
fore, must be in order to render the merchantman superior in
force to the submarine, and to prevent warning, visit and
search. "Any armament, therefore, on a merchant vessel
would seem to have the character of an offensive armament."
Under such conditions, if a submarine be required to stop, visit
and search a merchantman, and, if necessary to destroy her, put
her passengers and crew in a place of safety, it was not just
to require her when so doing to expose herself "to almost cer-
tain destruction by the guns on board the merchant vessel."

The Secretary ended by saying: "J may add that my Gov-
ernment is impressed by the reasonableness of the argument
that a merchant vessel carrying an armament of any sort, in
view of the character of submarine warfare and the defensive
weakness of undersea craft, should be held to be an auxiliary
cruiser, and so treated by a neutral as well as by a belligerent
government and is seriously considering instructing its officials
accordingly."

It was in hope of forcing the Allied Government to reject
this note that Germany and Austria bade their representatives
serve the notice of February 10, that armed merchant ships
would be treated as auxiliary cruisers and sunk on sight with
passengers and crew on board, and that on February 14 Mr.
Gerard forwarded from Berlin a note verbale and a long

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 243

"Memorandum" on the treatment of armed merchantmen.
The memorandum was accompanied by twelve exhibits consist-
ing chiefly of a digest of nineteen cases in which Allied mer-
chant ships, it was claimed, had fired on submarines, and papers
of a "confidential" nature found on two captured British ships.
The "German Government," it was said, "had no doubt that
a merchantman assumes a warlike character by armament with
guns, regardless of whether the guns are intended for defense
or attack." Particular attention was called to the words
"enemy merchantmen armed with guns no longer have any
right to be considered as peaceful vessels of commerce." There
fore, the German naval forces would receive orders, within
a short time, to treat such vessels as belligerents.

"The German Government brings this status of affairs to
the knowledge of the neutral Powers, in order that they may
warn their nationals against continuing to intrust their persons
or property to the armed merchantmen of Powers at war with
the German Empire."

The controversy now shifted from the Department of State
to the Halls of Congress, where on February 15 a Senator from
South Dakota submitted a long resolution. Jn substance it was
that the Senate viewed with anxious concern the order of the
German Admiralty that, after February 29, armed merchant
ships might be sunk without warning; that if put into effect
it would be a more serious menace to neutral commerce than
any act of the belligerents in the present war ; that any recogni-
tion by the United States that necessities of the war or the
exigencies of submarine warfare justified the order would be
an abandonment of our contention for the freedom of the seas,
and a contravention of our policy set forth in our notes to the
British and German Governments on September 26 and No-
vember 7, 1914, and that at this time neither the United States
nor any other neutral should acquiesce in the order.3

The resolution was submitted under the belief that the
closing words of Secretary Lansing's note of January 18 stated
the intent of the Government to accept the German contention
that armed merchantmen should be considered auxiliary
cruisers. But on February 15, the day on which the Senator
3 Congressional Record, 64th Congress, 1st session, p. 2564.

244 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

submitted his resolution, the President reversed his policy and
from the Department of State came a semi-official statement of
a very different sort. In substance it was that the Government
did not expect to change the present rule of international law
regarding armed merchant ships without the consent of all the
belligerents, that meantime their merchant ships had a lawful
right to carry arms for defense, and that the right of our citi-
zens to travel on such vessels would not be impaired.

A fear of war with Germany now fell on Congress, a deter-
mination to check the President grew stronger and stronger,
find all signs pointed to a serious break between the Executive
and Legislative branches of the Government. American citi-
zens, Congressmen held, should be forbidden to travel on armed
ships of the belligerents. To this surrender of their rights the
President was determined not to submit, and at a conference
with the Democratic leaders on February 21 made his position
quite clear.

Nevertheless, on February 22, resolutions were introduced
in the Senate and the House. That offered by Mr. McLemore,
a member of the House from Texas, was preceded by a long
preamble setting forth that, whereas two of the Powers at war
had informed all neutrals that after February 29 armed vessels
of their enemies, naval, or merchantmen armed for defense,
would be attacked on sight; that, whereas Germany had sub-
mitted to the United States photographic facsimiles of alleged
secret orders of the British Government authorizing such de-
fensive armament to be used for offensive purposes and manned
by naval officers and men and concealed and disguised when in
neutral ports ; that, whereas the Government of the United
States had no desire to dictate to any Power whether it should
or should not arm its merchant ships, had no interest in the
success or failure of such ships in using their arms to destroy
an enemy's submarines or naval vessels, had no concern in the
success or failure of submarines in destroying merchantmen and
could not look on any engagement between any armed ships of
opposing belligerents, no matter how such ships may be desig-
nated or disguised, as other than a naval engagement; and,
whereas Germany and Austria-Hungary had given assurances
that unarmed ships carrying noncombatants would not be sunk

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 245

unless the noncombatant passengers could be removed to a place
of safety.

Therefore, the resolution read, "the House of Representa-
tives hereby solemnly does request the President to warn all
American citizens, within the borders of the United States or its
possessions, or elsewhere, to refrain from traveling on any or
all ships of any and all the Powers now or in future at war,
which ship or ships shall mount guns, whether such ship be
frankly avowed a part of the naval forces of the Power whose
flag it flies, or shall be called a merchant ship or otherwise,
and whether such gun or guns or other armament be called
'offensive' or 'defensive/ and in case American citizens do
travel on such armed belligerent ships, that they do so at their
own risk."

The rest of the resolution provided that when the President
or Secretary of State came into possession of the "actual memo-
randum" of the German Government "concerning the secret
orders of the British Government," it should at once be sent
to the Speaker and laid before the House to assist it "in per-
forming its constitutional duty of advising the President of
the United States" with regard to foreign relations.

On the same day, February 22, on which Mr. McLemore
introduced his warning resolution, Mr. Fuller of Illinois
brought forward another. Because it was "manifestly unsafe"
for American citizens to travel "on belligerent ships that are
armed," and inasmuch as "the taking of such chances at this
time may involve this country in serious trouble in its efforts
to protect American lives," and as it was the "earnest desire
of all our people that this country shall remain absolutely neu-
tral," therefore the President was to be "authorized and re-
quested to issue a proclamation warning all American citizens
of the great danger of taking passage on any belligerent ship
that is armed or that carried munitions of war, and requesting
them for their own safety and in the interest of this country's
neutrality to refrain from so doing."

Both resolutions went to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The day following their introduction was one of wild hys-
teria in Congress. Suddenly the House became panic-stricken
from fear that the new position of the President would lead to

24-6 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

war. "Keep out of war" was demanded on every side. The
party of the President was in open revolt. In the cloakrooms,
in the corridors, on the floor, the President was bitterly attacked
for his determination to stand firm in behalf of American
rights even if war resulted. Nothing but the utmost exer-
tions of the administration supporters prevented immediate
action. Late in the afternoon the Democratic members of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs met and decided to send a dele-
gation to the White House to tell the President that a resolu-
tion warning American citizens to keep off armed merchant
vessels would surely be passed unless he changed his position.
The Democratic floor leader was reported to have said that
forty-eight hours would be allowed the President in which to
make this change. The revolt spread even to the Senate, where
Senator Gore, of Oklahoma, announced that he would introduce
a resolution forbidding Americans to travel on armed merchant-
men.

That the position taken by the President at the conference
on February 21 might not be misunderstood, Senator Stone,
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, gave
his understanding of it in a leter to the President. This was:

That while you would deeply regret the rejection by Great Britain
of Mr. Lansing's proposal for the disarmament of merchant vessels of
the Allies, with the understanding that Germany and her Allies would
not fire upon a merchant ship if she hauled to when summoned, not
attempting to escape, and that the German warships would only exer-
cise the admitted right of visitation and capture, and would not
destroy the captured vessel except in circumstances that reasonably
assured the safety of passengers and crew, you were of the opinion
that if Great Britain and her Allies rejected the proposal and insisted
upon arming her merchant ships she would be within her rights under
international law. Also that you would feel disposed to allow armed
vessels to be cleared from our ports; also that you are not favorably
disposed to the idea of this Government taking any definite steps
towards preventing American citizens from embarking upon armed
merchant vessels. Furthermore, that you would consider it your duty,
if a German warship should fire upon an armed merchant vessel of
the enemy upon which American citizens were passengers, to hold
Germany to strict account.

Numerous members of the Senate and House have called to dis-
cuss this subject with ma I have felt that the members of the two
Houses who are to deal with this grave question were entitled to

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 247

know the situation we are confronting as I understand it to be. I
think I should say to you that the members of both Houses feel
deeply concerned and disturbed by what they read and hear. I have
heard some talk to the effect that some are saying that after all it
may be possible that the program of preparedness, so called, has some
relation to just such a situation as we are now called upon to meet.
I have counseled all who talked with me to keep cool; that the
whole business is still the subject of diplomacy and that you are
striving to the utmost to bring about some peaceable adjustment, and
that in the meantime Congress should be careful not to "ball up" a
diplomatic situation by any kind of hasty and ill-considered action.
... As much and deeply as I would hate to radically disagree with
you, I find it difficult from my sense of duty and responsibility to
consent to plunge this nation into the vortex of this world war.

President Wilson that same day, February 24, replied:
"You are right in assuming that I shall do everything in my
power to keep the United States out of war." For the mo-
ment the announced intention of the Central European Powers
to sink all armed merchant vessels at sight seemed to threaten
"insuperable difficulties." But the apparent meaning of the
order was so manifestly at odds with explicit assurances re-
cently given that he was sure later explanations would "put a
different aspect upon it."

But in any event our duty is clear. No nation, no group of
nations, has the right, while war is in progress, to alter or disregard
the principles which all nations have agreed upon in mitigation of
the horrors and sufferings of war; and if the clear rights of American
citizens should ever unhappily be abridged or denied by any such
nation we should, it seems to me, have in honor no choice as to what
our own course should be.

For my part, I cannot consent to any abridgment of the rights
of American citizens in any respect. The honor and self-respect of
the nation are involved. We covet peace and shall preserve it at any
cost but the loss of honor. To forbid our people to exercise their
rights for fear we might be called upon to vindicate them would be
a deep humiliation indeed. It would be an implicit — but not an
explicit — acquiescence in the violation of the rights of mankind
everywhere and of whatever nation or allegiance. It would be a
deliberate abdication of our hitherto proud position as spokesman
even amidst the turmoil of war for the law and right.

February 25 the Speaker, the majority leader of the House
and the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, met

248 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the President and found him fully determined to stand by the
position taken in his letter to Senator Stone. Said the Speaker,
in a statement made in behalf of the Democratic leaders who
conferred with the President: "The sum and substance of the
conference, outside of an explanation made as to the temper of
the House, regarding the diplomatic situation with Germany
and some argument on both sides, is fully set out in Senator
Stone's letter to the President and the President's reply to
Senator Stone."

We explained to the President how the House felt in our judgment.
I told the President that this warning resolution would carry two
to one if they ever got a chance for a vote. Some enthusiastic gentle-
men, I said, thought it would carry three to one.

Of course there was a great deal of talk about international law
regarding the rights of Americans on the seas and precedents. At
the conclusion of the conference it was very clear to all that the
President stands on his letter to Senator Stone.

But there are rumors which were discussed that Germany may
postpone enforcement of the new admiralty order to sink armed ships,
from March 1, either to April 1 or the middle of March. I think the
chances are that Germany will postpone this threatened performance.
This will give more time for consideration of this matter.

In the House the President's letter, the flood of telegrams
that poured in upon members from all parts of the country
demanding that he be supported, the belief that the conduct
of the House on the previous two days might stiffen the atti-
tude of Germany, all contributed to produce a change of feel-
ing and greatly lessen the chances of the passage of a resolution
of warning. To this change Mr. Bryan contributed by a
telegram.

I honestly hope that Congress will speedily announce legislation
refusing passports to Americans traveling on belligerent ships, or still
better, refusing clearance to belligerent ships carrying American
passengers.

No owner of belligerent ships will claim that he has the right to
safeguard a contraband cargo with American lives, and no citizen
should be permitted to endanger the peace of the nation at a time
like this. Ours is the greatest of neutral nations, and will probably be
the mediator when the time comes for mediation. It would be a crime
against civilization, as well as against our own people, to become

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 249

involved in this war, and thus loan our army and money to a European
monarch to use in settling his quarrels.

If Congress has the right to declare war, it certainly has the right
to promote peace by restraining citizens from taking unnecessary
risks. A mayor keeps the people of his city out of the danger zone
during a riot. Can our Government afford to do less when the world
is in riot?

In the Senate Mr. Gore offered a concurrent resolution,
that it was the sense of Congress, "vested as it is with the sole
power to declare war, that all persons owing allegiance to the
United States should, on behalf of their own safety and the
vital interests of the United States, forbear to exercise the right
of travel as passengers upon any armed vessel of any belligerent
Power, whether such vessel be armed for offensive or defensive
purposes; and it is the further sense of the Congress that no
passport should be issued or renewed by the Secretary of State
or by any one acting under him, to be used by any person owing
allegiance to the United States for the purpose of travel upon
any such armed vessel of a belligerent Power."

Senator Jones in the course of the day offered a very dif-
ferent sort of resolution. It reads : "That it is the sense of the
Senate of the United States of America that any issue claimed
to affect the national honor should be referred for its deci-
sion to the Congress of the United States and no ultimatum
should be sent to any belligerent Power and no severance of
diplomatic relations be brought about by Executive action until
after the advice and consent of Congress."

In London the President's letter found hearty approval.
The Times was pleased to note that he stood "immovably true
to his lofty moral attitude." How far lie could carry with him
the opinion of his countrymen was not a matter for specula-
tion. Nevertheless, he deserved credit for standing manfully
to his guns. The Post remarked that "it is the fate of America,
whether it will or not, to make a choice between her own God
and Germany's idols." The Chronicle found in the President's
words "the right ring." He had "made plain to the whole
world that the United States is unshakable in its resolve to
reject the impudent demands of Germany."

How the President viewed the uprising in Congress was

250 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

believed to be made clear by some remarks in a speech before
the Gridiron Club of Washington on the evening of Febru-
ary 26.

"The point in international affairs/7 he said, "never lies
along the lines of expediency. It' always rests in the field
of principle. The United States was not founded upon any
principles of expediency ; it was founded upon a profound prin-
ciple of human liberty and of humanity, and whenever it bases
its policy upon any other foundations than those it builds on the
sand and not upon solid rock." He would "a great deal rather
know" what men were "talking about around quiet firesides
all over this country than what they are talking about in the
cloakrooms of Congress. I would a great deal rather know what
the men on the trains and by the wayside and in the shops and
on the farms are thinking about and yearning for than hear
any of the vociferous proclamations of policy which it is so
easy to hear and so easy to read by picking up any scrap of
printed paper. . . .

"America ought to keep out of this war. She ought to
keep out of this war at the sacrifice of everything except this
single thing upon which her character and history are founded,
her sense of humanity and justice.77

The leaders in the Senate and the House having prevented
any action on the resolutions of warning before them, the
President on February 29, in a letter to the ranking member
of the House Committee on Rules, urged that an "early vote'7
be taken.

"The report that there are divided counsels in Congress in
regard to the foreign policy of the country,77 he wrote Mr.
Pou, "is being made industrious use of in foreign capitals.
I believe that the report is false; but so long as it is anywhere
credited it cannot fail to do the greatest harm and expose the
country to the utmost serious risk. I therefore feel justified
in asking that your committee will permit me to urge an early
vote upon the resolutions with regard to travel on armed mer-
chantmen, which have recently been so much talked about, in
order that there may be afforded an immediate opportunity
for full public discussion and action upon them and that all
doubts and conjectures may be swept away and our foreign

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 251

policy once more cleared of damaging misunderstandings.7'
What the President wished was now quite clear. He did
not wish a vote of confidence, but a direct vote on the
McLemore, or some similar resolution, declaring that Ameri-
cans ought not to travel on armed merchantmen. He wished
every member of the House to go on record when the vote was
taken that the country might know who stood by the Govern-
ment, and who sought to embarrass it, in its diplomatic deal-
ings with Germany and Austria.

Leaders in both Houses were surprised and embarrassed.
With great difficulty they had a few days before prevented
acti6n on the very resolutions they were now asked to bring
to a vote. Conferences were held with the President, but he
did not yield, and March 3, 1916, the Senate took up the reso-
lution offered by Senator Gore and an immediate vote was
demanded. Mr. Gore, rising to a point of personal privilege,
then offered a substitute which reads :

Resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring :
That the sinking by a German submarine, without notice or warning,
of an armed merchant vessel of her public enemy, resulting in the
death of a citizen of the United States, would constitute a just and
sufficient cause of war between the United States and the German
Empire.

But the Senate leaders in their haste to end the business
forced an immediate vote on both resolutions taken together
and, amid a scene of great confusion and disorder, the roll was
called on the question of laying the resolutions on the table.
The yeas were 68; the nays 14, and the motion was carried.
Then for the first time the Senators realized that in their haste
they had tabled a resolution declaring that if a German subma-
rine, without warning, sank an armed merchantman and an
American citizen thereby lost his life, the act would be a just
cause of war. This was the very principle for which the
President was contending.

As soon as the vote in the Senate was known in the House
the Committee on Foreign Affairs voted to report back the
McLemore resolution with a recommendation that it be tabled
because, "Under the practice and precedent in tHis country,

252 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the conduct of diplomatic negotiations has heen left with the
President, and with this practice the committee does not feel
it proper for the House of Representatives to interfere. We
know that if the President reaches a point in any negotiations
with foreign Governments at which he helieves he has exhausted
his powers in the premises he will, in the usual way, report
all facts and circumstances to Congress for its consideration."

March 7, the struggle hegan and when it ended with the
roll call on the question of agreeing to the motion to lay the
McLemore resolution on the table the yeas were 276 and the
nays 142.

The States, all of whose representatives voted no, were
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska. The States, all of
whose representatives voted yes, were Maine, North and South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Idaho. As
far as Congressional interference was concerned, the armed
merchantmen issue, it was said, was settled. There were those,
indeed, who held that tabling the resolutions was not decisive,
and among these was Mr. Bryan. "The question was presented
in such a way," he said to an audience at Columbus, Ohio, "that
there is little significance in the vote. It does not represent
the sentiment in Congress as to the wisdom of Americans trav-
eling upon belligerent merchantmen. Had this question been
presented and the opinion of Congress asked upon it, there is
no doubt that a majority of both Senate and House would
express themselves in favor of preventing Americans from trav-
eling into the danger zone on belligerent ships."

The people, taking the words of the President, that he would
rather know what men were saying around their firesides than
what was said in the cloakrooms of Congress, as an invitation
to give their views, now sent letters and telegrams by^ thousands
to the White House expressing approval of his stand and con-
veying congratulations on his victory.

The day following the action of the Senate on the resolu-
tion of Senator Gore, March 4, 1916, the Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Military Affairs reported a bill "for
making further and more effectual provision for national de-
fense." As explained by the Chairman, Senator Chamberlain
of Oregon, the bill provided for a regular army of 178,000

PREPAREDNESS AND PACIFISTS 253

men; a federal volunteer force of 261,000 to be trained for
one month each year in summer camps, a strictly federal force
not under the control of Governors of the States ; a f ederalized
National Guard of 250,000 men; officers' reserve corps, and a
reserve officers' training corps composed of students of col-
leges and schools where military training was given the boys.
On the sixth of March Mr. Hay, Chairman of the House Com-
mittee on Military Affairs, presented a bill providing for a
regular army of 143,000; a federalized National Guard which
in five years would number 400,000 men; and civilian train-
ing camps from which would come another 100,000 trained
fighting men.

While the bills were under debate our countrymen were
given a fine illustration of the need of preparedness. March 9,
a band of Villistas, believed to be acting under orders from
Villa, crossed our Mexican border, entered New Mexico, raided
the town of Columbus, and killed eight soldiers and nine
civilians, and the President at once announced that troops
would be sent in pursuit of Villa to capture him and end his
forays, and that this would be done in friendly aid of the
authorities of Mexico and with scrupulous respect for the sov-
ereignty of that republic. Car-ranza at once proposed an agree-
ment under which the military forces of Mexico should be
allowed to chase bandits or outlaws across the border into the
United States, in return for permission for the military forces
of the United States to cross the border into Mexico. March 13,
our Government agreed to the proposal, and March 15 some
12,000 men under General Pershing crossed the border. Car-
ranza on March 17 protested; complained that a false inter-
pretation had been put on his note of the tenth; that no
notification had been given to the Mexican Government, nor
to the civil and military authorities of the region through
which the troops were to pass, and, March 19, refused to allow
supplies to be sent over the Northwestern Railway to General
Pershing. While negotiations dragged along, a force of
Villistas was routed by American cavalry at San Geronimo,
March 29 ; fights and skirmishes occurred in many places dur-
ing April, and May 5 some two hundred bandits crossed the
border and attacked Glenn Springs, Texas. Again the Presi-

254, THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

dent was forced to act, and May 9 called the organized militia
of Texas, Arizona, and ~New Mexico into service, and sent them
with 4,000 regulars to the border.

With this illustration of our means of defense before them,
the Senate and House meanwhile labored on their bills for
preparedness. March 23, tfye House adopted the Hay Bill.
April 18, the Senate returned it with amendments providing
for a regular army on a peace footing of 250,000 men, for the
construction of a nitrate plant to cost $15,000,000, and for the
establishment of reserve officers' training corps at universities,
colleges and schools. From the conferences which followed
came at last a bill providing for a regular army of 186,000;
a federalized National Guard to number 425,000; officers'
reserve corps for the regular army; enlisted reserve corps to
supply men to the engineer, signal and quartermaster corps,
medical and ordnance departments; and reserve officers' train-
ing corps at schools, colleges and universities. June 3, the
President signed the bill.

CHAPTER X

PLOTS AND CHIMES ON SEA AND LAND

CONSIDERING the submarine dispute as settled, by the last
of the Sussex notes the German Government bade Ambassador
von Bernstorff define its position on another matter fast becom-
ing serious, the violation of our neutrality by its consular officers
and agents. The Ambassador accordingly, May 18, 1916,
announced that the German Government was opposed to all
plots and propaganda leading to violation of our laws and
our neutrality.

"In consequence," he said, "of cases that have occurred
of late, the German Ambassador has sent instructions to all
the German consuls in the United States strongly to impress
on German citizens living in their districts that it is their duty
scrupulously to observe the laws of the states in which they
reside."

German consuls needed the warning quite as much as "citi-
zens living in their districts.'7 It will be remembered that on
December 22, 1915, Captain von Papen sailed from New York
on the Oscar II. All went well with him until the steamer,
January 2, 1916, touched at Falmouth, where the British
seized his papers. When von Papen, according to the man-
aging editor of World's Work, was about to depart and was
packing his papers in the office of the Austrian Consulate-
General in New York, the stenographer, a young woman placed
in the office by the Providence Journal as its secret agent,
reported the contents of the box and was instructed to so mark
the case that it could be identified later. "The day it was
nailed up for shipment," so runs the story, "she ate her
luncheon seated on the top of it. When she was in the midst
of her meal von Papen came in. He asked if he might share
her sandwiches. She consented. They sat on the box together.

255

256 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

He grew sentimental. She did not discourage his sentimental
mood. At its height she took a red crayon pencil from her
hair and in a dreamy way drew on the packing box the outline
of two hearts entwined. The susceptible von Papen, in the
spirit of the moment, seized the pencil and with his own hand
drew an arrow piercing them." And so the box was marked
and when the Oscar II touched at Falmouth and the secret
service agents inspected the cargo the box was easily identified
and seized.

Yon Papen at once telegraphed to the American Embassy
at London asking the American Ambassador to request the
German Ambassador at Washington to protest to the Depart-
ment of State because the British authorities had opened his
private papers. They were found to consist of letters from
Germans in this country and abroad, bank books, check books
and counterfoils showing some five hundred items of expen-
diture.

Some were of no importance. Others were records of
payments to German spies and agents in our country; to a
spy named Kupferle, who killed himself in a British prison;
to the "War Intelligence Bureau," $2,300; to Werner Horn,
who a few weeks later attempted to destroy the bridge at
Vanceboro, $700 ; to, the German consul at Seattle, some two
weeks before the explosion at that city, May 20, 1915, $500.
During January, 1915, von Papen received from Ambassador
von Bernstorff $6,400, and spent $5,000.

Among the letters was one from Baron von Meysenburg,
the German consul at ISTew Orleans, dated December 4, 1915 :

I read with great regret that the fate of recall has, indeed, over-
taken you. I do not suppose that you are very unhappy at being
able to shake the dust of this unfriendly country off your feet. What
chiefly offends me is that in always giving way to the Government
here we have never found that they are kindly disposed to us. That
the demand for your recall has been so sudden and belated throws
an interesting light upon the Government here. May the day of
reckoning also come here, and our Government find again that iron
determination with which alone one can make an impression on this
country.

In another Dr. F. W. Meyer of !N"ew York, expressing
regret at his departure, said:

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 257

I had occasion yesterday to discuss recent events with some Ger-
mans. . . . The Austrian note is, of course, matter for general quiet
enjoyment, and the whole business can scarcely be taken tragically.
The President this time has talked a bit too big, even for those who
blindly support him. ... It is not surprising, in view of the fictitious
neutrality of the President, that a term should have been put to your
work, and you must carry back with you the knowledge that you have
done your duty according to the best of your ability as long as it
was possible.

I gladly comply with your proposal to send a line from time to
time, and it will be very pleasant to receive one from you occasionally,
especially if by proposals you mean such as could be discussed with
some gentlemen of the German House of Columbia University. I
am keeping an eye on the matter especially mentioned.

A letter from General von Bernhardi, dated April 9, 1915,

says:

I thank you most sincerely for your kindness in sending me a
copy of the New York Sun, containing my two articles. I am glad
to hear that these articles will, in your opinion, have a good effect
so far as that is at all possible in America. . . .

I have now written two other articles for America. The Foreign
Office wanted the first of these, entitled "Germany and England,"
distributed in the American Press. The other, entitled "Pangerman-
ism," was to appear in the Chicago Tribune. . . . They will certainly
have some sort of effect.

I wonder [Dr. Albert from San Francisco wrote, without date]
if our Government will respond in a suitable manner. In my opinion
it need no longer take public opinion so much into consideration, in
spite of its being artifically and intentionally agitated by the Press,
and legal proceedings, so that a somewhat stiffer attitude would be
desirable, though naturally quiet and dignified.

Please instruct Mr. Amanuensis Igel as precisely as possible. You
will receive then the long-intended report of expenses paid through my
account on your behalf.

Photographic copies of the important checks, counterfoils
and letters were duly sent to the Department of State, and not
long afterwards Horst von der Goltz, in charge of a Scotland
Yard detective, arrived in New York.

From a British White Paper, Cd 8232, it appears that
von der Goltz arrived in England from Holland November 4,
1914, "offered information on projected air raids, the source

.258 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

whence the Emden derived her information as to British ship-
ping, and how the Leipsic obtained her coal supplies." He
was questioned, detained, sentenced to six months' imprison-
ment with a recommendation for deportation, for failing to
register, served his time and was still held for deportation
when, January 2, 1916, von Papen' s papers were seized at
Ealmouth and among them was found a check dated September
1, 1914, for $200, drawn by von Papen to the order of Bridge-
man Taylor, under which name von der Goltz had obtained a
false passport and sailed from New York in October, 1914,
for Germany by way of Italy.

The check was endorsed in the handwriting of von der
Goltz who, when it was shown to him, willingly acknowledged
the endorsement was his, and asked to be allowed to make a
voluntary statement in writing and under oath.

This confession, very long and very full of detail, begins
with an account of how at the opening of the war he was
relieved from service with a brigade of the Mexican Army,
made his way to New York and met Captain von Papen, then
engaged with Captain Boy-Ed in concocting a scheme to invade
Canada with a force recruited from reservists in the United
States, and how when this failed he was asked by von Papen
to see two Irishmen who had proposed to Captain von Papen
to blow up the locks of the canals connecting the Great Lakes,
the main railway junctions, and grain elevators. Jt was alleged
that by those means, as well as by wholesale distribution of
proclamations intended to terrify the populace, combined with
rumors of invasion judiciously circulated in the Press, a panic
would be created in Canada, which would prevent the Dominion
from giving aid to England.

I received the gentlemen at my hotel, the men bringing with them
a letter of introduction written by Captain von Papen, and received,
after having taken them to my room, further details about the mat-
ter, in addition to maps and diagrams showing the most vulnerable
points of the different canals.

I then had to get some men to help me to put the scheme into
execution, but engaged, before I went to Baltimore, only one man,
Charles Tucker, alias Tucsheimer, who had also some conversation
with one of the men who proposed the scheme.

Receiving a letter of introduction to Mr. Luederitz, consul at

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 259

Baltimore, who was to aid me by his counsel, I went there, taking
Tucker with me, and was received by Mr. Luederitz at the consulate
in Baltimore. He evidently had been informed about the matter
beforehand, for he addressed me as Major von der Goltz, although my
letter of introduction was written in favor of Mr. Bridgeman Hi Tay-
lor. He showed very much interest, and besides supplying me with
a revolver, my own being out of order temporarily, suggested to fur-
nish me with a passport to be obtained through the State Department,
Washington, D. C., proving me to be B. H. Taylor, in order that I
should be able to travel safely. He also proposed to me to make use
of part of the crew, and one officer of a G. ship at that time in the
harbor, and furnished me with his visit card, at the back of which
he wrote recommending Major von der Goltz, or something to that
effect, which I should give to the captain of the ship. While I was
still conversing with Mr. Luederitz the captain of the ship was
announced by a clerk, and Mr. Luederitz, telling the clerk to bring
the gentleman in, introduced me to the captain personally. One of
the clerks, a notary, made out an application to the State Depart-
ment, Washington, D. C., for a passport purporting to be desired by
a certain B. H. Taylor. All information given in this passport was
fictitious. It was arranged that this passport was to be sent to Mr.
Buck, New York, who was to deliver it to me. The following day,
a Sunday, I paid, accompanied by Tucker, a visit to the ship, dined
there, and selected the men intended to be used in the enterprise
personally. The captain promised me to pay off the men selected
at the consulate in a few days and to send them to New York, under
the supervision of an officer. Everything necessary having been
agreed upon, I left for New York to report there to Captain von
Papen. Arrived at New York, I selected three men recommended to
me and acquainted them with the main object of the scheme.

As I needed money to furnish these sailors with necessaries, Cap-
tain von Papen gave me a check payable to Bridgeman Taylor, which
check I had cashed through the agency of an acquaintance, Mr. Stall-
ford, member of the German Club.

The men arrived, were quartered in several hotels, but on my
noticing that my movements were being watched, I sent them back
to make the detectives think the enterprise abandoned.

I told Captain von Papen that it would be more easy for him to
supply me with materials, dynamite, and arms cheaply, on account
of his connections, informing him that I could not get those materials
except at a prohibitive price.

Yon Papen then informed me that Captain Tauscher, of Krupp's
Agency, had agreed to furnish me with these things, and told me to
see him at his office.

I saw Mr. Tauscher, and he gave me a letter of introduction to the
DuPont Powder Company, recommending B. H. Taylor, and the
company supplied me with an order to the bargee in charge of the

260 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

dynamite barges lying on the New Jersey side near the Statue of
Liberty. Captain Tauscher told me he would send the automatic
pistols by messenger to Hoboken, New Jersey, to be delivered there
to one of my agents at a certain restaurant, as he would be liable to
punishment if he delivered them in New York without having seen
my permit. The reasons why I did not apply to the police for a per-
mit are obvious.

In order to get the dynamite it was necessary for me to hire a
motor-boat at a place near 146th Street, Harlem, and to put the
dynamite on board of the barge in suitcases. After returning to
the station, where I had hired the boat, I went in a taxicab, having
two suitcases with me, to the German Club to see von Papen, who
told me to call for the generators and the wire again at the club. I
took the dynamite to my rooms, where I kept also a portion of the
arms packed in small portmanteaus ready to be removed, the rest
of the dynamite and arms being in the keeping of two of my agents,
one of which was Mr. Fritzen, discharged from a Russian steamer,
where he had acted in the capacity of purser; the other one being
Mr. Busse, a commercial agent, who had lived for some time in
England; the only other agent I employed besides C. Covani, who
attended to me personally, Tucker not being entrusted with any of
those things.

Two or three days afterwards I received from Captain von Papen
at his rooms at the club, in the presence of Fritzen and Covani,
generators and wire, which I took to my rooms in a taxicab.

After some days spent in conferring about the ways in which we
would try to execute the orders given to me, we started from Central
Station, New York, for Buffalo, Fritzen, Busse, and Tucker taking
care of the dynamite and arms, Covani attending to me.

Arrived at Buffalo, I hired rooms at 198 Delaware Avenue, had
the dynamite brought there, and spent some days trying to get
information about the precautions taken by the Canadian Govern-
ment. Then I transported myself and three of the agents to Niagara
Falls, New York, September 15. While still at Buffalo I received a
telegram sent by von Papen and signed "Steffens," informing me that
John Ryan, lawyer, had money and instructions. I went to see this
man, but he told me he knew nothing whatever about the matter.
I directly sent telegram to "Steffens" asking for explanation. Sep-
tember 16, received answer, "Ryan got money." On applying to the
man again I received money, but no instructions.

Being thrown upon my own discretion, I determined to recon-
noiter the terrain where I wanted to act first, but to do nothing
further till I should receive orders. •

On September 25, received notice from Ryan to come to Buffalo.
Having meantime received privately information that the 1st Cana-
dian Contingent had left Valcartier Camp, I knew that I should be
recalled, the object of the enterprise being removed.

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 261

Without waiting for recall von der Goltz returned to New
York, reported to von Papen and in October sailed for Berlin
by way of Italy.

All this was made known to the Department of State and
von der Goltz, in charge of the man from Scotland Yard, was
sent from London to testify before the Federal Grand Jury
sitting at New York. He arrived March 28, 1916, on the
Finland and within three days Captain Hans Tauscher, Charles
Tucker, J. F. Busse and Alfred Fritzen were taken into cus-
tody. April 17, the Federal Grand Jury indicted Captain
Franz vcn Papen, Tauscher and the three others for conspiring
to blow up the Welland Canal. The Assistant District
Attorney at New York explained that, so long as von Papen
was an attache of the German Embassy, it was not possible
to bring him into the case. But now that he was out of the
country the Government could take action so that if he ever
returned he could be brought to book, or if he ever entered
England or France or any other country with which we had
an extradition treaty he could, after the war, be extradited.

The following day, April 18, agents of the Department of
Justice went to 60 Wall Street, New York, to the office for-
merly used by Captain von Papen, arrested Wolf von Igel,
and seized his papers. Taken to the Federal Building, he tele-
phoned to von Bernstorff, who demanded his release and the
return of the papers. He was demanded as a member of the
Ambassador's official family and his office was declared to be
a branch of the Embassy and as such "extra-territorial." But
it was proved that the office was not rented by the German
Embassy, but by a private person, and was not "extra-terri-
torial." As to the papers, which were at once photographed,
Mr. Lansing offered to return such as von Bernstorff would
identify as official or Embassy records. To this it was answered
that they must be returned without condition, that the Ambas-
sador could not be required to pass on them individually or
collectively; that the fact that they were in the possession of a
diplomatic attache was enough to make them immune; that to
require the Ambassador to say which were or were not official
papers was a restriction of diplomatic privilege. In the course
of time they were returned.

262 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

In May of 1915 Franz Rintelen and ten others had placed
incendiary bombs on vessels leaving N"ew York laden with food
and ammunition for the Allies. Nine of these men were now
put under arrest charged with placing "fire bombs" on munition
ships; with attempted arson; and with "acting in concert with
others" in the manufacture of liquid fire bombs and placing
them in sugar bags on the steamship Kirk Oswald of the Fabre
Line. She left New York on May 15, 1915, caught fire at sea
when on her way to Marseilles, and finally put into a French port,
where two unexploded bombs were found in the cargo of sugar.
Ernest Becker, electrician of the North German Lloyd steam-
ship FriedricJi der Grosse, and Captain von Kleist, Superin-
tendent of the NVw Jersey Agricultural and Chemical Works;
the Assistant Superintendent of the Hamburg- American Dock ;
the Superintendent of the piers of the Atlas Line; the Chief
Engineer of the Friedrich der Grosse; three assistant engineers
of the Hamburg-American Line, and Walter T. Scheele, head
of the Chemical Works where the bombs were filled, were the
men in question. Scheele was a fugitive, but the rest were
indicted on April 28, 1916, and with some others were sen-
tenced in February, 1918, to two years and a half in the
Atlanta Penitentiary. Scheele fled to Cuba, where he found
refuge aboard a German vessel interned at Havana; but when
Cuba entered the war he fled again, was arrested, and in March,
1918, was brought back to the United States.

May 3, superseding indictments were obtained for Captain
von Papen, Wolf von Igel, Hans Tauscher, Alfred Fritzen and
Constantine Covani, all named in the confession of von der
Goltz. Karl Tucker and Frederick J. Busse were mentioned
as co-conspirators, but were not indicted. The defendants were
charged with seeking "the obstruction of the military operations
of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and the furthering
of the military operations of the Emperor of Germany, and by
means of bombs, dynamite and other explosives to blow up and
destroy the Welland Canal, a Canadian waterway."

Karl A. Luederitz, German consul general at Baltimore,
was the next to be indicted for procuring the false passport
for von der Goltz. At the same time, May 8, an indictment
was returned charging von Igel, Walter Scheele, and Gustav

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 263

Steinberg, said to have been an aid to von Bintelen, with con-
spiracy to falsify a ship's manifest in order to send a cargo of
oil to Germany. Seven hundred and twenty bags of oil, chemi-
cally reduced to powder, had been shipped as fertilizer.

Fay, Walter Scholz and Paul Deache were now convicted
and sentenced, Fay for eight years, Scholz for four and Deache
for two. Four months later Fay escaped from the prison at
Atlanta. In June Captain Tauscher was acquitted, for there
was no evidence to show that he knew for what purpose the
dynamite he procured for von der Goltz was to be used.

The presidential campaign was now near at hand, the nomi-
nating conventions were soon to assemble and the part the
German- Americans, the hyphenates, would take in the election
was a matter of some concern.

At the close of May a meeting of German-Americans was
held in Chicago. They came from twenty-five states and rep-
resented business, social, and political organizations, churches,
and the German-American Press Association, and made public
a statement of principles. German- Americans demanded a neu-
trality of the sort advised by Washington in his Farewell
Address; urged a foreign policy that would protect " American
lives and American interests with equal firmness and justice,"
condemned "every official act and policy which shows passion-
ate attachment for one belligerent nation or inveterate antip-
athy for another," deplored all utterances "by officials, ex-
officials and others designed to create, or tending to create, a
division along racial lines among our people," and hoped the
Republican and Democratic conventions would nominate candi-
dates who would subscribe to these views.

Reports from the West announced that an organization
backed by the German-American Newspaper Association was
giving notice that voters of German extraction would support
neither Wilson nor Roosevelt, and would not hear of Root. In
a speech at St. Louis, Mr. Roosevelt reviewed these reports and
attacked the German-American Alliance as anti-American. "I
am happy to say that it denounces me a little more bitterly than
it has denounced Mr. Wilson or Mr. Root. The German-
American Alliance of Pennsylvania, for instance, as reported
in the public press, states that it intends to show the leaders

264 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of the national conventions that they have to deal with a
united German-American vote. Such a statement represents
moral treason to the Republic. ... I want to serve notice on
these men that our purpose next fall is to elect an American
President and not a viceroy of the German Kaiser. . . . What-
ever defects I have, I do not pussyfoot. If an English-
American Alliance were formed I would say it is anti- American
just as I say the German- American Alliance is anti- American."

On Flag Day, June 14, 1916, the President marched at the
head of a "preparedness parade" and at the foot of the Wash-
ington Monument delivered a speech, in the course of which
he replied to the threats of the hyphenates to use their influ-
ence against the Administration in the November election.
"There is," he said, "a disloyalty active in the United States,
and it must be absolutely crushed. Jt proceeds from a minor-
ity, a very small minority, but a very active and subtle
minority. It works underground, but it also shows its ugly
head where we can see it, and there are those at this moment
who are trying to levy a species of political blackmail, saying:
'Do what we wish in the interest of foreign sentiment or we
will wreak our vengeance at the polls.' That is the sort of
thing against which the American Nation will turn with a
might and triumph of sentiment which will teach these gen-
tlemen once for all that loyalty to this flag is the first test of
tolerance in the United States."

Outside the Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia, the house
where many believe the first American flag was made, Dr. C. J.
Hexamer, President of the National German-American Alli-
ance, repudiated the charge that the hyphenates were anti-
American, denounced those who raised the anti-hyphenate cry,
and called all those who attacked the political integrity of
German- Americans criminals.

While the President was speaking at Washington the Demo-
cratic National Nominating Convention was holding its open-
ing session at St. Louis. Not content with an expression of
his own feeling towards the hyphenates, the President insisted
that a plank strongly American and anti-German-American
should be put in the platform. It was badly needed, for the
Chairman, when opening the session, made a strong pacifist

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 265

peace-at-any-price speech. The plank, it was reported, would
denounce individuals or alliances seeking to embarrass the
Government in its relations with foreign powers, and condemn
any political party that changed its policy for fear of the
hyphenate votes. When finally adopted the plank summoned
"all men of whatever origin or creed who would count them-
selves Americans to join in making clear to all the world the
unity and consequent power of America. . . . We condemn as
subversive of this nation's unity and integrity the activities and
designs of every group or organization that has for its object
the advancement of the interests of a foreign power, or which
is calculated and tends to divide our people into antagonistic
groups. We condemn all alliances and combinations of indi-
viduals in this country, of whatever nationality or descent, who
agree and conspire together for the purpose of embarrassing or
weakening our" Government, or of improperly influencing or
coercing our public representatives in dealing or negotiating
with any foreign power. . . . We condemn any political party
which, in view of the activity of such conspirators, surrenders
its integrity or modifies its policy."

In the Republican platform were these words : "We appeal
to all Americans, whether naturalized or native born, to prove
to the world that we are Americans in thought and in deed,
with one loyalty, one hope, one aspiration."

Our relations with Great Britain during the first half of
the year 1916 were complicated by the arrival of the Appam,
the censorship of the mails and the publication of a "black-
list." February 1, the British steamer Appam, captured by
the German sea raider Moewe, entered Newport News in com-
mand of Lieutenant Berg, of the Imperial Navy, having on
board the crews of seven enemy vessels. Ambassador von Berns-
torff at once notified the Department of State that she would
stay in an American port until further notice, because she "has
not been converted into an auxiliary cruiser, is not armed and
has made no prize under Mr. Berg's command."

Besides the crews of the seven captured vessels, there were
on board passengers taken from the prizes, "a locked-up mili-

1 Special Supplement to the American Journal of International Law,
Vol. 10, October, 1916.

266 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

tary party of the enemy whose internment in the United States
I request." The crew of the Appam f he asserted had offered
resistance by training the guns on the Moewe, were therefore
to be looked on as combatants, and should also be interned until
the end of the war.

The British Ambassador claimed that if the Appam were
regarded as a prize she should be given back to her owners and
the crew interned, and cited Article 21 of The Hague Conven-
tion XIII, of 1907.2 Great Britain, it was true, had not rati-
fied this rule, but it should be applied to the Appam. If
ordered out, the British Embassy was confident athat she will
not be allowed to leave the United States' jurisdiction under
German control in a condition which would enable her to under-
take offensive action."

Ambassador von Bernstorff, under instruction from Berlin,
now claimed that Article 21 was not binding, as Great Britain
had not ratified it, and that under Article 19 of the old Prusso-
American treaty of 1799, 3 the Appam, as a prize, might remain
in American water as long as she pleased.

Mr. Lansing promptly ruled that all aboard, save the prize
crews, should be allowed to leave and they went ashore. The
British and African Steam Navigation Company, Limited, now
filed a libel against the Appam, and Lieutenant Berg was sum-
moned to appear before the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Virginia. In view of the treaty of 1799
Ambassador von Bernstorff was "at a loss to understand why

2 Article 21. "A prize may only be brought into a neutral port on ac-
count of unseaworthiness, stress of weather, or want of fuel or provisions.
It must leave as soon as the circumstances which justified its entry are
at an end. If it does not, the neutral power must order it to leave at
once; should it fail to obey, the neutral power must employ the means
at its disposal to release it with its officers and crew and to intern the
prize crew."

Article 22 required a neutral to "release a prize brought into one of
its ports under circumstances other than those referred to in Article 21."

3 Article 19 provides: "The vessels of war, public and private, of both
parties, shall carry freely, wheresoever they please, the vessels and ef-
fects taken from their enemies, without being obliged to pay any duties,
charges, or fees to officers of admiralty, of the customs, or any others;
nor shall such prizes be arrested, searched, or put under legal process,
when they come to and enter the ports of the other party, but may freely
be carried out again at any time by their captors to the places expressed
in their commission which the commanding officer of such vessel shall be
obliged to show."

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 267

such action has been taken by a court of your country." Arti-
cle 21 of The Hague Convention, he wrote, did not apply.
Besides, the sovereign whose officers had captured a vessel
remained in possesion of that vessel and had full power over
her. He, therefore, protested against the action of the Court
and requested that the Attorney General procure the dismissal
of the libel. Article 19 of the treaty of 1799, Secretary
Lansing answered, applied only to prizes brought in by vessels
of war. The Appam was not accompanied by a ship of war,
but came alone in charge of a prize master and crew. Arti-
cle 19 also provided that capturing vessels might take out their
prizes "to the places expressed in their commissions." The
commission of Lieutenant Berg was that of a prize master and
directed him "to bring the Appam to the nearest American
port and 'there to lay her up.' ' The treaty contemplated "tem-
porary asylum for .vessels of war, accompanying prizes while
en route to the places named in the commander's commission,
but not the deposit of the spoils of war in an American port."
As to whether the Court had or had not jurisdiction, that was
a question the Court must decide. July 29, the Judge decided
the Court had jurisdiction, "that the manner of bringing the
Appam into the waters of the United States, as well as her
presence in those waters, constitutes a violation of the neu-
trality of the United States" and restored the vessel to her
British owners. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court,
where in March, 1917, the decision was sustained.

Late in December, 1915, reports reached the Department
of State that British customs authorities were interfering with
the mails. From the Danish steamer Oscar II 734 bags of
parcel mail were removed while on their way from the United
States to Norway, Sweden and Denmark; from the Swedish
steamer Stockholm 58 bags while on their way from New York
to Gothenburg; from the Danish ship United States the cus-
toms authorities at Kirkwall took 5,000 packages of merchan-
dise, the property of American citizens; from the Freder-
ick VIII, manifested for Norway, Sweden and Denmark, 597
bags of parcel mail, and from the Dutch steamship New
Amsterdam the entire mail, American diplomatic and consular
pouches included. Against all this Mr. Page was instructed on

268 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

January 4, 1916, to enter "a formal and vigorous protest."
The Department was "inclined to regard parcel post articles
as subject to the same treatment as articles sent by express or
freight in regard to belligerent search, seizure and condemna-
tion." But it could not admit the right of Great Britain
to seize neutral ships on their way from neutral European ports
to ports in the United States, bring them in, and while in port
remove and censor the mails they carried.

France and Great Britain replied February 15, 1916, in a
joint memorandum. In no wise, they held, do "parcels" con-
stitute "letters" or "correspondence" or "dispatches," and are
clearly not exempt in any way from supervision, visitation and
seizure any more than belligerent cargoes on the high seas. As
regarded letters, wrappers, envelopes entrusted to the postal
service and generally contained in the mail bags, the Allied
Governments "bring the following consideration to the notice of
the Neutral Governments." Between December 31, 1914, and
December 31, 1915, German or Austro-Eungarian naval
authorities sank without warning thirteen mail ships with mail
bags on board coming from or going to neutral countries with-
out a word of protest from any neutral Government. Exami-
nation of the mails of steamers that called at ports in the allied
countries revealed the fact that in the wrappers, envelopes and
mail were contraband articles much sought after by the enemy.
On the Turbantia were 147% pounds of india rubber and
seven parcels of wool, and on the Medan seven parcels of crude
rubber, worth in Germany on December 15, 1915, twenty-five
marks per kilog. Enemy traffic, driven from the sea, "thus
resorted to hide in mail matter, in order to get through, all
kinds of merchandise, contraband of war included, apparently
by imposing on the post-office department of the neutral
states." 4 Hence the Allied Governments had decided that
merchandise shipped in post parcels "shall not be treated other-
wise than merchandise shipped in any other way"; that the
inviolability of postal correspondence does not affect the right
of the Allied Governments to visit and, if needs be, "arrest and
seize merchandise hidden in wrappers, envelopes or letters con-
Special Supplement to the American Journal of International Law,
Vol. 10, pp. 402-409.

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 269

tained in mail bags" ; and that in future they will refrain from
seizing on the high seas genuine correspondence, letters or dis-
patches and will forward them as quickly as possible after "the
sincerity of their character has been ascertained."

A pamphlet, "The Mails as a German War Weapon," pub-
lished in London some months later, gives some account of what
had been found in the mails. From the first few mails that
were examined over 3,000 packets of raw rubber were seized
on their way to Germany, while the German exports inter-
cepted comprised jewelry, drugs, machine needles, violin
strings, in short, almost every article Germany could afford to
export. When it became known that merchandise sent by letter
mail was not to pass unmolested, resort was had to every sort
of subterfuge. Thus, the wrapping of a package of photographs
when examined was found to contain a bar of pure nickel in
each fluting of the corrugated paper wrapper. Packages de-
scribed as containing photographs in reality contained packed
sheets of dental rubber. In our country parcel post packages
for Germany during two weeks in April, 1915, increased from
115 to 1,200 per day. All sorts of food except meat were in
them. Department stores made special provisions for such
shipments and furnished airtight containers.

Search of the mails on neutral ships voluntarily entering
British waters during the first two months of the censorship
resulted in the seizure of securities to the value of £2,000,000,
and of checks, drafts and money orders for enemy benefit
amounting to well over £50,000,000.

To the memorandum of February 15 the Secretary of State
replied, on May 24, to the French and British ambassadqrs in
notes identical in language. Despite the assurance that they
would refrain from seizing and confiscating on the high seas
genuine correspondence, the Allies, he complained, now seized
and confiscated mail from vessels in port instead of at sea,
or forced "neutral ships without just cause to enter their ports,"
or "induced shipping firms to send their mail" through British
ports, or "they detain all vessels merely calling at their ports,"
remove all mail and post parcels, take them to London, and
there open and critically examine every piece to determine
"the sincerity of their character," and finally forward "the

270 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

expurgated remainder/7 often after irreparable delay, to its
destination. This had been the practice since the announce-
ment of February 15, which seemed to be "merely notice that
one illegal practice had been abandoned to make way for an-
other more onerous and vexatious in character."

"Important papers which can never be duplicated, or can
be duplicated only with great difficulty, such as United States
patents for inventions, rare documents, legal papers relating to
the settlement of estates, powers of attorney, insurance claims,
income tax returns, and similar matter have been lost." Busi-
ness opportunities were lost through failure to transmit
promptly bids, specifications, contracts. Checks, drafts, money
orders, securities, were lost or detained for weeks or months.
In the opinion of the Government of the United States, mail
matter including stocks, bonds, coupons, money orders, checks,
drafts, notes, was to be considered as merchandise and subject
to the same exercise of belligerent rights. But correspondence,
shipping documents, money order lists, and papers when relat-
ing to enemy supplies or exports unless carried on the same ship
with the goods referred to were to be treated as "genuine cor-
respondence." The Government of the United States therefore
"could no longer tolerate the wrongs which citizens of the United
States have suffered." Only a "radical change in the present
British and French policy will satisfy this Government." So
strongly was the censorship resented that when Congress passed
the General Revenue Act of September 8 a provision was in-
serted that whenever, during a war in which the United States
was not engaged, the President is satisfied that in any bellig-
erent country A'merican citizens, ships, firms, companies, or
corporations are not given "any of the facilities of commerce,
including the unhampered traffic in mails which the vessels or
citizens, firms, companies or corporations of that belligerent
country enjoy in the United States or its possessions," he is
authorized to deny the citizens and corporations of such bellig-
erent country the use of the United States mails, telegraph,
wireless or cables.

October 12, the French and British Governments replied in
another memorandum, but conceded none of the contentions
made by Mr. Lansing.

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 271

One of the objects of the examination of the mails stated
in the little pamphlet "The Mails as a German War Weapon,"
was the detection of "plots hatched by our enemies in their own
or in neutral countries." These were revealed by "letters rela-
tive to and furthering the perpetration of acts of violence, in-
cendiarism and sabotage in the United States/' and "letters con-
taining enemy propaganda." f n this latter class was a great
mass of "scurrilous leaflets and pamphlets" dispatched to our
country to be reforwarded to British territory for the purpose
of fostering disloyalty and rebellion in. the Empire. Tons of
such propaganda leaflets and pamphlets found in the mails
were "destroyed each week or sold as paper waste."

Just at the time Mr. Lansing wrote his notes of protest
rumors became current that Germany was about to reopen trade
in much needed articles by means of submarine merchantmen.

From reliable sources, the report said, it is learned that a
regular submarine merchant service is about to be established be-
tween Hamburg and New York, and the first under sea liner
will be due at Quarantine, New York, about July 4. She would
carry mail, parcel post, express matter and perhaps a few pas-
sengers and would be armed for defense but not for attack. An
American shipping man just from Hamburg brought the news.
Nothing more was heard of the boat for a month, when Lloyds
Weekly announced that a German submarine was carrying a
message from the German Emperor to the President. A dis-
patch from Madrid confirmed this rumor and fixed the date of
arrival at New York as June 25. Another from Baltimore
announced that the submarine was off the mouth of Chesapeake
Bay, that she was loaded with dyestuffs and medicine, chiefly
aspirin, and that her return cargo of nickel and rubber was
already awaiting her on the pier of the Eastern Forwarding
Company at Locust Point.

This report was true in substance, but not until July 8 did
the submarine merchantman Deutschland arrive off the Virginia
Capes and make her way to Baltimore, commanded by Captain
Paul Konig. She left Heligoland on June 23, loaded with
dyestuffs, but carrying no money, no securities, no mail, no
guns, and after a run of sixteen days reached port. No sooner
had she come than both the British and French Embassies

272 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

called attention to her presence and asked that her character be
investigated. She was a submarine. No such type of craft
had ever before been used for merchant purposes. Was the
submarine of her size and build to be considered purely an in-
strument of naval warfare ?

,In the opinion of the Allies any submarine was a vessel of
war. She could not be treated as a merchantman. The fact that
she could submerge made it impossible to subject her to the
treatment of merchant ships as required by international law
and so often insisted upon by the United States. She could not
be stopped, visited, searched and the character of her cargo de-
termined.

Who were her real owners was another question to be settled.
Her ship papers showed that the Deutschland was owned by a
Bremen concern, the Deutsche Ozean-Ehederei Gesellschaft mit
Beschraenkter Haftung, that is, the German Ocean Transporta-
tion Company, Limited. Was this really a corporation or only
the German Government in disguise ? What was the status of
her officers and crew ? The Collector at Baltimore reported that
the Deutschland had no guns, was manned by a merchant crew,
carried a merchant cargo, was not a warship. Nevertheless,
the Secretary of the Navy at the request of the Department of
State appointed three naval officers to inspect her. They found
no evidence that the ship was armed or could be armed without
structural changes so extensive that she would have to go to a
ship yard. In short she could not be armed at sea.

England heard the news of the arrival of the Deutschland
with good humor. The press had much to say in compliment to
Captain Kb'nig, but saw <no demonstration of the weakness of
the British blockade. We, said the Manchester Guardian, are
quite ready to join in the laugh at our expense and .applaud the
daring of the Captain who appears to us a good sportsman. We,
said the Express, can honestly congratulate the Captain and .his
crew in having given the world cause to smile. "America is to
be shown, just before the presidential election, that the block-
ade can be broken and a German cargo can be landed in the
United States in spite of the British Navy. We thank the
Kaiser for the comic relief in a busy week." Other journals
did not think the success of the Deutschland showed that the

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 273

blockade was ineffective, but rather that it was so effective that
this extraordinary means was the only way to evade it. The
fact that a German U-boat had really reached our shores we
should carefully consider in view of the repeated warning of
the Tirpitz writers that America was not too far away for Ger-
many to reach her. Though the Deutschland carried no guns,
she was none the less a threat to the American navy.

Dispatches from Berlin told of a second submarine, the
Bremen, about to start for America, and of others nearing com-
pletion, and of a weekly service soon to be established. But the
Bremen never came, nor did the Deutschland leave as soon as
was expected. Supposing her stay would be short, great sums
were offered for passage, and hundreds of letters were mailed
with the request that they be sent by the Deutschland. Neither
requests were granted when on August 1 she left Baltimore
on her voyage home. November 1, she came again, this time
to New London, and after a stay of twenty days departed once
more for Bremen.

The arrival of the Deutschland on her first trip and the de-
cision of the Department of State that she was a merchantman
and should be treated as such brought from the Allies, Great
Britain, France, Portugal, Italy, Russia and Japan, memoranda
identical in language, insisting that submarines were to be
treated as vessels of war.

Application of the principles of international law to sub-
marines, they said, "offers features that are as peculiar as they
are novel" because such craft could navigate and sojourn in the
seas while submerged and so escape detection; because it was
impossible to determine their national character, to know
whether they were neutral or belligerent, and because it was not
possible "to put out of consideration the power to do injury
which is inherent in their very nature." Therefore the Allied
Governments held that submarines should be deprived of the
benefits of the rules of international law "regarding the admis-
sion and sojourn of war and merchant vessels in neutral waters,
roadsteads and harbors." Any submarine of the belligerents
that once enters a neutral harbor must be held there.

"The Allied Governments take this opportunity to warn the
neutral Powers of the great danger to neutral submarines" navi-

274 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

gating their waters visited by the submarines of belligerents.

Our Government expressed its surprise at the seeming at-
tempt of the Allies to make a rule for the treatment of sub-
marines in time of war, and to enforce its acceptance by warn-
ing neutrals of the great danger to their submarines in waters
visited by belligerent submarines. The Government knew of
no circumstances which would render the existing rules of in-
ternational law inapplicable either to war or merchant sub-
marines, and reserved its liberty of action in all respects. That
there might be no misunderstanding as to its attitude the
Government of the United States would say to the Allied
Governments that the belligerent Powers were in duty bound to
distinguish between submarines of neutral and belligerent na-
tionality, and that responsibility for any conflict between bellig-
erent warships and neutral submarines must rest entirely on the
negligent Power.4

The retaliatory section of the General Revenue Act of Sep-
tember 8 was intended to apply to another form of British in-
terference with neutral trade. From the opening of the war
Great Britain under her trading with the enemy act had for-
bidden her subjects to trade with an enemy, but had not at-
tempted to interfere with trade between an enemy resident in
a friendly or neutral country and the land to which he owed
allegiance. On July 18, 1916, however, she went further, made
public a "blacklist" of eighty-three firms and individuals of
enemy nationality or associations, resident in our country, and
forbade British subjects to trade with them under the same
penalties as if trading with the enemy. This prohibition it was
explained applied to German firms with head offices in Ger-
many ; to German firms incorporated in the United States and
technically American ; and those that made use of a secret code
or cloak to cover the fact that they were using the cables in the
interest of the enemy. Mr. Lansing at once instructed Mr.
Page to protest. The "blacklist," he said, had been received
with "the most painful surprise" by the people and Government
of the United States. It seemed to be an arbitrary interference
with neutral trade against which it was the duty of the Govern-

4 Supplement (o the American Journal of International Law, Vol. 10,
October, 1916, pp. 342-344.

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 275

ment "to protest in most decided terms." British steamships
would not accept cargoes from the persons and firms proscribed ;
neutral bankers refused them loans; neutral merchants would
not contract for their goods, fearing a like proscription, and
steamship lines under neutral ownership were given to under-
stand that if they accepted freight from the "blacklisted," coal
could not be had at British ports and they might themselves be
put on the list. Among the proscribed were American firms, im-
porters of foreign products or distributors in foreign lands of
Ajnerican products. These foreign connections, fostered dur-
ing many years, when once broken, could not easily be resumed.
All such citizens of the United States, the Government begged
to remind the Government of His Britannic Majesty, were
quite within their rights in trading with the people of any of
the nations now at war, subject to the well-known and well-de-
fined rules of international law. For breaches of blockade when
the blockade is real and effective, for every unneutral act by
whomsoever attempted there were well-established remedies and
penalties, which the Government of the United States could
not consent to see altered or extended at the will of a single
Power or group of Powers. That neutrals must not be con-
demned, nor their goods confiscated, save on fair adjudication
and full opportunity to be heard in prize court or elsewhere, was
a just and honorable principle accepted by all civilized nations
as a safeguard of the rights of neutrals. This the blacklist
brushed aside. It condemned without notice, without hearing
and in advance. Manifestly the United States could not ac-
quiesce in » such methods of punishment of its citizens. The
Government of the United States had no intention, no inclina-
tion to shield its citizens from the just consequences of unneu-
tral acts. It was quite willing they should suffer the penalties
which international law has sanctioned. But His Britannic
Majesty's Government could not expect the Government of the
United States to consent to see its citizens put upon an ex parte
blacklist without calling attention in the gravest terms to the
serious consequences such an act must entail.

In course of time the names of seven firms were removed
from the blacklist; but vessels were blacklisted and British sub-

276 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

jects forbidden to furnish, them with bunker coal or handle the
goods they transported.

October 10, 1916, the British Goverment made a long reply.

"The trading with the enemy (extension of powers) act,
1915," Viscount Grey said, "is a piece of purely municipal leg-
islation which provides that His Majesty, by proclamation, may
prohibit persons in the United Kingdom from trading with any
persons in foreign countries who might be named in that procla-
mation or subsequent order. That is all." The Government
neither attempted nor claimed to lay penalties on neutral in-
dividuals or neutral commerce. The measure simply bade those
owing allegiance to Great Britain to cease trading with persons
found to be assisting or rendering service to the enemy. "Neither
the rights nor property of the persons specified is interfered
with, condemned or confiscated; they are as free as before to
carry on their business." The right of the Government to pro-
hibit British subjects to trade with such firms as it saw fit was
held to be beyond dispute. The measure in question was justi-
fied as a military necessity. The modern means of transport
and communication, opening new, easy methods for an enemy
subject residing in a neutral country to render aid to his
Government, was cited as another justifying reason. That
German business houses in foreign lands had been not merely
agents active in spreading espionage was common knowledge.
They had been used as bases to supply German cruisers, they
were paymasters of miscreants hired "to destroy by foul means
factories engaged in making, or ships engaged in carrying, sup-
plies required by the Allies. Such operations have been carried
out even in the territory of the United States itself," and His
Majesty's Government was bound to say "that no adequate ac-
tion has yet been taken by the Government of the United States
to suppress breaches of neutrality of this particularly criminal
kind." And so the matter stood when we entered the war.

By this time another German submarine, the U-53, fully
armed with torpedoes and guns, suddenly appeared off New-
port, stayed a few hours and put to sea. From Newport she
made her way to a point some sixty miles south of the Nan-
tucket Lightship, directly in the route of European trade, and
there lay in wait for her victims. She did not wait long, for at

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 277

about half -past five in the morning of October 8 the American
steamer Kansan was stopped, but allowed to proceed. Half
an hour later the Strathdene was met, torpedoed and sunk.
Then came in succession the British freighter, West Point, the
Stephana, the Dutch steamer Bloomersdijk and the Norwegian
tanker Christian Knudsen. Meantime the distress call from the
West Point, sunk about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, was
picked up by the radio station at Newport, and fifteen American
torpedo boat destroyers were at once dispatched to search for
the boats of the torpedoed ships, and bring back the crews and
passengers. All were landed in safety. For a time men en-
gaged in the shipping business were panic-stricken. Ships un-
der the flags of the Allies were held in port, anxiety was felt
for the safety of vessels nearing port, and warnings by wireless
were sent out from every available station along the coast. Wild
rumors were current. Some said there were three submarines,
others two, others that a "mother-boat" had been seen and had
undoubtedly accompanied U-53, carrying her supplies. Ques-
tions of law and policy were raised. Germany it was said has
now practically established a blockade of our ports. Will the
United States quietly tolerate this bringing of the European
war to its very shores ? Were the United States Naval authori-
ties acting lawfully when they sent destroyers to save the pas-
sengers and crews ? The act was humane but was it not aiding
and assisting the submarine in its work of destruction and to
that extent unneutral? What was the object of Germany in
sending the U-53 to cruise off our coast? The French press
declared it was to intimidate public opinion on the eve of the
election.

The story of some fishermen and of the Captain of the
Stephana that they had seen two submarines was supported by
the Providence Journal, which gave a new explanation of the
visit of the U-53.

"The Providence Journal," it said, "has information se-
cured direct from German Embassy sources which conclusively
settles the controversy as to the real reasons why the German
submarine U-53 crossed the Atlantic and entered Newport
Harbor. The entire scheme was originated and supervised by
Captain Boy-Ed, late naval attache to the United States, who

278 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

from his headquarters in Subec, where he still is, has directed
every move that has been made or is yet to be made by German
submarines off the coast of the United States."

The report, the Journal said, that there were more than one
submarine, was true. The U-53 had as consorts U-48, com-
manded by Captain L. Michaelis, and U-61, in charge of Lieu-
tenant Commander H. Griefen. In proof of the part taken by
Boy-Ed, the Journal gave an extract from a letter written by
him September 4, to an official in the German Embassy. He
said:

"It is vitally necessary for us to establish some proper work-
ing basis which will be satisfactory to the President, and in or-
der to do that we must create a condition which will necessitate
a ruling.

"Any thought of our being permitted to use our submarines
to bring captured vessels into American ports as prizes must, of
course, be abandoned when we think of the Appam case. Con-
fronted by such an obstacle at one end, we are also forced to the
conclusion that we cannot at this moment, 'while domestic events
are pending in America/ sink such vessels without taking ac-
count of human life. In order to ascertain where we stand, we
must, therefore, force the issue and see to what extent America
is willing to carry out her alleged humanitarian ideals by help-
ing us to save the lives of those whose ships we destroy in the
coming campaign in the Western Atlantic."

Thus, said the Journal,, "the sole motive was to bring to
the spot, as a result of S.O.S. calls, whatever vessels of the
United States Navy might be in the neighborhood, and on their
arrival to ask the question, how far American men-of-war would
aid the plans of the submarine commanders by saving the lives
of the passengers and crews of the doomed vessels."

At a conference held on Monday, October 9, at the German
Embassy, the Journal asserted, Ambassador von Bernstorff said
that at last a working basis had been established for submarine
activities on this side of the Atlantic. "We now have a prece-
dent which makes it certain that American vessels of war will
not hesitate to save the lives of passengers and crews of ships
that are destroyed by submarines, and as long as the physical
conditions of submarines are what they are, we are very glad,

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 279

not desiring to destroy noncombatant life, to hand the humani-
tarian work of saving men and women over to the United States
Navy." 5

The same newspapers which announced the arrival of the
DeutsMand at New London made public a dispatch from the
American consul at Queenstown stating that the British steamer
Marina had been torpedoed without warning, off the southwest
coast of Ireland, and that six of the fifty-two Americans aboard
were drowned. Testimony given to the consul by survivors
was to the effect that the ship was struck by two torpedoes, that
no warning was given and that she sank in eighteen minutes.
The consul also reported that on October 26 the British steamer
Rowanmore with Americans aboard was torpedoed. A few
days later the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Arabia with one American aboard was sunk by a submarine in
the Mediterranean off Malta. Then came news of the sinking
off the Spanish coast in the Mediterranean of the American
steamer Columbian. The captain, sitting in his cabin, heard the
sound of guns, and, rushing on deck, saw a shell fly across his
vessel and a submarine some four miles away. Crawing near,
she signaled for him to follow, which he did all night, guided
by rockets sent up from his captor, and answered under orders
by rockets from the Columbian. At six o'clock in the morning
he manned a boat and sent it to the submarine to explain that
the Columbian was American-owned; but no explanation was
allowed and the boat came back with a German officer and two
sailors. The crew were then ordered on board the Bolo, another
prize standing by, and the captain was taken to the U-boat.
Bombs were then placed on the Columbian and in about twelve
minutes they exploded and she sank. All hands remained
aboard the Bolo, until a Swedish steamer, the Varing, was met
and captured, when they were transferred to her and the Bolo
sunk. A Norwegian steamship, the Fordalen, was the next
prize. Her crew was sent to the Varing and the Fordalen was
sunk. Food growing scarce, the Varing was allowed to enter
Corunna.

As soon as the election was over the Department of State
instructed our charge at Berlin — Mr. Gerard was then in the

6 Providence Journal, October 24, 1916.

280 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

United States — to make inquiries of the German Government
concerning the sinking of the Marina, Rowanmore, and Arabia,
for all signs seemed to indicate that the submarine commanders
had failed to observe the pledge given the United States. A dis-
patch from Berlin in November announced that a large vessel
was sunk eighty miles west of Malta and justified the act be-
cause she carried a 15 centimeter gun, was transporting hun-
dreds of workmen and war material to France, and if Great
Britain permitted passengers to travel on such a ship, "the lives
of noncombatants were frivolously risked." In the case of the
Marina, great stress, it was said, would be laid by Germany on
the fact that she was armed and therefore liable to attack with-
out warning. Feeling in Germany was running strongly in
favor of the renewal of ruthless submarine warfare. Armed
merchantmen, it was insisted, should be attacked at sight, with-
out warning, and without allowing time for passengers and crew
to take to the boats.

Mr. Lansing denied all knowledge of any such intention on
the part of Germany. "I do not know," he said, athe origin
of the stories that the submarine situation is serious, but I have
the impression that they are emanating from some source in this
country." What source he declined to specify.

And now a dispatch from our consul at Valencia reported
the sinking of the American steamer Chemung near Cape de
Gata in the Mediterranean Sea off the southeast coast of Spain,
by gun fire and torpedoes from a submarine. No lives were
lost, as the boats were towed to within five miles of the coast
by the submarine.

December 4 the Italian steamer Palermo, on her way from
New York to Geneva with horses and mules, was torpedoed off
the Mediterranean Coast of Spain. On board were some twenty-
five Americans.

The German note on the Arabia, now made public, gave as
the reason for sinking her the belief that she was a transport.
November 6, one hundred miles west of the island of Corigo, a
German submarine, said the note, fell in with a large steamship
coming from the Corigo Straits. She was painted black, and
did not, as was usual with the Peninsula and Oriental steamers,

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 281

have light-colored superstructures. Though identical with the
Arabia, she was off the route taken by steamers between Port
Said and Malta, and on that taken by vessels of war. On board
were "large batches of Chinese and other colored persons in
their national costumes." Supposing them to be workmen
soldiers, "such as are used in great numbers behind the front
by the enemies of Germany, the submarine commander believed
he was concerned with a transport ship, and "attacked without
delay and sank her."

Should the United States give the data showing that the
Arabia was an ordinary passenger steamer, the action of the sub-
marine commander would not then be in accordance with his
instructions. The act would be a regrettable mistake "from
which the German Government would promptly draw the ap-
propriate consequences."

The British Government, when informed of this reply and
asked for the facts, answered that the Arabia was not, when
sunk, and never had been, in the service of the Government ; that
there were no Asiatics on board save the Indian crew ; and that
she did not take the usual route, for fear of submarines. The
Marina, Germany said, was also supposed to be a transport.
Great Britain admitted that she had carried horses on her
eastbound trip, but declared she was not in the Government
service on her westbound trip. The Columbian had been tor-
pedoed because of assistance given to the enemy by wireless.
Quite as useless was another protest called forth by another act
of German brutality in Belgium.

As October wore away letters and press dispatches from
Amsterdam and London told of a new reign of terror in Bel-
gium, a new form of German atrocity. Having destroyed Bel-
gian industry by carrying off machinery of every sort, having
seized all raw materials and having by such seizures deprived
tens of thousands of men of the means of earning a living and
forced them to become a public charge, the German authorities
in the military area of Flanders now proceeded to seize the
workmen because they were idle and send them to "somewhere
in Germany" and October 3 posted a decree in every town a,nd
village in the area subject to army orders.

282 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

DECREE CONCERNING THE LIMITING OF THE BURDENS ON PUBLIC CHARITY

I. People able to work may be compelled to work even outside
the place where they live, in case they have to apply to the charity
of others for the support of themselves or their dependents on account
of gambling, drunkenness, loafing, unemployment, or idleness.

II. Every inhabitant of the country is bound to render assistance
in case of accident or general danger, and also to give help in case
of public calamities as far as he can, even outside the place where
he lives ; in case of refusal he may be compelled by force.

III. Any one called upon to work, under Articles I o,r II, who
shall refuse the work, or to continue at the work assigned him, will
incur the penalty of imprisonment up to three years and of a fine up
to 10,000 marks, or one or other of these penalties, unless a severer
penalty is provided for by the laws in force.

If the refusal to work has been made in concert or in agreement
with several persons, each accomplice will be sentenced, as if he were
a ringleader, to at least a week's imprisonment.

IY. The German military authorities and Military Courts will
enforce the proper execution of this decree.

The Quartermaster General, SAUBERZWEIG.

Great Headquarters, October 2, 1916.

Notices which followed the decree gave warning to all con-
cerned to come at a certain day and hour to a certain place with
a kit containing specified articles. Municipal authorities who
alone had the lists of names of persons receiving public aid
were ordered to furnish them to the Military Authorities. In
general this was refused and the town heavily fined. Thus the
Municipal Council of Tournai, having refused to furnish a list,
felt it a duty to place on record the following :

The City of Tournai is prepared to submit unreservedly to all the
exigencies authorized by the laws and customs of war. Its sincerity
cannot be questioned. For more than two years it has submitted to
the German occupation, during which time it has lodged and lived
at close quarters with the German troops, yet it has displayed perfect
composure and has refrained from any act of hostility, proving thereby
that it is animated by no idle spirit of bravado.

But the city could not bring itself to provide arms for use against
its own children, knowing well that natural law and the law of
nations (which is the expression of natural law) both forbid such
action.

In his declaration dated September 2, 1914, the German Governor

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 283

General of Belgium declared: "I ask none to renounce his patriotic
sentiments."

The city of Tournai reposes confidence in this declaration, which
it is bound to consider as the sentiment of the German Emperor,
in whose name the Governor General was speaking. In accepting
the inspiration of honor and patriotism, the city is loyal to a funda-
mental duty, the loftiness of which must be apparent to any German
officer.

The city is confident that the straightforwardness and clearness
of this attitude will prevent any misunderstanding arising between
itself and the German Army.

Major General Hopfer replied:

In permitting itself, through the medium of municipal resolu-
tions, to oppose the orders of the German military authorities in the
occupied territory, the city is guilty of an unexampled arrogance
and of a complete misunderstanding of the situation created by the
state of war.

The "clear and simple situation" is in reality the following :

The military authorities order the city to obey. Otherwise the
city must bear the heavy consequences, as I have pointed out in my
previous explanations.

The General Commanding the Army has inflicted on the city — on
account of its refusal, up to date, to furnish the lists demanded — a
punitive contribution of 200,000 marks, which must be paid within
the next six days, beginning with to-day. The General also adds
that until such time as all the lists demanded are in his hands, for
every day in arrears, beginning with December 31, 1916, a sum of
20,000 marks will be paid by the city.8

Reports from Ghent, Bruges, Courtnai, Tournai and Ant-
werp told of the seizure of men. Five thousand, it was said, had
been deported from Ghent and 15,000 from the country. A
week later the number deported was said to have reached
30,000. Refugees from around Antwerp who broke through
the barbed wire obstructions along the Dutch border, and es-
caped, reported that on short notice all males from 17 to 30
had been summoned, grouped in bands of sixty, herded into
open goods cars and cattle cars and sent to Germany. Wives,
children, relatives were not allowed to come within three hun-
dred yards of the station.

"German War Practices, issued by the Committee on Public Informa-
tion, Nov. 15, 1917, p. 58, 59.

284 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

What happened at Mons is thus described by an eye witness:

"At half-past five, in the gray of the morning on the eighteenth
of November, they walked out, six thousand two hundred men at
Mons, myself and another leading them down the cobblestones of
the street and out where rioting would be less than in the great
city, with the soldiers on each side, with bayonets fixed, with the
women held back.

"There they were collected ; no question of who they were, whether
they were busy or what they were doing, or what their position in
life. 'Go to the right! Go to the left! Go to the right!' So they
were turned to the one side or the other.

"Trains were standing there ready, steaming, to take them to
Germany. You saw on the one side the one brother taken, the other
brother left. A hasty embrace and they were separated and gone.
You had here a man on his knees before a German officer, pleading and
begging to take his old father's place; that was all. The father went
and the son stayed. They were packed in those trains that were wait-
ing there." 7

The Belgian women now appealed to Minister Whitlock:

"Mr. Minister/7 they said, "the crime which is now being
committed under your eyes, the deportation of thousands of men
compelled to work on enemy soil against the interests of their
country, cannot find a shadow of excuse on the ground of mili-
tary necessity; it cannot be admitted that citizens may be com-
pelled to work directly or indirectly for the enemy against their
brothers who are fighting. Nevertheless the occupying power
will force thousands of men to this monstrous extremity, both
those wha have already been taken to Germany and those who
to-morrow will undergo the same fate, if from the outside, from
neutral Europe and the United States, no help is offered.

"Those who are taken away to-day do not go to perform a
glorious duty. They are slaves in chains who, in a dark exile,
threatened by hunger, prison, death, will be called upon to per-
form the most odious work — service to the enemy against the
fatherland. The mothers cannot stand by while such an
abomination is taking place without making their voices heard
in protest. We extend our hands to you and address to your
country a last appeal.

7 John H. Gade, in The National Geographic Magazine, May, 1917.

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 285

"Only the united will of the neutral peoples energetically ex-
pressed can counterbalance that of the German authorities." 8
And now Belgium, through her Minister at Washington, pro-
tested to Secretary Lansing. The German Governor General,
he said, is forcing thousands of Belgian workmen to go to Ger-
many to work in quarries in the manufacture of concrete, and
in lime kilns, under the pretext that they are a charge upon
public charity. This he protested was contrary to the law of
nations and inhuman, and in the name of the King of the Bel-
gians asked that the United States intervene to procure the
stoppage of deportations, and obtain the liberation of those de-
ported. Germany's statement that they were not used in war
industries was false, for they were used in work directly con-
nected with war and released Germans who were sent to the
front to fight. A week later the Minister again protested. The
situation in Belgium was daily growing worse. The "slave raid-
ing" was going on over all the country. When not put to work
in German ammunition factories, the men were sent to northern
France to dig trenches or build strategic railroads. On Novem-
ber 24 two hundred textile workers were deported from Ghent.
By the first of December the number of those deported was
given at 200,000, and men up to fifty-five years of age were then
being taken.

Our charge, Mr. Grew, meanwhile had been instructed to
protest informally, and in the course of a conversation with the
Under Secretary of State was handed this memorandum:

"Against the unemployed in Belgium, who are a burden to
public charity, in order to avoid friction arising therefrom,
compulsory measures are to be adopted to make them work so
far as they are not voluntarily inclined to work, in accordance
with the regulation issued May 15, 1916, by the Governor Gen-
eral. Jn order to ascertain such persons the assistance of the
municipal authorities is required for the district of the Governor
General in Brussels, while in the districts outside of the Gen-
eral Government, i.e., in the provinces of Flanders, lists were
demanded from the presidents of the local relief committees
containing the names of persons receiving relief. For the sake
of establishing uniform procedure the competent authorities

German War Practices, pp. 71, 72.

286 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

have, in the meantime, been instructed to make the necessary
investigations regarding such persons also in Flanders through
the municipal authorities; furthermore, presidents of local re-
lief committees who may be detained for having refused to
furnish such lists will be released."

Mr. Grew then discussed with the Under Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs the unfortunate impression which this de-
cision would make abroad, reminded him that the measures
were contrary to the assurances given to the Ambassador by the
Chancellor at General Headquarters, dwelt on the effect which
the policy might have on England's attitude towards relief
work in Belgium, and said that the measures having been
promulgated solely by the military government in Belgium, he
thought the matter ought at least to be brought to the Chancel-
lor's personal attention because of the consequences the new
policy would entail. Herr Zimmermann did not think that the
Foreign Office had any influence with the military authorities ;
did not believe that the new policy in Belgium could be revoked ;
but did not disapprove of Mr. Grew seeing the Chancellor
about the matter.

To the Chancellor, when seen, Mr. Grew suggested that:
Only actual unemployed be taken; that married men or heads
of families be not taken ; that employees of the Comite Na-
tional be not taken ; that the lists of the unemployed be not re-
quired of the Belgian authorities; that Belgians, who had al-
ready been imprisoned for refusing to supply these lists, be re-
leased; that deported persons be permitted to correspond with
their families in Belgium ; and that places of work or concentra-
tion camps of deported persons be opened by the German Gov-
ernment to inspection by neutral representatives.

The Chancellor, through his adjutant, replied informally
and orally that only actually unemployed were to be taken,
and the selections would be made in a careful and deliberate
manner; that married men or heads of families could not in
principle be exempted, but each case would be considered care-
fully on its merits ; that employees of the Comite National were
regarded as actually employed and therefore exempt; that it
was essential that the Belgian authorities should cooperate with
the German authorities in furnishing lists of unemployed, in

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 287

order to avoid making mistakes ; that only one Belgian had been
imprisoned for refusing to give such lists, and orders had now
been given for his release ; that deported persons would be per-
mitted to correspond with their families in Belgium ; that places
of work and concentration camps would in principle be open
to inspection by Spanish diplomatic representatives; and that
American inpection might also be informally arranged if de-
sired.

Failing in this informal way to produce effect, a formal note
was drafted by Mr. Grew and duly presented December 5, 1916.

The Government of the United States, it set forth, has
learned with the greatest concern and regret of "the policy of
the German Government to deport from Belgium a portion of
the civilian population for the purpose of forcing them to labor
in Germany and is constrained to protest in a friendly spirit
but most solemnly against this action." It was contrary to all
precedent and against "those humane principles of international
practice which have long been accepted and followed by civilized
nations in their treatment of noncombatants in conquered ter-
ritory." If carried out it would ain all probability be fatal to
Belgian relief work so humanely planned and so successfully
carried out."

To this it was answered by Germany that in Belgium the
number of unemployed had become a matter for serious con-
sideration, because the British policy of exclusion had cut off
raw materials, closed the factories, brought Belgian industries
to a stand, thrown out of employment upwards of 1,200,000
Belgians, and made them dependent on public relief. Under
such conditions the Governor General of Brussels on March
15, 1016, issued an order imposing imprisonment or coercive
labor upon persons depending on the public for relief and re-
fusing to do work according to their abilities. To find work for
all such in Belgium was not possible. Nothing therefore was
left to do but assign them to work in Germany. These measures
were strictly in accord with international law, and had been car-
ried out "with all possible consideration and without harsh-
ness."

At an indignation meeting in New York it was resolved that
"we American citizens in public meeting" express abhorrence

288 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of the "fresh outrages and violations of the laws of war, the
law of nations, and the instincts of common humanity de-
liberately perpetrated by the German Government," and the
Government was called on "to protest with all its force and
earnestness against these outrages."

The statement by Germany that the British blockade was
solely responsible for the shortage of raw material was false.
At the very outset of the war Dr. Walter Rathenau, in August,
1914, suggested a plan for the conservation of the economic
resources of Germany, and for the acquisition of the needed raw
material by purchase in neutral countries and by seizure in the
countries to be conquered. To put this plan in operation a new
bureau with 36 subdivisions was created, and placed in charge
of the Minister of War, and on the day the Germans entered
Belgium the bureau began its work in that unhappy country. In
obedience to 66 decrees issued in the course of two years, Bel-
gium was stripped bare of machines and machine tools, of lathes,
wool and linen, cotton, jute and thread, rubber, mineral and
chemical products, locomotives and automobiles, horses, cattle,
hides, fats and oils, of almost everything the people possessed.
Why this was done was made clear in a speech by Herr Beumer
in the Prussian Diet about the time of the great "slave raids."

"Anybody," said he, "who knows the present state of things
in Belgian industry will agree with me that it must take at
least some years — assuming that Belgium is independent at all
— before Belgium can ever think of competing with us in the
world market. And anybody who has traveled as I have done,
through the occupied districts of France, will agree with me
that so much damage has been done to industrial property that
no one need be a prophet in order to say that it will take more
than ten years before we need think of France as a competitor
or of the reestablishment of French industry." 8

Protests produced no effect whatever, and on January 17,
1917, Mr. Brand Whitlock in a long report to the Department
of State said:

"The deportations began in October in the Etape, at Ghent,
and at Bruges, as my brief telegrams indicated. The policy
spread; the rich industrial districts of Hainaut, the mines and

8 "War Cyclopedia," p. 33.

PLOTS AND CRIMES ON SEA AND LAND 289

steel works about Charleroi were next attacked; now they are
seizing men in Brabant, even in Brussels, despite some indica-
tions and even predictions of the civil authorities that the policy
was about to be abandoned.

"During the last fortnight men have been impressed here in
Brussels, but their seizures here are made evidently with much
greater care than in the provinces, with more regard for the
appearances. There was no public announcement of the inten-
tion to deport, but suddenly about ten days ago certain men in
towns whose names are on the list of chomeurs received sum-
mons notifying them to report at one of the railway stations
on a given day; penalties were fixed for failure to respond to
the summons, and there was printed on the card an offer of
employment by the German Government, either in Germany or
Belgium. On the first day out of about 1,500 men ordered to
present themselves at the Gare du Midi about 750 responded.
These were examined by German physicians and 300 were
taken. There was no disorder, a large force of mounted Uhlans
keeping back the crowds and barring access to the station to all
but those who had been summoned to appear. The Commission
for Relief in Belgium had secured permission to give to each
deported man a loaf of bread, and some of the communes pro-
vided warm clothing for those who had none and in addition a
small financial allowance. As by one of the ironies of life the
winter has been more excessively cold than Belgium has ever
known it, and while many of those who presented themselves
were adequately protected against the cold, many of them were
without overcoats. The men shivering from cold and fear, the
parting from weeping wives and children, the barriers of brutal
Uhlans, all this made the scene a pitiable and distressing one.

"It was understood that the seizures would continue here in
Brussels, but 01^ Thursday last, a bitter cold day, those that had
been convoked were sent home without examination. It is sup-
posed that the severe weather has moved the Germans to post-
pone the deportations." 9

•German War Practices, p. 55, 56.

The etapes were the parts of Belgium under martial law. and included
the province of western Flanders, part of eastern Flanders, and the
region of Tournai. The remainder of the occupied part of Belgium was
under civil government.

CHAPTEK XI

THE PEACE NOTES

TUESDAY, the twelfth of December, 1916, was a day long
to be remembered in Berlin, for on that day the Keichstag had
assembled in special session to hear peace proposals, made by
the Emperor to the Allies. Every member of that body, those
at home and those in the trenches, had been summoned, for the
meeting, it was said, would be "the most remarkable since the
outbreak of the war and of world-wide historical importance."

The Chancellor began his speech in a boastful vein, telling
how Roumania had entered the war to roll up the German army
in the east; how the Allies on the Somme had sought to pierce
the German line ; how the Italians had attempted to crush Aus-
tria-Hungary; how, with God's help, the western front still
stood, and in spite of the Roumanian campaign was stronger
in men and material than ever before; how, "while on the
Somme and on the Corso the drumfire resounded, while the
Russians launched troops against the eastern frontier of
Transylvania/7 von Hindenburg captured the whole of western
Wallachia and the capital of Bucharest; and how great stores
of grain, food, oil, had fallen into German hands in Roumania
and had put the abundance of their own supplies beyond ques-
tion.

He told how on the sea the submarine had brought to the
Allies the specter of famine they had intended should appear
before Germany; and how the Reichstag by "the national
auxiliary war service law" had built up "a new offensive and
defensive bulwark in the midst of the great struggle." Behind
the fighting army stood the nation at work. The Empire was
not, as its enemies fondly imagined, a besieged fortress, but
"one gigantic and firmly disciplined camp with inexhaustible
resources."

The enemies of Germany, he said, had accused her of seek-

290

THE PEACE NOTES 291

ing to conquer the whole world. Unmoved by these accusations
she had gone on always ready to fight for her existence, her
free future, always ready "for this prize to stretch out her hand
for peace." Therefore, moved by "a deep moral and religious
sense of duty towards his nation, and, beyond it, towards hu-
manity, the Emperor now considers that the moment has come
for official action," and had decided to propose to the Allied
Powers "to enter into peace negotiations." He had that morn-
ing transmitted to all the hostile Powers "a note to this effect."

The Chancellor then read the note and continued, "To-day
we raise the question of peace, which is a question of humanity."

While the Chancellor was speaking, the Emperor announced
to the army and navy that "in agreement with the sovereigns
of my allies and the consciousness of victory, I have made an
offer of peace to the enemy. Whether it will be accepted is still
uncertain. Until that moment arrives you will fight on."

The note was to be transmitted to Serbia by the Netherlands
Minister ; to Italy, Belgium, and Portugal by the Swiss Minis-
ter, and to Great Britain and France by our Ambassadors at
London and Paris.

On receipt of official copies at Washington it was proposed
to send with the note an appeal to consider the peace proposal
favorably and hold a conference; but a wiser course was taken
and the note was formally delivered by Ambassador Page in
London and Ambassador Sharp in Paris without comment.

"Our aims," said Germany and her allies in their joint
note, "are not to shatter nor annihilate our adversaries. In
spite of our consciousness of our military and economic strength
and our readiness to continue the war (which has been forced
upon us) to the bitter end, if necessary, at the same time,
prompted by the desire to avoid further bloodshed and make an
end to the atrocities of war, the four allied Powers propose to
enter forthwith into peace negotiations."

The four allied Powers had been forced to take arms in de-
fense of "justice and the liberty of national evolution." Ger-
many and her allies, "Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey,"
had "given proof of their unconquerable strength in this strug-
gle." They had gained "gigantic advantages over adversaries
superior in number and war material." Their lines stood un-

292 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

shaken. The last attack in the Balkans had heen victoriously

•

overcome. The resistance of their forces could not be over-
come, and the whole situation justified their "expectation of
further successes."

"If in spite of this offer of peace," the war went on, they
were resolved to fight to a victorious end.

Russia, the first to answer the German note, declared in
resolutions adopted by the Duma, that she favored a flat refusal,
by the Allies, to "enter into any peace negotiations whatever."
To her the proposal of Germany was a new proof of the weak-
ness of the enemy and "a hypocritical act from which the enemy
expects no real success."

France made her answer on the field of battle, where De-
cember 15, 1916, she won another great victory before Verdun,
drove back the German lines, captured some 11,000 prisoners,
reoccupied almost all the ground lost since February, and dis-
proved the claim of the Chancellor that the western line stood
unshaken.

In England a change of ministry had just taken place ; Mr.
Asquith had retired; Lloyd George on December 7 had kissed
the King's hand and become Prime Minister, and as such on
December 19 made his speech in Parliament outlining his
policy. In the course of it he said :

There has been some talk about proposals of peace. What are
the proposals? There are none. To enter, on the invitation of
Germany, proclaiming herself victorious, without any knowledge of
the proposals she proposes to make, into a conference is to put our
heads into a noose with the rope end in the hands of Germany. . . .

We feel we ought to know, before we can give favorable consid-
eration to such an invitation, that Germany is prepared to accede
to the only terms on which it is possible for peace to be obtained
and maintained in Europe. What are these terms? [In the words
of his right honorable friend they wej-e,] "Kestitution, reparation,
guarantee against repetition."

President Wilson, meantime, without any knowledge of
what the Kaiser was about to do, had it in mind to appeal to
the belligerents to state what they were fighting for, in the hope
that their statements of their objects might become the basis
of peace. He now wrote the note, and on December 18 sent it

THE PEACE NOTES 2Q3

to the warring Powers. Our diplomatic representatives to
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria were to say :

The suggestion which I am instructed to make the President has
long had it in mind to offer. He is somewhat embarrassed to offer
it at this particular time because it may now seem to have been
prompted by a desire to play a part in connection with the recent
overtures of the Central Powers. It has, in fact, been in no way
suggested by them in its origin, and the President would have
delayed offering it until those overtures had been independently
answered but for the fact that it also contains the question of peace
and may best be considered in connection with other proposals which
have the same end in view. The President can only beg that his
suggestion be considered entirely on its own merits and as if it had
been made in other circumstances.

In the notes to the Allies this paragraph was replaced by
one identical in substance but not quite the same in words.
With this exception all the notes were alike.

The President suggests that an early occasion be sought to call
out from all the nations now at war such an avowal of their respective
views as to the terms upon which the war might be concluded and
the arrangements which would be deemed satisfactory as a guarantee
against its renewal or the kindling of any similar conflict in the
future as would make it possible frankly to compare them.

By what particular means this should be brought about the
President cared not. Any means would be acceptable to him if
only the great object he had in mind was accomplished. The
belligerents on both sides he believed had virtually the same
objects in mind. Each side desired to make the rights of weak
peoples and small states as safe against aggression in the future
as were the rights of the great and powerful states then at war.
Each side was opposed to the formation of more rival leagues to
preserve an uncertain balance of power. Each was ready to
consider a league of nations to insure the peace of the world.
But the issues of the present war must first be settled on such
terms as would safeguard the independence, the territorial in-
tegrity and the political and commercial freedom of nations in-
volved.

"In the measures to be taken to secure the future peace of
the world the people and Government of the United States are as

294 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

vitally and as directly interested as the Governments now at
war." They were ready and eager to cooperate in accomplish-
ing these ends when the war was over. "But the war must first
he concluded." Therefore the President felt "justified in sug-
gesting an immediate opportunity for a comparison of views as
to the terms which must precede those ultimate arrangements
for the peace of the world" which all desired.

If the contest must continue to proceed towards undefined ends
by slow attrition until one group of belligerents or 'the other is
exhausted; if million after million of human lives must continue to
be offered up until on the one side or the .other 'there are no more
to offer; if resentments must be kindled that can never cool and
despairs engendered from which there can be no recovery, hopes of
peace and of the willing concert of free peoples will be rendered vain
and idle.

Every part of the great family of mankind had felt the
burden and terror of the war, "and yet the concrete object for
which it is being waged has never been definitely stated."

"The leaders of the several belligerents" had "stated those
objects in general terms," and stated in such terms they seemed
to be the same on both sides. But never yet had "the authorita-
tive spokesmen of either side" stated precisely what would sat-
isfy them. The world had been "left to conjecture what definite
results, what actual exchange of guarantees, what political or
territorial changes or readjustments, what stage of military suc-
cesses even, would bring the war to an end." He was not pro-
posing peace, nor offering mediation, but suggesting that sound-
ings be taken that neutral and warring nations might know
"how near the haven of peace may be."

What caused the President to make his unexpected move
was, however, a matter of speculation. This Mr. Lansing sought
to explain by a statement, that it was "not our material inter-
est we had in mind when the note was sent, but more and more
our own rights are becoming involved by the belligerents on
both sides, so that the situation is becoming increasingly critical.

"I mean by that that we are drawing nearer the verge of
war ourselves, and, therefore, we are entitled to know exactly
what each belligerent seeks in order that we may negotiate our
conduct in the future."

THE PEACE NOTES 295

No nation has been sounded. ~No consideration of the
German overtures, or the speech of Lloyd George, was taken
into account. The only effect of the overtures was to delay it a
few days. "The sending of this note will indicate the possi-
bility of our being forced into the war. That possibility ought
to serve as a restraining and sobering force safeguarding
American rights. It may also serve to force an earlier conclu-
sion of the war. Neither the President nor myself regards this
note as a peace note."

Stocks, which began to decline as soon as the German pro-
posal was known, now fell sharply, and hearing of this and that
a belief existed that the President had acted because the country
was about to be drawn into the war, Mr. Lansing later in the
day made a new statement. He had, he said, been misunder-
stood. "My intention was to suggest the very direct and nec-
essary interest which this country as one of the neutral nations
has in the possible terms which the belligerents may have in
mind, and I did not intend to intimate that the Government was
considering any change in its policy of neutrality, which it has
consistently pursued in the face of constantly increasing difficul-
ties."

Not until December thirtieth was the reply of the Entente
Powers to the German peace note handed to our Ambassador at
Paris, and not until January 4, 1917, was it delivered to Ger-
many by our Ambassador at Berlin.

The Allied Governments, Belgium, France, Great Britain,
Italy, Japan, Montenegro, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, and
Serbia, faithful to their pledges "not to lay down their arms
separately," had "resolved to reply collectively to the pre-
tended proposals of peace." They protested against two asser-
tions in the note, against that which attempted to throw on the
Entente Powers the responsibility for the war, and against that
which proclaimed the victory of the Central Powers. The Al-
lied Powers had sustained for thirty months a war they did
everything possible to avoid. Their attachment to peace was
still as strong as in 1914, but it was "not upon the word of
Germany, after the violation of its engagements, that the peace
broken by her may be based."

"A mere suggestion, without a statement of terms, that

296 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

negotiations should be opened, is not an offer of peace." It was
a sham proposal. It lacked all substance and precision. It was
"less an offer of peace than a war maneuver." It was nothing
more than an attempt to end the war "by imposing a German
peace"; an effort to stiffen public opinion in Germany and in
countries allied to her, countries sorely "tried by losses, worn
out by economic pressure, crushed by the supreme effort im-
posed upon their people" ; an attempt to deceive public opinion
in neutral countries whose peoples had long since made up
their minds as to the origin of the war and were too enlightened
to help the designs of Germany by abandoning the defense of
human freedom ; an attempt, finally, to justify a new series of
crimes, submarine warfare, deportations, forced labor and viola-
tions of neutrality. The Allies in short refused ato consider a
proposal which is empty and insincere"; declared "that no
peace is possible so long as they have not secured reparation for
violated rights and liberties" ; so long as "the principles of na-
tionality and the free existence of small states" were not recog-
nized ; so long as the forces which constituted a perpetual menace
to the nations had not been destroyed, and the security of the
world fully guaranteed.

The note closed with a review of the "special situation of
Belgium" after two and a half years of war, how her integrity
had been guaranteed by treaties signed by five European Pow-
ers, of whom Germany was one; how, in spite of these
treaties, she was the first to suffer from German aggression;
how, on August fourth, in the Reichstag, the German Chancel-
lor had admitted this aggression, and pledged himself in the
name of Germany to repair it ; how, during two and a half years,
"this injustice" had been cruelly aggravated by the occupying
army which "exhausted the resources of the country, ruined its
industries, devastated its towns and villages," and "was re-
sponsibile for innumerable massacres, executions, and imprison-
ments," and how at the very moment Germany was "proclaim-
ing peace and humanity to the world" she was deporting Bel-
gian citizens by thousands.

To this the Kaiser made reply in a general order to his army
and navy. He had offered to enter, he said, into peace ne-
gotiations. His enemies had refused. The war therefore would

THE PEACE NOTES 297

continue. "Before God and humanity I declare that on the
Governments of our enemies alone falls the heavy responsibility
for all the further terrible sacrifices from which I wished to
save you.

"With justified indignation at our enemies' arrogant crime
and with determination to defend our holiest possessions and
secure for the Fatherland a happy future, you will become as
steel.

"Our enemies did not want the understanding offered by
me. With God's help our arms will enforce it."

At home the note of the President was both denounced and
supported. Those who sympathized with the Allies declared
it to be meddlesome, untimely, ill advised. Whether it was
a peace note or a war note they were at a loss to know. "If,"
said Mr. Roosevelt, "the note was designed merely to promote
an early conclusion of peace, it was untimely, irritating and
dangerous. If on the other hand, as Mr. Lansing first inter-
preted it, it was a threat of war and foreshadowed the end of
American neutrality, it was not only dangerous but profoundly
mischievous." The note took positions "so profoundly immoral
and misleading that high-minded and right-thinking American
citizens, whose country this note places in a thoroughly false
light, in honor are bound to protest." To say that the Germans
who had trampled Belgium under foot and were transporting
ten thousand Belgians into slavery were fighting for the same
object as their victims who fought for their country, their
homes, their wives and their children, was "not only a false-
hood, but a callous and most immoral falsehood."

Partisans of the President upheld his act as likely to bring
peace, and introduced in the Senate, December twentieth, a
resolution that "the Senate approves and strongly endorses the
action taken by the President in sending the diplomatic notes
of December eighteenth to the nations now engaged in war, sug-
gesting and recommending that those nations state the terms
upon which peace might be discussed."

To adopt the resolution in this form, its opponents claimed,
would commit the United States to an international league to
enforce peace, would be an abandonment of the doctrine of
neutrality established by Washington, an abandonment of the

298 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

doctrine of Monroe, and would plunge the United States into
the political complications and entangling alliances of Europe.
When adopted the resolution had been modified to read: "Re-
solved : That the Senate approves and strongly endorses the re-
quest of the President in the diplomatic notes of December
eighteenth to the nations now engaged in war that those nations
state the terms upon which peace might be discussed."

Germany and Austria-Hungary replied to the President's
note on the same day, December 26, 1916. The Imperial
Government believed the best way to reach the desired result
would be by a direct exchange of views, and suggested "the
speedy assembly, on neutral ground, of delegates of the warring
states." The great work for the prevention of future wars
could not be taken up until the end "of the present conflict of
exhaustion." When that time came Germany would be ready
"to cooperate with the United States in this sublime task."

Austria-Hungary also believed a direct exchange of views
by the belligerents was the most suitable way of attaining peace,
and proposed "that representatives of the belligerent powers
convene at an early date at some place on neutral ground."
She also, when the present war was over, was ready "to under-
take the great and desirable work of the prevention of future

wars."

The Swiss Federal Council was "glad to seize the oppor-
tunity to support the efforts of the President of the United
States." True to the obligations of strict neutrality, a friend
to the States of both the warring groups, placed "like an island
amid the seething waters of the terrible world war," with its
"ideal and material interests sensibly jeopardized and vio-
lated," Switzerland was filled with a deep longing for peace
and ready to do her small part to stop the endless sufferings
caused by the war.

The Norwegian Government had every hope that the in*
itiative of the President would bring results worthy of the high
purpose which "inspired it. Greece longed for peace, heard with
the liveliest interest of the steps taken by the President to end
the long and cruel war, and would gladly accede to his noble
demand but was powerless. Spain expressed her sympathy, but
declined to cooperate. "The action to which the United States

THE PEACE NOTES 299

invites Spain would not have efficacy, the more so because the
Central Powers have already expressed their firm determina-
tion to discuss the conditions of peace solely with the belligerent
Powers."

As the new year opened there began to come, from abroad,
rumors concerning what sort of a reply the Allies would make
to the peace note of the President. Mr. Hall Caine, in a letter
to the Philadelphia Public Ledger, reported that when M.
Ribot left London on December twenty-eighth he carried with
him a draft of the reply, that it would have to be sent to each
of the Allies, including Japan, and that their approval or
changes would have to be sent to Paris before the note could be
telegraphed to Washington. Despite the harsh criticism the
peace note met with in London, Paris and Petrograd, he was
sure the reply would be appreciative and even grateful in tone.
But he did not think the Allies would recognize the right of
America to force on a peace because of the loss of the lives and
property should the German submarine war take on a form of
ruthless inhumanity.

Mr. Frederick Scott Oliver in a long article in the London
Times insisted that there should be no bargaining, no yielding.
The President, said he, believes that if the belligerents would
state their terms of peace the war would be a deal nearer its
end. Jt was true, as the President pointed out, that the con-
crete objects of the war had never been definitely stated. This
was because the objects of the war were not concrete; could not
be stated and defined in diplomatic language; could not be
listed, and bargained for ; did "not belong to the same order of
things as indemnities, cessions, or retrocessions of territory."
The Allies had already set forth before the world "the three
general objects for which they are fighting, and which under
God they are determined to achieve : restitution, reparation and
security. But the greatest of these is security." No league of
nations could "insure peace or justice in the future unless the
German army is beaten in the present war."

The London Times in an editorial said:

We are convinced that the ends for which the Allies are fighting
to-day are as high and sacred as those for which Americans fought
and died two generations ago. They are in the last resort the same

300 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

assured supremacy of right and freedom before ' the law. We be-
lieve that if the true character of our cause were once brought home
to the American masses American opinion would support it warmly,
as British and French opinion supported emancipation in 1863.

Mr. Wilson's note affords us a great opportunity for laying our
case before Americans in words which cannot be misunderstood. We
trust it will be used to show, in sharp contrast, our aims and the
aims of our enemies, that they may stand out sharp and clear in
American eyes, as the contrast between the cause of freedom and
the cause of bondage stood before our eyes when Lincoln invoked
the "considerate judgment of mankind" upon his liberating edict.

The Frankfurter Zeitung reported that in a speech in Buda-
pest, on New Year's day, Count Julius Andrassy, one time
Premier of Hungary, said:

If the Allies reject our offer of peace only because, as they say,
our offer is not honorably meant, is only a maneuver. If they say
they cannot enter into negotiations before they know our conditions,
they can learn them from President Wilson, to whom they will be
communicated.

While the press of Great Britain and the United States was
guessing what would be the Entente reply, Ambassador Gerard,
who had just returned to Berlin from a visit to Washington,
was dined by the American Association of Commerce and
Trade. Dignitaries of all sorts were present: Dr. Heliferich,
Imperial Vice Chancellor ; the Vice President of the Reichstag ;
the Secretaries for the Colonies ; the Foreign Secretary ; bankers,
financiers, leaders in public life. To them the Ambassador was
reported to have said:

Never since the beginning of the war have the relations between
Germany and the United States been as cordial as now. I have
brought back an olive branch from the President, or don't you con-
sider the President's message an olive branch? I personally am con-
vinced that so long as Germany's fate is directed by such men as my
friend the Chancellor and Doctor Helfferich and Doctor Solf, by
Admirals von Capelle, Holtzendorff and von Mueller, by Generals
von Hindenburg and Ludeiidorff, and last, but not least, by my friend
Zimmermann, the relations between the two countries are running
no risk.

In Germany the speech was welcomed, as a proof of the
wish for a continuance of good understanding, but was hotly

THE PEACE NOTES 301

attacked by the Pan-Germans. Why, said one, should Ameri-
cans not be filled with kindly feelings for Germany so long as
she does everything America wishes? He asserts that no dif-
ficulties will arise while a number of specially mentioned men
stand at the head of the German Government. He thereby inti-
mates that any departure from directions hitherto followed
may endanger the existing friendship. Such peace messages
are suspicious. In saying that so long as certain men remain
in office there is no danger of unfriendly relations, Gerard's
words, said another journal, must be filled out thus, "but if
other men come who do not suit us, then the threat is unmis-
takable." "From the Ambassador's words it must be concluded
that a far-reaching, unpublished agreement exists between Ger-
many and the United States, and the latter country having
reached its political aim regarding Germany, the fact is being
celebrated in Berlin by a great demonstration."

To these criticisms a reply was made in a dispatch from
Berlin to the Frankfurter Zeitung, a dispatch said to have been
semi-official or inspired by Government. The Pan-Germans, it
said, "see ghosts when they show such anxiety about an under-
standing pending with the United States as to how ruthless sub-
marine warfare may be avoided.

"The majority of the German press and people desire good
relations with the United States, and would rejoice if an agree-
ment were reached on the question of armed merchantmen.
Count von Reventlow's assumption that the dinner in Berlin
celebrated the attainment by the United States of its political
ends is an exaggeration both of the occasion and of what is now
negotiating between Germany and the United States." The
mention by name of German statesmen, generals and admirals
was pdrhaps not diplomatic but was well meant.

That it* was not diplomatic seems to have been the opinion of
Secretary Lansing who let it be known that the Ambassador
had been called on to state if his speech had been correctly re-
ported. In any event, what he said was on his own responsi-
bility.

And now the long-awaited reply of the Allies to the Presi;
dent's note was announced as ready. Dispatches from London
and Paris on January tenth stated that Premier Briand had

302 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

delivered it to Ambassador Sharp, and that it would not be
made public until forty-eight hours after its receipt by the
President. January 12, accordingly, it appeared in the news-
papers.

The Allies, the note set forth, heartily approved of the crea-
tion of a league of nations to insure peace and justice through-
out the world, and desired as sincerely as did the Government
of the United States to end as soon as possible a war for which
the Central Powers were responsible and which inflicted such
cruel sufferings on humanity. But they did not believe it pos-
sible, at that time, to obtain such a peace as would assure rep-
arations, restitutions, and such guarantees as were necessary to
establish the future of European nations on a solid basis.

The Allies were fully aware of the losses and suffering the
war was causing to neutrals, and deplored them; but were not
responsible, for in no way had they either desired or provoked
the war. The Allies must therefore, "in the most friendly but
in the most specific manner, protest against the association in
the American note of the two groups of belligerents, an asso-
ciation based on public declarations of the Central Powers, in
direct opposition to the evidence both as regards responsibility
for the past and as concerns guarantees for the future."

E~o fact was better established than "the willful aggression
of Germany and Austria-Hungary to insure their hegemony
over Europe and their economic domination over the world.
Germany proved by her declaration of war, by the immediate
invasion of Belgium and Luxemburg, and by her manner of
conducting the war, her systematic contempt for all principles
of humanity and all respect for small states." Was it neces-
sary to recall the invasion of Serbia and Belgium; the mas-
sacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians; the barbarous
treatment of the people of Syria; the Zeppelin raids on open
towns ; the sinking, by submarines, of passenger steamships and
merchantmen under neutral flags; the cruel treatment of
prisoners of war ; the judicial murders of Edith Cavell and Cap-
tain Eryatt ; the deportation and enslavement of civilians ? All
these crimes would fully explain to President Wilson the pro-
test of the Allies against being grouped with the Central Powers.

But the President wished that the belligerent Powers state

THE PEACE NOTES 303

what they sought by continuing the war. They sought the "res-
toration of Belgium, of Serbia, of Montenegro, and the in-
demnities due them; the evacuation of the invaded territories
of France, Russia, and Roumania, with just reparation"; the
"reorganization of Europe guaranteed by a stable regime, and
founded as much on respect of nationalities and full security
and liberty of economic development" as upon "territorial con-
ventions and international conventions and international agree-
ments."

They demanded the restoration of provinces wrested from
the Allies in the past; the liberation of Italians, Slavs,- Rou-
manians, Tcheco Slovaks from foreign domination; "the en-
franchisement of peoples subject to the bloody tyranny of the
Turks," and the expulsion from Europe of the Ottoman Em-
pire.

With the note from the Entente Powers came one from
Belgium. The Government of the King, it said, desired to pay
tribute "to the sentiment which prompted the President of the
United States to send his note to the belligerent Powers." But
the President seemed "to believe that the statesmen of the two
opposing camps pursue the same objects of war." The example
of Belgium unhappily showed this was not the case. The barbar-
ous manner in which Germany had treated, and was still treat-
ing, Belgium, did not justify the belief that Germany would
guarantee in the future the rights of the weak nations she had
not ceased to trample under foot since the war began. When an-
nouncing to the Reichstag the violation of treaties by the in-
vasion of Belgium the Chancellor of the Empire had been
forced to recognize the iniquity of the act and had promised
reparation. But, since the occupation the Germans had shown
no better observance of international law or the stipulations of
The Hague convention. They had by taxation, as heavy as it
was arbitrary, drained the resources of the country; they had
deliberately ruined its industries, destroyed entire cities, put to
death a large number of the people, and while loudly proclaim-
ing their desire to end the horrors of war had added to rigors of
occupation by deporting into slavery thousands of Belgian work-
ers. If ever there was a country that had a right to say it had
taken up arms to defend its life that country was Belgium.

304 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Forced to fight or submit to shame, she passionately desired that
an end be put to the unprecedented sufferings of her people ; but
she could accept no peace which did not assure her reparation,
security and guarantees for the future.

On the day on which Ambassador Sharp, at Paris, received
these two notes from the Entente Powers, Ambassador Gerard
at Berlin was handed a copy of a note addressed to neutral na-
tions by the Central Powers. It was their reply to the answer
of the Allies to the German peace proposals of December
twelfth.

"Our adversaries," so ran the note, "declined this proposi-
tion, giving as a reason that it is a proposition without sincerity
and without importance. The form in which they clothe their
communication excludes an answer to them, but the Imperial
Government considers it important to point out to the Govern-
ments of neutral Powers its opinion regarding the situation."

It was needless to enter into a discussion of the origin of the
war. The encircling policy of England, the revengeful policy
of France, the endeavor of Russia to gain Constantinople, the
instigation of the Serbian assassination in Serajevo, and the
complete mobilization of Russia meant war against Germany.
According to the declaration of the responsible statesmen of the
hostile Powers their aims were "directed toward the conquest
of Alsace-Lorraine and several Prussian provinces, the humilia-
tion and diminution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the
partition of Turkey and the mutilation of Bulgaria.

"In the face of such war aims, the demand for restitution,
reparation and guarantees in the mouth of our adversaries" was
surprising. The Allies had declared that peace was impossible
"so long as the reestablishment of violated rights and liberties,
the recognition of the principle of nationalities and the free
existence of small states were not guaranteed." The sincerity
of the Allies would not be admitted by the world, while it held
before its eyes "the fate of the Jrish people, the destruction of
the Boer republics, the subjugation of northern Africa by Eng-
land, France and Italy, the suppression of Russian alien nations,
and the violation of Greece, which is without precedent in his-
tory."

The war of starvation against Germany, the treatment of

THE PEACE NOTES 305

neutrals by England, the use of colored troops in Europe, the
extension of the war to Africa, the barbarous treatment of
prisoners of war in Africa and Russia, the deportation of
civilian populations from eastern Prussia, Alsace-Lorraine,
Galicia, and Bukowina were so many proofs of the insincerity
of the Allies in their complaint against the situation in Belgium.
On Belgium and those who instigated her to take her attitude
fell the responsibility for her fate.

Having made an honest effort to end the war and open the
way for an understanding between the belligerents, the Imperial
Government left it with its adversaries to decide whether the
road to peace should, or should not be followed.

Various opinions were held by our countrymen as to the
meaning of the Entente reply. Some thought it a frank and
specific answer to the request of the President, and compared it
favorably with the flat refusal of Germany to state terms.
Others held that while it met the President half way, it set
forth clearly that the Allies were fighting for a cause, that they
were unwilling to make peace until they had accomplished the
objects for which they were pledged, that no compromise was
possible, and that for the present the door was closed to peace.
Still others claimed that stripped of its diplomatic language
the note was as blunt a rebuke to the President for meddling as
was the note from Germany.

The delivery of the reply from the Entente Powers was fol-
lowed by a note from Great Britain supplementing and ex-
plaining that from the Allies. It was signed by Balfour, the
British Minister for Foreign Affairs, and brought to the De-
partment of State by the British Minister.

His Majesty's Government shared the earnest desire of the
President for a speedy and lasting peace; but no peace could
long endure if the foundations were defective. The calamities
from which the world was suffering arose from the existence of
great Powers consumed by the lust of dominion, in the midst
of nations ill prepared for defense, and though plentifully sup-
plied with international laws, with no means of enforcing them ;
nations whose boundaries and internal constitutions did not
harmonize with the aspirations of their constituent races. This
latter evil could be mitigated if the Allies secured the changes

306 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

in the map of Europe outlined in their joint note. The exis-
tence of the Turkish empire had long been considered essential
to the peace of Europe. It could no longer be so considered.
In the hands of Germany it had ceased to be a bulwark of peace
and had become an instrument of conquest. Led by German of-
ficers, Turkish soldiers were fighting in lands from which they
had long ago been expelled. A Turkish Government con-
trolled and subsidized by Germany had perpetrated in Armenia
and Syria massacres more horrible than any ever before known
in those unhappy countries. Evidently the interests of peace
require the expulsion of Turkey from Europe as much as the
restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to Erance, or Italia Irredenta to
jEtaly.

These territorial changes would lessen the occasion for war,
but would afford no security against its recurrence. If Ger-
many again set out to rule the world she might find war more
difficult but not impossible, she might still have ready at hand
a political system organized through and through on a military
basis ; she might still persist in her methods of attack and strike
down her more pacific neighbors before they could prepare for
defense. If so, Europe, when the war is over, would be poorer
in men, in money, in good will, than when it began, but no safer,
and the hope of the President for the future of the world would
be as far as ever from realization. While other nations, while
the United States and Great Britain were seeking by treaties
of arbitration to make sure that no chance quarrel should de-
stroy the peace they wished to be everlasting, Germany stood
aloof. Her philosophers and historians preached the splendors
of war, and proclaimed power as the end of the State, and her
General Staff forged the weapons by which power might be ob-
tained. So long as Germany remained the Germany which
without the shadow of justification overran and barbarously ill-
used a country she was bound by treaty to protect, no state could
be secure if its rights had no better protection than a treaty.

The brutal methods of the Central Powers were designed
not merely to crush into the dust those with whom they were at
war, but to terrorize those with whom they were at peace. Bel-
gium was not only a victim, but an example. It was intended
that neutrals should note the outrages which accompanied its

THE PEACE NOTES 307

occupation, the reign of terror, the deportation of some of the
people, the oppression of the rest. And lest nations, protected
by the British fleets or their own, should think themselves safe
from German methods, the submarine* imitated the barbarous
methods of the army.

No peace could last unless the existing causes of interna-
tional unrest were removed or weakened ; unless the aggressive
aims and unscrupulous methods of the Central Powers should
fall into disrepute among their own people ; unless behind inter-
national law, behind all treaties for preventing hostilities some
form of international sanction should be devised which would
make the hardiest aggressor pause.

The very day this note was delivered at Washington, the
British Admiralty announced that a German raider was in the
Atlantic, that it had sunk eight British and two French mer-
chantmen, and had captured two, that "the Japanese Hudson
Maru" had reached Pernambuco with 237" officers and men from
the lost ships, and that the others, some 450 in number, had
been placed on the captured steamer Yarrowdale.

The captain of the Dramatist, one of the ships destroyed
by the raider, on reaching Pernambuco on the Hudson Maru,
stated that December 18 he sighted a steamer going in the same
direction as his ; that early in the afternoon she drew alongside,
broke out the German naval ensign, dropped her sides under
the forecastle bulwarks, revealing two guns trained on the
Dramatist, and called on him to surrender. The Dramatist was
then boarded and, after her crew was transferred to the raider,
was torpedoed. Later part of the crew was sent to the Hudson
Maru and orders given to follow the raider till January 12 and
then proceed to Pernambuco. Keports from Buenos Aires
added eleven ships, British, French and Danish, to the list given
out by the Admiralty. The Yarrowdale with 469 prisoners, of
whom 72 were Americans, reached a German port in safety.

To the astonishment of the country the President now
appeared, i unexpectedly, before the Senate, and delivered an
address which amazed Europe.

On December 18, he said, he addressed an "identical note"
to the Governments of all nations at war, asking for a more
definite statement than had yet been made of the terms OB

308 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

which it would be possible to make peace. He "spoke on
behalf of humanity, of the rights of all neutral nations," many
of whose "vital interests the war put in constant jeopardy."
The Central Powers replied merely that they were ready to
meet their antagonists and discuss terms of peace. The
Entente Powers had stated in general terms "the arrangements,
guarantees and acts of reparation" necessary to a settlement.

The peace that would end the war must be followed by a
"definite concert of Powers" which would "make it virtually
impossible that any such catastrophe should ever overwhelm us
again." In that the United States must play a part. It was
right before such a, settlement came that our Government should
frankly state the conditions on which "it would feel justified in
asking our people to approve its formal and solemn adherence
to a League for Peace." He had come to state those conditions.

First of all there "must be a peace without victory. . . .
Victory would mean peace forced upon- the loser, a victor's
terms forced upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in
humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would
leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms
of peace would rest, not permanently, but only upon quicksand.
Only a peace between equals can last."

The equality of nations on which peace, to be lasting, must
rest must be an equality of rights, resting "on the common
strength, not the individual strength, of the nations on whose
concert peace will depend." But there was "a deeper thing
involved than even equality of right among organized nations.
No peace can last, or ought to last, which does not recognize
and accept the principle that governments derive all their just
powers from the consent of the governed, and that no right
anywhere exists to hand peoples about from sovereignty to
sovereignty, as if they were property."

He took it for granted, to take one example, that statesmen
everywhere were "agreed that there should be a united, inde-
pendent, auto'nomous Poland, and that henceforth, inviolable
security of life, of worship and of industrial and social devel-
opment should be guaranteed to all peoples who have hitherto
lived under the power of governments devoted to a faith and
purpose hostile to their own."

THE PEACE NOTES 309

So far as practicable every great people should "be assured
a direct outlet to the great highways of the sea. Where it can-
not be done by the cession of territory, it can no doubt be done
by neutralization of direct highways under the general guar-
antees which will assure the peace itself."

The "paths of the sea must alike in law and in fact be free.
The freedom of the seas is the sine qua non of peace, equality,
and cooperation."

There must be concession and sacrifice. ~No safety or
equality among nations was possible "if great preponderating
armaments are henceforth to continue, here and there, to be
built up and maintained." The question of armaments,
whether on land or sea, was the most "intensely practical ques-
tion connected with the future fortunes of nations and man-
kind."

He was sure he had said what the people of the United
States would wish him to say. He hoped -he spoke for the
friends of humanity everywhere. "I would fain believe that
J am speaking for the silent masses of mankind everywhere,
who have as yet had no place or opportunity to speak their
real hearts out concerning the death and ruin they see to have
come already upon the persons and the homes they hold most
dear."

Holding out the expectation that our country would join
the other civilized nations in guaranteeing the permanence of
peace on the terms he named would, he thought, be no breach
in our traditions or our policy as a nation. He was proposing
"that the nations, with one accord, adopt the doctrine of Presi-
dent Monroe as the doctrine of the world ; that no nation should
seek to extend its policy over any other nation or people, but
that every people should be left free to determine its own
policy, its own development, unhindered, unthreatened, un-
afraid, the little along with the great and powerful."

He was "proposing government by the consent of the gov-
erned; that freedom of the seas which in international con-
ference after conference representatives of the United States
have urged with the eloquence of those who are the convinced
disciples of liberty; and that moderation of armaments which

310 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

makes of armies and navies a power for order merely, not an
instrument of aggression or of selfish violence.

"These are American principles, American policies. We
can stand for no others. They are also the principles and
policies of forward-looking men and women everywhere, of
every modern nation, of every enlightened community. They
are the principles of mankind and must prevail."

By those who listened to this remarkable address it was
received with mingled feelings of astonishment, approval and
dissent. Some said the League for Peace was quixotic, Utopian,
impossible to be obtained. Others thought the address marked
an epoch in our history, was the greatest state paper since the
famous message of Monroe; would have more influence on the
course of world democracy than any speech ever made in Con-
gress. Still others declared that it was ill-timed; that it was
a fine literary effort; that it would appeal to the American
people ; that it would alienate the Entente Powers ; that it was
startling in its proposals and dictatorial in its suggestions.
We had no right to say to Germany, You must give up Poland ;
nor to Turkey who should go through the Dardanelles. How
would the words "a free, independent and autonomous Poland"
be received by Russia and Germany? How would the words
"freedom of worship" be received by Russia and Turkey ?
Was the reference to a direct outlet to the highway of the sea an
approval of Russia's ambition to obtain Constantinople ?
"Peace without victory" was likely to go down in history
coupled with "Too proud to fight." But how would the Allies
receive it after having just declared they were "determined,
individually and collectively, to act with all their powers and
consent to all sacrifices to bring to a victorious close a conflict
upon which they are convinced not only their own safety and
prosperity depends, but also the future of civilization."

By the press of the country the address was received in
much the same spirit. One journal thought it the greatest
utterance yet made by the President. As an American he
spoke American sentiments, and American principles, and
served notice to all the world that in the peace which will end
the war our views must be consulted. Said another, the Presi-
dent is sworn to execute the laws; he is not sworn to execute

THE PEACE NOTES 311

faithfully the office of President of humanity. Nothing in his
official duties requires him to demand a free and united Poland,
nor lay down the principles in accordance with which Switzer-
land shall have free access to the sea. If peace without vic-
tory means anything, said a third, it means a peace bearing
the hallmark "Made in Prussia."

According to others it was a masterly address, a shining
ideal seemingly unattainable, while passion ruled the world,
but expressing the hopes of nations, great and small. A Mon-
roe doctrine embracing the earth, a league of peace including
every nation, was no idle dream. The Illinois Staats-Z 'eitung
declared the President had "lost all moral authority to make
demands on the nations at war from the standpoint of morality,
because of his unneutral policy and his direct protection to
munition and blood usury." The New York German Herold
remarked that "Mr. Wilson's Anglophile leanings are so well
known that any alliance proposition he advances should be well
subjected to close scrutiny."

By the London journals the speech was published under
such headlines as: "Wilson's Speech. Hostile United States
Attitude" ; "Wilson's Astonishing speech" ; "Wilson's Speech,
Neither Side Must Win, Victory Kuled Out" ; "Peace Without
Victory" ; "Wilson's Surprising Declaration for Peace With-
out Victory Pleases Germans." The Daily Mail thought the
address "an abstract pontifical statement of a future interna-
tional morality" ; searched in vain "for any expression of sym-
pathy with those who are shedding their blood for freedom";
wondered "whether he spoke as the head of an American Uni-
versity or as the Chief Magistrate of a flesh and blood Repub-
lic"; and could only envy him his remoteness from the reality
of war when he spoke of peace without victory. Germany had
declared treaties scraps of paper. It would be interesting to
learn from the President how she is to be induced to keep
any treaties of peace if she is not defeated.

The Globe, after reminding the President that he made no
protest when Belgium was invaded, and merely wrote a note
when the Lusitania was sunk, asked him what he had done for
justice and humanity that he should now presume "to school
us" in the mighty conflict from which he had most carefully

312 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

kept aloof. The men who tore up the scrap of paper laughed
at his notes, and sank more ships, respected force and nothing
else. Peace had no attraction for the Pall Mall Gazette if it
left the perjured enemy fleets and armies. Victory was essen-
tial for safety. Lord Northcliffe said Englishmen were puz-
zled to know why the President did not begin by pacifying
little Mexico. The President's misunderstanding of the situa-
tion was due to German propaganda and geographical distance.
Baron Sydenham believed the President saw, as in a vision, "a
new world in which there shall be no preparation for war, but
a solid union of all peoples acting in the common interest."
Unless Germany was defeated not one of his demands could
be fulfilled, and his roseate vision would fade into oblivion.
"Reparation and restitution to France, Russia, Belgium,
Serbia, were not possible until Germany acknowledged defeat."

Hall Caine told the readers of the Philadelphia Ledger
that the first expression of opinion in France and Britain
had been "that of scarcely disguised disdain." But the Presi-
dent need not be troubled on that account. "From the days
of Joseph downward ridicule had been the first heritage of all
exalted dreamers. Let President Wilson take heart from the
first reception of his remarkable speech." The "best opinion
here is one of deep feeling and profound admiration." He for
one had found it profoundly moving. Two facts were of high
significance: that the President based his plan of future wel-
fare on the supremacy of moral law; that he claimed to speak
for the first time for the voiceless masses. "To all persons with
the historic sense there is something inexpressibly pitiful in
the spectacle of the silent procession of the simple people in
all ages who have no part in making wars and yet suffer most
from them." Could the present war, with a full knowledge
of the merits of the quarrel, be referred to the twenty voice-
less millions actually engaged in it, the battlefields would prob-
ably be deserted within a week.

John Dillon, the .Irish leader, declared the speech was
"unquestionably the most remarkable and momentous utter-
ance by the ruler of a great power for more than a hundred
years." The President did speak for liberals and friends of
humanity everywhere. No peace could last or ought to last

THE PEACE NOTES $13

that did not recognize the principle that governments derive
their just powers from the consent of the governed. "Coming
at such a crisis from the President of the United States, these
words will strike deep into the hearts of all lovers of liberty
throughout the world."

"We flatly refuse," said a German newspaper published in
Cologne, "to accept the President's watchword, 'Peace with-
out Victory,' or his intolerable pretensions for a united, inde-
pendent, autonomous Poland." "Peace without victory"
means, said another journal, "that the great gains made by
the Central Powers would be taken away. It means that
Poland, liberated by German blood, would be able to pursue
a policy hostile to Germany."

"Peace without victory," said the Tages Zeitung, meant the
ruin of the German Empire. Neutralization of the Darda-
nelles meant the ruin of the Turkish Empire and the eastern
policy of Germany. The speech, said another, is a theoretical
utterance, a political and academic utterance. Germans must
decline to recognize him as a framer of the European map,
nor can they accept his prescription that they must end the war
without victory. They were ready to make peace with the
Allies and with them alone, because they recognized the Monroe
Doctrine for Americans and claimed a like doctrine for Eu-
rope. One journal was .surprised that such dreamy philo-
sophical ideas should be held by the President of practical
America. Others were sarcastic and told him, Dolitely, to
mind his own business, asked if they were to understand, if
the peace when made did not suit him, he would refuse "to
play in our yard," and told him they would discuss his ideals
after they had thrashed the enemy.

A French journal called the President's idea an Utopia and
would .support it if he could find human beings fit to people
his land of promise. Generally in France the speech was
received as inspired by good will, and a desire to lead to bet-
ter conditions in Europe. A Swiss journal thought the spirit
of the speech suggested the prophecies of Isaiah. In the
Canadian Senate a resolution was introduced that "in the
opinon of the Senate of Canada only representatives of na-

314 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

tions which have taken part or have been engaged in the present
war should participate in the negotiations for peace."

In our own Senate a resolution was offered that Monday,
January 29, should.be set apart for a full and free discussion
of the speech. An attempt made by the Democratic leaders
to smother the resolution in committee was met by the deter-

«/

mination of the Republicans to have a full discussion of the
President's proposal that the United States enter a league for
the enforcement of peace, and of what they considered the
abandonment of the Monroe Doctrine and the time-honored
policy of no entangling alliances. The resolution went on the
calendar, and on January 30 was laid on the table.

CHAPTER XII

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN"

AND now all this discussion of peace, and the terms of
peace, and ways to enforce peace came to a sudden end when,
on January 31, 1917, the German Ambassador presented a
note announcing the immediate resumption of ruthless sub-
marine warfare.

The Imperial Government, the Ambassador said, had care-
fully considered the message of the President to the Senate
on January 22, and was gratified to know that athe main tend-
encies of this important statement corresponded largely to the
desires and principles professed by Germany. These princi-
ples especially included self-government and equality of rights
of all nations.

"Germany would be sincerely glad if, in recognition of this
principle, countries like (Ireland and India, which do not enjoy
the benefits of political independence, should now obtain their
freedom. The German people also repudiate all alliances which
serve to force the countries into a competition for might and
to involve them in a net of selfish intrigue."

Freedom of the seas, the Ambassador continued, had always
been one of the leading principles of Germany's political pro-
gram. But the attitude of her enemies, entirely opposed to
peace, made it impossible to realize these lofty ideals. As
to Belgium, Germany had never intended to annex her. The
peace to be signed with her was to provide for such conditions
as should prevent her ever again being used for hostile pur-
poses against Germany.

The attempts of the four Central Powers to bring about
peace had failed because of the lust of conquest of their ene-
mies. Their real aims in the war were the dismemberment and
dishonor of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria.
"They desire a fight to the bitter end."

315

316 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

"A new situation has thus been created which forces Ger-
many to new decisions." During two and a half years the
Entente Powers, led by England, had sought to force Germany
into submission by starvation, and insisted on continuing this
war of starvation. Thus forced to fight for existence the Impe-
rial Government could not neglect "the full employment of
all the weapons which are at its disposal."

Two memoranda accompanied the note. In one the United
States was informed what weapon was to be used.

Germany has so far not made unrestricted use of the weapon
which she possesses in her submarines. Since the Entente Powers,
however, have made it impossible to come to an understanding based
on equality of rights of all nations, as proposed by the Central
Powers, and have instead declared only such a peace to be possible
as shall be dictated by the Entente Powers, and shall result in the
destruction and humiliation of the Central Powers, Germany is
unable further to forego the full use of her submarines.

The United States it was expected would understand the
situation thus forced on Germany, and "that the now openly
disclosed intention of the Entente Allies gives back to Ger-
many the freedom of action which she reserved in her note
addressed to the Government of the United States on May
4, 1916."

Under these circumstances Germany will meet the illegal meas-
ures of her enemies by forcibly preventing, after February 1, 1917, in
a zone around Great Britain, France, Italy and the eastern Medi-
terranean, all navigation, that of neutrals included, from and to
England, from and to France, etc. All ships met within that zone will
be sunk.

Another memorandum defined the boundaries of the barred
zones, and the open routes through them, and stated the rules
for the guidance of American shipping:

"Sailing of regular American passenger steamships may continue
undisturbed after February 1, 1917, if —

"(a) The port of destination is Falmouth.

"(b) Sailing to, or coming from that port course is taken via the
Scilly Islands and a point 50 degrees north, 20 degrees west.

"(c) The steamships are marked in the following way, which
must not be allowed to other vessels in American ports. On ship's

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN

317

hull and superstructure three vertical stripes, one meter wide each,
to be painted alternately white and red. Each mast should show a
large flag checkered white and red and the stern the American
national flag. Care should be taken that, during dark, national flag
and painted marks are easily recognizable from a distance, and that
the boats are well lighted throughout.

"(d) One steamship a week sails in each direction, with arrival
at Falmouth on Sunday and departure from Falmouth on Wednesday.

(e) The United States Government guarantees that no contra-
band (according to German contraband list) is carried by those steam-
ships."

German boundaries of the barred zones.

The line marking out the barred zone around the British
Islands started at the mouth of the river Scheldt, ran north-

318 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ward twenty miles off the Dutch coast to the Terschelling Light-
ship, and then north to the Udsir Lightship twenty miles off
the coast of Norway. Thence it curved northward, and west-
ward, dipping under the Faroe Islands, and keeping to the
west of the British Isles, swept southward and eastward to a
point twenty miles from Cape Finisterre and followed the
north coast of Spain, twenty miles from shore, to the French
boundary. Not a port on the western and northern coast of
France from the Spanish boundary to Belgium, not a port in
Belgium nor in the British Isles was open to our vessels save
Falmouth, to which passenger ships might proceed through a
lane twenty miles wide along the fiftieth degree of north lati-
tude.

In the Mediterranean the line was drawn southward from
Point de 1'Espiquette to the intersection of longitude 6° east
with latitude 38° 20' north. Point de 1'Espiquette is some
twenty-two miles east of Cette and some sixty west of Mar-
seilles. From this point the south coast of France was open
along the Gulf of Lyons to the Spanish border, but on this
coast there is no port of importance save Cette. To the west-
ward of the Point de 1'Espiquette line the entire Mediterranean
Sea was blockaded save for a safety lane twenty miles wide
which wound through the zone to Greece. The north coast of
Africa was barred eastward from Cape Kalos.

Our country had now received its orders. Had the German
armies been in possession of every foot of our soil from the
Atlantic to the Pacific these orders could not have been more
tyrannical. No "Avis" no "Proclamation" no "Ordre" signed
by von Bissing, or von der Goltz, or von Billow and pasted on
the walls of Brussels, or Liege, was written more in the spirit
of the conqueror. Once each week one passenger steamship,
striped like a barber's pole, and flying at each masthead a flag
resembling the kitchen tablecloths of bygone days, might leave
one port of the United States, and making its way along a pre-
scribed course, enter a specified port in England on a Sabbath
day, or be sunk without warning. The gravity of the situation
alone prevented such a spectacle from being laughable.

That the Imperial Government supposed we would submit
is impossible to believe. The President in his Sussex note had

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 319

said: "Unless the Imperial Government should now immedi-
ately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods
of submarine warfare against passenger and freight carrying
vessels, the Government of the United States can have no choice
but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Empire
altogether."

That diplomatic relations would now be severed was fully
expected. Count von Bernstorff, it was said, must be handed
his passports. The President has no other choice. He must
do this or swallow his own words. All differences that may
have existed now vanish. The American people stand behind
him as one man. With the Government showing a resolute
front and the people united behind it, we have little to fear.
The German note shatters the last hope that the nation that
considers treaties scraps of paper and violated Belgium will
stand by her half promises to us. We must break relations
with Germany or make an abject surrender. The case is sim-
ple; the course is plain.

Germany has deliberately defied the ultimatum of April 19.
There can be but one answer, and that answer should be made
at once. It is no time to parley. The challenge should be
accepted within twenty-four hours and the war thus begun
should not end till the imperial despotism of Germany is com-
pletely and forever crushed.

The German language newspapers made such defense and
gave such advice as they could. Said the Cincinnati Volksblatt,
"The only way to conquer England is by a submarine war, and
this war being hampered by restrictions imposed by the Presi-
dent, Germany has concluded to throw off these restrictions.
Germany's pledges were given with respect to merchant ships.
They can, therefore, no longer apply, as^the Allies have con-
verted their merchant ships into men-of-war by supplying them
with heavy guns and offering rewards to captains of liners for
ramming German submarines. The proper policy of the Presi-
dent is to warn American citizens not to travel on ships of the
Allies."

"Germany," said another, "has a right to wage an unre-
stricted undersea warfare, the right of self-defense. It is her
duty to leave no means untried to end this war, and the sub-

320 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

marines are the weapons for this purpose. England is the only
obstacle to peace." The duty Germany owed neutrals "is ful-
filled by warning them off ships of belligerents, and her duty
to the United States, in particular, by giving directions how
American passenger ships must proceed to reach their destina-
tion without danger."

When the note was made public stocks fell, the rate of
marine insurance rose, sailings of neutral vessels were canceled
or suspended, the port of New York was temporarily closed ; a
searching examination was made of seventeen German vessels,
which had been lying at their piers in New York and Hoboken
since the opening of the war, lest they should attempt to make a
dash to sea, or block a channel ; officers and men on the two Ger-
man raiders Prinze Eitel Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm,
interned at the navy yard at League Jsland, Philadelphia,
were denied shore leave ; torpedo boat destroyers at the New
York navy yard were put in readiness for sea, and the crew of
the German freighter Liebenfels, long anchored in Charleston
harbor, opened the sea cocks and sank her in forty feet of water.

What should be our conduct towards Germany caused much
diversity of opinion. There were those who thought that dip-
lomatic relations should not be severed until Germany committed
some overt act or sank one of our merchantmen, and that the
retention of Ambassador von Bernstorff in Washington would do
more good than his dismissal. There were those who held that
the German note was no more than a fair warning; that Ger-
many had been forced to take the step ; that it was inevitable
after France and Great Britain armed their merchantmen to
sink submarines that Germany should retaliate to protect her-
self, and that this retaliation was no more an attack on our
rights than the blacklisting of our merchants by Great Britain
or the stopping of our vessels on their way to neutral ports.
There were those who thought the issue should be left with the
President, that nothing should be said or done to embarrass
him ; that if peace could be maintained he would find a way to
do it, and that he should be assured that, come what might, the
nation stood loyally behind him ; and there were those who held
that war was inevitable. We have, they said, submitted to out-
rage long enough. Peace will be purchased at too high a price

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 321

if we submit to the insulting instructions of the Kaiser as to
how our commercial affairs shall be conducted. The note is a
shameful insult to the American people. No American in his
senses would, for a moment, consider acquiescence in Germany's
orders. They amount almost to a declaration of war. There
must be no more killing of Americans at sea, and if insistence
on this means a break with the Central Powers then let the
break come.

At a peace meeting held at Madison Square Garden, New
York, by the American Neutral Conference Committee, Mr.
William J. Bryan said to those assembled :

When I hear people say that there is danger, that, however much
we desire peace, we are yet likely to be forced into war, I find solace,
comfort and assurance in his message. If we can ask people to
forget the hatreds engendered in them against other nations who
have sought to do them harm; if we can ask people who are strug-
gling for their existence in a death grapple which has already taken
the lives of 6,000,000 of them; if we can ask them to stop in their
extreme, who shall say that this nation shall rush into war?

What a spectacle we should present to the world, asking them to
be patient and forbearing, while the heart's blood of millions is being
shed, and then not be able to be patient and forbearing ourselves.

It would be bad enough for us to go to war with a nation which
wished to harm us, but God forbid that we should ever compel any
nation to go to war with us that is not an enemy and does not want
war with us.

I believe that it would be a crime for us to go into this war, would
be a crime against this nation and against the world. I have faith
not only in the President's desire to keep us out of war, but in his
ability to do so.

The Philadelphia Branch of the American Union against
Militarism sent a message to the President urging him to call
on the belligerents to meet, as the Central Powers had offered to
do, and state their peace terms as the Allies had done ; and to
make a final and personal offer of mediation to the Sovereigns
and Executive heads of the Powers at War.

In Germany the reports of the war feeling in our country,
awakened by the announcement of unrestricted submarine war-
fare, served but to harden the resolve not to abandon it. "We
know that America will not remain silent under our submarine
warfare," said the Bavarian Premier, "but the time for consid-

322 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ering the opinions of other people has gone. It is the only way
to end the war. Nothing can stop us whatever the consequences."
"We await the American attitude with a good conscience," said
the V or warts. "If the reply is different from what we expect,
though we regret it, we cannot be moved by it. We know not
how neutrals, especially America, may take it, but be their posi-
tion what it may, we cannot be shaken in our determination aft-
er to-day's declaration of war zone and the note to America,"
said Taegliche Rundschau. It cannot be imagined, the Frank-
furter Zeitung said, "that there can be any new yielding to
American protests. The Jmperial authorities are firmly con-
vinced that Germany will hold her own against an onset by the
whole world. Whatever America may do the German people
face the future without fear."

The decision was quickly made and on the afternoon of Feb-
ruary third, the President announced to Congress that diplo-
matic relations with Germany were severed.

The scene was impressive. Two o'clock was the hour fixed
for the arrival of the President. As it drew near the members
of the House after a half hour's recess were again in their seats,
some with their little sons on their knees; the diplomatic gal-
lery was filled and the members' and the public galleries were
crowded to the doors. A few minutes before two o'clock the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, accompanied by all the
Associate Justices, entered and took seats on the left of the
Speaker. The Cabinet and officers of the Department of State
followed almost immediately, and as soon as they were seated
behind the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Senators, two
by two, filed down the center aisle to the benches reserved for
them. A committee from the Senate was then appointed to
escort the President, who, welcomed by hearty applause, entered
the Chamber just on the hour, and shook hands with the Speaker
and the Vice-President. "Gentlemen of the Sixty-fourth Con-
gress," said the Speaker, "I present the President of the United
States" ; whereupon Mr. Wilson stepped to the desk in front of
the Speaker, and said :

The Imperial German Government, on the thirty-first day of
January, announced to this Government and to the Governments of
the other neutral nations that on and after the first day of February,

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 323

the present month, it would adopt a policy with regard to the use
of submarines against all shipping seeking to pass through certain
designated areas of the high seas, to which it is clearly my duty to
call your attention.

Let me remind the Congress that on the 18th of April last, in view
of the sinking on the 24th of March of the cross-channel passenger
steamer Sussex hy a German submarine, without summons or warn-
ing, and the consequent loss of the lives of several citizens of the
United States who were passengers aboard her, this Government
addressed a note to the Imperial German Government in which it
made the following declaration:

After quoting the paragraph in the note of April 18, 1916,
in which Germany was warned that unless she immediately
abandoned her methods of submarine warfare against passenger
and freight-carrying vessels, the Government of the United
States had no choice but the severance of diplomatic relations
altogether; after citing the pledge of the German Government
embodied in its answer of May that merchant vessels "shall not
be sunk without warning and without saving human lives, un-
less these ships attempt to escape or offer resistance," and aft-
er quoting from his reply to this in the note of May 8, the
President continued:

I think you will agree with me that, in view of this declaration,
which suddenly and without prior intimation of any kind, deliberately
withdraws the solemn assurance given in the Imperial Government's
note of the 4th of May, 1916, this Government has no alternative con-
sistent with the dignity and honor of the United States but to take
the course which, in its note of the 18th of April, 1916, it announced
that it would take in the event that the German Government did not
declare and effect an abandonment of the methods of submarine war-
fare which it was then employing and to which it now purposes to
again resort.

I have, therefore, directed the Secretary of State to announce
to his Excellency the German Ambassador that all diplomatic rela-
tions between the United States and the German Empire are severed,
and that the American Ambassador at Berlin will immediately be
withdrawn; and, in accordance with this decision, to hand to his
Excellency his passports.

The President could not bring himself to believe that the
German authorities would "pay no regard to the ancient friend-
ship between their people and our own or to the solemn obli-
gations which have been exchanged between them and destroy

324 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

American ships and take the lives of American citizens in the
willful prosecution of the ruthless naval program they have an-
nounced their intention to adopt."

Only actual overt acts on their part can make me believe it even
now.

If this inveterate confidence on my part in the sobriety and pru-
dent foresight of their purpose should unhappily prove unfounded,
if American ships and American lives should, in fact, be sacrificed
by their naval commanders in heedless contravention of the just and
reasonable understandings of international law and the obvious dic-
tates of humanity, I shall take the liberty of coming again before
the Congress to ask that authority be given me to use any means
that may be necessary for the protection of our seamen and our peo-
ple in the prosecution of their peaceful and legitimate errands on
the high seas.

At two o'clock on February 3, just as the President be-
gan his address, the German Ambassador received from the
Secretary of State a note of dismissal and his passports. The
affairs of the German Embassy were then taken over by the
Swiss Minister and preparations were made for the departure
of Count von Bernstorff. France and Great Britain each gave
a safe conduct ; passage was secured, with the consent of the
Danish Government, on the Frederick VIII.; the German con-
suls scattered over the United States, and their families, were
summoned to Washington ; and on February 14 the Ambassa-
dor and his party, one hundred and forty nine persons in all,
sailed from the port of New York. Our diplomatic relations
with Germany were taken in charge by Spain.

As soon as the break occurred neutral Governments were
officially notified and our representatives instructed to say that
because of the announced intention of the German Govern-
ment to renew unrestricted submarine warfare the United
States had no choice but to follow the course laid down in the
Sussex note of April 18, 1916; that the American Ambassador
had been recalled from Berlin and passports delivered to the
German Ambassador at Washington, and that the President be-
lieved it would make for the peace of the world if other neu-
tral Powers would take like action. Not one did ; but Switzer-
land, Holland and Spain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark,

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 325

Brazil, Chili, Peru, all the South American Republics, Cuba
and China protested against the ruthless submarine warfare
and the barred zone.

From Mr. Bryan came an appeal to the people not to enter
the war. The President, Mr. Bryan said, had asked the bellig-
erents to forget the bitterness caused "by the killing of more
than 6,000,000 human beings and the expenditure of more than
$50,000,000,000 in money and come together in honorable
peace. If we can expect such an exhibition of virtue by them
are we not in duty bound to measure up to the standard which
we have set for them?" There were several ways out of our
difficulties. We might put off, until after the war, the settle-
ment of such disputes as could not now be amicably arranged.
We might keep American citizens off the ships of belligerents.
We might refuse clearances to any vessel which carried passen-
gers and articles contraband of war, whether it sailed under the
flag of the United States or that of a neutral Power. We might
withdraw protection from American citizens who were willing to
risk the peace of the country by traveling as seamen on neutral
or American ships carrying contraband. We might keep all
American ships out of the danger zone, just as the Mayor of a
city keeps citizens at home when a mob is in possession of the
streets. Congress could submit the question of war to popular
vote. It was most important that the officials at Washington
should know "that the people at home protest against entering
this war on either side, with its frightful expenditure of blood
and treasure; that they are not willing to send American
soldiers across the Atlantic to march under the banners of any
European monarch, or to die on European soil in settlement of
European quarrels."

The people therefore were urged to "Wire immediately to
the President, your Senators, your Congressmen. A few cents
now may save many dollars in taxation and possibly a son."

The German language press was luke-warm. The New
York Staats-Z eitung could not believe "that commanders of
German boats could willingly sink American ships; but in a
warfare, such as from now on will be waged in European waters,
such incidents may occur. Mistakes may be made or intrigues
carried out by Germany's enemies, which after the breaking of

326 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

diplomatic relations cannot be discussed or cleared up any more.
Therefore war may very suddenly engulf our country. It is
almost needless to mention what great anxiety is filling the
hearts of those who, being subjects of Germany, are forced by
circumstances to be in our midst, and the American citizens of
German descent who have endeavored to foster the very best
of relations between the country of their birth and their new
Fatherland."

The Chicago Staats-Z 'eitung believed that an "overwhelm-
ing majority of our people stand behind the President in his
efforts to keep this country at peace with all the world. But it
is doubtful that a majority will endorse giving the German
Ambassador his passports at the present time." Were Ameri-
cans to enter the war, "the hearts of millions would be saddened
by the knowledge that they must wage war against their kin.
The war of races would break out in the midst of us, passion
would be aroused, hatred engendered, and internecine warfare
result unless the causes that led to our entering the European
war were shocking and all peaceful procedure futile."

The Philadelphia Morning Gazette declared "Our duty as
American citizens makes it absolutely necessary for us to be
loyal to the country that we swore allegiance to — the United
States of America."

Said the Louisville Anzeiger, "Every German-American who
has become a citizen of this country knows which flag he must
follow in this hour. The loyalty of German-Americans to-
wards the country of their adoption has been proved often
enough."

The editors of nearly every foreign language newspaper in
Philadelphia met, adopted resolutions and sent them to the
President. They approved his stand, pledged their devotion to
country and flag. Five hundred representatives of German,
Austrian, and Hungarian societies in New York met and
pledged unqualified loyalty to the United States even in the
event of war, but begged the President "to make every effort to
preserve peace."

Severance of diplomatic relations with Germany had no ef-
fect on her avowed policy of ruthless submarine warfare, nor
did any reasonable person suppose it would. Sure that war

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 327

would come, our countrymen awaited the perpetration of the
overt act which would bring the President before Congress with
a request for a declaration of war. For a moment it seemed
that the overt act had been committed for on February third,
the American ship Housatonic was sunk off the Scilly Islands by
a German submarine. When, however, the facts were known it
appeared that the ship was stopped and searched, the crew given
plenty of time to take to the boats which the submarine towed to
a point off the coast of England, and that she fired a gun to
notify a British patrol boat which landed all hands at Pen-
zance.

What might be the action of Germans living in our country,
of German- Americans and German sympathizers was a matter
of no little concern and preparations were promptly made for
home defense. The National Militia was prepared for mobi-
lization at a moment's notice, marines were sent to guard im-
portant bridges, reservoirs, water works; civilian guards were
placed on railroad bridges and at ship yards, and those at steel
plants and munition plants were greatly strengthened; police
protection was given to the Mint at Philadelphia, the Custom
Houses and Federal buildings, arsenals, armories, navy yards;
the White House, the State, War, Navy and Treasury Build-
ings were closed to the public and the Kronprinzessin Cecilie,
at Boston, was taken possession of, in civil proceedings, by the
United States Marshal. He reported that within three days
the machinery had been tampered with. Under orders from
Washington the crew were held at the immigration station as
aliens, to await the decision of the Department of Labor as to
their status. Officers and crews of some twenty-five German
steamships at New York were ordered to remain on board their
ships. From Manila came the report that the machinery of
twenty-three German ships in Philippine ports had been dam-
aged. The crew of an interned German gun boat at Honolulu,
it was reported, had set fire to the vessel.

Orders went out from the American Eed Cross headquarters
at Washington to all its Chapters the country over, to make ready
for emergencies. From the Carnegie Steel Company, the Beth-
lehem Steel Company, the Eemington Arms Company, the
Ford Motor Company came assurances that these great plants

328 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

were ready at a moment's notice to suspend work and place their
equipment at the service of the Government. Private yacht
owners made tenders of their craft, the American Federation
of Labor agreed to a suspension of the law restricting the hours
of labor on Government work, and the President by proclama-
tion forbade the sale, lease or charter, to any person not a citi-
zen of the United States, or transfer to a foreign flag, of any
vessel registered or enrolled and licensed under the laws of the
United States, as he was empowered to do by the Act approved
September 7, 1916. The Executive Council of the National
Suffrage League was called to consider how women could help
in case of war, and to make a definite proposal to the Govern-
ment.

Aroused by these warlike preparations Pacifists, Socialists,
Anti-War Leaguers, persons for any reason opposed to the en-
trance of our country into the war made haste to protest. Dr.
C. J. Hexamer, President of the German-American Alliance,
sent messages to friends throughout the country urging them
to arrange peace meetings and send to Congress resolutions
praying that it submit the question of war to popular vote. In
case of sudden attack by another country, calling for instant
action, a referendum was, of course, he said, impossible. But
for a country deliberately to go to war without allowing the peo-
ple to express their approval was wrong, utterly wrong.

Telegrams by the hundred, indorsing or condemning the
break with Germany, meantime came to the Senators. One
from the Detroit Socialists protested against war. Labor and
peace organizations in Wisconsin sent appeals urging peace.
The Legislature of Nevada indorsed the course taken by the
President. So did the United States Senate by adopting a reso-
lution introduced by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign
Relations, setting forth that, whereas, the President, for the
reasons given in his address to the Congress in joint session,
had severed diplomatic relations with Germany, had recalled
the American Ambassador at Berlin, sent passports to the Ger-
man Ambassador at Washington, expressed his desire to avoid
a conflict with Germany, and declared that should occasion
arise for further action he would submit the matter to Con-
gress and ask authority to use such measures as might be nee-

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 329

essary for the protection of American seamen and people pur-
suing their peaceful and lawful husiness on the high seas, there-
fore, the Senate approved the action taken by the President as
set forth in his address.

To quiet the anxiety felt by German subjects residing in
our country lest their bank deposits and other property should
be seized by the Government in the event of war, the President
instructed the Secretary of State to say that such fears were un-
founded. Under no circumstances would the Government take
advantage of a state of war to seize property to which inter-
national law and the law of the land gave it no just claim or
title. All rights of property both of American citizens and of
subjects of foreign states would be respected.

Germany meantime, true to her policy as announced, had
begun her ruthless submarine warfare and day after day the
list of vessels sunk grew longer and longer until, on February
7, twenty-two had been torpedoed without warning. Among
those destroyed were two which caused some excitement in our
country for it seemed quite likely their sinking might be the
overt act that would bring on war.

February fifth the British steamship Eavestone was sunk by
gun fire from a German submarine, and the crew while in life
boats was fired on and the Captain and three seamen killed.
One of the seamen, Richard Wallace, was a negro from Balti-
more. This, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, was not
an overt act. The Eavestone was a collier, an auxiliary to the
British fleet ; the presence of Wallace aboard made him a mem-
ber of the armed forces of Great Britain, and the ship, being a
provisional collier, had the status of a warship subject to attack
without warning. Nothing in international law, however, justi-
fied firing on a lifeboat ; nevertheless, there was no occasion for
anything more at present than a protest and settlement later.

The second case was that of the Anchor liner California,
torpedoed without warning off the coast of (Ireland. On board
were two hundred and twenty-seven passengers. One Ameri-
can, a member of the crew, was reported saved. Whether saved
or lost the gravity of the act'was not altered, for the President
for two years past in his notes to Germany had insisted that the
lives of Ajnericans on any peaceful merchant ship should not be

330 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

put in jeopardy by attacks without warning. When the first-
week of submarine frightfulness closed sixty-nine ships had
been sunk.

In Great Britain our break with Germany gave intense sat-
isfaction not merely because it seemed certain that the United
States would soon be in the war, but because after enduring all
things with amazing patience, after seeking by every honorable
means to avoid entrance into the conflict, the great Republic
of the West had been forced to recognize the justice of the
cause of the Allies in their struggle with the enemy of the
human race. A moral victory had been won and was duly noted
when Parliament reconvened on February seventh.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr. Asquith said, "It is not for
us to forecast the bearing of this memorable event on the future
of the war. Still less is it fitting for us to tender advice or sug-
gestion to a Government which is well able to take care of itself.
We shall hail with acclamation, with a strain of family pride,
the stern and resolute determination of the other great English-
speaking Power to frustrate the enormity of those who have
abundantly earned for themselves the title of enemies of the hu-
man race."

"The fact that the United States Government has broken
with Germany" said Mr. Andrew Bonar Law, "is, in itself, the
best testimony of the justice of our cause and the illegality of
the methods whereby our enemies are trying to obtain victory."

To the request of the President that neutral Powers follow
the example of the United States and sever diplomatic relations
with Germany, Holland declined. The presence of a German
army on her frontier made it impossible. Sweden replied that
her policy during the war had been one of strict neutrality ; that
she had done everything in her power faithfully to perform the
duties imposed by such policy; but the methods adopted by the
United States for the realization of peace were contrary to the
principles which, up to the present time, had guided her.

Germany, though fully determined not to depart from her
policy of destroying neutral ships found within the danger zones,
now suggested that the United States discuss the situation with
her. The Swiss Government was requested to instruct her Min-
ister at Washington accordingly and on the afternoon of Satur-

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 331

lay, February 10, he called at the Department of State and made
a verbal proposition. No reply on behalf of the United States
was made at that time, but the Minister was soon informed that
the President would prefer to have the suggestion put in writ-
ing. On Sunday night accordingly a memorandum was de-
livered to the Secretary of State.

"The Swiss Government," it read, "has been requested by
the German Government to say that the latter is now, as before,
willing to negotiate formally or informally with the United
States, provided that the commercial blockade against England
will not be broken thereby."

As quickly as possible the Secretary replied that the
Government of the United States "would gladly discuss with
the German Government any question it might propose for dis-
cussion were it to withdraw its proclamation of the thirty-first
of January, in which, suddenly and without previous intima-
tion of any kind, it canceled the assurances which it had given
this Government on the fourth of May, last," but would not dis-
cuss the policy of submarine warfare then waging against neu-
trals, "unless and until the German Government renews its as-
surances of the fourth of May and acts upon the assurance."

The cause of this action by Germany, it was said, was a mes-
sage, sent to the Cologne Gazette by Mr. George Barthelme, the
American correspondent for that journal.

Mr. George W. Kirchwey, President of the American Peace
Society, obtained permission from Secretary Daniels to send
the dispatch of Mr. Barthelme over the wireless controlled by
the Navy Department. The message as given by the newspa-
pers was this :

From high sources whose identity cannot be disclosed I am urged,
almost implored, to convey to the German people, and if possible to
Government, the idea that message (the President's) should not be
construed as indicating any desire on the part of Government or the
people for war with Germany.

Attention is called to the following passage : "I refuse to believe
it the intention of German authorities to do in fact what they warned
us they will feel at liberty to do," and so forth: "only actual overt
acts can make me believe it even now."

Further attention is called to the following sentence: "If this
inveterate confidence should unhappily prove unfounded I shall take

332 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the liberty of coming again before Congress to ask authority to use
any means necessary for the protection of our seamen and people."

These passages widely construed: First, as expressive of confi-
dence some way out might be found. Second, not containing any
threat of war. Widely shared opinion is President could do nothing
else but sever relations to make good former note. Now up to Ger-
many to provide an opening. First thing necessary avoid everything
which makes maintenance of friendly relations impossible.

Particularly refrain from destruction of American ships not
carrying contraband, thus inducing a delay of perhaps one month
to make possible limit of submarine activities object of negotiation.
Such delay offered as token of ancient friendship of two countries.
Then consider the possibilities provided in the resolution for calling
conference of Powers. These possibilities closed by hasty action.

Some explanation about sailing of only four especially marked
American ships would remove very bitter impression created by this
wholly incomprehensible proviso, hurting the national pride as noth-
ing else. My informants assure in most emphatic manner country is
not for war, and will be for war only when forced into it. Only small
circles clamoring for hostilities, but huge majority praying for peace
with honor.

I feel it my solemn duty to inform you about these sentiments
and opinions entertained by men of highest standing, noblest char-
acter, responsible position, and loftiest ideals and thoroughly good
will. Should you deem advisable to exert influence of our great
paper, do so to find way out of situation not yet unavoidable, preg-
nant with gravest possibilities. I honestly believe country just
anxiously waiting for one more good word.

This good word the Pacifists believed was the offer of Ger-
many to negotiate; but Mr. Barthelme was forced by the
Government to leave the country and, provided with a safe
passage, sailed with Ambassador von Bernstorff and his party.

The German explanation of the proposed parley set forth
that the Swiss Minister in a dispatch from Washington had of-
fered to mediate with the American Government concerning the
declaration of prohibited areas because he believed the danger
of war between Germany and the United States might thereby
be lessened; that the Imperial Government replied that it was
ready, as before, to negotiate with America provided the com-
merce barrier against the Allies was left untouched; that Ger-
many, of course, could not have entered into such negotiations
unless diplomatic relations were restored, and that the only ob-
jects of negotiation were certain concessions regarding Amcri-

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 333

can ships carrying passengers Under no circumstances could
the restriction on overseas imports by the Allies be relaxed;
from the resolute carrying out of the U-boat war there was
no turning back.

Germany now added to her long list of offensive acts by
holding the Yarrowdale prisoners.

On the nineteenth of January Ambassador Gerard reported
that the evening newspapers in Berlin announced that the Brit-
ish steamship Yarrowdale had reached Schwinemiinde ; that she
was a prize ; that aboard her were 469 prisoners ; that 103 were
neutrals, and that such of them as had served on enemy ships
for pay would be held prisoners of war.

Late in November the German cruiser Mowe, or Seagull,
stole out of the Kiel Canal and the North Sea and began depre-
dations in the Atlantic. The British Admiralty first heard of
them on December second and on the eighth sent out a general
warning; but the extent of her work was not known till Jan-
uary 16, 1917, when tKe Japanese steamer Hudson Maru
reached Pernambuco, Brazil, with 287 men taken from six ves-
sels sunk between the Azores and Brazil. One of these, the
Yarrowdale, was not destroyed, but taken to a German port
with 469 prisoners from one Norwegian and seven British ships,
and with a valuable cargo of rifle cartridges, motor lorries,
barbed wire, steel, meat, bacon and sausages. December 31,
she reached Schwinemiinde ; but her arrival was not announced
till January 19, 1917. The Mowe likewise reached a German
port bringing 573 prisoners. She had captured or destroyed at
least twenty-six ships. Her prisoners landed in Germany and
Brazil numbered 1389. Fifty-nine of those on the Yarrowdale
were Americans taken from an armed British merchantman.
These and other "subjects of neutral Powers," the official state-
ment of the return of the Mowe, issued at Berlin, announced,
"have been removed as prisoners of war in so far as they had
taken pay on armed vessels."

To the demand for the release of the Americans, on the
ground that when they shipped on board the British merchant-
men they did not know that Germany would treat armed mer-
chantmen as ships of war, the German Foreign office replied,
February 4, that they woud be released at once. But just at

334 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

that time diplomatic relations were severed, the men were not
set free and on the seventeenth the Swiss Minister notified the
Department of State that the men would be detained until the
Imperial Government was informed concerning the treatment
of the crews of German warships interned in American har-
bors, and unti} she had definite assurances that the crews of
German merchantmen would not be held or imprisoned. Wash-
ington was amazed. The crews of the raiders Prinz Eitel
Friedrich and Kronprinz Wilhelm, and of such gunboats as were
interned at Guam and Honolulu were, under international law,
held as prisoners during the war. German merchantmen were
not interned, remained in our harbors as ports of refuge, were
at liberty to put to sea at any time, and the members of their
crews were as free as any aliens to enter our country on comply-
ing with the requirements of the immigration laws. Until then
they were held aboard their ships by the immigration authori-
ties. The United States had seized no German ships. A
formal demand was then made through the Spanish Ambassa-
dor, for their immediate release. He was asked to say that if
not liberated at once, "and allowed to cross the frontier without
further delay/' the United States would be forced ato consider
what measures it may be necessary to take in order to obtain
satisfaction for the continued detention of these innocent Amerin
can citizens.'7 March 11 they finally reached Zurich.

From the day of their arrival, January 3, to the hour of
their release they had been subjected to cruel and brutal treat-
ment, though during all this time Germany was professing sin-
cere friendship for the United States. The official report sets
forth that they were given no clothes suitable to the weather;
that some were made to stand for hours barefoot in the snow ;
that food was poor and insufficient. One, after the sinking of
the Georgia, was wounded by shrapnel fired by the Germans at
an open boat in which he and others of the crew had taken
refuge. Another was kicked in the abdomen by a German of-
ficer.

At Berlin the break in diplomatic relations and the recall of
Ambassador Gerard was followed by the placing of a police
guard before the Embassy; but it was not needed as no un-
friendly demonstration of any kind was made. The Ambassa-

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 335

dor, however, was treated much like a prisoner. His telephone
was cut, his mail was stopped, he could not communicate with
American consuls, and he was denied permission to cable Wash-
ington in cipher. No passports were furnished Americans de-
sirous of leaving Berlin, nor would the police allow them to set
out for Denmark, Holland or Switzerland. Mr. Gerard, it was
suggested, should use his good offices with Washington to induce
the Government to endeavor to obtain from France and Great
Britain safe conducts for the return of German merchantmen
from America to German ports. When he refused it was inti-
mated that his help might hasten the departure of Americans, to
which he answered, it was reported, that he would sit where he
was till Kingdom come before he would go without them.

The restraint imposed on Ambassador Gerard was explained
by Dr. von Stumm, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. We
had, he said, no reports from the United States. We knew not
how our Ambassador, consuls and subjects were faring. Ap-
parently the United States had stopped telegraphic communica-
tion with our Ambassador as soon as the rupture occurred.
Such treatment forced us to adopt the same measures towards
the American Ambassador. From Reuter dispatches we learn
that German ships are confiscated and the crews hampered in
their movements. We know not if these reports are true. We
hope they are not, for such action would be contrary to the
spirit and letter of our treaties with the United States, giving
the subjects of both States nine months' immunity in event of
war. Not until the good treatment given to Germans in this
country was known in Berlin was it arranged that the Ambassa-
dor, the Secretaries, attaches, members of the consular service,
and American newspaper men should go to Switzerland by way
of Berne. Thence Mr. Gerard traveled to Paris, Madrid and
Barcelona, whence he sailed for Havana and home.

The effort to persuade Ambassador Gerard to sign a protocol
confirming and enlarging the privileges of German subjects in
cmr country in case of war having failed, the document was sent
to Washington and delivered to the Secretary of State by the
Swiss Minister on February 10, 1917.

On the eleventh of July, 1799, a treaty of amity and com-
merce was made with Prussia. The German Empire, as we

336 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

know it, did not then exist. The twenty-third article of this
treaty provided for the treatment of the subjects and citizens
of the States in case of war between Prussia and the United
States, and it was to this article that Germany now proposed
to add nine "explanatory and supplementary clauses."

Merchants of each country living in the other should be free
to remain and carry on their business even after the time, nine
months, specified in Article 23 ; Germans in the United States
and Americans in Germany should be free to leave with their
personal property, money, valuables and bank accounts; they
must not be sent to concentration camps, nor their property be
subject to confiscation or liquidation under any conditions other
than such as applied to neutral property. Patent rights held
by Germans in America or Americans in Germany must not be
declared void, contracts between Germans and Americans made
before or after the severance of diplomatic relations must not be
canceled or made void, save under provisions applicable to neu-
trals.

The proposition was promptly rejected, because of the "re-
peated violations by Germany of the Treaty of 1828, and the
articles of the Treaties of 1785 and 1799, revised by the Treaty
of 1828;" because of the sinking of American vessels, said to
have carried articles contraband of war, although Article 13 of
the Treaty of 1799 provides that: "no such articles carried in
the vessels of either party to the enemy of the other shall be
deemed contraband so as to induce confiscation or condemnation
or a loss of property to individuals." It was rejected because
foreign merchant vessels carrying American citizens and prop-
erty were sunk by German submarines without warning al-
though by Article 15 of the Treaty of 1799 "all persons belong-
ing to any vessel of war, public or private, who shall molest or
insult in any manner whatever the people, vessel, or effects of
the other party shall be responsible in their persons and prop-
erty for damages," and although by Article 12 of the Treaty of
1785, "the free intercourse and commerce of the subjects or
citizens of the party remaining neutral with the belligerent
powers shall not be interrupted."

Heedless of these obligations Germany had established cer-
tain barred zones, had declared that within them all vessels, neu-

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 337

trals included, would be sunk without warning, and had within
these zones ruthlessly sunk vessels and jeopardized or destroyed
the lives of Americans on board. Nay more ; since the severance
of diplomatic relations certain American citizens had been
prevented from removing from Germany. This was a violation
of the treaty, was a disregard "of the reciprocal intercourse be-
tween the two countries, in times of peace," and must be taken
as a sure sign of her intention to disregard "in the event of war
the similar liberty of action provided for in Article 23 of the
Treaty of 1799, the very article which it is now proposed to
interpret and supplement almost wholly in the interests of the
large number of German subjects residing ' in the United
States."

In view of the violations, by Germany, of plain terms of
the treaties in, question; in view of "the disregard of the can-
ons of international courtesy and comity of nations in the treat-
ment of innocent American citizens in Germany," the United
States could not see any advantage likely to result from further
explanations of any articles in these treaties. Indeed, the
United States was seriously considering whether or not the
Treaty of 1828, and the revised articles of the Treaties of 1785
and 1799 had not been, in effect, abrogated "by the German
Government's flagrant violation of their provisions." It would
be unjust to expect one party to hold to its stipulations while
the other was free to disregard them.

An immediate result of the severance of diplomatic rela-
tions was the ending of American relief work in Belgium. Mr.
Warren Gregory of the American Commission for Relief in
Belgium was notified by Baron von Der Lancken, civil governor
of Brussels, that American citizens could no longer hold posi-
tions under the Commission in the occupied territory in Bel-
gium and France, but that a few, Mr. Brand Whitlock among
them, might reside in Brussels and supervise the work. Fur-
thermore automobiles and other means of transportation were
to be denied them. Unable to work under these conditions,
the German authorities were informed that the Americans
would officially withdraw.

"Immediately after the break in relations," said the Depart-
ment of State in its official statement, "the German authorities

338 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

withdrew from Mr. Whitlock the diplomatic privileges and im-
munities which he had up to that time enjoyed. His courier
service to The Hague was stopped. He was denied the privilege
of communicating with the Department of State in cipher, and
later even in plain language."

Nevertheless the Government and the Commission had "de-
termined to keep the good work going, until the last possible
moment" when they heard that between the twenty-fifth of
March and the tenth of April four Belgium relief ships loaded
with food and bound from our country to Rotterdam had been
sunk by German submarines, " without warning and in flagrant
violation of the solemn engagements of the German Govern-
ment. Protests addressed by this Government to Berlin through
the intermediary of the Spanish Government have not been an-
swered.

"The German Government's disregard of its written under-
takings causes grave concern as to the future of the relief work,
fn any event, it is felt that the American staff of the Com-
mission can no longer serve with advantage in Belgium." The
President, therefore, late in March ordered them to withdraw.

Dutch citizens then took up the work, with Mr. Hoover di-
recting it from Rotterdam.

The sins of our country as viewed by the Germans after
diplomatic relations were broken were enumerated by von Beth-
mann-Hollweg in a speech in the Reichstag. For more than
a century, said the Chancellor, friendly relations with America
had been carefully promoted. "We honored them, as Bismarck
once put it, as an heirloom from Frederick the Great. Both
countries profited by it, both giving and taking." But since
the war opened things had changed on our side of the water.
Old principles had been overthrown. "On August 27, 1913,
during the Mexican troubles President Wilson, in a solemn
message to Congress, declared he intended to follow the best
usages of international law by a prohibition of the supplying of
arms to both Mexican parties at war against each other. One
year later, 1914, these usages apparently were no longer con-
sidered good. Countless materials of war have been supplied
by America to the Entente, and, while the right of the Ameri-
can citizen to travel without hindrance to Entente countries,

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 339

and the right to trade without hindrance with Prance and Eng-
land, even through the midst of the battlefields, even the right
of such trade as we had to pay for with German hlood, while all
these rights were jealously guarded, the same right of American
citizens towards the Central Powers did not seem worthy of
protection and as valuable."

The Chancellor protested against the assertion that by the
manner in which Germany withdrew the assurances given in
the note of May 4, she had offended the honor and dignity of the
United States. Prom the very first Germany had openly and
expressly declared that these assurances would be withdrawn
under certain conditions. England did not abandon "the iso-
lation of Germany." The Allies were not made to respect
the principles of international law, "nor made to follow the laws
of humanity."

Breaking off diplomatic relations and attempting to mobilize
neutrals against Germany would not make "for the protection
of the freedom of the seas proclaimed by the United States."
Germany "regretted the rupture with a nation which by her his-
tory seemed to be destined surely to work with us, not against
us, but since our honest wish for peace has met only jeering on
the part of our enemies, there is no more going backward.
There is only going forward possible for us."

Professor Hans Delbrueck of the University of Berlin, at
the request of the Associated Press, gave his views on America
and the war. He believed, he said, that he ought to state very
frankly how the German people feel towards America.

They feel bitterness and believe they have been wronged. Hun-
dreds of thousands have lost fathers, husbands, and sons through
American ammunition. Hundreds of thousands of young men of
Germany have been maimed for life with American ammunition.

In all wars the makers of arms and ammunition have supplied
the belligerent nations, but the manufacturers of arms are not the
exponents of humanity. Never before were the industries of peace
of a country not a belligerent in the war reorganized to kill. Your
people forged for our enemies those tremendously effective weapons
of death, and we protested in vain.

Then we were to receive from you bread for our noncombatants.
Our enemies interfered. You said their interference was illegal,
but you did not make your protest effective.

340 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WOULD WAR

Our people are asking with growing bitterness the reason for
this discrimination. There may be many technical and legal answers
to this question, but our people feel that, had there been a will, there
would have been a way. We have been told time and again that
the principle of the freedom of the seas is deeply rooted in your race.
Again and again we have heard repeated your President's words, "I
will contend for the freedom of the seas, from whatever quarter it is
violated and without compromise."

Our people were told that the principle of the freedom of the
seas should be so conducted that noncombatants on sea and land would
be spared the sufferings of war. Thus our people patiently looked
on, month after month, while a continuous stream of American ammu-
nition poured into England and Russia unchecked by our submarines.

Now we are going to fight out this battle. The German people
had wished that it might be fought out, as other wars had been —
between enemy and enemy.

As February closed and the day drew near when the session
must end the Senate grew restive over the blockade of our ports
by Germany. Something must be done to break it, and in order
to do so Senator Fall of New Mexico introduced a bill to give
authority to the President to use armed vessels to protect
American ships; to permit the crews of merchantmen to re-
sist search, seizure or attack; repel by force any assault, and
subdue, capture or destroy the attacking vessel. Should war
break out before the next session of Congress the President
might enlist and call into service five hundred thousand troops
over and above those in the regular army and the National
Guard. But, two days later, the President once more appeared
before the Senate and House and asked for means to maintain
armed neutrality.

The German policy of ruthless submarine war on neutrals
had, he said, been in force nearly four weeks. It was too soon
to determine its practical results, but the commerce of other
neutrals was suffering severely though perhaps not more
severely than before the new policy was put into operation. Co-
operation of other neutrals to stop these depredations had been
asked, "but so far none of them has thought it wise to join us
in any common course of action." Our commerce had suffered,
"rather in apprehension than in fact, rather because so many
of our ships are timidly keeping to their home ports, than be-
cause American ships have been sunk."

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 341

Two of our ships, the Housatonic and the Lyman M. Law,
had indeed been sunk. "The case of the Ilousatonic, which was
carrying foodstuffs consigned to a London firm, was essentially
like the case of the Frye" in which Germany admitted dam-
ages, and in which, as in the case of the Housatonic, the lives of
the crew "were safeguarded with reasonable care." The sink-
ing of the Law, "which was carrying lemon box staves to Paler-
mo," was "accompanied by no circumstances" which might not
have been expected from the use of submarines against mer-
chantmen as Germany was using them. In short he could
"only say that the overt act" he hoped "the German com-
manders would in fact avoid has not occurred." Nevertheless
"it would be foolish to deny that the situation is fraught with
the gravest possibilities and dangers."

"No thoughtful man can fail to see that the necessity for
definite action may come at any time, if we are in fact, and not
in word merely, to defend our elementary rights as a neutral
nation. It would be most imprudent to be unprepared."

Our duty was clear; only the manner and extent of doing
it remained to be chosen, and since diplomacy has failed to
safeguard our neutral rights, there might be no means left but
armed neutrality. He was not "proposing or contemplating
war, or any steps that need lead to it." He was merely request-
ing that Congress would give him "the means and authority to
safeguard in practice the right of a great people who are at
peace," and who desired "to follow the pursuits of peace in
quietness and good will." War could come only by the willful
acts and aggressions of others. He believed the people would
be willing to trust him to act with restraint, with prudence,
and in that belief he asked for authority "to supply our mer-
chant ships with defensive arms, should that become necessary,
and with the means of using them, and to employ any other in-
strumentalities or methods/' necessary to protect our ships and
people in their rightful pursuits on the sea. He asked also for
a sufficient credit to enable him "to provide adequate means of
protection where they are lacking, including adequate insurance
against the present war risks."

The appeal, in brief, set forth that Germany had established
a blockade of our coast by so terrorizing our merchants that

342 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

our ships were not sent to sea ; that to break this blockade our
ships must be armed for defense ; and that for this purpose au-
thority and money were requested.

To meet this request a bill was at once introduced in the
House to authorize the President to supply arms, ammunition,
and the means of using them, to American armed and registered
merchant ships and to appropriate for the purpose $100,000,000
to be raised by the issue of three per cent bonds.

Scarcely had the President finished reading his address when
a rumor spread through the Capital that the Cunard passenger
liner Laconia had been torpedoed and an American woman and
her daughter lost. Was not this, it was asked, the overt act for
which the President was waiting ? What would he do ? Noth-
ing, was the answer, until Congress has acted on his request.

By the newspapers the appeal of the President was warmly
approved. He had asked for too little; not too much. The
powers he wished were barely short of those needed for war,
but the situation was barely short of war. We must defend
our seamen and our people in the exercise of their rights, or
make a cowardly surrender to the Power that has forbidden us
to use them. Arming our merchantmen will not prevent war.
Germany has shown that she will not slacken her ruthlessness
in order to avoid war with the United States. Nevertheless our
ships must have the free use of the sea, must defend themselves
against German submarines, and the Government must furnish
the guns and the gunners. The President asks for nothing more
than the release of American commerce. If German sub-
marines keep our ships in port they are doing their blockade
work just as effectively as if they sank the ships. If Great
Britain is starved Germany cares not how ships are kept off the
sea. The Cincinnati VolJcsblatt complained that while the
President demanded armed neutrality against Germany, he did
not say he would send our ships under convoy to neutral ports
from which they were barred by England. "It is this one sided
neutrality that will drive us into war, for such is the ultimate
effect of the measures proposed by the President."

Members of Congress were greatly divided in opinion.
"He has asked us for a blank check," said one. "He wants us
to give him a power of attorney to do as he pleases," said an-

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 34,3

other. "That address ought to be printed in the 'help wanted'
columns," said a third.

Eepublicans held that the three words "such other instru-
mentalities" in the hill gave him authority too broad in such
critical times. Under it he might use the land and naval forces
which would amount to a surrender of the Constitutional right
of Congress to declare war. These words must be cut out and
something specific, something definite substituted. Give him, it
was said, the money needed; give him authority to loan guns
and gun crews to American ships, but not the "blanket powers"
requested.

Such was the situation when on February 28, 1917, the
Associated Press announced that on January 19, Germany was
planning war on the United States, and on that day von Eck-
hardt, German Minister to Mexico, was instructed by Foreign
Minister Zimmermann to propose an alliance with Mexico
against the United States, and to persuade Mexico to seek to
bring in Japan.

"On the first of February," the instructions read, "we in-
tend to begin submarine warfare unrestricted. In spite of this,
it is our intention to endeavor to keep neutral with the United
States of America.

"If this attempt is not successful, we propose an alliance on
the following basis with Mexico. That we shall make war to-
gether and together make peace. We shall give general financial
support and it is understood that Mexico is to reconquer the
lost territory of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The details
are left to you for settlement.

"You are instructed to inform the President of Mexico of
the above in the greatest confidence as soon as it is certain that
there will be an outbreak of war with the United States, and
suggest that the President of Mexico, on his own initiative,
should communicate with Japan, suggesting adherence at once
to the plan, and at the same time to offer to mediate between
Germany and Japan.

"Please call to the attention of the President of Mexico that
the employment of ruthless submarine warfare now promises
to compel England to make peace in a few months."

The Senate, astonished and scarcely able to believe that the

344 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

note as published in the newspapers was true, requested the
President to furnish whatever information he had. He replied
through the Secretary of State, that the Government was "in
possession of evidence which establishes the fact that the note
referred to is authentic." Indeed Foreign Secretary Zimmer-
mann admitted the note had been sent. Asked by a staff mem-
ber of the official German press bureau concerning the note,
he justified it as a proper measure of precaution in view of the
possibility of war with America.

When criticised by a leader of the Socialist minority in the
Reichstag he said that his instructions were to be carried out
only in the event of war with the United States. Herr Haase
had said the note caused great indignation in the United States.
Of course it was used to create feeling against Germany. But
the storm had abated, and "the calm and sensible politicians and
also the great mass of the American people saw there was noth-
ing to object to in the instructions themselves. I refer especially
to the statements of Senator Underwood."

To the reproach that he had attempted to join Mexico and
Japan against the United States he replied, if we wanted Al-
lies against America, Mexico would be the first to be considered.
The relations between Mexico and Germany from the time of
Eorfirio Diaz had been "extremely friendly and trustful. The
Mexicans, moreover, are known as good and efficient soldiers."
Relations between the United States and Mexico could hardly
be called "friendly and trustful." All the world knew that
antagonism existed between America and Japan. He believed
they were stronger than those which, despite the war, existed
between Germany and Japan. Nor was there anything ex-
traordinary in his wish that Mexico should join with Japan.
Good relations between the two had long existed.

Opposition to the armed ship bill was now dropped in the
House of Representatives and it passed by a vote of 403 to 13.

It was then the first of March and on the fourth the life of
the Sixty-fourth Congress must end. In the Senate a little
group of Senators had been filibustering for several days to pre-
vent the passage of revenue and appropriation bills, and so force
the President to call a special session of the new Congress.
They now extended their filibuster to the armed ship bill, and

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 345

sought to prevent a vote before the session ended. During three
days the debate went on, and lasted all through the night of
March third and until twelve o'clock noon on the fourth when
the session ended without a vote.

Early in the morning of that day seventy-five of the ninety-
six members of the Senate signed a protest.

"The undersigned United States Senators favor the pas-
sage of Senate Bill 8322, to authorize the President of the
United States to arm American merchant vessels.

"A similar bill already has passed the House of Kepresenta-
tives by a vote of 403 to 13.

"Under the rules of the Senate, allowing unlimited de-
bate, it now appears .to be impossible to obtain a vote prior to
noon, March 4, 1917, when the session of Congress expires.

"We desire the statement entered in the record to establish
the fact that the Senate favors the legislation and would pass it
if a vote could be obtained."

A few minutes later the President took the oath of office and
entered on his second term. The day was Sunday. The cere-
mony and the address with which, ever since the days of Wash-
ington, it has been the custom to mark the inauguration of a
President were therefore deferred till Monday the fifth of
March. But, on the morning of that day when the people
opened their newspapers, they found spread before them an
indignant arraignment, by the Paesident, of the eleven filibus-
tering Senators.

The termination of the last session of the Sixty-fourth Congress
by constitutional limitation disclosed a situation unparalleled in the
history of the country, perhaps unparalleled in the history of any
modern Government. In the immediate presence of a crisis fraught
with more subtle and far-reaching possibilities of national danger
than any other Government has known within the whole history of
its international relations, the Congress has been unable to act either
to safeguard the country or to vindicate the elementary rights of its
citizens. More than 500 of the 531 members of the two houses were
ready and anxious to act; the House of Representatives had acted
by an overwhelming majority, but the Senate was unable to act
because a little group of eleven Senators had determined that it
should not.

The Senate has no rules by which debate can be limited or
brought to an end; no rules by which dilatory tactics of any kind

34,6 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

can be prevented. A single member can stand in the way of action
if he have but the physical endurance. The result in this case is a
complete paralysis alike of the legislative and of the executive
branches of the Government.

This inability of the Senate to act has rendered some of the
most necessary legislation of the session impossible at a time when
the need of it was most pressing and most evident. The bill which
would have permitted such combinations of capital and of organiza-
tion in the export and import trade of the country as the circum-
stances of international competition have made imperative — a bill
which the business judgment of the whole country approved and
demanded — has failed.

The opposition of one or two Senators has made it impossible to
increase the membership of the Interstate Commerce Commission to
give it the altered organization necessary for its efficiency. The
conservation bill, which would have released' for immediate use the
mineral resources which are still locked up in the public lands, now
that their release is more imperatively necessary than ever, and the
bill which would have made the unused water power of the country
immediately available for industry have both failed, though they
have been under consideration throughout the sessions of two Con-
gresses and have been twice passed by the House of Representatives.

The appropriations for the army have failed, along with the
appropriation for the civil establishment of the Government, the
appropriations for the military academy at West Point and the
general deficiency bill. It has proved impossible to extend the powers
of the Shipping Board to meet the special needs of the new situation
into which our commerce has been forced or to increase the gold
reserve of our national banking system to meet the unusual circum-
stances of the existing financial situation.

It would not cure the difficulty to call the Sixty-fifth Congress in
extraordinary session. The paralysis of the Senate would remain.
The purpose and the spirit of action are not lacking now. The Con-
gress is more definitely united in thought and purpose at this
moment, I venture to say, than it has been within the memory of
any man now in its membership. There is not only the most united
patriotic purpose, but the objects members have in view are per-
fectly clear and definite. But the Senate cannot act unless its leaders
can obtain unanimous consent. Its majority is powerless, helpless.
In the midst of a crisis of extraordinary peril, when only definite and
decided action can make the nation safe or shield it from war itself
by the aggression of others, action is impossible.

Although as a matter of fact the nation and the representa-
tives of the nation stand back of the Executive with unprecedented
unanimity and spirit, the impression made abroad will, of course,
be that it is not so • and that other Governments may act as they
please without fear that this Government can do anything at all.

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 347

We cannot explain. The explanation is incredible. The Senate of
the United States is the only legislative body in the world which
cannot act when its majority is ready for action. A little group of
willful men, representing no opinion but their own, have rendered
the great Government of the United States helpless and contemptible.
There is but one remedy. The only remedy is that the rules of
the Senate shall be so altered that it can act. The country can be
relied upon to draw the moral. I believe that the Senate can be
relied on to supply the means of action and save the country from
disaster.

The filibuster in the Senate aroused the indignation of the
people. Mass meetings were held to condemn the little band
of willful men. Some of them were hung in effigy. Resolu-
tions of protest were adopted by societies and associations of
importance; the legislatures of many states passed resolutions
pledging support to the President, and the Senate made haste
to change its rules.

That branch of Congress, according to long established cus-
tom, had assembled after the inauguration to act on any nom-
ination to office the President might make. Never, in the
whole course of its existence, had it laid any restraint on the
length of debate. The previous question was unknown in its
proceedings. But now, under the pressure of public opinion,
on the eighth of March, 1917, a rule was adopted which pro-
vides that by a two-thirds vote of the Senators present a measure
may be brought to a vote ; that thereafter each Senator may de-
bate the measure only one hour; that the question of its pas-
sage must then be put; and that no dilatory motions or debate
shall be in order.

The Senate having thus amended its rules, the President on
March ninth summoned the Sixty-fifth Congress to meet on
April sixteenth, and on the twelfth of March the Department
of State informed all members of the Diplomatic body that,
because of the announcement of the Imperial German Govern-
ment on January thirty-first, 1917, that all vessels found within
certain zones would be sunk without warning, the Government of
the United States would place armed guards upon all Ameri-
can merchant ships passing through the barred areas. The Sec-
retary of the Navy then requested all newspapers and news
agencies in the country not to publish the sailings of American

348 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

ships from home or foreign ports, and give no information con-
cerning the arming of ships.

While the country awaited the meeting of Congress in
special session, the world was amazed to hear that Russia was
in a state of revolution and that the dynasty of the Romanoffs
which had ruled Russia for three hundred years had heen swept
away. Signs of a coming crisis had not heen wanting. A belief
had long been growing that a large part of the nobility and
the ruling classes was strongly pro-German, and was intriguing
to have Russia desert the Allies and make a separate peace, and
that the bad administration of army affairs was a plot to impede
the war. Food in the cities grew scarcer and scarcer. Pro-
tests were made by workingmen in Petrograd, and there were
threats of a general strike. Letters in the newspapers, from
popular leaders in the Duma, besought the people not to make
disorders or hinder the manufacture of munitions. But, early
in March, when they were told that flour was so scarce that
for some days there could be no bread, strikes were declared;
the disturbances took on the form of a revolution; the troops
joined the people, and anarchy reigned. The Government was
paralyzed. There was fighting in the streets of Petrograd;
but, by the night of March 12, the revolutionists were in pos-
session of the city and the red flag replaced the colors of Russia.
The Czar ordered the Duma dissolved, but he was not obeyed.
His authority was gone. A Provisional Government was estab-
lished, and he, in turn, was bidden to abdicate. March 15,
1917, he yielded and appointed his son Alexis as his successor;
but that evening changed his mind and named his brother
Michael. The right to do this was denied by the Provisional
Government. What form of government there should be in
Russia was for the whole people to decide, acting through an
Assembly elected by universal suffrage. Michael declined the
throne, and Russian autocracy became a thing of the past.
From Petrograd the revolution spread to Moscow, to all the
cities of the new Republic, and the new Government was
accepted with enthusiasm by the armies at the front. On the
twenty-first of March it was formally recognized by our Ambas-
sador, and two days later by the Ambassadors of Great Britain,
France and Italy. Meantime the Czar, the Czarina and some

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BROKEN 349

two hundred courtiers and upholders of the old regime were
imprisoned in the Alexandrovsky Palace. A little later all
save Nicholas and Alexandra were removed to the fortress of
St. Peter and St. Paul.

Would the new Government stand, and if it did would Rus-
sia fight, or, intoxicated by Liberty, would she make a separate
peace, were questions which now gave great concern to all the
belligerents. Instructions from Foreign Minister Milyukov
bade the men who represented the new Russia in neutral and
Allied countries say, as he had said to the representatives of
the Allies, Russia did not wish the war which for three years
has drenched the world with blood. Though a victim of long
prepared aggression, she would continue, as in the past, to
struggle against the spirit of conquest of a predatory race seek-
ing to subject Europe of the twentieth century to the shame
of domination by Prussian militarism. Faithful to the com-
pact which joined her to her glorious allies, Russia was re-
solved to "fight by their side against the common enemy until
the end, without cessation and without faltering."

Tons of grain and other foodstuffs found hidden in obscure
places in Petrograd confirmed the belief that the pretended
shortage was part of the plan of the old regime to force Russia
to a separate peace.

The first news of what was happening in Russia reached
our country March 16, 1917, and was quickly followed by the
intelligence that three American ships, the City of Memphis,
the Illinois and the Vigilancia, had been sunk by German
U-boats. Two were homeward bound in ballast, and all three
were American built, owned and manned. The City of Mem-
phis left Cardiff in ballast on March 16 and about five o'clock
the next day encountered a U-boat, whose commander gave the
crew fifteen minutes to leave the ship. The men, some fifty-
seven in number, entered five boats; a torpedo from the sub-
marine then struck the Memphis on the starboard side, and in
a few minutes she sank. During the night the boats became
separated, but early Sunday morning a patrol boat picked
up three of them containing thirty-three men, almost all
Americans.

350 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

The Vigilancia was torpedoed without any warning, but the
Captain and twenty-eight men landed on the Scilly Islands.

The overt act had now been committed, if indeed it had not
been committed long before. That Germany was determined
to send to the bottom every vessel, whatever its character, neu-
tral merchantman, passenger, Belgian Eelief, found within her
forbidden zones was no longer to be doubted. War with Ger-
many existed.

CHAPTEK

WE ENTEE THE WAR

WHAT the President thought of the situation was made
manifest when, on March 21, he recalled his proclamation of
March 9 and summoned Congress to meet in extraordinary ses-
sion at noon on April 2, instead of April 16, "to receive a
communication concerning grave matters of national policy
which should be taken immediately under consideration."

To the Sixty-fifth Congress, when it assembled on the
appointed day, the President delivered his war message at the
unusual hour of half-past eight in the evening. All day long
the pacifists had been active in their opposition. They sought
to get possession of the Capitol steps up which the President
was to go ; but were dispersed by the police. Some entered the
room of the Vice-President, behaved in an unseemly manner
and were put out. Others attacked Senator Lodge. It
became necessary as a means of precaution to guard the ap-
proaches to the Capitol with two troops of cavalry, and put
secret service men and police on guard in the corridors.
Another troop of cavalry guarded the President while on his
way to the Capitol from the White Housed Never on any
former visit had he met with such applause, such cheering, as
greeted him as he entered the Chamber of the House, walked
to the Speaker's desk and looked out upon an excited audience
almost every member of which was waving or wearing a na-
tional flag. It was some minutes before he was able to begin
his address. He said:

"GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS :

I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because
there are serious, very serious, choices of policy, to be made, and made
immediately, which it was neither right nor constitutionally permis-
sible that I should assume the responsibility of making.

351

352 THE -UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

On the third of February last I officially laid before you the
extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government
that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put
aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to
sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great
Britain and Ireland or the we'stern coasts of Europe or any of the
ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean.

That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine
warfare earlier in the war, but since April of last year the Imperial
Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its under-
sea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that pas-
senger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given
to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy when
no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that
their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in
their open boats. . . .

The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of
every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their
destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom with-
out warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board,
the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents.

Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely be-
reaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were pro-
vided with safe-conduct through the prescribed areas by the German
Government itself and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of
identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion
or of principle. . . .

The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a
warfare against mankind. It is a war against all nations. American
ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has
stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other
neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in
the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The
challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how
it will meet it.

The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a modera-
tion of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our char-
acter and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away.
Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the
physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of
human right, of which we are only a single champion. . . .

There is one choice we cannot make, we are incapable of making;
we will not choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred
rights of our nation and our people to be ignored or violated. The
wrongs against which we now array ourselves are not common wrongs ;
they cut to the very roots of human life.

WE ENTER THE WAR 353

With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character
of the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it
involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitu-
tional duty, I advise that the Congress declare the recent course of
the Imperial German Government to be in fact nothing less than
war against the Government and people of the United States; that
it formally accept the status of belligerent which has thus been thrust
upon it and that it take immediately steps not only to put the coun-
try in a more thorough state of defense, but also to exert all its
power and employ all its resources to bring the Government of the
German Empire to terms and end the war. . . .

While we do these things — these deeply momentous things — let
us be very clear, and make very clear to all the world, what our motives
and our objects are. . . .

Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace
and justice in the life of the world against selfish and autocratic
power and to set up among the really free and self -governed peoples
of the world such a concert of purpose and action as will henceforth
insure the observance of those principles. . . .

We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feel-
ing toward them but one of sympathy and friendship. /It was not
upon their impulse that their Government acted in entering this war.
It was not with their previous knowledge or approval.

It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon
in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by
their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of
dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed
to use their fellow men as pawns and tools.

One of the things that have served to convince us that the Prus-
sian autocracy was not and could never be our friend, is that from
the very outset of the present war it has filled our unsuspecting com-
munities and even our offices of Government with spies and set crimi-
nal intrigues everywhere afoot against our national unity and counsel,
our peace within and without our industries and our commerce.

Indeed, it is now evident that its spies were here even before the
war began ; and it is unhappily not a matter of conjecture, but a fact
proved in our courts of justice, that the intrigues which have more
than once come perilously near to disturbing the peace and dislocating
the industries of the country have been carried on at the instigation,
with the support, and even under the personal direction of official
agents of the Imperial Government accredited to the Government of
the United States.

But they have played their part in serving to convince us at last
that that Government entertains no real friendship for us and means
to act against our peace and security at its convenience. That it

THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors the intercepted
note to the German Minister at Mexico City is eloquent evidence.

We are accepting this challenge of hostile purpose because we
know that in such a Government, following such methods, we can
never have a friend; and that in the presence of its organized power,
always lying in wait to accomplish we know not what purpose, there
can be no assured security of the democratic Governments of the
world.

^> We are now about to accept gauge of battle with this natural foe
to liberty, and shall, if necessary, spend the whole force of the nation
to check and nullify its pretensions and its power. We are glad, now
that we see the facts with no veil of false pretense about them, to
fight thus for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation
of its peoples, the German peoples included; for the rights of nations
great and small and the privilege of men everywhere to choose their
way of life and of obedience. The world must be made safe for
democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations
of political liberty.

We have no selfish ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no
dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material com-
pensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one
of the champions of the rights of mankind. We shall be satisfied
when those rights have been as secure as the faith and the freedom
of the nations can make them.

I have said nothing of the Governments allied with the Imperial
Government of Germany because they have not made war upon us
or challenged us to defend our right and our honor. The Austro-
Hungarian Government has, indeed, avowed its unqualified indorse-
ment and acceptance of the reckless and lawless submarine warfare
adopted now without disguise by the Imperial German Government,
and it has, therefore, not been possible for this Government to receive
Count Tarnowski, the Ambassador recently accredited to this Gov-
ernment by the Imperial and Royal Government of Austria-Hungary ;
but that Government has not actually engaged in warfare against
citizens of the United States on the seas, and I take the liberty, for
the present at least, of postponing a discussion of our relations with
the authorities at Vienna. We enter this war only where we are
clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending
our rights.

We are, let me say again, the sincere friends of the German
people, and shall desire nothing so much as the early reestablishment
of intimate relations of mutual advantage between us, however hard
it may be for them, for the time being, to believe that this is spoken
from our hearts.

WE ENTER THE WAR 355

We shall, happily, still have an opportunity to prove that friend-
ship in our daily attitude and actions toward the millions of men
and women of German birth and native sympathy who live among
us and share our life, and we shall be proud to prove it toward all
who are in fact loyal to their neighbors and to the Government in
the hour of test.

They are, most of them, as true and loyal Americans as if they
had never known any other fealty or allegiance. They will be prompt
to stand with us in rebuking and restraining the few who may be of
a different mind and purpose.

If there should be disloyalty it will be dealt with with a firm
hand of stern repression; but if it lifts its head at all it will lift it
only here and there, and without countenance except from a lawless
and malignant few.

It is a distressing and oppressive duty, gentlemen of the Con-
gress, which I have performed in thus addressing you. There are,
it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It
is a fearful thing to lead this great, peaceful people into war — into
the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seem-
ing to be in the balance.

But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight
for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts —
for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to
have a voice in their own government, for the rights and liberties
of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert
of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make
the world itself at last free.

To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, every-
thing that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of
those who know that the day has come when America is privileged
to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her
birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God
helping her, she can do no other.

That night, before the two Houses adjourned, a resolution
declaring a state of war existed was introduced in each.

WHEREAS, The recent acts of the Imperial German Government
are acts of war against the Government and people of the United
States;

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the state of
war between the United States and the Imperial German Government
which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally
declared; and

That the President be and he is hereby authorized and directed

356 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

to take immediate steps not only to put the country in thorough state
of defense, but also exert all of its power and employ all of its
resources to carry on war against the Imperial German Government
and to bring the conflict to a successful termination.

After a debate of thirteen hours the resolution passed the
Senate, and April 5 came before the House with a long report
from the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The conduct of Ger-
many towards the Government, the people and their interests,
the Committee said, had been discourteous, unjust, cruel, bar-
barous and wanting in honesty and fair dealing. The Impe-
rial Government was waging war upon our people and our com-
merce and no course was open to us but to accept the gage
of battle, declare that a state of war existed, and wage that
war vigorously. Since its note of February 4, 1915, declaring
that the German navy had been ordered "to abstain from all
violence against neutral vessels recognizable as such," and its
note of February 16, 1915, declaring that it was "far indeed
from the intention of the German Government ever to destroy
neutral lives and neutral property," the British steamer
Falaba had been torpedoed ; the American steamer Cushing had
been attacked by an airship; the American steamer Gulflight,
the British liner LusUanidf and the American steamer Nebras-
~kan had been sunk and one hundred and twenty-five of our
citizens had perished; the Armenian had been torpedoed; and
the Orduna, the Leo, the Leelanaw, the Arabic, Nicobian and
Hesperian destroyed with the loss of twenty-three American
lives.

The Committee then called attention to the assurance of the
German Ambassador on September 1, 1915, that "Liners will
not be sunk by our submarines without warning and without
safety of the lives of noncombatants, provided that the liners
do not try to escape or offer resistance" ; and to the note of
November 29 stating that "the German Government quite
shares the view of the American Government that all possible
care must be taken for the security of the crew and passengers
of a vessel to be sunk. Consequently the persons found on a
vessel may not be ordered into her lifeboats except when the
general conditions, that is to say, the weather, the conditions

WE ENTER THE WAR 357

of the sea, and the neighborhood of coasts, afford absolute cer-
tainty that the boats will reach the nearest port."

Yet even these pledges were not kept. In December the
American steamers Communipaw and Petrolite, the Japanese
liner Yasaka Maru, and the liner Persia were sunk. On the
Persia were 500 passengers, of whom but 165 were saved.
Among the lost was the American Consul going to his post.
In March the French liner Patria with Americans aboard was
sunk without warning; the Norwegian bark Silius with seven
Americans aboard ; the British steamers Berwindvale and Eng-
lishman with Americans aboard; the French unarmed channel
steamer Sussex and the British liners Manchester Engineer and
the Eagle Point. On the Sussex, twenty-four Americans were
injured.

Against all these acts we had protested in vain. In Febru-
ary, 1915, the German Government was told that the Govern-
ment of the United States could not reconcile such acts "with
the friendly relations so happily existing between the two gov-
ernments" ; that it "would be constrained to hold the Imperial
Government to a strict accountability for such acts of their
naval authorities." In July, 1915, the German Government
was told that "repetition by commanders of German naval
vessels of acts in contravention of those rights must be regarded
by the Government of the United States, when they affect
American citizens, as deliberately unfriendly." In April,

1916, the German Government was warned that if it did "not
immediately" abandon "its present methods of submarine war-
fare against passenger and freight-carrying vessels the Gov-
ernment of the United States can have no choice but to sever
diplomatic relations."

In her answer of May 4 Germany gave assurances that
new orders had been given to her naval forces "in accordance
with the general principles of visit and search and the destruc-
tion of merchant vessels," and lived up to it until January 31,

1917, when her ruthless submarine warfare was resumed.
Turning from this summary of violated promises, the Com-
mittee passed to a review of German intrigues in our country
and told of the doings of Captain von Papen and Captain
Boy-Ed; how Dr. Chakrabarty received $60,000 from the Ger-

358 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

man Embassy for "Indian revolutionary propaganda in this
country"; how the German Embassy employed Ernest T.
Euphrat to carry information between Berlin and Washington
under an American passport; how officers of interned warships
violated their word of honor and how six of them escaped in
a boat purchased with money supplied by the German Consul
at Richmond; how under the eyes of Captain von Papen and
Wolf von Igel, Hans von Wedell maintained an office for the
procurement of fraudulent passports for German reservists;
how James J. F. Archibald, under cover of an American pass-
port and in the pay of Ambassador von Bernstorff, carried dis-
patches for Ambassador Dumba and committed other unneutral
acts ; how Albert O. Sander and other German agents sent spies
to England protected by American passports ; how when Irving
Guy Hies with an American passport went to Germany it was
taken from him and held for a day; how when Paul Julius
Hensel, a German spy, was arrested in London he had a coun-
terfeit of the Hies passport in his possession; how prominent
officials of the Hamburg- American Line under the direction of
Boy-Ed attempted to supply German warships at sea, how ves-
sels were sent from San Francisco, and how with funds fur-
nished by Captain Franz von Papen, Werner Horn attempted
to blow up the international bridge at Vanceboro, Maine, and
Albert Kaltschmidt attempted to blow up a factory at Walker-
ville, and the armory at Windsor, Canada.

The Committee next told of bomb plots against ships. Ger-
man agents had been convicted and sentenced for making bombs
to be attached to allied ships leaving New York. Under the
direction of von Papen and Wolf von Igel, Captain von Kleist,
Captain Wolpert of the Atlas Steamship Company, and Captain
Rode of the Hamburg- American Line made incendiary bombs
and put them on board allied ships. The shells were made on
the steamship Friedrich der Grosse. Captain Franz Rintelen
came from Germany, secretly, to prevent exportation of muni-
tions to the Allies, organized and financed Labor's National
Peace Council, and tried to bring about strikes.

Consul General Bopp at San Francisco and Yice-Consul
General von Schaick and others had been convicted of sending
agents into Canada to blow up bridges, tunnels and wreck ves-

WE ENTER THE WAR 359

sels sailing from Pacific Coast ports with war material for
Russia and Japan. Paul Konig, head of secret service of the
Hamburg-American Line, sent spies to Canada to gather infor-
mation concerning the Welland Canal, and movement of troops ;
bribed a bank employee to give information concerning ship-
ments to the Allies; sent spies to Europe with American pass-
ports to secure military information, and was involved with von
Papen in his bomb plots. Finally, the indignities heaped on
American consular officials by German frontier authorities who
ordered them stripped and searched, the detention and mal-
treatment of the Yarrowdale prisoners, the detention of Gerard
and the American correspondents, and the Zimmermann note to
Mexico were passed in review. No such an arraignment of a
great Power had ever before been made by a Committee of the
House of Representatives.

After some fifty speeches attacking and defending Germany
the House, a few minutes after three o'clock on the morning of
April 5, 1917, passed the joint resolution. The yeas were 373
and the nays 50.

Thus empowered to act, the President on April 6 issued a
proclamation declaring that "a state of war exists between the
United States and the Imperial German Government.''

Two days later the Austrian charge d'affaires asked for
passports for himself, the embassy staff, the consuls and the
Ambassador-designate Count Tarnowski, and diplomatic rela-
tions with Austria were severed. The Count, appointed to suc-
ceed Dr. Dumba, reached our country just as diplomatic rela-
tions were severed with Germany and had not been received by
the President when war was declared. Fourteen Austrian mer-
chant ships, in our ports, were now seized by the Government
as a measure of precaution.

From the heads of the Entente Powers, from ministers of
state, from mayors of cities, from learned societies and uni-
versities, came scores of telegrams of thanks and congratula-
tions to the President and the People of the United States.
By order of the War Cabinet the war speech of President
Wilson was placarded on all official billboards throughout
France; celebrations were held and our flag was everywhere

360 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

displayed. President Poincare, of France, sent a long dispatch
to President Wilson.

"At the moment when, under the generous inspiration of
yourself, the great American Republic, faithful to its ideals
and its traditions, is coming forward to defend with force of
arms the cause of justice and of liberty, the people of France
are filled with the deepest feelings of brotherly appreciation."
He was sure he expressed "the thought of all France in ex-
pressing to you and to the American Nation the joy and the
pride which we feel to-day as our hearts once again beat in
unison with yours." . . . "jln never-to-be-forgotten language you
have made yourself, before the universe, the eloquent inter-
preter of outraged laws and a menaced civilization. Honor
to you, Mr. President, and to your noble country."

At Rome a great multitude carrying our flag and singing
The Star-Spangled Banner went to the American Embassy to
cheer and shout, and former Premier Liezzatti and sixty-seven
deputies dispatched an address to the President.

"Your message, with its ideal beauty and political contents,
brings us back to the dawn of civilization when the United
States, inspired by Washington, gave to the oppressed people
of Europe and of the two Americas the fruitful example of
their redemption. Your message is not addressed to the United
States alone, but to all humanity, and awakens the noblest
instincts among free nations. Your message is the hymn of
freedom."

King George, "on behalf of the Empire," offered heartfelt
congratulations "on the entry of the United States of America
into the war for the great ideals so nobly set forth in your
speech to Congress. The moral not less than the material
results of this notable declaration are incalculable, and civili-
zation itself will owe much to the decision at which, in the
greatest crisis of the world's history, the people of the great
Republic have arrived."

Lloyd-George in behalf of the Imperial War Cabinet, in a
message to the American people, said :

"The Imperial War Cabinet, representing all the peoples
and all the nations of the British Empire, wish me, in its behalf,
to recognize the chivalry and courage which calls the people

WE ENTER THE WAR 361

of the United States to dedicate the whole of their resources
and service to the greatest cause that ever engaged human
endeavor." Two phrases in the President's address, he said,
would "stand out forever in the story of this crusade" — that
"the world must be saved for democracy," and that "the menace
to peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic Govern-
ments backed by organized force and controlled wholly by their
will and not by the will of their people."

Parliament was not then sitting; but when it met on
April 17 the House of Commons, amid cheers, and with but
one dissenting vote, that of an (Independent Irish Nationalist,
resolved :

"This House desires to express to the Government and
people of the United States of America their profound apprecia-
tion of the action of their Government in joining the allied
Powers, and thus defending the high cause of freedom and
rights of humanity against the gravest menace by which they
have ever been faced."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in moving the resolution,
deeply regretted "that the Premier is unable to be present him-
self to move the resolution. Not only the members of Parlia-
ment, but all the people of the British Empire and the allied
countries welcome the new Ally with heartfelt sympathy. This
is not only the greatest event, but, as I believe, the turning
point of the war. The new world has been brought in, or has
stepped in, to restore the balance in the old. Being in, the
United States has already shown that her enemies must be-
ware of her. Despite the fact that the path immediately before
us is more difficult than ever before, I venture to express the
hope and belief that a change is coming; that the long night
of sorrow and anguish which has desolated the world is draw-
ing to a close."

Mr. Asquith seconded the resolution, and said:

"It is only right and fitting that this House, the chief rep-
resentative body of the British Empire, should, at the earliest
possible opportunity, give definite and emphatic expression to
the feelings which throughout the length and breadth of the
Empire have grown day by day in volume and fervor since the
memorable decision of the President and Congress of the

362 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

United States. I doubt whether even now the world realizes
the full significance of the step America has taken. I do not
use language of flattery or exaggeration when I say it is one
of the most disinterested acts in history."

Sir Alfred Mond announced that the Government had
given instructions that on Friday, April 20, the day set apart
to mark, with suitable ceremony, the entrance of the United
States into the war, the Stars and Stripes should be flown,
beside the Union Jack, on as many public buildings as
possible.

When that day, "American Day," it was fittingly called,
came, bright and clear, the good people of London beheld such
sights as never before had been seen by man. From the Vic-
toria Tower of the House of Parliament, over which until that
day the flag of no foreign nation had ever been raised, they saw
the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack flying in unison
from the same staff. Through streets richly decked with
American flags and lined with people they saw the King and
Queen proceed from the Palace to St. Paul's to take part in
"A solemn service to Almighty God on the occasion of the
entry of the United States of America into the great war of
freedom."

How deeply that act of our country moved the thinking
people of London was well told by Hall Caine in a cable to the
Philadelphia Public Ledger.

American Day in London was a great and memorable event. It
was another sentinel on the hilltop of time, another beacon fire in
the history of humanity. The two nations of Great Britain and
America can never be divided again. There has been a national mar-
riage between them which only one judge can dissolve, and the name
of that judge is death.

Nature herself seemed to celebrate the nuptials. The morning
broke fine with the breath of summer and the smile of spring. Never
had the city looked so bright and heartsome. The crisp air seemed
to crackle under the thud and rumble of the thoroughfares. The
Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes were entwined on countless
flagstaffs, and cordons of police were keeping back the crowds that
lined the course of the royal procession.

The broad circle of St. Paul's was framed with faces. Rarely,
if ever, has our old gray cathedral, compassed round with its tides of
traffic, seen such a congregation. It was a solid mass of people from

WE ENTER THE WAR 363

the portico to the altar steps. The King and Queen were there with
the beloved Queen Alexandra, the American Ambassador, the Min-
isters and Ambassadors of the Allied nations, our leading statesmen,
soldiers and sailors and a fair representation of the beauty and intel-
lect of the nation. . . .

It was not for nothing that the flags of Great Britain and America
hung side by side under the chancel arch on Friday morning. At
one moment the sun shot through the windows of the great dome
and lit them up with heavenly radiance. Was it only the exaltation
of the moment that made us think the invisible powers were giving
us a sign that in the union of the nations for which those emblems
stood lay the surest hope of a day when men will beat their swords
into plowshares and know war no more?

The United States of Great Britain and America! God grant
that the union celebrated in our old .sanctuary may never be dis-
solved until that great day has dawned.

From the Old World the excitement spread to the New.
April 10 Brazil severed diplomatic relations with Germany
and, aroused by the sinking of the Brazilian steamship Parana
without warning by a German U-boat, seized forty-six German
vessels in her waters.

That same day Argentina announced her approval of the
action of the United States. The posting of the declaration on
the bulletin boards in Buenos Aires caused a great excitement,
pro-ally demonstrations were made, and on the fourteenth the
German consulate and the offices of several pro-German news-
papers were attacked by the people.

Chili declared she would remain neutral. Bolivia severed
relations with Germany on April 13 ; Paraguay expressed her
sympathy for the United States; Uruguay would remain neu-
tral, but recognized the justice of the attitude of the United
States ; Costa Rica "indorsed the course of President Wilson" ;
Panama canceled the exequaturs of all German consuls and
approved of the declaration of war by the United States ; Cuba
declared war against Germany.

Without a moment's delay Great Britain and France each
prepared to send a high commission to our country to express
the thanks and gratitude of their Governments, and discuss the
most effective way of cooperation.

The British Mission, headed by Arthur J. Balfour, slipped
out of England secretly on April 11, landed at Halifax on the

364 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

twentieth, crossed to St. John and came by special train to the
little town of McAdam at the Canadian end of the Interna-
tional Bridge. A special train brought them to Vanceboro on
the American side, where they were received by the Third
Assistant Secretary of State, Rear-Admiral Fletcher and Gen-
eral Ward and escorted to Washington.

M. Viviani, former Premier of France, headed the French
Mission. Accompanied by General Joffre, victor of the Marne,
and a host of distinguished men, he crossed the Atlantic in a
vessel convoyed by French ships of war and was met at night,
a hundred miles at sea, by a flotilla of American destroyers,
reached Hampton Roads April 24 and was carried to Washing-
ton by the President's yacht, Mayflower.

A visit was made to the tomb of Washington, where tributes
were made by M. Viviani and Mr. Balfour, and a bronze palm
laid on the tomb by General Joffre and a wreath of lilies by
Mr. Balfour. To the wreath was attached the words :

"Dedicated by the British Mission to the immortal memory of
George Washington, soldier, statesman, patriot, who would have
rejoiced to see the country of which he was by birth a citizen and
the country his genius called into existence fighting side by side to
save mankind from a military despotism."

By invitation M. Yiviani and Marshal Joffre appeared
before the Senate and the House of Representatives, and were
given a great ovation in each. Chicago was then visited, and
St. Louis and Kansas City, and Springfield, where a palm
was laid on the tomb of Lincoln, and then Philadelphia, New
York and Boston.

While the French Commissioners were making their tour,
Mr. Balfour by invitation addressed the House of Representa-
tives. Never before had a British official been so honored.
May 11 they reached New York and passed through streets
lined with shouting multitudes. A reception at the City Hall
was followed on May 12 by a dinner tendered by the Mayor's
Reception Committee to both the French and British Com-
missions.

"I have not," said Mr. Balfour in his after-dinner speech,
"come here authorized by my Government to set myself up or

WE ENTER THE WAR 365

set my friends up as instructors of the great American people."
It might be, it probably was, the fact that there were certain
mistakes which a democracy unprepared for war might make.
"We shall be happy to describe these mistakes to you, if, hap-
pily, it will be your desire to learn the lesson from them."

Such was the purpose of the missions, and this purpose
accomplished, they departed as secretly as they came and
reached their destinations in safety.

CHAPTER

THE CALL TO THE COLORS

THE call to arms found our country ill prepared for the
great work which lay before it. Vast sums of money must be
raised. A great army must be gathered and trained. Indus-
tries must be mobilized. A peace-loving people must be aroused
to a due sense of the meaning of their entrance into the world
war.

Not a moment was lost. No sooner had the President
signed the joint resolution declaring that a state of war had
been thrust upon us than the news was sent by wireless and by
telegraph to every fort and army post; to every warship, navy
yard and naval station in our country and insular possessions;
and to our Ambassadors, Ministers and consuls the world over.
Every German vessel in our ports was seized, and scores of
Germans, leaders in plots, were arrested in New York, Chicago
and San Francisco; orders went out for the immediate mobili-
zation of the navy, and the taking over of privately owned
motor boats and yachts already enrolled ; the naval militia and
naval reserve were called to the colors, and the work of enlist-
ing was taken up with renewed ardor.

The Council of National Defense and its Advisory Commis-
sion went seriously to work. Created by Act of Congress, the
Council consisted of the Secretaries of War, Navy, Interior,
Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, and the Advisory Commission
of seven men drawn from civil life, and put in charge, one of
transportation, another of munitions, another of food, cloth-
ing and supplies in general ; another of raw materials, minerals
and metals; another of labor; another of engineering; another
of medicine, surgery and sanitation.

To aid them in their work there at once sprang up a host
of Boards and Committees, each to play a special part in the
mobilization of our resources and industries. At the request

366

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 367

of the Council the presidents of the great railroads met and
named five men to put the railroads on a war basis. Mr.
Hoover was invited to become Chairman of a Committee on
Food Supply and Prices, charged with the duty of securing
the cooperation of all food distributing agents, preventing if
possible speculation and waste and increasing production of
food. A general medical board of physicians, surgeons, den-
tists and hygiene and sanitation experts was appointed to
mobilize the medical resources of the country. An Economy
Board was organized, and April 15 the President made an
appeal to the people to increase the output of war materials
and raise food in abundance.

We must, he said, not only supply ourselves, our army and
our navy but a large part of the nations with whom we had
made common cause. We must build ships by the hundred
"to carry to the other side of the seas, submarines or no sub-
marines/7 whatever would be needed there, but which Eng-
land, France, Italy, Russia could not spare the men, materials
or machinery to make. Our industries, therefore, our farms,
mines, shipyards, factories must be more prolific, more eco-
nomically managed than ever before.

To the farmers he urgently appealed. The "supreme need"
of our own country and of our Allies was "an abundance of
supplies and especially of foodstuffs." The importance of a
sufficient food supply was "superlative." Without it "the
whole great enterprise upon which we have embarked" would
fail. On the farmers rested "in large measure the fate of the
war and the fate of the nations." Might the nation depend
on them to leave nothing undone that would increase the yield
of their land. He called on "young men and old alike," on
"able-bodied boys," to "turn in hosts to the farms." Farmers
in the South were urged to "plant abundant foodstuffs as well
as cotton" ; middlemen were told the eyes of the country were
on them; that the country expected them, as it expected all
others, to "forego unusual profits," and organize to hasten ship-
ments. Every one who cultivated a garden helped "to solve
the problem of feeding the nations." Every housewife who
practiced strict economy put herself in the ranks of those who
served the nation.

368 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

The response was quick. Thousands of young men and
lads left the universities, the colleges, the high schools and
the home and volunteered for work on the farms and in muni-
tion plants and factories. Vacant lots in the cities were turned
into little gardens with children for cultivators. The front
lawns and flower beds of suburban residences were plowed and
sown with every sort of vegetable seed and farmers, the land
over, increased the acreage of corn and wheat, and potatoes.

The Secretary of Agriculture declared the problem was not
how to secure more acreage, but how to obtain more labor. In
the cities and towns there were more than 2,000,000 boys from
fifteen to nineteen years of age not engaged in work vital to
the nation. These should be used. High schools and colleges
in rural districts, he thought, should suspend their work and
resume later than usual in the autumn, that the students might
go to the farms. Industrial plants should do their repair work
during the harvest, and certain public and private undertakings
of lesser importance to the nation should shut down for the
time being and so set free additional labor. To upwards of
two thousand Boy Scouts, gathered on the plaza before the
Department of Agriculture in Washington, and carrying gar-
den tools of all sorts, the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
said: "Arm yourselves with pick and hoe. Till every scrap of
vacant lawn. Raise tomatoes, beans and peas, and you will
do an immeasurable service to your country/7 and the promise
was given that the message would be sent to all Boy Scout
organizations in the country. The day, April 21, had been
called "National Planting Day" and the boys marched to a
three hundred acre plot donated by the Government for farm-
ing purposes.

In N"ew York City a mass meeting of Boy Scouts received
a telegram from Mr. Hoover telling them that "America will
have to feed the world for the next two or three years, even if
the war should end this year," and Mr. Roosevelt urged them
to "start a garden and thereby help to feed the soldiers." The
Governor of North Carolina appealed to the County Commis-
sioners to cultivate every idle farm and use every chain gang
that could be spared from roadmaking to plant food crops, and
three thousand women and girls, enrolled in clubs, pledged

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 369

themselves to can all surplus fruit and vegetables. The State
Council of Defense in West Virginia took up the question how
to increase the food supply. In Alabama the Superintendent
of Education promised to release all boys in the high schools
and district agricultural schools for farm work, if their parents
made no objection. In Detroit, Mr. Henry Ford promised to
release a thousand men from his motor plant to go on the farms,
and to take them back in the autumn. In Connecticut, the
State Food Committee called for boys to work on the farms.
A bulletin from the Department of Agriculture at Washington
urged everybody to make gardens. "Somebody has to raise
everything you eat. Do your share." In Philadelphia the
Bourse and the Commercial Exchange organized a Farm Work
Enrollment Bureau to mobilize the war-farmer boys for work
in the West. A Committee of men of prominence living in
towns near Philadelphia along the main line of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad formed the Main Line Food Supply Depart-
ment of the State Committee of Public Safety and called for
aid. Their purpose was to cultivate and maintain a series of
Community War Gardens on all unused land one mile north
and south of the railroad from Merion to Villanova. No money
was wanted, but land owners were asked to loan unused land
in quantities from one to twenty-five acres ; to donate labor then
in their employ; to loan farm implements or horses, and give
fertilizers and seed, potatoes, beans and cabbage, carrot, turnip
and onion seeds. From information received, the Committee
declared the need of cultivating every bit of unused land was
more than urgent if the shortage of food sure to prevail in
the autumn and winter was to be lessened. Vegetables raised
in this way were to be sold at cost to the people of their towns.
~Not a cent of profit would be taken. Like appeals were made
by Vacant Lot Associations, Community Gardeners' Associa-
tions, School Garden Associations, and scores of others. Hun-
dreds of students at the University of Pennsylvania joined the
farm and industrial volunteers. It was the same everywhere.
To raise food was not enough. Quite as important was the
careful use of it. The American habit of wastefulness must
be stopped, and this Mr. Hoover sought to do by an appeal to
the women of the country. A nation-wide association, the

370 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

United States Food Administration, was started and every
woman above the age of fifteen was asked to sign a. card and
become a member. On the card were a few simple questions,
and a pledge which bound all who signed to "accept member-
ship in the United States Food Administration," and "carry
out the directions and advice of the Food Administrator" in the
conduct "of her household" in so far as "circumstances will
admit." Each member was then told what to do, was given a
card to hang in the window, and, if desired, a button. The
first card, issued to the wife of the President, was hung in
the window of the White House dining-room.

In Philadelphia they were delivered at the door of every
occupied house by the police, one Monday in July, and gathered
on Wednesday. Nobody signed unless willing to do so. Those
who did not were then visited by members of the women's
clubs and organizations and the object of the card explained.

That all might know how to save and what to save, Mr.
Hoover sent out a food card to be hung in the kitchens. It
called for the use of less wheat, meat, fats, milk, sugar and
fuel ; for a larger use of fruit and vegetables ; for the canning
or drying of surplus produce, and urged all to buy in the
neighborhood and save the cost of carriage from places far
away. One pound of wheat saved each week meant 150,000,000
bushels for our Allies. This would help them "to save democ-
racy." Sugar was scarce. "We use to-day three times as much
per person as our Allies. If every one in America saves one
ounce of sugar daily, it means 1,100,000 tons for the year."
One-third of an ounce less animal fat each day would save
375,000 tons in a year. Every American was in duty bound
not to eat a fourth meal; "preach the Gospel of the clean
plate" ; buy less, serve smaller portions, eat less cake and pas-
try, less meat and no young meat, serve no wheat bread at one
meal a day, and "watch out for the wastes in the community."

The first step on the part of the Government was taken
by the President. Acting under authority given him by an
Act of Congress, he forbade the export of a long list of articles
to any of fifty-six countries and their dependencies, save under
licenses obtained from the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce. The purpose of the Government, he said, was to

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 371

better the food conditions which had arisen and were likely to
arise before the crops were harvested, jln liberating any sur-
plus over and above our own needs, the wants of nations fight-
ing against Germany and her Allies would be first considered.
Neutrals would not be unduly hampered ; but the Government
must be assured that they were husbanding their own resources,
and that our own supplies did not directly or indirectly go to
feed the enemy. Not only was the shipment of food and fodder
to be restricted, but such essentials as pig iron, steel, bullets,
arms, ammunition and explosives. The ban was to go into
effect on July 15.

That the helpless neutrals, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland,
would suffer was to be expected, but for this Germany, and not
the United States, was responsible. A comparison of our ex-
ports during the nine months ending with March, 1917, with
those for a like period ending with March, 1913, the year be-
fore the war, showed that those to Denmark had nearly trebled,
those to Norway had increased ninefold, those to Sweden four-
fold and those to Switzerland twenty-fivefold. This did not
mean that everything brought from our country was sent by
these neutrals into Germany. Much of it was, and the rest
went to make up the depletion of their own products caused
by shipments to Germany. Sweden in times of peace was a
large exporter of iron ore, but she was now selling to Germany
each year more than she had ever before sold to all the world,
and to replace her depleted stock was importing ore from the
United States. Assurances from these neutrals that they would
not send to Germany wheat, grain, copper, war supplies of any
kind, bought from us, meant little if what they bought was
merely to replace their own products sold to our enemy. This
was the source, of supply our duty to our Allies and ourselves
required we should stop.

A Danish journal did not believe that the contest for liberty
and democracy would be fought with weapons which would
mortally wound small nations. Before the war President Wil-
son had again and again upheld the right of neutrals to carry
on trade with one of the belligerents. Before the war American
goods in large quantities went through Denmark to Germany.

372 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Indeed, it was to defend the neutral commercial rights of
America that the United States declared war.

A German journal called the embargo a brutal assault
against little neutrals. In France the embargo was hailed as
one of the decisive acts of the war. The Allies, despite the
vigilance of their navies, had failed to make the blockade tight.
A new measure was needed. This the United States had fur-
nished by forbidding indirect aid to the enemy. From Norway
came a special commission, headed by the Arctic explorer
Nansen, to remonstrate. Norway, he said, was dependent on
the United States for supplies. In times of peace she bought
from Germany sugar, grain and fats; but now she must get
them from America. She was in great need of iron and grain.
The harvest would be poor and little could be expected from
the crop.

When the new minister from Switzerland arrived there
accompanied him a commission to present the needs of that
country as to food. She raised but twenty per cent, of her
food supply, and besides her own population must feed thou-
sands of interned people from neighboring countries. After
some negotiation with Norway an agreement was reached by
which she promised, if allowed to buy forty-seven thousand tons
of cereals, to give up thirty-six thousand tons of wheat and rye
for the benefit of Belgium. The rest, eleven thousand tons of
barley, she was to keep. Germany had sunk seventeen of
twenty-three Belgium Relief Commission ships, and it was to
replace this loss that the thirty-six thousand tons were to be
given up at cost and taken to Belgium in vessels Norway had
chartered to carry foodstuffs home.

A like agreement was tentatively made with Holland for
the loading of some thirty of her ships, provided the larger
part of their cargoes was given to Belgium. But the Exports
Council would not consent, and it was soon announced that no
ships with American wheat would be allowed to sail to the ports
of any northern neutrals before the first of December. The
Netherlands, despite its protest, it was said, had wheat and
grain enough for her population until that time.

The embargo proclamation was scarce forty-eight hours old
when the President -appealed for unselfishness in war prices.

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 373

The Government was about to fix the prices it was willing to
pay for supplies needed for the war. A fair price would be
paid. By a fair price was meant such as would keep the indus-
tries concerned in a high state of efficiency, provide good wages
and make possible such additions to the plants as war needs
made necessary. The acceptance of such prices as the Govern-
ment would pay must not be put on the ground of patriotism.
At a time when hundreds of thousands of our young men were
going across the sea to fight, no true man who stayed home to
work for them would ask himself how much he was going to
make. No true patriot would take toll of their heroism, or
seek to grow rich by the shedding of their blood. The Presi-
dent had heard it said that more than a just price, more than
was needed to sustain the industries, must be paid; that it was
necessary to pay very generously in order to stimulate produc-
tion; that nothing but rewards paid in money would do this.
Do you who say so mean "that you must be paid, must be bribed
to make your contribution, a contribution that costs you neither
a drop of blood nor a tear, when the whole world is in travail
and men everywhere depend upon and call to you to bring them
out of bondage and make the world a fit place to live in again
amidst peace and justice?" He could not believe that men
"living in easy peaceful fashion" would exact a price, drive a
bargain with the men who were enduring the dangers of the
war on the battlefields, in the trenches, on the sea.

Did the ship owners, the ocean carriers realize what obsta-
cles they had put in the way of a successful carrying on of the
war ? They were doing everything that high freight rates could
do to make the war a failure, to defeat the armies fighting
against Germany. When they realized this he was sure they
would reconsider the matter. It was high time. But there was
something else to be considered; the whole people were mob-
ilized to finish the nation's task in the war, and under these
conditions it was not possible to distinguish between industrial
purchases made by the Government and those made by individ-
uals. Prices to the public must be made the same as prices
to the Government.

His next appeal was to the housewives. Increased produc-
tion, to which the farmers had responded so patriotically, was

374 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

but a part of the solution of the food problem, he said. What
was raised must be cared for, and saved. Every bushel of pota-
toes stored, every pound of vegetables put up for future use,
every jar of fruit preserved, would help to win victory and end
the war. We must use food grown locally and so lessen the
pressure on the railroads and leave them free to carry things
necessary for military purposes. Food we did not need at once
must be conserved.

The letter was addressed to the National Volunteer Com-
mittee on the Preservation of Fruit and Garden Products, rep-
resenting twenty-four states ; was issued by the Secretary of
Agriculture with whom the Committee worked; and was in
reply to the question, "How May Housewives Immediately
Start Canning, Preserving, Pickling, Drying and Preserving?"

Information on these matters was so eagerly sought that
the "National Emergency Food Garden Commission," working
with the Conservation Department of the American Forestry
Association, issued a "Home Garden Primer," a "Home Can-
ning," and a "Home Drying Manual for Vegetables and
Fruits," giving full instructions. To save fruits and vege-
tables by canning was, this year, a patriotic duty.

Congress while the people were plowing and planting, vol-
unteering for farm work and pledging themselves to save food
and stop waste, was busy with a Food Control Bill. As passed
by the Senate, July 21, 1917, the President was empowered
to appoint a board of three commissioners, one of whom must
be a farmer actually engaged in raising food, to perform such
duties as the President might direct. To destroy any neces-
saries in order to enhance their price, to hoard, monopolize,
waste, willfully allow deterioration in their production or manu-
facture, charge an unfair price, conspire to limit the carrying,
harvesting, storing or making in order to enhance their price
was a misdemeanor punishable with imprisonment for two
years, or a fine of $10,000, or both.

Foods, feeds, fuel, supplies of any kind needed for the
army, the navy, the common defense, might be seized and a
just price paid, and so might any factory, mine, packing house,
or plant. That he might guarantee fair prices to producer
and consumer the President might buy, store, and sell for cash

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 375

at reasonable prices, fuel, wheat, flour, meal, beans and pota-
toes, and if he found that dealings in futures unduly raised
the price of wheat and food cereals, he might close the grain
exchanges and declare such trading unlawful. Thirty days
after the passage of the act no foods, fruits, food materials, or
feeds were to be used in making distilled liquors save for Gov-
ernment use; importation of such liquors was to cease, and
liquor in hand was to be taken over by the Government. The
prices of coal and coke, wherever and whenever sold, either by
producer or dealer, might be fixed; the carrying, distribution
and allotment among merchants and consumers regulated; and
if necessary the mines and yards of dealers seized and oper-
ated. One hundred and fifty million dollars were appropriated
for the purposes of the act. Whenever, in the opinion of the
President, it became necessary, he might require any person
or corporation, operating a grain elevator, a cold storage estab-
lishment for the storage of meat, poultry or dairy products, a
packing house producing meat or meat products, a factory mak-
ing farm implements or machinery, the operator of a coal mine,
or person making, handling, or storing fertilizers to take out
a license, provided the articles made or stored formed "a part
of interstate or foreign commerce.77

Finally, there was to be a committee, composed of five
senators and five representatives, to be called "The Joint Com-
mittee on Expenditures in the Conduct of the War.77 As the
name implied, it was to keep watch over the use made of all
appropriations by Congress, all contracts entered into by officers
of the executive departments, bearing on the conduct of the
war. It was to advise and confer with the President, the heads
of all executive departments, commissions, voluntary boards
and organizations connected with the conduct of the war, might
send for persons and papers, administer oaths, and compel
attendance.

To the bill in this form the President was strongly opposed.
He disliked the board of three commissioners. He would have
but one commissioner, and that one, Mr. Hoover. He was
opposed to the Joint Committee on the Expenditures and, while
the bill was in conference, stated his objections in a letter to
the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture. Not

376 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

only was Section 23 which created the Committee "entirely
foreign to the subject-matter of the food administration bill,"
but, if made a law, it would amount to the taking over by
Congress of work of Administration and render his task of
conducting the war impossible,, A like "committee on the
conduct of the war" had been created during the administra-
tion of Mr. Lincoln and had been "the cause of constant and
distressing harassment."

Before the bill passed both these objectionable features
were stricken out, and Mr. Hoover was appointed what the
newspapers called "Food Dictator." "Not a moment was lost
in putting the law in operation. Notice was at once served on
speculators and "profiteers" that the day of reckoning had come
for all who would not join in the effort to secure lower prices
for the consumer and food for our Allies.

"If necessary," said Mr. Hoover, "we shall not hesitate to
apply to the full the drastic, coercive powers that Congress has
conferred upon us" by the act. It was not his intention "to pro-
ceed with a host of punitive measures," but by working with
the various trades, make gambling, extortion, and wasteful
practices impossible. A deep obligation rested on us to feed
the armies and the peoples joined with us in this struggle.
The turning of forty millions of their men from peaceful pur-
suits to war and war work, the drafting of millions of women
to take the places of husbands and brothers, the toll of the sub-
marine had so cut down production that their harvests would
fall five hundred million bushels of grain below the usual yield.
No market but ours could relieve their pressing needs. Despite
our own short crop we must send them two hundred and twenty-
five million bushels. We must stop all waste, cut down con-
sumption and use other food, such as fish, corn, cereals. Every
ounce wasted was a contribution to starvation. There was no
royal road to saving. Nothing but the cooperation of the
twenty million kitchens and twenty million dining tables in
our country would answer.

First to be regulated were the prices of wheat, flour and
bread. To stop speculation in wheat and flour it was now
announced that on the first of September all elevators, and flour
mills turning out one hundred and more barrels of flour each

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 377

day must take out licenses; that no wheat could be stored for
more than thirty days ; that grain exchanges would be asked to
stop dealing in futures, and that a committee would be ap-
pointed to fix a fair price for wheat.

In Massachusetts a "wheatless week," during which no
white bread was to be served in hotels, restaurants, or homes,
saved, the State Food Administrator estimated, twenty-five
thousand barrels of flour. In Chicago all dealings in futures
ceased. Actual wheat for delivery was then selling at $2.40 to
$2.60 a bushel. What price the Food Administrator would fix
was yet to be determined.

From the Department of War now came the announcement
that an expeditionary force of "approximately one division of
regular troops," commanded by Major General John J. Persh-
ing, had been ordered to go to France as soon as possible, and
that the General and his staff would precede the troops. The
offer of Colonel Koosevelt to raise a volunteer force and take
them to France, the President said, could not at present be
accepted.

"I shall not avail myself, at any rate, at the present stage
of the war, of the authorization conferred by the act to
organized volunteer divisions. To do so would seriously inter-
fere with the carrying out of the chief and most immediately
important purpose contemplated by this legislation, the prompt
creation and early use of an effective army, and would con-
tribute virtually nothing to the effective strength of the armies
now engaged against Germany.

"I understand that the section of this act which authorizes
the creation of volunteer divisions, in addition to the draft,
was added with a view to providing an independent command
for Mr. Roosevelt and giving the military authority an oppor-
tunity to use his fine vigor and enthusiasm in recruiting the
forces now at the western front.

It would be very agreeable to me to pay Mr. Eoosevelt this com-
pliment and the Allies the compliment of sending to their aid one
of our most distinguished public men, an ex-President, who has ren-
dered many conspicuous public services and proved his gallantry in
many striking ways. Politically, too, it would no doubt have a very
fine effect and make a profound impression. But this is not the

378 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

time or the occasion for compliment or for any action not calculated
to contribute to the immediate success of the war. The business now
in hand is undramatic, practical, and of scientific definiteness and
precision. I shall act with regard to it at every step and in every
particular under expert and professional advice from both sides of
the water.

That advice is that the men most needed are men of the ages
contemplated in the draft provision of the present bill, not men of
the age and sort contemplated in the section which authorizes the
formation of volunteer units, and that for the preliminary training
of the men who are to be drafted we shall need all of our experienced
officers. Mr. Roosevelt told me when I had the pleasure of seeing him
a few weeks ago that he would wish to have associated with him some
of the most effective officers of the regular army. He named many of
those whom he would desire to have designated for the service, and
they were men who cannot possibly be spared from the too small force
of officers at our command for the much more pressing and necessary
duty of training regular troops to be put into the field in France
and Belgium as fast as they can be got ready.

The first troops sent to France will be taken from the present
forces of the regular army, and will be under the command of trained
soldiers only.

The responsibility for the successful conduct of our own part
in this great war rests upon me. I could not escape it if I would.
I am too much interested in the cause we are fighting for to be inter-
ested in anything but success. The issues involved are too immense
for me to take into consideration anything except the best, most
effective, most immediate means of military action. What these
means are I know from the mouths of men who have seen war as it is
now conducted, who have no illusions and to whom the whole grim
matter is a matter of business. I shall center my attention upon those
means and let everything else wait.

I should be deeply to blame should I do otherwise, whatever the
argument of policy for a personal gratification or advantage.

A division of the army as reorganized for the war, it was
announced, would consist — infantry, artillery, cavalry, engi-
neers, signal battalion, aero squadron, all included — of 25,718
men and officers. Wagon trains and motor trains would raise
this number to 28,334, to wjiich must be added the medical
department of 125 officers, 1,332 enlisted men and 48 ambu-
lances.

Steps to mobilize the National Guard had already been
taken. Late in March fourteen units of the Guard were called

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 379

out for police purposes in nine Atlantic States 1 and the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and sent to protect railways, bridges and
water works. Before the month closed twenty regiments and
five battalions of the Guards in eighteen States from Ohio to the
Pacific Coast were called; the muster out of service of 22,000
guardsmen who had been on the Mexican border was suspended,
and seven more regiments called out. Thus, by April 1, 60,000
guardsmen out of a total of 150,000 were under arms.

The order, on April 6, for the mobilization of the navy
found it 35,000 men short of the 87,000 authorized by law.
But to put it on a war footing 99,809 regulars and 45,870 re-
serves were needed. Of these 73,817 regulars and 25,219
reserves were for use on battleships, scouts, destroyers, subma-
rines and training ships; 10,633 regulars and 17,195 reserves
for coast defense, and 10,318 regulars and 2,080 reserves for
shore stations.

The work of enlisting began at once. Every possible means
of securing volunteers was used. Attractive cartoons and
posters were affixed to fences and displayed in shop windows
and at recruiting stations. Appealing hand bills were pasted
across the fronts and sides of taxi-cabs, motor trucks and
wagons. Movies depicted life on shipboard and in camp.
"Wake-up, America," and "Your Country Needs You" became
familiar forms of appeal.

In this country-wide effort to arouse the men, .the women
bore a conspicuous part. From in front of the little brown
tents scattered over every part of the great cities and towns,
from platforms in halls where meetings were held each day, and
from automobiles drawn up at street corners, they pleaded with
the men to heed their country's call.

Recruits obtained by such means were often far from
satisfactory. Some, moved it may be by shame, gave fictitious
names or false addresses when they signed, or did not report
at the place to which they were directed. Scores of those who
came to the tents and recruiting stations failed in their physi-
cal examinations. Some were under weight. Flat feet, nar-
row chests, bad teeth, defective sight or hearing caused scores

1 Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn-
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

380 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of others to be rejected. Nevertheless, stimulated by such
appeals, the daily enlistments rose rapidly from twenty-five to
a thousand a day for the navy, and to 1,434 a day for the army.
By the end of July more than 1,000,000 men had offered, and
558,858 had been accepted. Of these 163,633 had entered the
regular army; 69,000 the navy; 35,000 the Officers' Training
Camp; 145,000 the National Guard.

Congress began its part in the work of preparation by the
passage of a bill providing for a loan of seven billion dollars.
Five billions were to be in bonds bearing three and a half
per cent, interest. Two billions were to be in short-time Treas-
ury certificates to be redeemed with money gathered by new
taxes. Three billions of the loan was to be lent to the Allies
on such securities as the President approved.

Early in May the Secretary of the Treasury announced that
the first offering of bonds would be a $2,000,000,000 three and
a half per cent, per year Liberty Loan, open to popular sub-
scriptions at par; that the denominations would be so small
as to place the bonds within the reach of people of very mod-
erate means, and that he had no doubt the offering would be
oversubscribed. The twelve Federal Reserve Banks were to
act as agents, each in its own district, for receiving subscrip-
tions; taking care of the details of delivery of the bonds and
payment of the subscriptions in such manner as not to disar-
range the financial situation. But subscriptions were to be
sought by all banks, trust companies, private bankers and bor J
houses the country over.

Subscriptions to the Liberty Loan came pouring in at once,
from financial institutions in every State in the Union, and in
every part of the world over which our flag is flown, from the
Philippines, from Hawaii, from Porto Rico, and from Fair-
banks in Alaska. In forty-eight hours $311,657,'000 of the loan
was taken, and two days later $447,421,000. It was then
announced that the bonds would be redeemable at the option
of the Government after fifteen years, that they would fall due
in thirty years, that two per cent, must be paid when subscrip-
tion was made, that the remainder might be paid in four in-
stallments ; that the lowest denomination would be $50 and the
highest $100,000; that the bonds would be of two classes,

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 381

coupon and registered, and that no subscriptions would be
received after June 15.

The Secretary of the Treasury now appealed by letter to
the heads of all Government departments and Governors of the
States to aid in giving the widest publicity to the offering of
the Liberty Loan, and asked them "to have all envelopes and
other official mail containers stamped in red with ,the following
lines, 'YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY, — BUY A LIBERTY LOAN BOND.' r
In the Philadelphia Federal Reserve District, National and
State banks and trust companies agreed to send circulars and
information regarding the loan to each one of their depositors ;
investment bankers were to do the same with their customers,
and on May 15 an army of bond salesmen set out to solicit
subscriptions. The movies were called on to aid, flash on the
screens throughout the country the words, "Buy a Bond," and
prepare one-reel dramas written around the buy-a-bond slogan.
Private bankers through advertisements in the newspapers
offered their services to subscribers without charge, and urged
all persons to buy. Every patriotic American was expected to
subscribe no matter how small the sum. The loan was a
sound investment for savings. It was not a tax or a gift. The
Post-office Department stamped every piece of mail with the
words : "Do Your Bit. Buy a Liberty Loan Bond. ^Inquire at
any Bank or Post-office."

An appeal issued by the Philadelphia Liberty Loan Com-
mittee of Bankers read:

"Which do you choose— the harvest of victory, or the desolation
of defeat ?

"Will you submit America to the frightful horrors of desolation,
or will you loan your money to guarantee peace and freedom for the
whole world?

"Will you suffer the stigma of giving your country no help in this
world-wide crisis, when you can loan your money (not have it taken
from you by the soldiers' brute force, mind you) and be paid in gold
for all you give?

"Will you let your neighbors point at you with scorn, when you
can so easily help your Government, and make safe your property and
protect your family?

"Kemember, Germany watches I For you to help with the Liberty
Loan is to tell Germany that Prussianism must go! that frightfulness

382 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

must end; that you and all America are for a free world and free
people.

"The sooner you buy your bond, the sooner you end the war.
Buy to-day — it is the prudent, patriotic thing to do 1"

The country over subscriptions poured in from social clubs,
business men's associations, benevolent associations, manufac-
turing companies and great corporations; from employees
of manufacturing concerns of every sort, of department stores,
of railroads, of cities; from school teachers, wage earners and
from the governing boards of church organizations. Many
firms and corporations offered to buy bonds for their employees
and hold them till paid for gradually. Daily meetings were
held in the theaters and appealing speeches made.

As the last day for subscription drew near the bell in the
tower on Independence Hall, "The Cradle of Liberty," Phila-
delphia, was tolled each night at nine o'clock as a "dirge for
slackers." On the night of June eleventh the bell was struck
four times as a reminder that but four days remained in which
to subscribe. On June twelfth, three strokes, on the thirteenth,
two strokes, and on the fourteenth, one stroke, its last appeal,
was given. In many of the churches bells were rung. And
so it was the country over, for by request from Washington the
slacker was reminded by ten thousand bells in churches, school
houses, court houses, public buildings, that his country expected
him to do his duty.

At the close of the business day of June thirteenth the
enormous sum of $342,000,000 was still to be raised and forty-
eight hours left in which to do it. These hours were therefore
marked by what was truly called "a tremendous eleventh-hour
drive throughout the country." In Philadelphia, the old
Liberty Bell, the bell that proclaimed "liberty throughout the
land" when its joyful ringing greeted the reading of the Dec-
laration of independence in the State House Yard, July 8,
1776, was brought from its case, and the Mayor, in the pres-
ence of a great crowd of invited guests, at twelve o'clock noon,
struck it thirteen times, one stroke for each of the thirteen states
that founded our Eepublic. From the Hall the sound was
carried by telephone over the length and breadth of the land.
Every form of effort was redoubled, young men with mega-

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 383

phones appealed from automobiles to passers-by on the side-
walk, subscriptions were taken on the curb stone, huge clocks
showed how the subscription was mounting; railroads, indus-
trial corporations, banks, business houses subscribed for their
employees, on the installment plan; and when all was over it
appeared that more than four million persons had subscribed
for $3,035,226,850 of the loan. The Liberty Loan was over-
subscribed. Subscriptions amounting to $17,000,000 had been
secured by the Boy Scouts of America in a house to house can-
vass.

While the campaign for the Liberty Loan was still under
way, Congress was wrangling over the details of a bill to pro-
vide a great army. Well aware that to draw two million men
from the pursuits of civil life by the old fashioned method of
volunteering would be too slow for the needs of the Allies, a bill
providing for a selective draft was framed by the General Staff,
approved by the President and laid before the Military Com-
mittees of the Senate and House. As explained by the Presi-
dent the force necessary to meet the emergency was to be raised

by bringing the regular army and the National Guard to war
strength, and by adding the additional forces which will now be
needed so that the national army will comprise three elements, the
regular army, the National Guard and the so-called additional forces,
of which a first 500,000 are to be authorized immediately and later
increments of the same size if they may be needed.

In order that all these forces may comprise a single army, the
term of enlistment in the three is equalized, and will be for the period
of the emergency. The necessary men will be secured for the regular
army and the National Guard by volunteering, as at present, until,
in the judgment of the President, a resort to a selective draft is
desirable. The additional forces, however, are to be raised by selective
draft from men ranging in age from nineteen to twenty-five years.

The quotas of the several States in all of these forces will be in
proportion to their population.

This legislation makes no attempt to solve the question of a per-
manent military policy for the country, chiefly for the reason that in
these anxious and disordered times a clear view cannot be had either
of our permanent military necessities or of the best mode of organiz-
ing a proper military peace establishment. The hope of the world
is that when the European war is over arrangements will have been
made composing any of the questions which have hitherto seemed to
require the arming of the nations, and that in some ordered and just

884 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

way the peace of the world may be maintained by such cooperations of
force among the great nations as may be necessary to maintain peace
and freedom throughout the world. When these arrangements for a
permanent peace are made we can determine our military needs and
adapt our course of military preparation to the genius of a world
organized for justice and democracy. The present bill, therefore,
is adapted to the present situation, but it is drawn upon such lines
as will enable us to continue its policy or so much of it as may be
determined to be wise, when the present crisis has passed.

But what would be its fate in the House of Representatives
was watched with the deepest interest. The minority of the
Committee on Military Affairs favored a draft: but from the
majority came a bill providing that the army should be raised
by calls for volunteers, that no more than 500,000 should be
called for at a time, and that conscription should not be resorted
to unless volunteers failed to respond.

This compromise the President made known he would not
accept. "The idea of the selective draft is," he said, "that
those should be chosen who can be most readily spared from the
prosecution of the other activities which the country must en-
gage in and to which it must devote a great deal of its best
energy and capacity.

"The volunteer system does not do this. When men choose
themselves they sometimes choose without due regard to their
other responsibilities. Men may come from the farms or from
the mines, or from the factories or centers of business who
ought not to come, but ought to stand back of the armies in the
field." The principle of the selective draft had at heart "this
idea: that there is a universal obligation to serve and that a
public authority should choose those upon whom the obligation
of military service shall rest, and also in a sense choose those
who shall do the rest of the nation's work."

In the House, after a sharp contest, the supporters of the
volunteer system were defeated, and a bill was passed embody-
ing the principle of the President's selective draft. The Senate
made three amendments of some importance. The House bill
provided for drafting men between the ages of twenty-one and
forty years inclusive. Members were opposed to waging war
with young men only. A Senate amendment fixed the limits at
twenty-one and twenty-seven years, and by another amend-

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 385

ment authorized the President to regulate the sale of liquor
both in and near training camps and military stations and if
he saw fit forbid the serving of liquor to officers and men in uni-
form. A third amendment provided for the acceptance of the
Koosevelt volunteers: the House believed that a selective serv-
ice bill should not provide for the acceptance of volunteers.

As finally passed by Congress and approved by the Presi-
dent the act gave him authority to raise the regular army, by
enlistment, to 287,000 men, the maximum strength provided
by existing law ; to draft into the service of the United States
all members of the National Guard and the National Guard
Reserve; and raise by selective draft an additional force of
500,000 men or so much as he might deem necessary, and an-
other 500,000 at his discretion. The age limits for drafted men
were twenty-one and thirty years inclusive, and all male per-
sons between these ages were required to register "in accordance
with regulations to be prescribed by the President," or failing
to do so became liable to imprisonment for one year. "The
Vice-President of the Unitel States; the officers, legislative,
executive and judicial, of the United States, and of the several
States, Territories and the District of Columbia, regular or
duly ordained ministers of religion; students in recognized
schools of divinity and theology ; all persons in the military and
naval service of the United States; members of sects whose
creeds forbade them to engage in war ; county and municipal of-
ficials; custom house clerks, those engaged in the transmission
of the mails ; artisans and workmen in armories, arsenals, navy
yards; pilots and mariners actually in sea service; those em-
ployed in industries and in agriculture necessary to the opera-
tions of the armed forces ; those physically or mentally deficient,
and those on whom some one depended for support, were or
might be exempt.

The signing of the bill was immediately followed by the
signing of a proclamation, already prepared, which fixed June
fifth as registration day, save in Alaska, Hawaii and Porto
Rico, where a time for registration would be named later, and
closed with another defense of the selective draft, and a very
proper reminder that the day should "be approached in thought-
ful apprehension of its significance, and that we accord to it

386 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the honor and the meaning that it deserves/' and that those
called to the colors were not the only ones called to serve.

The power against which we are arrayed has sought to impose its
will upon the world by force. To this end it has increased armament
until it has changed the face of war. In the sense in which we have
been wont to think of armies there are no armies in this struggle.
There are entire nations armed. Thus, the men who remain to till
the soil and man the factories are no less a part of the army that is
in France than the men beneath the battle flags. It must be so
with us. It is not an army that we must shape and train for war, it
is a nation. To this end our people must draw close in one compact
front against a common foe. But this cannot be if each man pursues
a private purpose. All must pursue one purpose.

The nation needs all men ; but it needs each man, not in the field
that will most please him, but in the endeavor that will best serve
the common good. Thus, though a sharpshooter pleases to operate a
triphammer for the forging of great guns and an expert machinist
desires to march with the flag, the nation is being served only when
the sharpshooter marches and the machinist remains at his levers.
The whole nation must be a team in which each man shall play the
part for which he is best fitted. To this end Congress has provided
that the nation shall be organized for war by selection and that
each man shall be classified for service in the place to which it shall
best serve the general good to call him.

The significance of this cannot be overstated. It is a new thing
in our history and a landmark in our progress. It is a new manner
of accepting and vitalizing our duty to give ourselves with thoughtful
devotion to the common purpose of us all. It is in no sense a con-
scription of the unwilling ; it is, rather, selection from a nation which
has volunteered in mass. It is no more a choosing of those who shall
march with the colors than it is a selection of those who shall serve
an equally necessary and devoted purpose in the industries that
lie behind the battle line.

The day here named is the time upon which all shall present them-
selves for assignment to their tasks. It is for that reason destined
to be remembered as one of the most conspicuous moments in our
history. It is nothing less than the day upon which the manhood of
the country shall step forward in one solid rank in defense of the
ideals to which this nation is consecrated. It is important to those
ideals, no less than to the pride of this generation in manifesting its
devotion to them, that there be no gaps in the ranks.

It is essential that the day be approached in thoughtful apprehen-
sion of its significance, and that we accord to it the honor and the
meaning that it deserves. Our industrial need prescribed that it be
not made a technical holiday, but the stern sacrifice that is before us

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 387

urges that it be carried in all our hearts as a great day of patriotic
devotion and obligation when the duty shall lie upon every man,
whether he is himself to be registered or not, to see to it that the name
of every male person of the designated ages is written on these lists
of honor.

As the day drew near when registration would take place,
anti-draft, anti-war demonstrations were made by Socialists and
slackers who marched about the streets of the great cities dis-
tributing leaflets and carrying banners. In Boston a band of
Socialists, men and women, with red flags inscribed "War is
hell — we demand peace"; "Liberty bonds are a mortgage on
labor"; "Who stole Panama?" "Who crushed Haiti?" "If this
is a popular war, why conscription ?" when marching down Tre-
mont Street were met by sailors, marines and soldiers, their
flags torn from them, their band forced to play the "Star
Spangled Banner," and their meeting on the Common pre-
vented.

In Philadelphia, some thirty Socialists led by a German set
out one day to distribute anti-draft handbills. A conscript,
said the bills, is little better than a convict. He is deprived of
his liberty and his right to think as a free man. In a demo-
cratic country each man has a right to say whether he is willing
to join the army. Only a despot can force his subjects to fight.
Conscription belongs to a bygone age. You have a right to de-
mand the repeal of such a law. Do not submit to intimidation.
Scarcely had they begun their work when a crowd gathered, and
some fighting ensued ; but the Socialists were scattered and thir-
teen arrested. Determined to put an end to such attacks on the
Government, a raid was made a few nights later on the rooms
of the Young People's Socialistic Society where a secret meet-
ing was under way and some forty-nine slackers and .anti-
draft agitators and a quantity of anti-draft documents were
captured.

From the headquarter s^of the Socialist Party tens of thou-
sands of leaflets and pamphlets were sent broadcast over the land,
under such titles as "Down with Conscription"; "Down with
War." "Every man," said one, "who is determined to uphold
the dearest rights of personal liberty, every man who refuses to
become a victim of the war declared by the Government to pro-

388 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

tect the millions loaned the Allies by the capitalists of this
country should refuse to register for conscription."

A Socialist journal in Kansas issued an envelope on the
back of which was printed a violent appeal, containing such de-
mands as : aLet those who want great victories go to the firing
line and get them." "They say, war is Hell, then let those who
want Hell go to Hell."

At a meeting of the Socialist party in Cleveland it was re-
solved that the draft act was a violation of the Thirteenth
Amendment to the Constitution, that it proposed "involuntary
servitude" ; that all members of the party be urged not to
register for the draft, and pledged moral and financial support
to all who refused "to become the victims of the ruling classes."
Aroused by such appeals numbers of Socialists failed to register.
Numbers of others, slackers who were not Socialists and
quite likely never saw one of their leaflets, did the same. A
search was made for such, and all who were caught were forced
to register or, under the provisions of the draft act, were fined
or sent to prison for one year.

An estimate of the Census Bureau gave the number of men
likely to be registered for service as 10,000,000. When the re-
turns were received it was found that 9,586,508 had been en-
rolled.

The drawing of the 625,000 young men to form the first
selective army, it was announced, would take place in Washing-
ton on July 15. The serial numbers for each of the five thou-
sand districts in the country would be placed in a wheel and
drawn one at a time until the requisite number was obtained.
Each number drawn would apply to each registration district,
so five thousand men would be drafted at a time. Thus, if num-
ber 20 were taken from the wheel, the man in each district hold-
ing that number would be selected for service and required to
appear before the local board for physical examination, or for
the hearing of his claim to exemption if any he had. Before
the drawing took place some changes were made in the plans.
The numbers on the registration cards were disregarded, each
man was given a new "red ink" number and required to go to
the headquarters of the exemption board of his district and as-
certain his new number. Ten thousand five hundred of these

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 389

"red ink" numbers, each in a black celluloid capsule, were
thrown in a huge glass bowl, where all were well mixed, and on
Friday, July 20, the drawing began. The Secretary of War,
blindfolded, drew the first capsule, handed it to the announcer,
who broke it, drew out the paper, said "Number 258" and some
man in each of the 4557 registration districts throughout the
United States, if as many as 258 had been registered, was called
to the colors. This number when thus announced was taken
down by three tally clerks, was written on a huge blackboard
in plain view of every one in the room and telegraphed to every
city, town and hamlet the country over. The Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Military Affairs drew the second num-
ber; the Chairman of the House Committee on Military Af-
fairs the third; and the ranking minority members of the two
committees the fourth and fifth.

Moving picture machines were busy while these early num-
bers were being drawn, for it was the wish of the Secretary
of War that the scene should be so recorded that the people
might see for themselves in what manner the drawing had been
conducted.

By the people the result was watched with the deepest in-
terest. In the cities, towns and manufacturing centers business
was all but suspended. All day long and until far into the night
crowds of young men whose lot was soon to be made known,
lawyers, clerks, artisans, laborers, the fathers, mothers, friends
of those likely to be drawn, idle spectators, thronged the side-
walks in front of every bulletin board whereon the numbers
were displayed. During sixteen hours and a half the drawing
went steadily on until the last of the 10,500 black capsules had
been taken from the bowl, and 1,374,000 young men had been
drafted into the selective army.

When the time came for drafted men to appear before their
local boards for physical examination, bands of negroes, In-
dians and tenant-farmers in Oklahoma determined not to be
drafted, organized as the Working Class Union and the Jones
Family and spread terror over three counties. Crops were
abandoned, telegraph wires were cut, bridges burned, and peace-
ful citizens forced into their ranks. Posses sent to arrest them
found only women and children in their homes. As a warning

390 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

to them and to resistants everywhere the Provost Marshal Gen-
eral issued a statement.- There was, he said, nothing to resist as
yet. The call to appear before the examining boards was to af-
ford an opportunity for those called to present reasons why
they should not be ordered for military duty. Failure to ap-
pear did not prevent the raising of the army. The names of
those who did not come were automatically posted, and auto-
matically they were inducted into the military service and
made subject to military law, and the swift and summary pro-
cedure of court martial. Failure to report for duty when or-
dered was desertion, and desertion, in time of war, was a cap-
ital offense.

In the course of a few days several of the resisters were
killed and some two hundred taken prisoners and held under the
charge of treason against the United States.

Mobilization of the young men drawn for selective service
began in September. On the fifth of the month five per cent, of
the white men enrolled in the first quota of the National Guard
were to begin their journey to the sixteen instruction camps
scattered over the country. That there might be no congestion
on the railroads they were to go in five daily detachments of
equal number, and, as far as possible, were to consist of men
with some military experience. September nineteenth, forty
per cent and October third, another forty per cent were to set
out, and the remaining fifteen per cent were to go as soon there-
after as possible.

Never before in the history of our country had such an event
occurred. Hundreds of thousands of young men, drawn from
every walk in life, physicians, lawyers, business men, clerks,
laborers, rich and poor were to leave their homes in every city,
town and hamlet the country over, and go into training that
they might be made fit to fight on European soil to make "the
world safe for democracy." That such an event should be
marked in some signal manner was most proper. On the third
of September, therefore, the President addressed to them this
message :

To THE SOLDIERS OF THE NATIONAL ARMY:

You are undertaking a great duty. The heart of the whole coun-
try is with you.

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 391

Everything that you do will be watched with the deepest interest
and with the deepest solicitude not only by. those who are near and
dear to you, but by the whole nation besides.

For this great war draws us all together, makes us all comrades
and brothers, as all true Americans felt themselves to be when we
first made good our national independence.

The eyes of the world will be upon you, because you are in some
special sense the soldiers of freedom. Let it be your pride, therefore,
to show all men everywhere not only what good soldiers you are, but
also what good men you are, keeping yourselves fit and straight in
everything and pure and clean through and through.

Let us set for ourselves a standard so high that it will be a glory
to live up to it, and then let us live up to it and add a new laurel to
the crown of America.

My affectionate confidence goes with you in every battle and every
test. God keep and guide you!

In Washington, on the fourth of the month, the men drawn
in the District of Columbia for the new army, in their civilian
clothes, escorted by regulars, marines, national guardsmen,
marched down Pennsylvania Avenue and past a reviewing stand
before the White House. At their head on foot, walked the
President, the Cabinet, and hundreds of members of the Senate
and the House, a visible confirmation of the words of the Presi-
dent "the heart of the whole country is with you."

To the Chairman of the Mayor's Committee of National De-
fense in New York the President wrote.

Please say to the men on September 4 how entirely my heart is
with them and how my thoughts will follow them across the sea with
confidence and also with genuine envy, for I should like to be with
them on the field and in the trenches where the real and final battle
for the independence of the United States is to be fought, alongside
the other peoples of the world, struggling like ourselves to make an
end of those things which have threatened the integrity of their terri-
tory, the lives of their people and the very character and independ-
ence of their Governments. Bid them Godspeed for me from a very
full heart.

At the head of marchers was the Mayor, and behind him the
Plattsburg graduates who a little later would be their officers
in France. A banner carried by one division of the drafted
men read "Harlem Hun Hammerers," and another "From
Harlem to France." All along the route the buildings were gay

392 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

with flags and the sidewalks densely packed with excited and
cheering men and women.

September first was the day chosen by Philadelphia to give
Godspeed to her sons. Sailors, marines, regulars, Red Cross
and coast reserve units and representatives of almost every
organization in the city formed the escort. Bombs were ex-
ploded from the roof of the City Hall, hydroaeroplanes from
the Navy Yard and the school at Essington flew over the
marchers; aeroplanes dropped capsules containing the message
from the Mayor to the friends and relatives of drafted men.
The British Recruiting Station was represented; fifty Cana-
dians wore sleeve bands inscribed "Comrades in Arms"; the
Emergency Aid and the War Emergency Unit had six floats il-
lustrating their work; the Baldwin Locomotive Works sent a
French locomotive and a banner inscribed "Our Energies Are
Concentrated to Help Win the War" ; the Eddystone Corpora-
tion exhibited shells and a banner bearing the words "These
shells will clear the way for the United States boys when they go
over the top." But the center of attraction were the few thou-
sand boys in every day clothes, the first of the city's quota to be
called to the colors. Without arms, without uniforms, keeping
no step, they brought to the dense crowd before which they
passed a far stronger realization of what the war meant to our
countrymen than did the highly trained and finely organized
sailors, regulars and marines.

Though wanting in all the pomp and circumstance displayed
in the great cities, the Godspeed given the boys in the little
towns was not the less sincere. Nay, it may well be it was
deeper seated for the good people of the small communities must
have realized far more keenly than the shouting crowds of the
cities, that some of the young men they had seen grow up
among them were leaving the home town never to return.

Pacifists, Socialists, Industrial Workers of the World, anti-
war, anti-conscription, pro-German organizations of all sorts,
meantime were busy with their propaganda. The Philadelphia
branch of "Conscientious Objectors to War" one night in late
August attempted to hold a meeting in the Arch Street Theater,
to hear speeches and adopt resolutions asking the President to
unite with the Pope in his proposal for peace. But the police

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 393

refused a permit, blocked the doors, and as the crowd was be-
ginning to disperse some sailors interfered and started a small
riot. Camden was then chosen for the meeting but there too
they were barred.

Headquarters of the Socialists on Arch Street were now
raided and thousands of leaflets denouncing the draft act and
calling on all citizens to disregard it, were seized by the chief
postal inspector and the Secretary and others arrested. Thou-
sands of anti-draft leaflets, it was charged, had been sent to men
in the training camps and distributed on the streets.

The People's Council of America for Democracy and Peace
had been called to meet at Minneapolis. Its purpose was un-
derstood to be the formation of a political party which should
unite all the anti-war pro-German organizations which had
been active ever since the war began. Minneapolis was selected,
it was understood, because the city had a Socialist Mayor, be-
cause Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota had large Ger-
man populations, because in North Dakota was the home of the
Farmers' Non-Partisan League, openly opposed to the war
policy of the Government, and because in days before the war
the Northwest had been strongly infected with pacificism.
Among its leaders and organizers were men well known as ex-
treme Socialists. One had been in charge of the Ford peace
party, another was national Secretary of the Socialist party,
a third editor of the Socialist journal, The Masses.

Whatever the purpose of the meeting the Governor of Min-
nesota was determined it should not be held, and issued a procla-
mation forbidding it anywhere in the State, as he believed the
purpose was to aid the enemies of the United States. The
Governor of North Dakota then announced he would give the
delegates protection should they assemble in that State. The
Constitution, he said, guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of
assembly, freedom of the press and of petition, and they were
entitled to protection. Fargo was then thought of as a meeting
place, but the Attorney General promptly announced that no
meeting would be allowed at Fargo. Hudson, Wisconsin, was
the next choice; but there also the city authorities interfered.
The Mayor of Milwaukee having sent assurances that "liberty
of speech and the right of the people to assemble to consult for

394 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

the common good," had not heen suspended in his city, and hav-
ing promised a welcome, it was decided to go there. But, when
warned that the meeting would be resisted with violence word
was sent out that Washington had been chosen. Government
of the District, it was said, was in the hands of Congress. A
denial of the right of the People's Council to meet would be a
denial by the Government and not by "the unpatriotic caprice
of any official." If no building could be obtained the plaza be-
fore the Capitol would be used. The police of Washington an-
nounced that no street meetings would be allowed.

Nevertheless a meeting of the Organization Committee was
held in Chicago; but it had not been long in session when the
chief of police appeared and ordered it to disperse. The police
were acting under instructions from the Governor who said it
was the duty of the Governor to preserve peace in the State;
that if in his opinion disorder and riot were likely to result
from the proposed meeting it was his duty and he had the power
to prevent it ; that it was his belief that the real purpose of the
meeting was to obstruct the Government in the prosecution of
the war, and was likely to cause disorder and rioting, and that
no such meeting therefore should be held in Illinois. Under
assurance of police protection from the Mayor of Chicago an-
other meeting was held the next day, whereupon the Governor,
notified of the defiance of his orders by the Mayor, sent four
companies of a National Guard Regiment, not yet taken into
Federal service, from Springfield, but when Chicago was reached
the meeting had adjourned.

A few days later a raid was made on the headquarters of the
Industrial Workers of the World in a score of cities, and books,
papers, records, documents, were seized. One of the warrants
charged them with " willfully causing and attempting to cause
insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny and refusal of duty in the
military and naval forces of the United States," of "obstructing
the recruiting and enlistment service of the United States," and
"of using the mails for the transmission of matter advocating
treason."

The first contingent of our army was then in France. Early
in June dispatches from London reported the safe arrival in
England of General Pershing and staff. The White Star liner

THE CALL TO THE COLORS 395

Baltic brought them to Liverpool with such secrecy that not a
man in the guard of honor drawn up on the landing stage knew
why he had been paraded. General Pershing and his officers,
standing at head of the gangway, were greeted by General Sir
Pitcairn Campbell and Admiral Stileman and then came down
to the wharf and inspected the Royal Welsh Fusiliers paraded
in their honor, a regiment beside which many of the American*
officers had fought during the Boxer rebellion in China.

A special train carried the Americans to London where
Lord Derby, the Secretary of State for War, Field-Marshal
Lord French and a host of distinguished officers waited to bid
them welcome. A round of dinners, receptions and formal calls
followed; the King and Queen received them at Buckingham
Palace; and June 13 the General reached Paris whither a part
of his staff had preceded him.

"From early afternoon," said the London Times, "Parisians
of all sorts and conditions began to line the two mile route
along which the cortege was to pass. Thousands upon thou-
sands of workers left shops, offices and factories in time to swell
the ranks. The Stars and Stripes were waving in countless
windows. At the station itself a company of infantry, with
band, was drawn up to render honor. A few minutes before
the time appointed for the arrival of the train M. Viviani,
Marshal Joffre, General Foch, General Brugere, Military
Governor of Paris and an officer representing the President of
the Republic, and the Prefects of Police and of the Seine, as-
sembled to receive General Pershing and his imposing suite of
53 officers, 69 civil secretaries and 67 soldiers."

On the fourteenth a visit was made to the Chamber of
Deputies where another ovation was given the General.

"The setting was worthy of the historic occasion," according
to the London Times. "The large, sweeping hemicycle of the
Chamber was crowded, hardly a Deputy was absent, the public
galleries were packed, and in the diplomatic box facing the
Tribune sat Mr. Sharp, the American Ambassador, and the
modest, khaki-clad figure of General Pershing. Time after
time as M. Viviani eloquently described the part America is
ready to play at this solemn moment of destiny the House was
swept to its feet and General Pershing looked down upon a sea

396 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

of upturned faces of cheering Deputies, while from the public
galleries cheers echoed and reechoed."

The departure of Pershing and his staff was no secret, but
the people knew nothing of the sailing of the first contingent of
fighting men until they heard with pride of its safe arrival on
the twenty-fifth of June at a port in France. A second con-
tingent arrived a few days later, and as July drew to a close
a third landed at "a European port." So secretly did they
come that no demonstration attended their landing. Only a
few spectators saw them as they quickly entrained and left for
parts unknown.

At home, meanwhile, the militia had been mobilized. On
the ninth of July the President, acting under the power given
to him by the Constitution, called the National Guard into the
service of the United States. In eleven States it was to
mobilize on the fifteenth of July and gather in such places as
might be chosen by the Secretary of War. In eighteen States
and the District of Columbia the men were to assemble on the
twenty-fifth of the month, and on August fifth those in all States
were to be drafted into the new army under provisions of the
act of May eighteenth.

CHAPTEK XV

GERMAN INTRIGUE

WITH our entrance into the war events in Europe, military
and political, acquired for us a new interest and concern. From
onlookers we had become allies. The war was now our war,
and every victory gained, every check met with along the hun-
dreds of miles of battle front was felt by us as never before. Jn
the West the progress of the ruthless submarine war alone gave
cause for deep anxiety. During February and March, if Ger-
man reports may be trusted, 803 enemy and neutral ships had
been sunk by submarines, causing a loss of 1,642,500 tons of
shipping. On land all went well. The British and French in
February and March drove back the German front between
Arras and Soissons, for a depth of twelve miles, capturing
Bapaume, Peronne, Noyon, and some sixty villages. x The
country over which the Germans retreated they turned into a
desert. Wherever possible, said the German account, houses
were burned down before evacuation. Walls that would not fall
were blown down when the artillery fire of the Allies drowned
the noise. Whole villages disappeared over night, the people
having gathered in a few designated towns where they would
be safe. Not a tree nor a bush — nothing was left lest it might
give shelter to the Allies. Orchards were destroyed, fields
ruined, farmsteads burned, every tree sawed off close to the
ground. Church organs were pulled to pieces for the copper,
brass rails were torn from the altars and crucifixes pulled from
the walls and broken. Tombs and chapels were blown to pieces,
and young girls carried away.

On Easter Monday, April 9, the British began another drive
along a forty-five mile front from Arras to St. Quentin. By the
end of the first day they had driven back the Germans along
twelve miles of the line and captured the famous Vimy Kidge,

397

398 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

and so opened the battle of Arras which raged day after day
for more than a month. Villages, guns and thousands of Ger-
man prisoners were captured and a great advance made. On the
west all was going well. But not so in the east. Russia was
giving way.

The Provisional Government was recognized on the twenty-
second of March by the United States, and on the twenty-third
by Great Britain, France and Italy, and proceeded to make
great reforms. Thousands of political prisoners were liberated
and brought back from Siberia. Poland was set free and left to
choose her own form of government ; Finland was given back
her constitution, and religious liberty was proclaimed.

Among those who came back to Russia was Vladimir
Utulyanov, better known as Nikolai Lenine, a Radical Socialist
leader allowed by Germany to return through Switzerland. He
now used his liberty to denounce the Provisional Government
and the Allies and to urge a separate peace. Angered by his
harangues, an anti-pacifist demonstration was made in Petro-
grad on April twenty-ninth. Hundreds of maimed, crippled
and convalescent soldiers gathered in front of the Cathedral and,
followed by thousands of the people, started for the Duma.
Halting on the way before the American Embassy, they were
addressed by our Ambassador.

The work of Lenine, however, was not without effect. The
Government was forced to declare its policy in a manifesto ad-
dressed to the Russian people and formally communicated to
the Allies in a note. It denied that Russia would make a
separate peace, denied that the overthrow of the old Govern-
ment had caused any slackening on the part of the new, pledged
it to work with the Allies to bring the world war to a victorious
end and declared its belief that, inspired by the same sentiments,
"the allied democracies" would find means "to establish the
guaranties and penalties necessary to prevent any recourse to
sanguinary war in the future." To the Council of Soldiers' and
Workmen's Delegates this policy gave great offense and, May
fourth, demonstrations against the Government were made in
Petrograd. In the opinion of these men the note was too vague.
The Government must speak plainly and give the Allies to un-
derstand, that Russia stood for no annexations and no indemni-

GERMAN INTRIGUE 399

ties. A truce was at last arranged, a vote of confidence in the
Government was given by the Council, and an explanation of
the note of May first was announced. The Government in
speaking of "a decisive victory," the Council said, did not mean
that free Eussia would seek to dominate other nations, or strip
them of their "national patrimony," or hy force occupy their
territories; hut would establish a lasting peace on the basis
of the right of each nation to arrange its own affairs. By
"penalties and guarantees" essential to a durable peace the
Government meant the reduction of armaments, and the setting
up of international tribunals. This explanation was to be sent
to the Allies by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Prime
Minister refused to do this. To send another note was impos-
sible. Rather than take such a step the Ministers would resign,
an act which the course of events soon forced them to commit.
First to go was the Secretary of War, whose place was given to
Kerensky. Milyukov was the next ; a coalition Cabinet was then
formed, and into it were taken six Socialists of all shades of
opinion. Truly enough did Kerensky say to a delegation from
the front, "The process of the change from slavery to freedom
is not going on properly. We have tested freedom and are
slightly intoxicated. What we need is sobriety and discipline."
Meantime appeals and offers of aid were on their way to
Russia from our country. Early in May the American Federa-
tion of Labor through its president, Samuel Gompers, appealed
to the Council of Soldiers7 and Workmen's Delegates. "We as-
sure you," said he, "of the whole-hearted support of the Ameri-
can people." In free America, as in free Russia, agitators for a
Prussian peace had spoken out so freely that they seemed more
influential than they really were. In truth, but few in America
were willing to allow that Kaiserism should continue its rule
over non-German people who wished to be free. Should we not
then protest against that pro-Kaiser Socialist interpretation, no
annexation, which demanded that all oppressed non-German
people should be forced to remain under Prussia and her
lackeys, Austria and Turkey? Should we not rather hold that
there must be no forcible annexations, that every people be
free to choose its allegiance ? Like you we are opposed to puni-

400 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

tive indemnities, and denounce those laid on Belgium, Poland,
Serbia.

"Let the German Socialists stop their pretenses and plottings
to bring about a peace in the interests of Kaiserism. Let them
stop calling international conferences at the instigation of the
Kaiser. Let them stop their intrigues to cajole the Russian and
American working people, to interpret your demand for no an-
nexations, no indemnities in such a way as to leave intact the
power of the German military caste.

"We feel certain that no message, no individual emissary, no
commission has been or will be sent to offer any advice what-
ever to Russia as to how she shall conduct her own affairs."
Reports contrary to this had been circulated in Russia. They
were the criminal work of pro-Kaiser propagandists, set afloat
to deceive and stir up bad feeling between the two great
democracies of the world.

Something more than appeals and assurances of sympathy
was needed if Russia was to continue to fight. She must have
financial and material help and both were now supplied. On
the ninth of May a commission of distinguished railroad en-
gineers set off for Petrograd, to aid in rebuilding and develop-
ing Russian railways and routes of transportation, and to carry
assurances that the United States stood ready to furnish any
amount of rolling stock and rails. May fifteenth $100,000,000
was deposited in the Federal Reserve Bank to the credit of Rus-
sia, to be used for the purchase of supplies in our country.
That same day the State Department announced that a special
mission headed by Mr. Elihu Root would' be sent to carry to the
new Republic greetings of friendship, brotherhood and God-
speed, assurances of confidence and help and to break down the
efforts of Germany and Austria to make a separate peace.

Lest this should be done by the contending factions in
Russia before the Special Mission arrived the President, May
26, addressed a note to Russia.

The approaching visit of the American delegation was a
fitting occasion to state again, he said, "the objects the United
States had in mind in entering the war." America sought no
material profit, no aggrandizement, she fought for no advantage
for herself, but for the liberation of peoples everywhere from

GERMAN INTRIGUE 401

the aggressions of autocratic power, for the liberty, the self-
government of all peoples, and every feature of the peace which
ends the war must be designed for that purpose. Wrongs must
be righted, and then safeguards created to prevent their being
committed again. No people must be forced to submit to a
sovereignty under which it does not wish to live.

No territory must change hands save for the betterment of
its inhabitants. No indemnities must be demanded save in
payment of wrongs done. No readjustment of power must be
made save to secure the future peace of the world and the
future happiness of its peoples.

These things accomplished, the free peoples of the world
must draw together in some common covenant which will com-
bine their force to secure peace and justice in the dealings of
nations with one another. The brotherhood of mankind must
no longer be an empty phrase.

The message was delivered to the Government in Petrograd
early in June, but was not made public in the United States
until the ninth of the month. A few days later the American
delegation reached Petrograd and was lodged in the Winter
Palace. The Provisional Government was then laboring hard
to persuade the army to take the offensive.

With the fall of autocracy all discipline in the army disap-
peared. Fighting ceased; the Russian and German soldiers
began to fraternize; and German agents went about trying to
persuade the troops to demand a separate peace or at least an
armistice. Men left the ranks and went home. Officers who
did their duty were arrested by the men. On one occasion
three regiments refused to occupy positions to which they were
ordered.

The German Commander on the Eastern front, quick to
seize the opportunity, now sent a wireless to the Russian troops
offering an armistice, and inviting delegates to meet him if
Russia wished to know the terms of peace. The Council
promptly rejected the offer. Russia was beginning to awake.
The General Congress of Officers Delegates at Petrograd called
for "vigorous fighting and an immediate offensive." At Odessa
delegates from the front demanded that fraternizing with the
Germans cease. Those doing so must be declared traitors, and

402 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

if they continued to offend should be shot. Deserters must be
deprived of the right to vote at the elections for the coming
Constituent Assembly, and be denied a share in the future dis-
tribution of land. A Swiss Socialist pacifist who had come to
Petrograd, and handed two of the members of the Provisional
Government a telegram from a member of the Swiss Federal
Council, was ordered to leave Russia. The telegram set forth
that the sender was sure Germany would make an honorable
peace with Russia, give her financial support, not meddle in
her internal affairs, come to a good understanding concerning
Poland, Lithuania and Courland, and restore her occupied ter-
ritories. The Congress of Soldiers' and Workmen's Delegates
of all Russia just gathered in Petrograd approved of the ex-
pulsion, and the Duma resolved that the safety of Russia lay in
an immediate offensive.

July first the offensive began along a twenty mile front in
Galicia, and for a time all went well. Day by day the enemy
was driven back, mile by mile, on a front one hundred and fifty
miles long. All Russia was wild with delight. Congratula-
tions poured in from the Allies. Russia had found herself.
The long hoped for blow had been struck. Then came the dis-
aster. On the morning of the 17th, in northeastern Galicia,
a regiment left the trenches and retired. Others when com-
manded to advance held meetings and debated whether or not
the order should be obeyed. This was the beginning. As the
Executive Committee of the South Western front reported to
the Government, a fatal crisis had occurred in the morale of the
troops. "Most military units are in a state of complete disor-
ganization, their spirit for an offensive has utterly disappeared
and they no longer listen to the orders of their superiors."
Some left the trenches without waiting for the approach of the
enemy. "For a distance of several hundred versts long files
of deserters, both armed and unarmed, men who are in good
health and robust, who have lost all shame and feel that they can
act together with impunity, are proceeding to the rear of the
army. Frequently entire units desert in this manner." When
the month closed the enemy had won back almost all of Galicia,
and August third crossed the Russian frontier northeast of
Czernowitz.

GERMAN INTRIGUE 403

Just at this time the American Mission to Russia, coming
home, reached our Pacific Coast. At a luncheon given to the
members Mr. Root declared his unshaken faith in Russia. "I
have/' said he, "abiding faith that Russia through trial and
tribulation will work, create and perpetuate a great, free, self-
governing democracy." He praised the Russian people, their
consideration for the rights of others, their "high capacity for
self-control," their "noble idealism," and pleaded for sympathy
for a nation struggling with problems we had been studying for
a hundred and forty years and for which we have not yet
found solutions.

The faith of our Government was shown when, towards the
close of August, $100,000,000 was loaned Russia, making
$275,000,000 advanced since we entered the war, and the Presi-
dent sent to the National Council assembled at Moscow the
"cordial greetings of their friends, the people of the United
States," an expression of their "confidence in the ultimate
triumph of the ideals of democracy and self-government against
all enemies within and without," and "renewed assurances of
every material and moral assistance they can extend to the
Government of Russia in the promotion of the common cause
in which the two nations are unselfishly united."

The month was notable for the occurrence of many events
of more than passing interest, or importance. Great gains were
made and thousands of prisoners taken by the French and
British along the battle front from Verdun to Ypres; the
Italians renewed their drive towards Trieste, carried Monte
Santo by storm and captured prisoners, guns and stores from
the Austrians; the Pope amazed the Allies by laying before
them a plan for peace ; our late Ambassador at Berlin aroused
world wide discussion of the causes of the war by the publica-
tion of his experiences at the Imperial Court; and China, the
seventeenth nation, declared war on Germany.

The journals which announced the entrance of China into
the war, also made known the peace proposal from the Pope.
The note was addressed to the Leaders of the Belligerent Peo-
ples ; but the Holy See having no diplomatic relations with the
Republic of France, the kingdom of Italy and the United
States, copies were sent to King George to be forwarded to these

404 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Powers. Twelve other copies were likewise sent for the
"leaders of nations friendly to the Allies" except Russia, Bel-
gium and Brazil, to whom the document had been sent direct.

News of the note and a summary of its contents came from
Rome, but some days elapsed before an official copy was made
public by the Foreign Office at London. It then proved to be
an invitation to "the Governments of the belligerent peoples to
come to an agreement on the following points which seem to be
a basis for a just and durable peace."

First of all these must be replacement of the force of arms
by the moral force of right, and reciprocal disarmament, leav-
ing only enough to maintain public order. There must be the
replacement of armies by arbitration with penalties to be laid
on any State that refused to arbitrate a national question or
accept the decision. Indemnity for damage done and the cost
of war should be waived ; there should be "entire and reciprocal
condonation" ; Belgium should be evacuated with guarantees for
her political, military and economic independence; Germany
should be given her colonies in return for the occupied regions
in France. Territorial questions such as those between Italy
and Austria, and Germany and France, in other words, Alsace-
Lorraine, Trent, Trieste, should be submitted to peaceful nego-
tiation ; and so too should the territorial and political questions
relative to Armenia, the Balkan States and Poland. "Such
are the principal bases whereon we believe the future reorgan-
ization of the peoples ought to be built. . . . Incline your ear
therefore to our prayer. Accept the fraternal invitation which
we send you in the name of the Divine Redeemer, the Prince of
Peace. Reflect on your grave responsibility before God and be-
fore man."

In Great Britain the peace plan was held to be such as the
Allies were bound to reject. It was pro-German, anti-Ally, and
the outcome of German inspiration, a relayed message from
Berlin. What were nations to think of a proposal which put the
aggressor and the assailed on the same footing, and offered the
innocent nothing but "entire and reciprocal condonation" for
the wrongs they had suffered ? The hand of the Central Powers
was in it. The hand was the hand of the Pope, but the voice
was the voice of the Kaiser. The Allies' terms of peace were

GERMAN INTRIGUE 405

and would remain, full restitution, full reparation, effectual
guarantees. They must, if they would survive, reject the pro-
posals and see the war through.

French opinion as set forth in the Paris journals was the
same as that in London. The whole world, it was said, includ-
ing the Pope, knows the peace terms of France and her Allies.
The Pope has but sent the terms of the Central Powers. His
offer is doomed to be rejected. How can a voice be raised in the.
name of divine justice and yet demand no punishment for the
guilty, no reparation for all wrongs, those of 1871 as well as
those of 1914?

Lord Eobert Cecil, speaking for himself, to the Associated
Press, said : the Allies could not think of condonation until the
criminals had repented and shown their repentance by word
and deed. Yet he could not help feeling surprise and sorrow
that the note contained not a word concerning certain outrages
done during the war which made it impossible for the enemies
of Germany to trust her or treat with her. Impartiality need
not have prevented the Pope from pointing out and deprecating
these outrages.

In our country opinion was divided. There were those
who could see nothing improbable in the suggestion that the
terms of peace came from Germany or Austria. The Pope did
not say with whom the Allies were to negotiate. If he meant
Germany, the Germany which looked on treaties as scraps of
paper, the treacherous Germany which murdered our citizens,
sought the dismemberment of our territory, covered our country
with spies and plotters, and defied our rights as neutrals, at
the very time she was engaged in the exchange of friendly notes,
the proposal ought to be promptly rejected.

There were those who held that, as a stroke of policy, the
President ought to urge on the Allies a careful consideration
and acceptance of the proposal. ,It was not expected that Ger-
many would accept. In that event she would have to settle
with her Socialists, Eadical Socialists and the Centrum party,
which, as composed of Catholics, would be disposed to join in
the demand for its acceptance, and the Junkers would be given a
serious blow. If Germany did accept, which was not expected,
a way to peace would be opened.

406 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

There were those who could see nothing practical in the
proposal, nothing hut a reduction of armament, the setting up
of a world court, a return to the status quo ante bellum, to
conditions as they were hefore the war. Arbitration on Alsace-
Lorraine, Trieste, the Trentino, Poland, Armenia and the
Balkans it was idle to expect.

August 27 the President made his rely. His Holiness had
in suhstance proposed a return to the status quo- ante bellum,
with condonation, disarmament, a concert of nations, freedom
of the seas, and a settlement of the territorial claims of France
and Italy, and of the troublesome problem of the Balkans. It
was clear no part of this program could be carried out unless
a return to the status quo ante gave a firm and satisfactory basis
for it.

The object of this war is to deliver the free peoples of the world
from the menace and the actual power of a vast military establish-
ment controlled by an irresponsible Government, which, having
secretly planned to dominate the world, proceeded to carry the plan
out without regard either to the sacred obligations of treaty or the
long-established practices and long-cherished principles of Interna-
tional action and honor; which chose its own time for the war; deliv-
ered its blow fiercely and suddenly, stopped at no barrier, either of
law or 'of mercy; swept a whole continent with the tide of blood,
not the blood of soldiers only, but the blood of innocent women and
children also, and of the helpless poor ; and now stands balked but not
defeated, the enemy of four-fifths of the world.

This power was not the German people, but the ruthless
master of the German people. To deal with it in the way pro-
posed by His Holiness would make necessary a permanent
hostile combination of nations against the German people, and
would abandon "the new-born Eussia to the intrigues, the mani-
fold subtle interference, and the certain counter-revolution
which would be attempted by all the malign influences to which
the German Government has of late accustomed the world."

Can a peace be based upon a restitution of its power, or upon any
word of honor it could pledge in a treaty of settlement and accom-
modation ?

The President did not think so.

GERMAN INTRIGUE 407

We cannot take the word of the present rulers of Germany
as a guarantee of anything that is to endure, unless explicitly
supported by such conclusive evidence of the will and purpose of the
German people themselves as the other peoples of the world would be
justified in accepting.

Without such guarantees treaties of settlement, agreements for
disarmament, covenants to set up arbitration in the place of force,
territorial adjustments, reconstitutions of small nations, if made with
the German Government, no man, no nation could now depend on.
We must await some new evidence of the purposes of the great
peoples of the Central Powers. God grant it may be given soon and
in a way to restore the confidence of all peoples everywhere in the
faith of nations and the possibility of a covenanted peace.

The test of every plan for peace, the President believed to
be:

Is it based upon the faith of all the peoples involved, or merely
upon the word of an ambitious intriguing Government, on the one
hand, and a group of free peoples on the other? . . .

The purposes of the United States in this war are known to the
whole world, to every people to whom the truth has been permitted
to come. They do not need to be stated again. We seek no material
advantage of any kind.

We believe that the intolerable wrongs done in this war by the
furious and brutal power of the Imperial German Government ought
to be repaired, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of any
people, rather a vindication of the sovereignty, both of those that are
weak and of those that are strong. Punitive damages, the dismem-
berment of Empires, the establishment of selfish and exclusive eco-
nomic leagues we deem inexpedient and in the end worse than futile,
no proper basis for a peace of any kind, least of all for an enduring
peace. That must be based upon justice and fairness and the com-
mon rights of mankind.

Everywhere in our country the reply met with approval
by the press. His Holiness, said a 'New Orleans journal, sug-
gests certain terms as a basis for discussion. The President
answers, that negotiation is impossible so long as one side doubts
the other's good faith. The Allies cannot forget that Hohenzol-
lern Germany had no scruples about violating the neutrality of
Belgium, a neutrality she stood pledged to protect, and the
President cannot forget Germany's broken promises regarding
submarine warfare, promises which, as the Chancellor told the

408 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Reichstag, were meant to be kept while a great fleet of U-boats
was building and not an hour longer.

The President, said another, repeats the distinction he drew
between the German people and the ruling autocracy. His dec-
laration that any treaty agreement must have the indorsement
of the German people states the essential truth of the situation.
The people will applaud the demand that peace when it comes
must bring to despoiled nationalities a restitution of their
heritages and to democracies a safety that can never be violated.

"They read with their eyes shut who say that the President
has rejected the peace proposals of Pope Benedict," said the
Philadelphia Evening Ledger. Far from it: he had, indeed,
shown how the German people might have peace : he had opened
the gates for reconciliation and a way out of the war. His
words "we must await some new evidence of the purposes of
the great peoples of the Central Powers," were an "invitation,
open and aboveboard, clear and emphatic."

The wrath of the press in Germany, as was to be expected,
flamed high. The President must draw his knowledge of the
German people from the British press, else he would know
that in its belief in the righteousness of the cause for which it
bleeds and suffers the German people is one with the Govern-
ment. His language was the outward expression of solidarity
with England. He used the same weapons as his ally, held the
alleged German autocracy responsible for the war. The "au-
tocratic system" of Germany could no longer be charged with
causing the war. Disclosures made by General Sankchonitinoif
on trial for treason, proved to the world that the irresponsible
despots of Russia were used to unleash the dogs of war. The
charge against Germany was ridiculous and comic in the mouth
of Mr. Wilson, that "democratic ally of democratic England
which used oligarchical Russia." Had his Democratic con-
science always been as susceptible as he pretended it was, he
would not have supplied the Czar's Russia with materials of
war, he would not have played a part in the Anglo-Russian plan,
would not have used against Germany that poisonous weapon, so
hateful to Democracy, "a conscious lie." Mr. Wilson's answer
must be characterized as pitiful. The man who once stood forth
as a peacemaker now blows one of the loudest war trumpets.

GERMAN INTRIGUE 409

He who proclaimed peace without victory now demands the
crushing of Germany. Every word of the note was "grotesque
nonsense." The "climax of all nonsense" was that the German
people were groaning under a cruel government. The whole
people, rich and poor, Socialist and Conservative, stood firm for
the Emperor and the Empire, and might be relied on to stand
more firmly around the Emperor "against this hypocrite."

The Austrian press echoed the expressions of the German.
The tone of the President's note was unparalleled. In the most
humiliating and offensive manner terms were dictated to the
German people. If Germany lay prostrate, her army heaten,
her fleets destroyed, no more degrading terms could have been
proposed. He sets up a European Monroe Doctrine and claims
the right to change the forms of government on the Continent.

Despite the outburst of abuse and indignation the answer of
the President to the Pope made a deep impression in Germany.
Matthias Erzberger, leader of the clerical center in the Reichs-
tag, it was announced would demand legislation to make the
Government responsible to that body, and to leave the question
of Alsace-Lorraine to the decision of the people in those ter-
ritories. A Socialist journal of Leipsic declared that the Ger-
man people must demand that its political institutions be made
more democratic, and must repudiate the argument of the pan-
Germans that such charges cannot be made because they are in-
sisted upon by the enemy.

The President in his reply to the Pope had referred to "the
malign influences to which the German Government has of late
accustomed the world." One of the nations subjected to this
malign influence, as shown by documents now made public by
Secretary Lansing, was Sweden.

"The Department of State," said the Secretary, "has secured
certain telegrams, from Count Luxburg, German charge d'af-
faires at Buenos Aires, to the Foreign Office at Berlin, which,
I regret to say, were dispatched from Buenos Aires by the
Swedish legation as their own official message, addressed to
the Stockholm Foreign Office.

"The following are tranlations of the German text:

" 'May 19, 1917, Number 32. This Government has now released
German and Austrian ships on which hitherto a guard had been

410 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

placed. In consequence of the settlement of the Monte (Protegido)
case there has been a great change in public feeling. The Government
will in future only clear Argentine ships as far as Las Palmas. I
beg that the small steamships Oran and Guazo, 31st of January
(meaning which sailed 31st), 300 tons, which are (now) nearing
Bordeaux with a view to change the flag, may be spared if possible
or else sunk without a trace being left ("Spurlos Versenkt")-

" 'LUXBURG.'

" 'July 3, 1917. Number 59. I learn from a reliable source that
the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is a notorious ass and
Anglophile, declared in a secret session of the Senate that Argentine
would demand from Berlin a promise not to sink more Argentine
ships. If not agreed to, relations would be broken off. I recommend
refusal and if necessary calling in the mediation of Spain.

" 'LUXBURG.'

" 'July 9, 1917. Number 54. Without showing any tendency to
make concessions postpone reply to Argentine note until receipt of
further reports. A change of Ministry is probable. As regards Argen-
tine steamships, I recommend either compelling them to turn back,
sinking them without leaving any traces, or letting them through.
They are all quite small.

" 'LUXBURG.' "

The meaning is clear. If the ships could be spared, well
and good. ,If they must be sunk, the destruction of them should
be so done that not a man should escape to tell the tale lest diplo-
matic relations with Argentina be severed and a means of send-
ing important information to Berlin be lost. But the real of-
fense lay in the act of the Swedish Foreign Office, which, by
transmitting to Berlin information intended to aid German war
measures, had committed an act of war against the Allies.

At Buenos Aires there was an anti-German demonstration ;
the German legation was stoned; the German Club and a Ger-
man newspaper office were set on fire, and passports were sent
to Count Luxburg, and his immediate departure requested and
Germany duly notified that he was persona non grata.

From Stockholm came the explanation that in the summer
of 1915, Great Britain had requested, not formally demanded,
that the sending of telegrams between Germany and North
America should cease. The request was granted but the
Swedish Minister did not consider this a bar to sending tele-
grams to neutrals, other than the United States, and Sweden
had continued to be the channel of communication between Ger-

GERMAN INTRIGUE 411

many and Argentina. The telegrams mentioned in the Ameri-
can statement were written in code ; Baron Lowen, the Swedish
Minister to Argentina, did not know their contents; had acted
in good faith in forwarding them, and would not be recalled.

But it was not only in Buenos Aires that representatives of
Sweden had aided the cause of Germany. Her Minister in
Mexico had been so helpful that the German Minister urged
that he be rewarded. His letter, dated March 8, 1916, was now
made public by Secretary Lansing and reads as follows:

Herr Folke Cronholm, the Swedish charge d'affaires here, since
his arrival here has not disguised his sympathy for Germany and has
entered into close relations with this legation. He is the only diplo-
mat through whom information from a hostile camp can be obtained.
Moreover, he acts as intermediary for official diplomatic intercourse
between this legation and your Excellency. In the course of this he
is obliged to go personally each time to the telegraph office, not seldom
quite late at night, in order to hand in the telegrams. Herr Cronholm
was formerly at Pekin and at Tokio, and was responsible for the
preliminary arrangements which had to be made for the representa-
tion of his country in each case. Before he came out here he had
been in charge of the consulate at Hamburg. Herr Cronholm has
not got a Swedish, but only a Chinese order at present. I venture
to submit to your Excellency the advisability of laying before his
Majesty the Emperor the name of Herr Cronholm, with a view to the
crown order of the second class being bestowed upon him. It would
perhaps be desirable, in order not to excite the enemy's suspicion, to
treat with secrecy the matter of the issue of the patents until the end
of the war, should the decision be favorable to my suggestion. This
would mean that the matter would be communicated to no one but
the recipient and his Government, and even to them only under the
seal of secrecy, while the publication of the bestowal of the decoration
would be postponed until the end of the war. I should be particularly
grateful to your Excellency, if I could be furnished with telegraphic
news of the bestowal of the decoration, which I strongly recommend,
in view of the circumstances detailed above.

VON ECKHARDT.

And now Secretary Lansing made further disclosures of
German intrigue in our country by no less a personage than
Count Johann von BernstorfL

"The Secretary of State," so reads the public statement, "is-
sues the following message from Ambassador von Eernstorff to
the Berlin Foreign Office, dated January 23, 1017:

412 THE UNITED STATES IN THEr WORLD WAR

"I request authority to pay out up to $50,000 in order, as on former
occasions, to influence Congress through the organizations you know
of, which can, perhaps, prevent war. I am beginning in the mean-
time to act accordingly. In the above circumstances a public official
German declaration in favor of Ireland is highly desirable in order
to gain the support of Irish influence here."

That the Ambassador would attempt to bribe Congress with
so small a sum of money as $50,000, indeed, that he would try
to purchase any member of Congress, was not to be supposed.
Nevertheless, both Senate and House were thrown into violent
excitement. Demands were made for a prompt investigation of
the method of German propaganda and a member from Alabama
declared that he could name "thirteen or fourteen men" in
Congress who, in his opinion, had "acted in a suspicious
fashion." After the excitement had gone down a little the
feeling grew that no investigation was needed; that the influ-
ence on Congress to which von Bernstorff alluded was the let-
ters and telegrams sent by thousands to members at every seri-
ous crisis before the declaration of war.

While the question was still under debate the Committee on
Public Information put out a bulletin exposing certain Ger-
man plotters and plots and the part certain Americans took
therein before the United States entered the war. When
Government agents one morning in April, 1916, entered the
office of Wolf von Igel in Wall Street, New York, and seized
the papers there found they came into possession of a mass of
letters, telegrams, ledgers, checks, receipts, cipher codes, lists of
spies all going to prove that the German Imperial Government,
while at peace with our country, through its representatives
was deliberately engaged in violating the neutrality laws of the
United States ; was planning the destruction of merchant ships
on the high seas; was aiding Irish revolutionary plots against
Great Britain; was supporting a spy system disguised as a
"bureau of investigation" and a bureau to foment labor troubles
in munition plants ; was paying Americans to write and lecture
in behalf of Germany and in short was financing a country-wide
propaganda. Much of the evidence produced in support of
these facts had been used in the prosecution of those concerned
and had already been made public. Some had never before been

GERMAN INTRIGUE 413

published. All was of great interest because of the official de-
nial of the German Government transmitted by wireless and
published in the New York Times in December, 1915.

The German Government has, naturally, never knowingly accepted
the support of any person, group of persons, or organization seeking
to promote the cause of Germany in the United States by illegal acts,
by counsel of violence, by contravention of law, or by any means what-
ever that could offend the American people in the pride of their own
authority.

Among the documents was a letter taken from the papers
of Mr. James J. F. Archibald, when seized by the British in
August, 1915. Jt was written by the Austro-Hungarian Minis-
ter at Washington, and makes known the workings of a certain
pretended labor information and relief bureau. Disguised as
the Liebau Employment Agency with a head office in New
York City and branches in Bridgeport, Philadelphia, Pitts-
burgh, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago, and appearing to have
no other purpose than securing employment for German, Aus-
trian and Hungarian workmen, the real object of the Agency
was to prevent the manufacture of munitions. The letter reads;

It is my impression that we can disorganize and hold up for
months, if not entirely prevent, the manufacture of munitions in
Bethlehem and the Middle West which, in the opinion of the Ger-
man military attache, is of importance and amply outweighs the
comparatively small expenditure of money involved; but even if the
strikes do not come off it is probable that we should extort, under
pressure of circumstances, more favorable conditions of labor for our
poor downtrodden fellow-countrymen.

So far as German workmen are found in the skilled hands, means
of leaving will be provided immediately for them. Besides this a
private German employment office has been established which pro-
vides employment for persons who have voluntarily given up their
places, and it is already working well. We shall also join in and the
widest support is assured us.

How well this Agency succeeded in its work is told in a
letter of March 24, 1916, to Ambassador von Bernstorff.

"Engineers and persons in the better class of positions, and who
had means of their own, were persuaded by the propaganda of the
bureau to leave war-material factories."

414 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

"The commercial employment bureaus of the country have no
supply of unemployed technicians. . . . Many disturbances and sus-
pensions which war material factories have had to suffer and which
it was not always possible to remove quickly, but which, on the con-
trary, often lead to long strikes, may be attributed to the energetic
propaganda of the employment bureau."

Nearly a score of men are mentioned in the bulletin as hav-
ing been engaged in violating the neutrality of the United
States. One, in a letter to Ambassador von Bernstorff, ex-
pressed his desire to rent rooms near munition plants and blow
them up ; another offered a shell of his own design ; another de-
scribes new methods of blowing up trenches and planting mines
for the destruction of ships.

The collection of letters in the possession of the Secretary
of State was not yet exhausted, and October 10 he made pub-
lic three messages which revealed the fact that the German
Ambassador as far back as January, 1916, had been a party to
acts of war against the United States.

"January 3: Secret: General staff desires energetic action in
regard to proposed destruction of Canadian Pacific Railway at sev-
eral points with a view to complete and protracted interruption of
traffic. Captain Boehm, who is known on our side and is shortly
returning, has been given instructions. Inform the military attache
and provide the necessary funds.

"ZlMMERMANN."

"January 26 : For military attache. You can obtain particulars
as to persons suitable for carrying on sabotage in the United States
and Canada from the following persons : 1, Joseph MacGarrity, Phila-
delphia, Pa. ; 2, John P. Keating, Michigan Avenue, Chicago ; 3, Jere-
miah O'Leary, 16 Park Row, New York.

"One and two are absolutely reliable and discreet. Number three
is reliable, but not always discreet. These persons were indicated
by Sir Roger Casement. In the United States sabotage can be car-
ried out in every kind of factory for supplying munitions of war.
Railway embankments and bridges must not be touched. Embassy
must in no circumstances be compromised. Similar precautions must
be taken in regard to Irish pro-German propaganda.

The following telegram from Count von Bernstorff to the
Foreign Office in Berlin was sent in September, 1916:

GERMAN INTRIGUE 415

"September 15 : With reference to report A.N. two hundred and
sixty-six of May 10, 1916. The embargo conference, in regard to
whose earlier fruitful cooperation Doctor Hale can give informa-
tion, is just about to enter a vigorous campaign to secure a majority
in both houses of Congress favorable to Germany and requests further
support. There is no possibility of our being compromised. Request
telegraphic reply."

The publication of these letters in September and October,
making known the activity of German agents in our country,
was most timely, for on October 1 the great drive for the Sec-
ond Liberty Loan of $3,000,000,000 began. Again every
means the wit of man could devise was used to arouse the
people. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, boy scouts and
school children took part in the sale. Subscriptions could be
made at the office of any financial institution, broker, insur-
ance company, department store, at booths in the streets, at
home, in the hotels, in the clubs, in the training camps. In the
cities the fences and shop windows were gay with posters;
automobiles, taxicabs, trucks and wagons bore little placards
urging every one to "Buy a Bond." The postage stamp on
every letter was canceled with the words, "Buy Now, IT. S.
Government Bonds, 2nd Liberty Loan." Former President
Taft, Secretary McAdoo, former Secretary of State Bryan,
members of the Cabinet, men prominent in public life traversed
the country in a nation-wide speaking campaign to impress on
the people the necessity of buying a bond at once. A laundry
company inserted in each bundle before it was sent home a
printed slip which read, "Buy Liberty Bonds to-day, because
if the Kaiser wins, good night shirt." In New York a Ger-
man U-boat, captured by the British and sent over, was placed
in Central Park, named "U-Buy a Bond" and became an office
for the receipt of subscriptions.

The bonds were to bear an annual interest of four per cent.,
were to mature at the end of twenty-five years, or in 1942, but
might be redeemed at any time after ten years. There were
three ways of subscribing. They might be paid for in full at
the time of subscription, in which case, if the subscription was
not large, the bonds were delivered. They might be bought on
the Government plan: two per cent, when the subscription was

416 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

made; eighteen per cent, on November 15; forty per cent, on
December 15, 1917, and a like- amount on January 15, 1918.
They might be paid for in installments of a dollar a week or so
much a month. This was a plan used by banks and trust com-
panies and by great corporations for their employees.

On the first day of the campaign bonds to the amount of
$50,000,000 were taken. Expecting that the $3,000,000,000
offered would be oversubscribed, the Secretary had announced
that half the oversubscription would be taken; but he now
asked for offers up to $5,000,000,000 that at least as much as
$4,000,000,000 might be obtained, and this enormous sum,
$5,000,000,000, became the goal which the workers sought to
reach under an extension of time to November 1.

When ten days had passed and the subscriptions, great as
they were, fell short of what they should have been, the Secre-
tary of the Treasury made an appeal in the form of a state-
ment. After making due allowance, he said, for unreported
amounts the fact remained that if the $5,000,000,000 was to be
obtained in the twenty-four working days which remained up
to the first of November the daily average must be $208,-
000,000, whereas it had been but $36,000,000. To the first
Liberty Loan there had been in round numbers some 5,000,000
subscribers. Better organization which now existed, and the
large amount of educational work which had been done ought
to bring subscriptions from 10,000,000 persons and corpora-
tions. " Shall we be more tender, with our dollars than with
the lives of our sons?" said the Secretary on another occa-
sion.

On Saturday, October 27, at midnight, subscriptions ceased.
On November 7 the Secretary of the Treasury announced up-
wards of 9,400,000 subscribers had offered to take bonds to
the amount of $4,617,532,300, an oversubscription of 54 per
cent. This was $1,617,532,300 more than the Secretary had
agreed to take. Why not, he asked, take all that was offered ?
Because, was his answer, the Government must never change
the basis of subscription after the subscription is closed. Hav-
ing offered to take one-half of all above $3,000,000,000 his
agreement must be kept, and $3,808,766,150 was accepted.

The drive for the Liberty Loan was hardly under way when,

GERMAN INTRIGUE 417

October 6, Congress closed its memorable session. Never be-
fore had a Congress dealt with war issues of such magnitude
or enacted laws of such far-reaching consequences. The pas-
sage on April 6 of the joint resolution declaring a state of war
with Germany to exist was followed before the month ended
by the first Liberty Loan act, and the act increasing the num-
ber of midshipmen at the Naval Academy. In May came acts
authorizing the Allied Governments to recruit from their
peoples in our country; authorizing the President to take over
enemy vessels in our ports; providing for the drafting of the
National Army and increasing the strength of the active list
of the navy from 87,000 to 150,000 and of the Marine Corps
from 17,400 to 30,000. In June came the war appropriations
act providing $3,281,094,541 for the needs of the army and
navy, a sum greater than the National debt at the end of the
Civil War; and the Espionage Act. The Aviation Act carry-
ing an appropriation of $640,000,000 was enacted in July ; the
priority in Shipments Act, the Food Survey Act and the Food
Control Act in August; the Second Liberty Loan Act in Sep-
tember; and on the last days of the session the Kevenue Act,
imposing war taxes on incomes and excess profits ; the Trading
with the Enemy Act, the Soldiers' and Sailors' Insurance Act,
and the Urgent Deficiency Act carrying the enormous appro-
priation of $5,356,666,016.93. During the first session of the
65th Congress the total of appropriations was $18,879,177,-
-014.96, of which $7,000,000,000 was to meet loans to the
Allies, to be repaid by the Governments to which the advances
were made. To this should be added $2,511,553,928.50 con-
tract authorizations, making a total of $21,390,730,940.46.

CHAPTEK XVI

RATIONING AND FIGHTING

THESE acts having been approved by the President, steps
to put them in force were promptly taken. By one proclama-
tion November 1 was named as the day whereon, under the
provisions of the Food-Control Act, cold storage warehouse own-
ers, operators of grain elevators, warehouses, and other places
for storing grain, and sellers of a long list of food products
whose gross sales exceeded $100,000 a year must obtain licenses
to carry on their business. By another the provisions of the
Trading-with-the-Enemy Act were put in force and the War
Trade Board, the War Trade Council, and the Censorship
Board to control all communication between the United States
and foreign countries by cables, telegraph or mail were estab-
lished. Under this Act a custodian was appointed to take care
of all property in the United States owned by enemies, or allies
of enemies. Each enemy or ally of an enemy doing business in
the United States was required to obtain a license to continue
in business; citizens of the United States were forbidden to
trade without a license with any person there was reason to
believe was an enemy or an ally of an enemy ; and every news-
paper printed in a foreign language must furnish to the Post-
master General English translations of all it printed concern-
ing the war, unless a license not to do so was obtained.

The provision touching newspapers the Postmaster General
at once put in force ; but assured them that none need fear sup-
pression unless the bounds of fair criticism of the President,
the Administration, the army, the navy, the conduct of the war
were passed. He would, he said, take great care not to let
criticism, personally or politically offensive to the Administra-
tion, affect his action. But if newspapers attacked the motives
of the Government and thereby encouraged insubordination
they would be dealt with severely. They would not be allowed

418

RATIONING AND FIGHTING 419

to say that Wall Street, or munition makers, or any other spe-
cial interest controlled the Government. Publication of any-
thing intended to hamper the prosecution of the war; cam-
paigns against conscription, enlistment, sale of bonds, or col-
lection of the revenue would not be tolerated. The policy of
foreign language newspapers would be judged by past utter-
ances, not by newly announced intentions. Copies of all such
newspapers were on file in the Department and on the examina-
tion of these files would depend their licenses. German lan-
guage newspapers when not licensed must publish English
translations. Socialist newspapers, unless they contained
treasonable or seditious matter, would not be barred from the
mails. Jn a few weeks The Call, a Socialist journal published
in New York, was deprived of its second-class mail privileges.

A third proclamation put all bakeries in the country under
license, and a fourth shut out alien enemies from the District of
Columbia and the Panama Zone. They were forbidden to
ascend into the air in a balloon, airplane, airship or flying
machine; were required to register; were ordered not to come
within one hundred yards of any wharf, pier or dry dock used
by any vessel of over five hundred tons engaged in the foreign
or domestic trade, nor within one hundred yards of any ware-
house shed, elevator, railroad terminal operated in connection
with such wharf, or pier, and, save on public ferries, were
warned not to be found on any ocean, bay, river, or other
waters within three miles of the shore line of the United States
or its possessions, nor on any of the Great Lakes, their con-
necting waters or harbors. In a little' while placards were
posted along the water fronts of the seaboard cities giving
notice in English and German to alien enemies not to go within
one hundred yards of the river front, and calling on ail good
citizens to notify the United States Marshal of any violation
of the warning.

The President forbade, after November 15, and during the
war with Germany, the manufacture, distribution, storage,
use or possession of explosives or their ingredients save as pro-
vided by the Act of October 6, 1917. The Food Administrator
announced that on and after November 1 no retailer or other
dealer who put excessive prices on necessary foods should obtain

420 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

supplies, and that no wholesaler or other handler of food would
be allowed to sell to any retailer anywhere in our country who
made unreasonable profits or bought large quantities of food
for speculative purposes. Speculation in butter and eggs was
ordered to be stopped on the exchanges until after the war, and
the price of sugar was fixed, for many causes, all produced by
the war, had produced a shortage. The nation-wide canning
of fruits in the summer and fall had greatly increased con-
sumption. Hundreds of thousands of tons of sugar were shut
up in Java for want of vessels to carry it away. At least a
third of the world's production came from the Central Powers
of Europe and had been cut off since the war began ; the western
battlefront passing through the sugar producing territory of
Belgium and France had reduced the supply still further, and
had forced England and France to compete with us for the
cane sugar of Cuba. When the shortage became known to the
people a rush on the retail grocery stores in the eastern cities
followed and sugar rose to twenty cents a pound.

Sugar was the first article in which the people experienced
a shortage. Coal soon followed. As early as May, 1917, the
Council for Defense appointed a committee on coal production
which called a meeting of some four hundred operators who,
through a committee, finally fixed the price of coal at three
dollars a ton for the region east of Pittsburgh and at two dollars
and three-quarters to the west of that city. This the Secretary
of War, as Chairman of the Council of Defense, repudiated
as oppressive and until late in August the price of coal was un-
regulated ; consumers put off buying, and orders for millions of
tons were canceled and little coal was moved. In August the
President appointed Mr. Garfield coal administrator, and late
in September by his order the price of coal was fixed at two
dollars a ton. Then orders for coal, increasing in volume as the
cold weather approached, came pouring in; but the shortage of
cars and the congestion of freight at the terminals, held there
for want of ships to take it abroad, greatly hindered the move-
ment of coal from the mines to the consumer, and by Janu-
ary 1 the situation, especially in New England, was serious.

Meantime, in December, the Government took over all .the
railroads and the President appointed the Secretary of the

RATIONING AND FIGHTING 421

Treasury Director General. By his order some 1,500 cars of
coal between Harrisburg and New York were diverted and sent
northeastward. Finding that the labor shortage near New
York made it impossible to unload hundreds of cars on the
New Jersey side of the Hudson River, the Mayor of New York
was asked to use the street cleaners for the task and charge the
cost to the railroads, and coal was sent through the Hudson
River tunnel of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Shipping
Board released five ships at Hampton Roads to carry coal to
New England, and at the Boston Navy Yard the commandant
was authorized to give scraps of timber and waste wood to
the poor. To relieve the congestion and so make way for food
and fuel export traffic was ordered to southern ports, and pas-
senger trains were annulled by hundreds that their locomotives
might be used for other purposes, for the congestion, it was
claimed, was caused by the overwhelming amount of freight
due to war industries. To make matters worse intensely cold
weather almost put a stop to coal mining. In Philadelphia the
use of gas for warming homes was so great that the United
Gas Improvement Company issued a warning. It might, tem-
porarily, be unable to meet the great increase in consumption
"due to cold weather and the shortage of the domestic coal
supply." There was danger of some burners going out when
the demand for gas was heaviest and the- gas coming on again
later. Consumers must not go to sleep with any gas burning
nor keep a burner lighted unless some one was in the room.
Such was the suffering that hundreds of people unable to get
coal any other way stormed the yards of dealers who had any
and emptied cars standing on the tracks. Churches were urged
to consolidate; threats were made to close theaters and motion
picture houses, and the Director of Supplies was forced to
seize three carloads of coal for the use of fire and police sta-
tions. Office buildings were required to use no steam for heat-
ing between seven o'clock in the evening and seven in the
morning; and none on Sundays and holidays save enough to
keep water pipes from freezing ; electric lights in hallways and
offices were ordered to be cut twenty-five per cent, all outside
lighting discontinued and only enough used in show windows
to protect property. So great was the shortage that, January 15,

422 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

there were in the harbor of New York thirty-seven ships unable
to sail for France for want of coal. At Indianapolis theaters,
saloons and poolrooms were ordered closed until further notice.
In Michigan, the State Fuel Administrator forbade churches
to be heated more than six hours a week, or office buildings,
stores and places of business more than nine hours each week-
day, and closed theaters and motion picture houses on Mon-
days and Tuesdays. In Chicago, where a heavy snow fall pre-
vented coal coming in or empty cars going out, it was announced
by the County Fuel Administrator that factories and indus-
trial plants would have to shut down in five or six days if no re-
lief came.

Mr. Garfield, January 16, ordered that in the vast region
east of the Mississippi, from Canada to the Gulf, every indus-
trial plant, those making munitions included, should shut down
from January 18 to 22, both days included, and that no fuel
should be burned save for the manufacture of perishable foods,
the printing of daily newspapers, the current numbers of maga-
zines and periodicals. On ten consecutive Mondays, beginning
January 28 and ending March 25, no fuel, save to prevent the
freezing of water pipes, could be burned for the purpose of
supplying heat for any business or professional offices, unless
used by the United States, State, County or Municipal govern-
ments, transportation companies, physicians, dentists, banks
or trust companies; nor for theaters, moving picture houses,
bowling alleys, billiard rooms, dance halls or any place of
amusement ; nor for stores, business houses or buildings except
for the purpose of selling food, drugs and medical supplies.
In food shops heat might be maintained until twelve o'clock
noon, and in drug stores throughout the day and evening.
These restrictions, it was estimated, would save 30,000,000 tons
of coal and bring the supply almost up to normal.

Bitter opposition was at once aroused. The United States
Senate adopted a resolution requesting Mr. Garfield to "delay
for five days the order suspending the operation of industrial
plants in portions of the United States in order that protests
may be heard, investigation made and information presented."
Jn the House a resolution expressing the "regret of the House"
at the "summary action" and appealing to the President to

RATIONING AND FIGHTING 423

interfere was not acted on. Protests from all parts of the
country affected came to Washington. Lithographers pro-
tested to the Liberty Loan publicity bureau in the Treasury
Department that the Third Liberty Loan compaign would
suffer from the loss of working time on the posters. Theatri-
cal men sent a committee to see the President. Motion picture
men protested to members of Congress. Closing the "movies"
in the great industrial centers would lead to disturbances be-
cause thousands of idle workmen would have no amusements.
In their behalf the order was changed. Some plants engaged
in work for the army and navy were made exempt.

During the five heatless days every effort was made to move
coal. Empty cars were rushed to the mines. Long trains of
full cars were hurried to the shipping ports and by January 22
each of the thirty-seven ships in New York Harbor had re-
ceived its supply of fuel. Freight congestion was relieved, and
that it might if possible be ended the Director General of Rail-
roads laid an embargo on all new shipments of freight over
the Pennsylvania and Reading System, over the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad east of the Ohio River, and over the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad east of Pittsburgh. Fuel, food and some war
material were exempt from the embargo.

The President on January 18 in a statement defended the
action of Mr. Garfield. "This war/7 he said, "calls for many
sacrifices, and sacrifices of the sort called for by this order are
infinitely less than sacrifices of life which might otherwise be
involved. It is absolutely necessary to get the ships away, it
is absolutely necessary to relieve the congestion at the ports
and upon the railways, it is absolutely necessary to move great
quantities of food, and it is absolutely necessary that our people
should be warm in their homes, if nowhere else, and halfway
measures would not have accomplished the desired end."

A series of snowstorms resulting in a fall of fourteen inches
of snow at the end of January blocked all traffic on the coal
roads of Pennsylvania, cut down the already insufficient supply
to Philadelphia and forced the local coal administrator to seize
some 12,000 tons destined for Florida and other places in order
to relieve the suffering and sickness among the poor. Four
hundred thousand tons of coal, it was reported, were in cars

424 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

held ice bound on the tracks. Some 6,000 coal cars were
reported snow blocked between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh and
men could not be obtained to set them free. Unable to move
more than a few thousand tons of coal into Philadelphia each
day, the Fuel Administrator ordered that none should be deliv-
ered save to homes, hospitals, food stores and hotels. All other
stores must do without even if they had to close. Early in
February milder weather brought some relief, and by the tenth
of the month record-breaking shipments were made to the West
and the East, and by the thirteenth the only part of the coun-
try suffering from a shortage of coal was New England. Fuel
Administrator Garfield therefore on that day announced the
suspension of the heatless Monday order, with a warning that
it might be resumed ; but State administrators were authorized
to continue it if they thought fit.

While the fuel shortage was at its height the Food Admin-
istrator called for further conservation of wheat flour. In
order, he said, that 100,000,000 bushels of wheat might be
exported it was necessary to cut down consumption to thirty
per cent, below normal. In his last cable Lord Rhondda said :
"Unless you are able to send the Allies at least 75,000,000
bushels of wheat over and above what you have exported up to
January 1, and in addition to the exportable surplus from
Canada, I cannot take the responsibility of assuring our people
that there will be food enough to win the war. Imperative
necessity compels me to cable you in this blunt way." "We have
replied," said Mr. Hoover: "We will export every grain that
the American people save from their normal consumption. We
believe our people will not fail to meet the emergency." But
we must save more than the Allies needed. Belgium must have
15,000,000 bushels or starve, and 10,000,000 bushels must go
to Cuba and neutrals on whom we depend for food supplies.
It was estimated that 30,000,000 bushels had been saved from
the last harvest. We must, therefore, reduce wheat consump-
tion to thirty per cent, below normal until next harvest. Beef
must be cut to fifteen per cent, and pork twenty per cent, and
sugar ten per cent.

The Food Administrator accordingly ordered that begin-
ning Monday, January 28, all licensed bakers must mix a

RATIONING AND FIGHTING 425

minimum of five per cent, of other cereals with flour in making
Victory Bread and rolls, and increase the minimum to twenty
per cent, on or before February 24. No city consumer should
be sold more than twenty-four pounds, and no country con-
sumer more than forty-eight pounds of wheat flour at one time,
and to get any must buy at the same time some substitute flour
equal to one-sixth the amount of wheat flour purchased. These
substitutes were cornmeal, cornstarch, corn flour, rice, rice
flour, oatmeal, rolled oats, hominy, barley flour, potato flour,
bean flour, sweet potato flour, buckwheat flour, corn grits, and
no others. Hotels, restaurants, and all public eating places
were expected to observe meatless Mondays and Wednesdays,
and one wheatless meal each day when nothing containing
wheat should be used. A like observance was urged on all
homes. To fix the prices of food was not in the power of the
Administrator; but wholesale grocers who charged exorbitant
prices had their licenses temporarily revoked and could not sell
any of the twenty articles of food which could be sold only
under license.

Even this reduction was found not enough and March 23
a further saving of wheat was ordered. Householders were not
to use more than one and a half pounds of wheat products per
person per week, which was a ration of one and three-quarters
pounds of Victory Bread made with the proper proportion of
wheat substitutes, and one-half pound of flour, macaroni,
crackers, pastry, cakes, or wheat breakfast cereals separately
or combined. Hotels, restaurants and public eating places,
besides observing wheatless Mondays and Wednesdays, must
not serve to any one guest, at any one meal, macaroni, bread-
stuffs, crackers, pastry, pies, cake, or breakfast cereals con-
taining in the aggregate more than two ounces of wheat flour,
nor could they buy more than six pounds of wheat products
for each ninety meals served. Ketailers were forbidden to sell
more than one-eighth of a barrel of flour to a town customer,
nor more than one-quarter to a country buyer, nor any at all
unless an equal weight of substitutes was purchased. Bakers
and grocers must cut down the amount of Victory Bread sold
by delivery to three-quarter pound loaves where one pound
loaves were formerly sold, and not buy more than seventy per

426 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

cent, of the average monthly amount bought in the four months
prior to the first of March. The minimum of substitute flour
having reached twenty per cent, on February 24, was now in-
creased to twenty-five per cent., which must be reached by
April 14. The purpose of the order was to reduce the con-
sumption of wheat flour at least fifty per cent.

Speaking a few days later to some seven hundred hotel
men gathered at Washington, Mr. Hoover asked that no wheat
be used. The last harvest, he said, was less than estimated.
Shipping troubles had caused greater delay in feeding the Allies
than was foreseen, and the Argentine crop had not been as
large, nor reached the market as soon, as was expected. There-
upon the hotel men pledged themselves to drop all wheat prod-
ucts from their menus.

Nearly ten months had now passed since our entrance into
the war, and our sailors and soldiers had already begun to do
their part. Twenty-eight days after the declaration of war a
fleet of destroyers reached a British port to aid in the patrol of
European waters, and since that time our warships had been
busy day and night convoying troops, supplies and ammunition.
The losses had been few and slight. In October the Cassin
was torpedoed in the war zone and badly damaged, but made
port. One man was killed and five wounded. A few days
later the transport Antilles was sunk and seventy lives lost.
The transport Finland when homeward bound from a French
port early in November was torpedoed, but returned to port.
Nine men lost their lives. Towards the close of the month two
United States destroyers captured a German U-boat and all its
crew. But the water cocks were opened by the Germans and
the submarine sank while the captors were towing it to port.
In November the patrol boat Alcedo was torpedoed and sank.
One officer and twenty men were killed or drowned. The
destroyer Chauncey while on patrol duty in the war zone was
sunk in collision with an unnamed vessel on November 19 and
twenty-one men were lost. December 6 the destroyer Jacob
Jones was torpedoed and sank almost immediately, sixty-nine
officers and men were reported missing.

Most fortunately the loss of life occasioned by these disas-
ters was in each case comparatively small; but the day was

RATIONING AND FIGHTING 427

near when a transport crowded with our soldiers was attacked
and sunk by an unseen U-boat and more than a hundred per-
ished. Towards dusk one day in early February, as the Cunard
liner Tuscania, carrying 2,179 American soldiers, was passing
along the north coast of Jreland within sight of land she was
struck amidship by a torpedo, but did not immediately sink.
The troops on board were chiefly National Guardsmen from
Michigan and Wisconsin, engineers, men belonging to three
aero squadrons, parts of three regiments of infantry and For-
estry Engineers recruited in Maine and the lumber districts
of the Northwest. Two British destroyers from the convoy
were promptly on the scene and by them and by trawlers the
rescued were taken to Bancranna and Larne. How many were
lost has not been finally stated. By the end of a week 164
bodies had been washed ashore on the coast of Scotland, and
buried, and more were recovered as time passed. So far our
warfare on the sea seemed but an unbroken record of disaster,
for the great work the navy was doing convoying fleets laden
with troops, ammunition and food for the Allies, and, it may be,
sinking submarines and patrolling some parts of the coasts of
Great Britain, were not made public for good and sufficient
reasons.

Before the first year of our war for democracy had rolled
around the man power of the navy had been increased from
4,792 officers and 102,500 men to 20,600 officers and 329,300
men; 1,275 vessels for every sort of service, mine sweeping,
mine laying, transport, patrol, submarine chasing, had been
put in commission; the German vessels in our ports when the
war began — damaged, their engineers believed, beyond mend-
ing for at least nine months — had been repaired in less than six
and used to carry troops to France; contracts had been let for
949 new vessels, and Germany, because of our naval activity,
had been forced to draw a war zone around the Azore Islands.

"The hostile Governments," her memorandum said, "are
endeavoring by the intensification of the hunger blockage
against neutral countries, to force out to sea neutral cargo
space which is keeping in port and to press them into their
service.

"As hostile shipping and shipping sailing in hostile interest

428 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

are being supplemented by violent measures, the German Gov-
ernment, in its struggle against Great Britain's domination of
violence, which tramples under foot all rights, especially those
of smaller nations, finds itself forced to extend the field of
operation of its submarines."

Therefore, she established a barred zone around the Azores
"which have become in military and economic respects impor-
tant hostile bases of Atlantic navigation," and closed "a channel
to Greece hitherto left open in the Mediterranean, as it has
been used by the Yenizelos Government, not so much for the
supply of the Greek population with foodstuffs as for the trans-
port of arms and ammunition." 1 The United States, a Ger-
man Vice Admiral declared, had "established herself on the
Azores and had constructed fortifications at Punta del Gar da."

On land the record of our little army in France has been
most inspiring. The first shot from our men in the trenches
was fired on October 27, 1917. A few weeks later the shell
case was presented to the President as a fitting memento of the
great event. The first trench fighting occurred just before
dawn on the morning of November 3, when a small detachment
of Americans in a front line instruction salient were attacked
by a superior force of Germans, and the salient cut off from
the rest of the men by a heavy barrage. The fighting then be-
came hand to hand and in the course of it three Americans
were killed, five wounded and eleven taken prisoners. The
dead were buried on the slope of a hill overlooking a little vil-
lage somewhere in France, and the site a few months later was
marked by a stone monument bearing the name and regiment
of each of the dead, and the inscription: "Here lie the first
soldiers of the great Republic of the United States who died on
the soil of France for justice and liberty, November 3, 1917."
Fifteen officers and men, the dead included, cited by the French
General commanding the sector were, a few days later, deco-

1 The new barred zone was bounded thus : "From 39 degrees north
latitude and 17 west longitude, to 44 degrees north latitude and 27 degrees
45 minutes west longitude, to 44 north latitude and 34 west longitude,
to 42 degrees 30 minues north latitude and 37 west longitude, to 37 north
latitude and 37 west longitude, to 30 north latitude and 26 west longitude,
to 34 north latitude and 20 west longitude, and thence back to the start-
ing point."

RATIONING AND FIGHTING 429

rated with the French War Cross. When presenting the
decorations the General said :

'"On the night of November 2-3, this company, which was
in the line for the first time, met an extremely violent bom-
hardment despite which it seized arms and offered such stub-
born resistance that the enemy, though numerically superior,
was obliged to retire." 2

A graphic picture of the prisoners is given by a German
correspondent of a Berlin newspaper :

"There they stood before us — these young men from the
land of liberty. They were sturdy and sportsmanlike in build.
Good-natured smiles radiated from their blue eyes, and they
are quite surprised that we did not propose to shoot them down,
as they had been led in the French training camp to believe we
would do.

"They know no reply to our query, 'Why does the United
States carry on war against Germany ?' The sinking of Ameri-
can ships by U-boats, which was the favorite pretext, sounds a
trifle stale. One prisoner expressed the opinion that we had
treated Belgium rather badly. Another asserted that it was
Lafayette who brought America French aid in the war of inde-
pendence, and because of this the United States would now
stand by France."

November 30, when the Germans attacked west of Cambrai,
American army engineers working on the British railways
were caught in the turning movement, lay in shell holes while
the British fired over them, and when the Germans were pushed
back took arms and joined in the fight. "We must," says the
French communication, "remark on the conduct of certain
American soldiers, pioneers and workmen on the military rail-
road in the sector of the German attack west of Cambrai on
November 30. They exchanged their picks and shovels for
rifles and cartridges and fought beside the English. Many
died thus bravely, arms in hand, before the invader. All helped
to repulse the enemy. There is not a single person who saw
them at work who does not render warm praise to the coolness,
discipline and courage of these improvised combatants."

a Those killed were Corporal James D. Gresham, Evansville, Indiana;
Private Thomas F. Enright, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Private Merle
D. Hay, Glidden, Iowa.

430 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Towards the end of January the War Department permit-
ted it to be known that our troops were occupying front line
trenches in a certain sector, but did not state where. A corre-
spondent of the Associated Press in February announced that
the sector was northwest of Toul on the south side of the
St. Mihiel salient. A writer in the Paris Temps described the
place as in the Woevre region. It was, he said, a low plain shut
in by the highlands of the Meuse, and the hills of the Moselle,
covered at that season of the year by swamps and pools, imprac-
ticable for the movements of troops and most suitable for the
Americans to learn by experience from limited daily actions.
One such action occurred on the night of February 9 when a
patrol was ambushed in ]STo Man's Land by a superior force
of the enemy who cried "Kamerad" and then opened fire and
cut to pieces the patrol.

And now attack followed attack in rapid succession. Feb-
ruary 14, east of Rheims in the Champagne, American troops
took part in a bombardment preparatory to a French attack on
the German lines between Tahure and the Butte de Mesnil. On
the following day our troops were bombarded .with gas shells,
and on February 23 they took part with the French in a raid
in the Chemin des Dames sector. Thus it became known that
our men were on the front line in the St. Mihiel, Champagne
and Chemin des Dames sectors. February 26 there was another
gas attack in which some sixty Americans were injured before
they could adjust their masks. A fight on March 1 showed a
force of our men were near Chavignon, north of the western
end of Chemin des Dames sector, and another on March 6 that
they were east of Luneville in a sector in Lorraine. Our losses
on land and sea, from the time the first contingent landed in
France, as given out by the Department of War, March 15, were
1,722. Of these 136 had been killed in action, 237 lost at sea,
and 641 had died of disease; 475 had been wounded, 21 cap-
tured, 14 were missing, 6 had been gassed, and 26 had died of
wounds. A variety of causes accounted for the deaths of the
others.

Secretary of War Baker and a staff of seven, meanwhile,
had quietly slipped away and reached France. He came, he
told the French, to confer with General Pershing, visit the

RATIONING AND FIGHTING 431

American Expeditionary Force, inspect its lines of transporta-
tion, storage and supply system, and learn how America could
most effectively supply her own army and those of her Allies.

Support was hadly needed, for on March 21, 1918, the Ger-
mans began their great drive in Picardy. At five o'clock on
the morning of that day a terrific bombardment of the British
was begun along a fifty-mile front stretching from southeast
of Arras to La Fere, and the wonderful battle of Picardy
opened. The story of the weeks of carnage that followed can-
not be told. It is enough to remember that the attempt to drive
a wedge between the French and British armies at their point
of union failed; that the attempt to drive the British from
Arras and Vimy Ridge failed; and that the attempt to over-
whelm the British army in Flanders and reach the Channel
ports was checked.

As the battle raged and the Allied armies were forced
westward and southward day by day our troops began to play
their part. March 25, when the British had been driven west
of Bapaume, Peronne and Ham, General Pershing reported
that in this desperate fighting three companies belonging to two
regiments of American engineers had been engaged. A Ger-
man War Oifice statement gave the locality as Chauny and the
Crozat Canal. Busy with Canadians and under Canadian
command in construction work back of the lines, they became
fighting men as the Germans came on, took their place in the
line and, though forced to fall back, fought bravely until some
place near Nbyon was reached where they were given time to
rest and reequip. By March 28 the Germans had taken Albert
and Montdidier, and on that day General Pershing called on
General Foch at headquarters and offered him all the American
troops in France. The American people, he was .reported by a
Paris newspaper to have said, would consider it a great honor
if their troops were engaged in the present battle, the greatest
battle in history. He came to ask if in the name of the Ameri-
can people. Infantry, artillery, aviation, all that we had was
at the disposal of General Foch to do with as he would. Sec-
retary Baker, then at American headquarters in France, de-
clared he was delighted at General Pershing's prompt and
effective action. General Foch placed the offer before the

432 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

French War Council at the front, and March 31 an official note
announced that the American troops would fight side by side
with British and French troops and that "the Star Spangled
Banner will float beside the French and English flags in the
plains of Picardy."

On the evening of March 27 at a dinner given at the Lotos
Club in New York City, Lord Eeading, British High Commis-
sioner to the United States, read an appeal to the people of our
country from the Prime Minister, Lloyd George.

"We are at the crisis of the war, attacked by an immense
superiority of German troops," said the Premier in his mes-
sage. "Our army has been forced to retire. The retirement
has been carried out methodically before the pressure of a
steady succession of fresh German reserves, which are suffer-
ing enormous losses.

"The situation is being faced with splendid courage and
resolution. The dogged pluck of our troops has for the moment
checked the ceaseless onrush of the enemy, and the French have
now joined in the struggle. But this battle, the greatest and
most momentous in the history of the world, is only just begin-
ning. Throughout it the French and British are buoyed with
the knowledge that the great Republic of the West will neglect
no effort which can hasten its troops and its ships to Europe.

"In war, time is vital. It is impossible to exaggerate the
importance of getting American reinforcements across the
Atlantic in the shortest possible space of time."

The appeal was heard and for many weeks to come thou-
sands on thousands of our men were rushed across the ocean
and by early May 500,000 were in France.

CHAPTER XVII

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE

ABROAD, as the autumn of 1917 drew to a close, the tide
of war set strongly against the Allies. Great victories had,
indeed, been won by the French in October along a seven-mile
front near Soissons and the enemy forced to give up his hold
on the Chemin des Dames. (In Flanders in November, after
weeks of desperate fighting, the British gained possession of the
Passchendaele Eidge, broke the Hindenburg line along a thirty-
two mile front from St. Quentin to the river Scarpe, and pene-
trated the German defenses for a depth of more than six
miles to the outskirts of Cambrai, and were then forced to yield
much of the ground so gallantly won. In December the Allied
and neutral Christian world heard with delight that Jerusalem
was in British hands. But elsewhere matters had gone badly.
The army of Italy had suffered a severe defeat, and Russia
had abandoned the Allies.

The Italian front in October stretched from the Gulf of
Trieste northward to the Julian Alps and westward through
the Carnic Alps. But October 23 the Austro-German army
opened an attack on the front in the Julian Alps, broke
through and forced back the whole eastern front from the
Carnic Alps to the shores of the Adriatic. November 2 the
pursuing Austro-Germans reached the Tagliamento River;
November 8 they crossed the Livenza River, and November 13
were on the western bank of the Piave. There the retreat
ended and there, when the year closed, the enemy was still held.
In Russia the radical Socialists, the Bolsheviki or Maximalists,
November 7, overthrew the Provisional Government and put
the peasants and workingmen in control. Premier Kerensky
fled and the Workingmen's and Soldiers' Congress adopted
resolutions declaring for "an immediate peace, without annexa-
tion and without indemnities" ; proclaimed "its decision to sign

433

434, THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

peace terms which will bring this war to an end" on the basis
of no annexations, no indemnities, and summoned all belliger-
ents to do the same. November 20 the Council of "The
People's Commissaries," with Lenine as President, Trotsky
Commissary of Foreign Affairs, and Krylenko of War, an-
nounced that by order of the All Russian Workmen's and Sol-
diers' Congress the Council of The People's Commissaries had
assumed power and that they were in duty bound "to offer all
peoples and their respective Governments an immediate armis-
tice on all fronts for the purpose of opening negotiations imme-
diately for the conclusion of a democratic peace." A formal
offer of an armistice would therefore be sent without delay
"to all the belligerents, enemy and ally." The "citizen com-
mander-in-chief" was then ordered "to approach the com-
manding authorities of the enemy armies with an offer of a
cessation of hostile activities for the purpose of opening peace
pourparlers."

To this order General Dukhonin, Commander-in-Chief, made
no reply, was promptly deprived of command and a fortnight
later was thrown from a moving train and killed.

"What," said a representative of the Associated Press to
Trotsky, "are the plans and intentions of your Government?"
"An immediate publication," was the reply, "of all secret
treaties and the abolition of all secret diplomacy; an offer of
an immediate armistice on all fronts for the conclusion of a
democratic peace ; transfer of all lands to the peasants ; State
control of all industries ; delivery of all authority to local
Soldiers' and Workingmen's deputies; the meeting of a con-
stituent assembly. The offer of a peace has already been made ;
the decree transferring the land to the peasants has already
been issued; authority has already been assumed by Soldiers'
and Workingmen's deputies in many important places."

"What," he was asked, "will Eussia do if her allies refuse
to enter into negotiations for peace ?" "The allied people will
support us against their Governments," was the answer. "Does
Russia think a separate peace with Germany is possible?" he
was asked, and replied, "We are against a separate peace with
Germany, we are for universal peace with all the European
nations." "What will the Government do if Germany refuses

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 435

to negotiate, will it continue the war ?" "We rely on the Ger-
man army and the working classes to make a continuation of
the war impossible."

The Russian Ambassador at Washington at once repudiated
the Bolshevist Government and announced his intention to go
on with his duties until the United States Government recog-
nized a successor. Mr. Lansing made no statement of the
views of the Administration.

All Eussia was now in ferment and turmoil. But that
made no difference to the Bolshevist Government, and Decem-
ber 1 peace delegates appeared before the German front, were
blindfolded and escorted to von Hoffmeister, Divisional Com-
mander, who, under authority from his Chief, agreed that nego-
tiations for an armistice should be opened at Brest-Litovsk
headquarters of the German Commander on December 2. At
that conference a suspension of hostilities, for a period of ten
days, along the entire front from the Baltic to the Black Sea
was concluded and went into effect on the eighth. The time
was to be used to arrange an armistice which was to be imme-
diately followed by negotiations for peace.

Trotsky now called on the embassies and legations of the
Allies in Petrograd to define, within one week, the attitude
of their Governments "towards the peace negotiations," and state
their willingness or refusal to join in negotiations for an armis-
tice and peace. In case of their "refusal they must declare
clearly and finally before all mankind the aims for which the
peoples of Europe may be called to shed their blood during the
fourth year of the war."

President Wilson had just done so for the United States.
Congress had assembled on the third of December and on the
fourth he made his annual address. He believed that he spoke
for the American people when he said two things : "First, that
this intolerable Thing of which the masters of Germany have
shown us the ugly face, this menace of combined intrigue and
force which we now see so clearly as the German power, a
Thing without conscience or honor or capacity for covenanted
peace, must be crushed and, if it be not utterly brought to an
end, at least shut out from the friendly intercourse of the
nations ; and, second, that when this Thing and its power are

436 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

indeed defeated and the time conies that we can discuss peace
— when the German people have spokesmen whose word we
can helieve and when those spokesmen are ready in the name
of their people to accept the common judgment of the nations as
to what shall henceforth be the basis of law and of covenant for
the life of the world, we shall be willing and glad to pay the
full price for peace, and pay it ungrudgingly. We know what
that price will be. It will be full, impartial justice done at
every point and to every nation that the final settlement must
affect, our enemies as well as our friends.

"You catch, with me, the voices of humanity that are in
the air. They grow daily more audible, more articulate, more
persuasive, and they come from the hearts of men everywhere.
They insist that the war shall not end in vindictive action
of any kind; that no nation or people shall be robbed or pun-
ished because the irresponsible rulers of a single country have
themselves done deep and abominable wrong. It is this thought
that has been expressed in the formula, 'N"o annexations, no
contributions, no punitive indemnities.'

"Just because this crude formula expresses the instinctive
judgment as to the right of plain men everywhere it has been
made diligent use of by the masters of German intrigue to lead
the people of Eussia astray, and the people of every other
country their agents could reach, in order that a premature
peace might be brought about before autocracy has been taught
its final and convincing lesson and the people of the world put
in control of their own destinies.

"Let there be no misunderstanding. Our present and
immediate task is to win the war and nothing shall turn us
aside from it until it is accomplished. Every power and re-
source we possess, whether of men, of money, or materials,
is being devoted and will continue to be devoted to that pur-
pose until it is achieved. . . . We shall regard the war as won
only when the German people say to us, through properly
accredited representatives, that they are ready to agree to a
settlement based upon justice and the reparation of the wrongs
their rulers have done.

"They have done a wrong to Belgium which must be re-

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 437

paired. They have established a power over other lands and
peoples than their own, over the great empire of Austria-
Hungary, over hitherto free Balkan States, over Turkey and
within Asia, which must be relinquished.

"The peace we make must remedy that wrong. It must
deliver the once fair lands and happy peoples of Belgium and
Northern France from the Prussian conquest and the Prus-
sian menace, but it must also deliver the peoples of Austria-
Hungary, alike in Europe and in Asia, from the impudent and
alien domination of the Prussian military and commercial
autocracy.

"We owe it, however, to ourselves to say that we do not
wish in any way to impair or to rearrange the Austro-
Hungarian empire. It is no affair of ours what they do with
their own life, either industrially or politically. We do not
purpose or desire to dictate to them in any way. We only
desire to see that their affairs are left in their own hands, in
all matters, great or small. We shall hope to secure for the
peoples of the Balkan peninsula and for the people of the
Turkish empire the right and opportunity to make their own
lives safe, their own fortunes secure against oppression or in-
justice and from the dictation of foreign' courts or parties.

"And our attitude and purpose with regard to Germany
herself are of a like kind. We intend no wrong against the
German empire, no interference with her internal affairs. We
should deem either the one or the other absolutely unjustifiable,
absolutely contrary to the principles we have professed to live
by and to hold most sacred throughout our life as a nation.

"What shall we do, then, to push this great war of free-
dom and justice to its righteous conclusion? We must clear
away with a thorough hand all impediments to success and we
must make every adjustment of law that will facilitate the full
and free use of our whole capacity and force as a fighting unit.

"One very embarrassing obstacle that stands in our way is
that we are at war with Germany, but not with her allies. I
therefore very earnestly recommend that the Congress imme-
diately declare the United States in a state of war with Austria-

438 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Hungary. Does it seem strange to you that this should be the
conclusion of the argument I have just addressed to you ? It is
not. It is, in fact, the inevitable logic of what I have said.
Austria-Hungary is for the time being not her own mistress,
but simply the vassal of the German Government. We must
face the facts as they are and act upon them without sentiment
in this stern business. The Government of Austria-Hungary
is not acting upon its own initiative or in response to the wishes
and feelings of its own peoples, but as the instrument of
another nation. We must meet its force with our own and
regard the Central Powers as but one. The war can be suc-
cessfully conducted in no other way. The same logic would
lead also to a declaration of war against Turkey and Bulgaria.
They also are the tools of Germany. But they are mere tools
and do not yet stand in the direct path of our necessary action.
We shall go wherever the necessities of this war carry us, but
it seems to me that we should go only where immediate and
practical considerations lead us and not heed any others."

Joint resolutions declaring that a state of war existed be-
tween the United States and the Imperial and Royal Austro-
Hungarian Government were introduced in both the Senate and
House and sent to the appropriate committees. That in the
House was unanimously reported by the Committee on For-
eign Affairs, accompanied by a long report setting forth all the
reasons why the resolution should be adopted.

A state of war, it said, had actually existed for many
months. Depredations on American lives and rights by Aus-
trian naval forces had been small compared with those by Ger-
many, but they had been enough to constitute war upon this
country and, taken with other acts of Austria-Hungary, had
brought the American people to realize that she must be
grouped with Germany as an enemy.

As far back as 1915 Ambassador Dumba and Austrian
consuls in St. Louis and elsewhere had instigated strikes in
manufacturing plants engaged in making munitions ; an Ameri-
can citizen protected by an American passport had been used
by Dumba as a bearer of official dispatches, and Austrian con-
suls at St. Louis and New York had procured false passports
for the use of their countrymen going home. Austria-Hungary

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 439

in a note of January 31, 1917, had officially announced her
intention to adopt the ruthless submarine policy begun by Ger-
many, and had notified the Government of the United States
before war with Germany was declared to exist that if such
a declaration were made Austria-Hungary would sever diplo-
matic relations. No sooner was the declaration made than, true
to this threat, Austria-Hungary, as an ally of Germany, broke
off diplomatic relations with the United States.

Until the recent Austro-German drive in Italy, the forces
of Austria were gradually driven back by the Army of Italy.
With the aid of German troops drawn from the Eussian front,
a serious disaster had been inflicted on Italy, which had it not
been stemmed might have ended in her collapse. Because of
this situation the Allies had rushed aid to Italy, and the United
States was sending ships, money and supplies and might soon
send troops who would then be facing and making war on
Austrian soldiers.

Because of these facts a declaration of war should be made.
Jt would hearten the people of Italy, misled by German propa-
ganda, and from a military point of view would strengthen
the whole allied cause.

December 7 the Senate passed the resolution unani-
mously and sent it at once to the House where, to save time,
it was substituted for that of the House, was passed by a vote
of 363 to 1, and about five o'clock on the same day was signed
by the President.

Why war was not declared on Turkey and Bulgaria was
explained by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs. A deal of friction existed, he said, between the Turks
and the Germans. Even the pro-war party was split into fac-
tions, and that headed by Talaat Bey was beginning to look
with suspicion on Germany. A declaration of war, unless we
could strike Turkey, would strengthen the weakening German
influence and injure the anti-German party. But we could
not strike Turkey, for she had no troops on the western front
and few submarines. There was no danger therefore of a
direct conflict of forces. Bulgaria had not severed diplomatic
relations with the United States, had no interest in the Ger-
man plans of world conquest, had always been friendly to the

440 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

United States, had no submarines in the sea and no forces on
the western front, and there was therefore no good reason to
wage war against her.

The ten=-day period of suspension of hostilities having ex-
pired, an armistice was signed by the representatives of Russia
on the one hand and those of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Tur-
key and Bulgaria on the other, to begin at two o'clock on the
afternoon of December 17 and continue until January 14, and
include the land and air forces along the front from the Baltic
to the Black Sea, and along the Russo-Turkish front in Asia
Minor. While it lasted neither party was to increase its forces
on these fronts, nor on the islands in Moon Sound. Neither
party was to regroup its forces, nor move units from the Baltic-
Black sea fronts except such as had begun to move before the
armistice was established, nor gather troops on any part of
the Black Sea or the Baltic east of the fifteenth degree of east
longitude. Either party might end the armistice on seven
days' notice to the other. Peace negotiations were to begin
at once.

On the afternoon of December 22 accordingly at a solemn
sitting of the delegates peace negotiations were begun. At the
head of the German delegation was Dr. Richard von Kiihl-
mann; Count Czernin headed that from Austria-Hungary;
Minister Popoff that from Bulgaria; Nessimy Bey, one time
Minister of Foreign Affairs, that of Turkey, and Joffe
Kamineff that of Russia. Dr. von Kiihlmann, who presided,
having invited the Russians to present their proposal for a
basis of peace, it was laid before the delegates under six heads,
and these six were : no forcible appropriation of any territories
taken in the course of the war ; full independence for those na-
tionalities which had been deprived of it before the war began ;
nationalities which were not independent when the war began
to decide by referendum whether they would unite with other
nations, or acquire independence, and in countries inhabited
by several nationalities the rights of minorities to be safe-
guarded by special provisions; no war indemnity; all requisi-
tions to be returned and war sufferers compensated out of a
fund levied on all belligerents in proportion to their resources.
Colonial questions to be in accordance with these conditions.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 441

Count Czernin, speaking for the quadruple alliance, Decem-
ber 25, said the Russian proposals formed a discussable basis
for peace. The delegates of the quadruple alliance were ready
for peace without annexations and without indemnity. "It
must, however, be expressly pointed out that all the Powers now
participating in the war must within a suitable time, without
exception and without any reserve, bind themselves to the most
precise adherence to conditions binding all nations in the same
manner, if the stipulations of the Russian expose are to be ful-
filled, for it would not do for the Powers of the quadruple
alliance negotiating with Russia one-sidedly to tie themselves
to these conditions without a guarantee that Russia's allies will
recognize and will carry out these conditions honestly and with-
out reserve as regards the quadruple alliance."

Passing in review the six points of the Russian peace basis,
Count Czernin said it was not the intention of the allied Gov-
ernments "to appropriate forcibly" territory they then held,
nor was it their intention "to rob of its independence" any of
the nations which in the course of the war had lost it. Alle-
giance of national groups which had no independence could not
be regulated as between States, but must be settled by every
State with its people. Protection of the rights of minorities
was an essential part of the right of peoples to self-determina-
tion. The allied Powers had often said that both sides could
renounce indemnification for war costs and for war damages.
The creation of a special fund could only be considered if the
other belligerent Powers within a suitable period joined in the
peace negotiations.

Return of colonies forcibly occupied and captured was
"an essential part of the German demands from which under
no circumstances could she depart."

The Russians thought ten days a suitable period within
which the Allies should express their willingness or refusals
to join in peace negotiations, and the Germans having ap-
proved, it was ordered to begin on December 26, 1917, and
end January 4, 1918.

This agreement reached, the discussion of matters that would
have to be settled, in the event of peace, was begun. The
Bolshevist delegates proposed that Russia withdraw her troops

442 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

from Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Persia, and that the Central
Powers withdraw theirs from Poland, Lithuania, and Courland.
This was in accordance with the declaration by the Russian
Government of the right of all people living in Russia to self-
determination, including even separation. Populations in
these districts were to be given an opportunity within the short-
est possible time to decide whether they would join Russia,
Germany, Austria, or be free.

The Germans replied by presenting two articles of a pre-
liminary treaty:

"First. Russia and Germany are to declare the state of
war at an end. Both nations are resolved to live together in the
future in peace and friendship on condition of complete reci-
procity. Germany will be ready as soon as peace is concluded
with Russia and the demobilization of the Russian armies has
been accomplished to evacuate her present positions in occupied
Russian territory in so far as no different inferences result
from Article II.

"Second. The Russian Government, having in accordance
with its principles proclaimed for all peoples without excep-
tion living within the Russian empire the right of self-determi-
nation, including complete separation, takes cognizance of the
decisions expressing the will of people demanding a full state
of independence and separation from the Russian empire for
Poland, Lithuania, Courland and portions of Esthonia and
Livonia.

"The Russian Government recognizes that in the present
circumstances these manifestations must be regarded as an
expression of the will of the people, and is ready to draw con-
clusions therefrom. As in those districts to which the fore-
going stipulations apply the question of evacuation is not such
as provided for in Article I, a special commission shall discuss
and fix the time and other details in conformity and in accord-
ance with the Russian idea of the necessary ratification by a
plebiscite on broad lines, and without any military pressure
whatever, of the already existing proclamation of separation."

To this the Bolshevists answered:

"Our standpoint is that only such manifestation of will can
be regarded as a de facto expression of the will of the people

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 443

as results from a free vote taken in the districts in question
with the complete absence of foreign troops. We therefore pro-
pose, and must insist thereon, that a clearer and more precise
formulation of this point be made. We consent, however, to
the appointment of a special commission for the examination
of technical conditions for the realization of such referendums
and also for the fixing of a definite time for evacuation."

December 28 provisional agreements were finally reached
on many points with the reservation that they were to be ex-
amined by the respective Governments. The delegates then
went home. The agreements were that the war was to be
declared at an end; that Germany was to evacuate her posi-
tions in occupied Russia as soon as the Russian armies had
been demobilized; that there should be no economic war after
peace was concluded, and no discrimination against subjects,
merchant ships or goods of either party ; that civilians interned
were to be immediately released ; prisoners of war exchanged as
soon as possible ; and no demands for damages suffered during
the war. Many other issues were to bo arranged to suit the
interests of Germany.

January 4 the ten days allowed the Allies in which to say
whether they would or would not take part in the peace negotia-
tions ended. On that day the delegates of the Central Powers
returned to Brest-Litovsk, and finding no Russian delegates
there, von Kiihlmann, Count Czernin, M. Popoff and JSTessimy
Bey sent this wireless message to "Comrade" Joffe, head of the
Russian delegation:

"In their reply to the proposals of the Russian delegation
the delegations of the Central Powers outlined on December 25
at Brest-Litovsk certain guiding principles for the conclusion
of an immediate general peace. In order, however, to avoid any
one-sided commitment, they expressly made the validity of these
guiding principles dependent upon the obligation that all the
Powers engaged in the war, without exception and without
reserve, should within a suitable period bind themselves strictly
to observe these conditions which were equally binding upon
all peoples. With the consent of the four allied delegations
the Russian delegation then fixed the term of ten days within
which the other belligerents should take cognizance of these

444 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

principles for the conclusion of an immediate peace as laid
down at Brest-Litovsk and decide whether they would join in
the peace negotiations or not. The delegations of the allied
Powers now place on record the fact that the ten days' term
agreed upon lapsed on January 4, and that no declaration
regarding participation in these peace negotiations has so far
been received from any of the other belligerents."

It was further announced that the failure of the Allies to
notice the invitation to take part in the negotiations at Brest-
Litovsk relieved the Central Powers from all obligations and
left them free to conclude a separate peace with Russia, and
that they were no longer bound by the general peace proposals
submitted to the Russians.

The Bolsheviki, meantime, requested that negotiations be
transferred to Stockholm because they preferred a neutral place
to the German headquarters, and because at Stockholm it would
be easier to secure full publicity to all proceedings. Hearing
that the delegates of the Central Powers were at Brest-Litovsk,
the Russian delegates, however, at once set off for that place
on January 5.

On that day Mr. Lloyd George, speaking to the delegates of
the trade unions, answered the Central Powers with a clear
statement of the British war aims, of what she was fighting
for, and on what conditions she would welcome peace. She
was not fighting a war of aggression; was not seeking the de-
struction of Germany or Austria-Hungary; did not wish to
deprive Turkey of its capital nor of the rich lands of Asia
Minor and Thrace.

She was fighting for complete restoration of Belgium, with
full indemnity for the devastation of her towns and provinces ;
for the restoration of Serbia, Montenegro, and the occupied
parts of France, Italy, Roumania ; for an independent Poland ;
for a recognition of the great wrong of 1871 when, regardless
of the wishes of the people, two provinces were torn from the
side of France and incorporated in the German Empire; self-
government must be granted those Austro-Hungarian nation-
alities who have so long desired it; the claims of the Italians
for union with those of their race and tongue must be satisfied ;

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 445

and justice must be done to men of Eoumanian blood and speech
"in their legitimate aspirations."

Constantinople should remain the capital of Turkey; the
passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean should
be internationalized and neutralized; Arabia, Armenia, Meso-
potamia, Syria and Palestine recognized as separate nations,
and the German colonies held at the disposal of a conference
whose decision must respect the wishes and interests of the
people of each colony. Reparation must be made for injuries
done in violation of international law, especially as regarded
British seamen; the sanctity of treaties must be reestablished;
and a tribunal set up to limit armament and lessen the chance
of war.

Taking up the speech of Count Czernin to the Bolshevist
delegates, Mr. George said: "We are told that 'it is not the
intention' of the Central Powers 'to appropriate forcibly' any
occupied territories or 'to rob of its independence7 any nation
which has lost its 'political independence' during the war. Jt
is obvious that almost any scheme of conquest and annexation
could be perpetrated within the literal interpretation of such
a pledge.

"Does it mean that Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro and
Roumania will be as independent and as free to direct their own
destinies as the Germans or any other nation ? Or does it mean
that all manner of interferences and restrictions, political and
economic, incompatible with the status and dignity of a free,
self-respecting people, are to be imposed ? If this is the inten-
tion there will be one kind of independence for a great nation
and an inferior kind of independence for a small nation. . . .
Reparation for the wanton damage inflicted on Belgian towns
and villages and their inhabitants is emphatically repudiated.
The rest of the so-called 'offer' of the Central Powers is almost
entirely a refusal of all concessions. The question whether any
form of self-government is to be given to Arabs, Armenians,
or Syrians is declared to be entirely a matter for the Sublime
Porte. . . .

"On one point only are they perfectly clear and definite.
Under no circumstances will the 'German demand' for the
restoration of the whole of Germany's colonies be departed

446 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

from. All principles of self-determination, or as our earlier
phrase goes, government by the consent of the governed, here
vanishes into thin air."

Everywhere among the Allies the Prime Minister's restate-
ment of the war aims of Great Britain found a hearty approval
and telegrams of congratulation were still coming to Down-
ing Street when President Wilson on January 8 appeared be-
fore Congress and stated his "program of the world's peace."

"1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which
there shall be no private international understandings of any
kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and .in the
public view.

"2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside
territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas
may be closed in whole or in part by international action for
the enforcement of international covenants.

"3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic bar-
riers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions
among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating
themselves for its maintenance.

"4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national
armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with
domestic safety.

"5. A free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjust-
ment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of
the principle that in determining all such questions of sover-
eignty the interests of the population concerned must have equal
weight with the equitable claims of the Government whose title
is to be determined.

"6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a
settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the
best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in
obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed oppor-
tunity for the independent determination of her own political
development and national policy and assure her of a sincere
welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of
her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also
of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The
treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 447

to come will be the acid test of their good-will, of their com-
prehension of her needs as distinguished from their own inter-
ests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.

"7. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacu-
ated and restored without any attempt to limit the sovereignty
which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No
other single act will serve as this will serve to. restore confi-
dence among the nations in the laws which they have them-
selves set and determined for the government of their relations
with one another. Without this healing act the whole struc-
ture and validity of international law is forever impaired.

"8. All French territory should be freed and the invaded
portions restored and the wrong done to France by Prussia in
1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the
peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted in
order that peace may once more be made secure in the interests
of all.

"9. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be
effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.

"10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among
the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be
accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development.

"11. Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro should be evacu-
ated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and
secure access to the sea ; and the relations of the several Balkan
States to one another determined by friendly counsel along
historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and
international guarantees of the political and economic inde-
pendence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan States
should be entered into.

"12. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman empire
should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationali-
ties which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an
undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested oppor-
tunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should
be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and com-
merce of all nations under international guarantees.

"13. An independent Polish State should be erected which
should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish

448 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

populations, which should be assured a free and secure access
to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and
territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international
covenant.

"14. A general association of nations must be formed un-
der specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guar-
antees of political independence and territorial integrity to
great and small States alike."

Germany having flatly refused to transfer negotiations to
Stockholm, they were resumed at Brest-Litovsk and dragged
along until January 23. By that time the Central Powers had
demanded the cession of the Baltic provinces and drew a line
of demarcation from the Gulf of Finland east of the Moon
Sound Islands to Valk, and thence to Brest-Litovsk, declared
these were the last terms they would offer, and that if they were
not accepted hostilities would be at once resumed and Revel
occupied within a week. They were unanimously rejected by
the Bolshevist delegates ; but at their request the Central Pow-
ers granted a recess until January 29 in order that the peace
proposals might be laid before the Council of Soldiers' and
Workingmen's delegates.

On the following day, January 24, Count Hertling, the
Imperial German Chancellor, in a speech before the Main
Committee of the Reichstag, answered both Lloyd George and
President Wilson.1 Taking up the fourteen points in the Presi-
dent's speech, he said, concerning the first, on no secret treaties :
"History shows that it is we above all others who would be able
to agree to the publicity of diplomatic documents. . . . The
negotiations at Brest-Litovsk are being conducted with full
publicity. This proves we are quite ready to accept this
proposal." The second point, freedom of the seas, was also
"demanded by Germany as the first and one of the most impor-
tant requirements of the future. Therefore, there is here no
difference of opinion." With point three, trade equality: "We,
too, are in thorough accord. . . . We, too, condemn economic
war which would inevitably bear within it causes of future
warlike complications." Point four, limitation of armaments,

1 The speech is given in full in Current History for March, 1918, pp.
389-394.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 449

was "entirely discussable." . . . "An understanding might be
reached without difficulty on the first four points of Mr. Wil-
son's program."

The fifth, colonial claims, was sure to "encounter some
difficulties in any case/' and "for the present it may be left
for England, which has the greatest colonial empire, to make
what she will of this proposal of her" ally." Point six, evacua-
tion of Russian territory, concerned "only Russia and the four
allied Powers." "Now that the Entente has refused within the
period agreed upon by Russia and the Quadruple Alliance to
join in negotiation, I must, in the name of the latter, decline
to allow any subsequent interference."

Point seven, Belgium free and restored, Count Hertling
said, "belongs to those questions the details of which are to
be settled by negotiation at the peace conference." So long as
the Allies held that the integrity of their territory could "offer
the only possible basis of a peace discussion," he must "refuse
the removal, in advance, of the Belgian affair from the entire
discussion."

Point eight, all French territory free and Alsace-Lorraine
restored, was refused. "Forcible annexation" formed no part
of the official German policy, but the conditions of evacuation
must be settled between Germany and France. Alsace-Lorraine
would never be given up.

Points nine, ten and eleven, having to do with the Italian
frontier, were left to be dealt with by Count Czernin. Mat-
ters touched on in point twelve concerned "our loyal, brave
ally Turkey" and must be left to the Turkish statesmen. Point
thirteen dealt with Poland. To this, Count Hertling said, it
was not the Entente, "but the German Empire and the Austro-
Hungarian Monarchy which liberated Poland from the Czaris-
tic regime" Therefore, it was Germany, Austria and Poland
that must settle the future of that country. "The last point,
the 14th, deals with a league of nations." If such a league
proved, on closer examination, to be in tLe spirit of justice
and impartiality to all, "then the Imperial Government is
gladly ready, when all other pending questions have been set-
tled, to begin the examination of the basis of such a bond of

nations."

450 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

While Count Hertling was addressing the Main Committee
of the Reichstag, Count Czernin made his reply to Lloyd George
and the President before the Austrian Parliament. In that
part which had to do with the speech of President Wilson,
Count Czernin said it was evident that no such offer could he
accepted in all its detail. Were this the case negotiations would
be unnecessary and "peace might be made by simple accept-
ance, by a simple yea and amen." Taking up the fourteen
points, he had "nothing to say on the point which discusses
abolishing secret diplomacy and complete publicity of negotia-
tions." He had "serious doubts whether it is always the most
practical and quickest way to reach a result." Of points two
and three and four he approved. To point five he made no
reference. To point six he replied that Austria-Hungary did
not demand a square meter of Russian territory, and to point
seven that: "So far as these possessions concern her allies,
whether in the case of German possessions, Belgium or Turkey,
Austria-Hungary, faithful to her engagements, will go to the
extreme in defense of her allies. She will defend the pre-war
possessions of her allies as she would her own." The eighth
point was not discussed; to the ninth he said: "Italy had, be-
fore the war, an opportunity of realizing a great territorial
expansion without firing a shot. She refused to do this and
joined in the war. She has lost hundreds of thousands in
killed, and millions in war expenses and destroyed riches, all
that solely in order to lose the advantage which she would have
been able to gain." Point ten was answered in the negative.
Point eleven was refused; point twelve was covered in his
answer to seven; to the thirteenth he said, "We also are sup-
porters of the creation of an independent Polish State," and
to the fourteenth, "In his idea of a league of Peoples, the Presi-
dent would very probably meet with no opposition in this
monarchy."

February 11, 1918, the President replied to Count Hertling
and Count Czernin. The German Chancellor's speech he found
very vague, very confusing, full of equivocal phrases, and lead-
ing it was not clear where.

"His discussion and acceptance of our general principles
lead him to no practical conclusions. He refuses to apply them

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 451

to the substantive items which must constitute the body of any
final, settlement. He is jealous of international action and of
international council. He accepts, he says, the principle of
public diplomacy, but he appears to insist that it be confined,
at any rate in this case, to generalities, and that the several
particular questions of territory and sovereignty, the several
questions upon whose settlement must depend the acceptance of
peace by the twenty-three States now engaged in the war, must
be discussed and settled, not in general council, but severally
by the nations most immediately concerned by interest or
neighborhood.

"He will discuss with no one but the representatives of Rus-
sia what disposition shall be made of the peoples and the lands
of the Baltic provinces; with no one but the Government of
France the 'conditions' under which French territory shall be
evacuated; and only with Austria what shall be done with
Poland.

"In the determination of all questions affecting the Balkan
States he defers, as I understand him, to Austria and Turkey ;
and with regard to the agreements to be entered into concern-
ing the non-Turkish peoples of the present Ottoman Empire,
to the Turkish authorities themselves.

»••••••

"It must be evident to every one who understands what this
war has wrought in the opinion and temper of the world that
no general peace, no peace worth the infinite sacrifices of these
years of tragical suffering, can possibly be arrived at in any such
fashion. The method the German Chancellor proposes is the
method of the Congress of Vienna. We cannot and will not
return to that.

"What is at stake now is the peace of the world." . . .
"The peace of the world depends upon the just settlement of
each of the several problems to which I adverted in my recent
address to the Congress. I, of course, do not mean that the
peace of the world depends upon the acceptance of any par-
ticular set of suggestions as to the way in which those problems
are to be dealt with. I mean only that those problems each and
all affect the whole world; that unless they are dealt with in

452 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

a spirit of unselfish and unbiased justice, with a view to the
wishes, the natural connections, the racial aspirations, the secur-
ity and peace of mind of the peoples involved, no permanent
peace will have been attained. . . .

als Count von Hertling not aware that he is speaking in
the court of mankind, that all the awakened nations of the
world now sit in judgment on what every public man, of what-
ever nation, may say on the issues of a conflict which has spread
to every region of the world? The Reichstag resolutions of
July themselves frankly accepted the decisions of that court.
There shall be no annexations, no contributions, no punitive
damages. Peoples are not to be handed about from one sover-
eignty to another by an international conference or an under-
standing between rivals and antagonists. National aspirations
must be respected; peoples may now be dominated and gov-
erned only by their own consent. 'Self-determination' is not
a mere phrase. |It is an imperative principle of action, which
statesmen will henceforth ignore at their peril.

"We cannot have general peace for the asking or by the
mere arrangements of a peace conference. It cannot be pieced
together out of individual understandings between powerful
States. All the parties to this war must join in the settlement
of every issue anywhere involved in it, because what we are
seeking is a peace that we can all unite to guarantee and main-
tain, and every item of it must be submitted to the common
judgment whether it be right and fair, an act of justice, rather
than a bargain between sovereigns.

"The United States has no desire to interfere in European
affairs or to act as arbiter in European territorial disputes. . . .

"But she entered this war because she was made a partner,
whether she would or not, in the sufferings and indignities
inflicted by the military masters of Germany against the peace
and security of mankind ; and the conditions of peace will touch
her as nearly as they will touch any other nation to which is
entrusted a leading part in the maintenance of civilization.
She cannot see her way to peace until the causes of this war
are removed, its renewal rendered, as nearly as may be,
impossible.

"This war had its roots in the disregard of the rights of

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 453

small nations and of nationalities which lacked the union and
the force to make good their claim to determine their own alle-
giances and their own forms of political life. Covenants must
now he entered into which will render such things impossible
for the future; and those covenants must be backed by the
united force of all the nations that love justice and are willing
to maintain it at any cost. . . .

"Count Czernin seems to see the fundamental elements of
peace with clear eyes, and does not seek to obscure them. He
sees that an independent Poland, made up of all the indis-
putably Polish peoples who lie contiguous to one another, is
a matter of European concern, and must, of course, be con-
ceded; that Belgium must be evacuated and restored, no mat-
ter what sacrifices and concessions that may involve; and that
national aspirations must be satisfied, even within his own
empire, in the common interest of Europe and mankind.

"If he is silent about questions which touch the interest
and purpose of his allies more nearly than they touch those of
Austria only, it must, of course, be because he feels constrained,
I suppose, to defer to Germany and Turkey in the circum-
stances. Seeing and conceding, as he does, the essential prin-
ciples involved and the necessity of candidly applying them,
he naturally feels that Austria can respond to the purpose of
peace as expressed by the United States with less embarrass-
ment than could Germany. He would probably have gone
much further had it not been for the embarrassments of Aus-
tria's alliances and of her dependence upon Germany.

"After all, the test of whether it is possible for either
Government to go any further in this comparison of views is
simple and obvious. The principles to be applied are these :

"First — That each part of the final settlement must be
based upon the essential justice of that particular case and
upon such adjustments as are most likely to bring a peace that
will be permanent.

"Second — That peoples and provinces are not to be bartered
about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were mere
chattels and pawns in a game, even the great game, now for-
ever discredited, of the balance of power ; but that,

"Third — Every territorial settlement involved in this war

454, THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

must be made in the interest and for the benefit of the popu-
lations concerned, and not as a part of any mere adjustment
or compromise of claims among rival States ; and,

"Fourth. — That all well-defined national aspirations shall be
accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be accorded them
without introducing new or perpetuating old elements of dis-
cord and antagonism that would be likely in time to break the
peace of Europe, and consequently of the world.

aA general peace erected upon such foundations can be
discussed. Until such a peace can be secured we have no choice
but to go on."

February 12 Mr. Lloyd George made his reply to the speech
of the German Chancellor, and February 25 Count Hertling
answered the four points of President Wilson's speech of
February 11.

"It has been repeatedly said that we do not contemplate
retaining Belgium, but that we must be safeguarded from the
clanger of a country with which we desire after the war to
live in peace and friendship becoming the object or the jump-
ing-off ground of enemy machinations. If, therefore, a pro-
posal came from the opposing side, for example from the
Government at Havre, we should not adopt an antagonistic
attitude even though the discussion at first might only be
unbinding."

Meanwhile, as there did not seem to be a chance of such a
thing happening, he "must adhere to the existing method of
dialogue across the channel and the ocean."

Turning to the four points, he asked as to the first, "Who
would contradict this ?" Certain "it is that only peace based
in all its parts has a prospect of endurance." The second point
also could "be unconditionally assented to," and so could the
third. "Now in the fourth clause he demands that all well-
defined national aspirations shall be accorded the utmost satis-
faction that can be accorded them without introducing new or
perpetuating old elements of discord and antagonism that would
be likely in time to break the peace of Europe, and consequently
of the world. Here also I give assent in principle, and I
declare, therefore, with President Wilson, that a general peace
on such a basis is discussable." But these principles must not

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 455

be proposed by President Wilson alone. "They must be defi-
nitely recognized by all States and nations."

"Our war aims from the beginning were the defense of the
Fatherland, the maintenance of our territorial integrity, and
the freedom of our economical development. Our warfare, even
when it must be aggressive in action, is defensive in aim. I
lay special stress on that subject just now in order that no
misunderstandings shall arise about our operations in the east.
After breaking off the peace negotiations by the Kussian dele-
gation on February 10 we had a free hand against Kussia.
The sole aim of the advance of our troops, which was begun
seven days after the rupture, was to safeguard the fruits of
our peace with Ukraine. Aims of conquest were in no way a
determining factor. . . . We do not intend to establish our-
selves, for example, in Esthonia, or Livonia. In Courland and
Lithuania our chief object is to create organs of self-determina-
tion and self-administration."

Allusions in the speech of Count Hertling to affairs in
Russia make it necessary to narrate what had there taken place
since January 28 when the Bolshevist delegates went home to
lay the German peace terms before the Congress of Soldiers'
and Workingmen's delegates. January 30, 1918, the confer-
ence at Brest-Litovsk was resumed and continued until Febru-
ary 10, when the Russian delegates broke off negotiations,
refused to sign a treaty of peace and formally withdrew Russia
from the war. In a wireless announcement addressed "to all
whom it may concern," Trotsky said:

"The peace negotiations are at an end. The German capi-
talists, bankers, and landlords, supported by the silent co-
operation of the English and French bourgeoisie, submitted
to our comrades, members of the peace delegations at Brest-
Litovsk, conditions such as could not be subscribed to by the
Russian revolution.

"The Governments of Germany and Austria possess coun-
tries and peoples vanquished by force of arms. To this author-
ity the Russian people, workmen and peasants, could not give
its acquiescence. We could not sign a peace which would bring
with it sadness, oppression, and suffering to millions of work-
men and peasants.

456 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

"But we also cannot, will not and must not continue a war
begun by Czars and capitalists in alliance with Czars and capi-
talists. We will not and we must not continue to be at war
with the Germans and Austrians, workmen and peasants like
ourselves.

"We are not signing a peace of landlords and capitalists.
Let the German and Austrian soldiers know who are placing
them in the field of battle and let them know for what they
are struggling. Let them know also that we refuse to fight

against them.

u

Our delegation, fully conscious of its responsibility before
the Russian people and the oppressed workers and peasants
of other countries, declared on February 10, in the name of
the Council of the People's Commissaries of the Government
of the Federal Russian Republic to the Governments of the
peoples involved in the war with us and of the neutral coun-
tries, that it refused to sign an annexationist treaty. Russia,
for its part, declares the present war with Germany and
Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria at an end.

"Simultaneously, the Russian troops received an order for
complete demobilization on all fronts.77

It was to this surrender that Count Hertling alluded when
he said, "After the breaking off of the peace negotiations by the
Russian delegates on February 10, we had a free hand as
against Russia." How the free hand was to be used was shown
when, on February 18, the Germans once more resumed the
offensive and advanced against the great fortress of Dvinsk in
the north, and to the relief of the Ukrainians in the south.
With the course of events in the Ukraine we need be not con-
cerned. It is enough to know that the Ukrainian People's
Republic was proclaimed by the Rada on November 20, 1917;
that delegates attended the Brest-Litovsk conference in Jami*
ary, 1918, and signed a separate peace with Germany on Febru^
ary 9 ; and that it was in response to a call from the Ukrainians
for help against Bolsheviki, bent on the destruction of the
Republic, that the Germans made their advance towards Kieff.

To resist the invasion of the Germans was impossible, and
February 19 Trotsky and Lenine issued by wireless a procla-
mation denouncing the invasion but declaring that under the

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 457

circumstances the Council of People's Commissaries was forced
formally to declare its willingness to sign a peace on the terms
dictated by the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk. General
Hoffmann in reply demanded that the offer be put in writing
and sent to the German commander at Dvinsk. A messenger
carrying a copy of the wireless message with the signatures of
Trotsky and Lenine was sent post haste to Dvinsk ; but the Ger-
mans continued their advance, occupied Esthonia, took Lutsk,
Minsk and Kovno and February 23, through Foreign Secretary
Kiihlmann, the Imperial Government made a new peace offer,
imposing terms more drastic than before. The terms must be
accepted within forty-eight hours, and the treaty signed within
three days and ratified within two weeks. The terms were at
once accepted, a new delegation was sent to Brest-Litovsk, and
March 3 the treaty was signed and the German advance was
stopped within seventy miles of Petrograd. Finland, Esthonia,
Livonia, Courland, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russian
Armenia ceased to be Russian soil. Humiliating as were the
terms, they were accepted by the Pan-Soviet Congress assem-
bled at Moscow on March 14, 1918. To that Congress Presi-
dent Wilson telegraphed a message of sympathy.

"May I not take advantage of the meeting of the Congress
of the Soviets to express the sincere sympathy which the people
of the United States feel for the Russian people at this moment
when the German power has been thrust in to interrupt and
turn back the whole struggle for freedom and substitute the
wishes of Germany for the purpose of the people of Russia ?

"Although the Government of the United States is, unhap-
pily, not now in a position to render the direct and effective
aid it would wish to render, I beg to assure the people of Russia
through the Congress that it will avail itself of every oppor-
tunity to secure for Russia once more complete sovereignty
and independence in her own affairs and full restoration to her
great role in the life of Europe and the modern world.

"The whole heart of the people of the United States is with
the people of Russia in the attempt to free themselves forever
from autocratic government and become the masters of their
own life."

Samuel Gompers in behalf of the American Alliance for

458 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

Labor and Democracy sent a cablegram, "to the All-Russian
Soviet," assuring it that every blow struck at Russian freedom
was as keenly felt by the people of the United States as it
could be if struck at their own; that he spoke for a great or-
ganized movement of working people devoted to the cause of
freedom and the ideals of democracy; and the whole nation
ardently desired to be helpful to Russia, and eagerly awaited
to be told how its help might be most effectual.

Three days after Russia made peace with the Central Pow-
ers, Roumania, on March 6, was forced to sign a preliminary
treaty which provided for the cession of Dobrudja as far as the
Danube, changed the Austro-Hungarian-Roumanian frontier,
required immediate partial demobilization, pledged the use of
railways for the movement of troops of the Central Powers
through Moldavia and Bessarabia to Odessa, and for the evacua-
tion, at once, of all Austro-Hungarian territory occupied by
Roumanian forces. During the German occupation of Roumania
requisitions to the amount of $250,000,000 had been levied.
These it was believed the Central Powers in the final treaty
would treat as a war indemnity and never repay.

Russia and Roumania were thus lost to the Allies, and sep-
arate treaties had been made with Russia, Ukraine and Rou-
mania. When speaking of them to a deputation of the Vienna
City Council, April 2, 1918, Count Czernin took occasion to
reply to President Wilson's four point speech of February 11.
The four points, he said, were a suitable basis on which to be-
gin negotiations for a general peace; the only question was
could the President unite his allies on this basis. As for him-
self, he said : "God is my witness that we have tried everything
possible to avoid a new offensive. The Entente would not have
it. A short time before the beginning of the offensive in the
west M. Clemenceau inquired of me whether and upon what
basis I was prepared to negotiate. I immediately replied, in
agreement with Berlin, that I was ready to negotiate and that
as regards France I saw no other obstacle for peace than
France's desire for Alsace-Lorraine.

"The reply from Paris was that France was willing to ne-
gotiate only on that basis. There was then no choice left."

As soon as M. Clemenceau, the French Premier, heard of

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DEBATE 459

this he exclaimed, "Count Czernin has lied." Then followed an
exchange of statements. That conversations had taken place in
Switzerland in August, 1917, when M. Ribot was Premier, be-
tween Count Eevertata, a personal friend of the Emperor
Charles, and Commandant Armand of the French General
Staff ; that no results were obtained ; that the conversations were
renewed in January and February, 1918, was not denied by
either side. M. Clemenceau asserted they were held at the re-
quest of Austria-Hungary. Count Czernin maintained it was
at the request of France ; that after all it was not of consequence
to know who began them, but who caused their collapse, and that
France was responsible for this by her refusal to negotiate on
the basis of her renunciation of the reacquisition of Alsace-
Lorraine. M. Clemenceau, in his reply to this charge, said there
was no need for Count Revertata to obtain such information
from Commandant Armand, for the Emperor Charles in a let-
ter written in March, 1917, had acknowledged "France's just
claim relative to Alsace-Lorraine."

That such a claim had been acknowledged the Emperor
stoutly denied. The French Prime Minister, he said in a tele-
gram to the Kaiser, "driven into a corner is endeavoring to es-
cape from the net of lies in which he has entangled himself by
piling up more and more untruths," and did not hesitate to
falsely state that "I recognized that France had a just claim
to the reacquisition of Alsace-Lorraine. I disavow this asser-
tion with indignation."

Thus forced to prove its assertion the French Government
published in full an autograph letter written March 31, 1917,
by the Emperor Charles to his brother-in-law, Prince Sixte of
Bourbon, and by him sent to President Poincare. In it were
the words, "I beg you to convey secretly and unofficially to
Poincare, President of the French Republic, that J shall sup-
port by every means, and using all my personal influence with
my allies, the French just claims regarding Alsace-Lorraine."
Count Czernin at once resigned.

The long debate between the leaders of the warring nations
came to an end with a speech from President Wilson at Balti-
more, on April 6, 1918. On that day, "the anniversary of our
acceptance of Germany's challenge to fight for our right to live

460 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD WAR

and be free," the drive for the third Liberty Loan was to begin
over all the country and it was to give a formal opening to this
effort that the President spoke at Baltimore. "I call you to
witness/' he said in the course of the speech, "that at no stage
of this terrible business have I judged the purposes of Ger-
many intemperately." He had sought to learn from the mouths
of her spokesmen what are her objects in the war; had asked
them to say plainly what it is they seek. "They have answered,
answered in unmistakable terms. They have avowed that it
is not justice but dominion and the unhindered execution of
their own will." German statesmen were ready to discuss the
terms of peace. At Brest-Litovsk her civilian delegates pro-
fessed their willingness to conclude a fair peace and give to the
peoples with whose fortunes they were dealing the right to
choose their own allegiance. But her military masters pro-
claimed a very different purpose. "Their purpose is, un-
doubtedly, to make all the Slavic peoples, all the free and am-
bitious nations of the Baltic Peninsula, all the lands that Turkey
has dominated and misruled, subject to their will and ambition,
and build upon that dominion an empire of force."

Should such a program be carried out "everything that
America has lived for and loved and grown great to vindicate
and bring to a glorious realization will have fallen in utter
ruin." "Germany has once more said that, force, and force
alone, shall decide whether justice and peace shall reign in the
affairs of men, whether right as America conceives it or domin-
ion as she conceives it shall determine the destinies of mankind.
There is, therefore, but one response possible for us: Force,
force to the utmost, force without stint or limit, the righteous
and triumphant force which shall make right the law of the
world and cast every selfish dominion down in the dust."

INDEX

"Acid test, the," 447.

Aerschot, atrocities at, 28.

Affidavits, StahFs false Lusi-
tania, 104, 167.

Agriculture, Department of,
war work, 368, 369.

Aims, Belligerents asked to
state, 292-294. Answer, 295-
296, 304-307.

Albert, Dr. Heinrich, papers
stolen, 170, 171.

Albert I., King of the Belgians,
protest against German atro-
cities, 27-29. Answer of the
President, 29 ; on war aims
note, 303.

Alcedo sunk, 426.

Alien-enemies Act, 418; shut
from seaboard, 419; and
Panama Zone, 419.

Alien-enemy property custo-
dian, 418.

Alliance — The German-Ameri-
can, 24, 25, 36, 38, 137, 263-
264, 328.

Allies — on submarine blockade,
77; on censorship of mails,
268; on the Deutschland, 272,
273-274; on German peace
note, 295-296; on war aims,
302-304; on our entrance in-
to the war, 360-363; the
Pope's peace note, 404; Rus-
sian offer to, 434, 435, 440,
443, 444.

Alsace-Lorraine, 306, 404, 406,
447, 449, 458-459.

American Commission for Re-
lief in Belgium, 47-49, 285-
289, 337.

"American Day" in London,
362-363.

American Embargo Conference,
work of, 234-236.

American Federation of Labor,
address to Russia, 399-400.

American Independence Union,
139.

American League to Limit Ar-
mament, 135.

American Neutrality League,
137.

American Peace and Arbitra-
tion League, 129.

American Peace Society, 137.

American Union against Mili-
tarism, 321.

Americans, in the warring coun-
tries, 14-17; in London, 15;
relief for, 15, 16 ; in Germany,
14-15.

Ancona sunk, 202, 203 ; demand
of U. S., 203, 204; reply of
Austria, 205-207 ; Labor's
Peace Council on, 208; an-
swer to Austria's note, 208-
209 ; reply of Austria, 209.

Andrassy, Count Julius, on
peace offer, 300.

Antilles transport sunk, 426.

Anti-war demonstrations, 387-
388, 392-394.

Appam, the, captured by Ger-
man raider; brought to New-
port News; case of, 265-267;
action of von Bernstorff, 266 ;
action of Lansing, 267 ; action
of Court, 267.

Arabia sunk; American lives
lost, 279; German note on,

461

462

INDEX

280-281; Great Britain on,
281.

Arabic sunk; American lives
lost, 123, 124; German-
American press on, 125;
Bryan on, 126; Bernstorff on,
126-127; von Bethmann-Holl-
weg on, 128; liners not to be
sunk without warning, 128;
Germany disavows sinking,
198-199; will pay damages,
200.

Archibald, J. J. P.; papers
seized, 173, 174, 413.

Argentina, 363.

Armed merchantmen ; Ger-
many's position, 215; Allies'
position, 215; Germany will
treat as auxiliary cruisers,
241, 243. Lansing proposes
disarmament, 241-242; reso-
lution in Senate, 243; Mc-
Lemore resolutions, 244-245 ;
Fuller resolution, 245. Sen-
ator Stone to the President,
246-247; President's reply,
247; Speaker Clark, 248;
Bryan on, 248; Gore resolu-
tion, 249; Jones resolutions,
249. President forces vote,
251; Gore resolution, 251;
McLemore resolution defeat-
ed, 252.

Armed-neutrality. President
asks power to arm merchant
ships, 340; bill passed by
House, 342 ; filibuster in Sen-
ate, 344-345; protest of Sen-
ators, 345; rules amended
and bill passed, 347.

Armenian sunk, 120, 121.

Armistice, Bolsheviki declare
for, 434; signed at Brest-Li-
tovsk, 440.

Army, President's plan for in-
crease, 231 ; bills for increase,
231-232, 252-253; bill signed

by President, 254; sent to
Mexican border, 253; troops
to be sent to France, 377;
mobilization, 378-379 ; re-
cruiting, 379-380; bill to in-
crease, 383-385; the draft
act, 385; proclamation, 385-
386; registration, 387; draw-
ing the numbers, 388-389;
first in France, 394-395;
troopship sunk, 427; fighting
begins, 428, 429 ; at Cambrai,
429; St. Mihiel salient, 430;
in the Champaigne, 430;
Chemin-des-Dames, Lune-
ville, 430; casualties, 430;
Pershing's offer, 431 ; number
in France, 432.

Asphyxiating gas, Dernburg on,
150.

Asquith, Herbert Henry, on our
break with Germany, 330; on
our declaration of war, 361.

Atrocities. The Kaiser charges
Belgium, 26; France charges
Germany, 27; Belgium
charges Germany, 28, 29;
President Wilson answers the
Kaiser, 27 ; and Belgium, 29 ;
at Louvain and Vise, etc., 29,
30 ; von Bernstorff on, 29, 30 ;
German press on, 30 ; German
pamphlets, 31, 32; German
professors on, 33; Bernstorff
charges manufacture of dum-
dum bullets in U. S., 36; de-
portation of Belgians, 281-
289.

Attorney-General of U. S. Ap-
peals to State authorities,
187, 188.

Austria-Hungary. The Sera-
jevo murder, 1 ; ultimatum to
Serbia, 3; attempt of Pow-
ers to localize the war, 4, 5;
mediation offered, 6; war de-
clared on Serbia, 5; Kussia

INDEX

463

mobilizes, 7, 8 ; Germany acts,
9 ; reservists in U. S., 17 ; pro-
test against munition ship-
ments, 152-153 ; reply of Lan-
sing, 154-155; Dumba's let-
ters, 176-179 ; Dumba recalled
on request, 175 ; Ancona sunk,
202-203; Austrian Admiral-
ty on Ancona, 202-203; de-
mand of U. S., 203-204; Aus-
trian reply, 205-207; answer
to the reply, 208-209; Aus-
tria's reply, 209-210; Persia
sunk, 210; Austria explains,
210-211 ; Austria answers
President's note, 298; severs
diplomatic relations, 359 ;
ships in our ports seized, 359 ;
reception of President's an-
swer to the Pope's peace note,
409; war in Italy, 433; the
President on Austria, 437;
our declaration of war on,
439; peace negotiations at
Brest-Litovsk, 440-443, 448,
455-457; treaty of Brest-
Litovsk, 457; Count Czernin
on peace negotiations, 441;
on Lloyd George, 445; an-
swer to, 450; to the Presi-
dent, 458; the Prince Sixte
letter, 459.

Azores, The islands; war zone
around, 428.

Baker, Newton D., Secretary of
War, 241.

Bakers, licensed, 419.

Balfour, Arthur James, on
President's note to belliger-
ents, 305-307; High Com-
missioner to U. S., 364.

Barthelme, George; to Cologne
Gazette on break with Ger-
many, 331-332.

Behnke, Admiral, on use of sub-
marines, 70, 71.

Belgium. Will her neutrality
be respected? 8; answer of
France, 8, 9; of Germany, 9;
German ultimatum to, 9 ; an-
swers of, 10 ; appeals to Great
Britain, 10 ; Germany will not
annex, 10; will not respect
her neutrality, 10, 11; the
"scrap of paper," 11; protest
to the President, 27, 28, 29 ;
answer of the President, 29;
von Bernstorff on atrocities
in, 29, 30; relief for, 44-50;
deportations from, 281-289;
Belgian women protest, 284;
Belgian Minister protests,
285 ; action of U. S., 285-289 ;
on President's war aims note,
303 ; relief taken over by Hol-
land, 337.

Bernhardi, General Friedrich
von, letter, 257.

Bernstorff, Count J. H. von,
German Ambassador. On
atrocities, 29, 30; charges
manufacture of dum-dum bul-
lets in U. S., 36, 37 ; on food-
stuffs order, 62 ; delivers reply
to protest on submarines, 70 ;
Lusitania note, 92, 101-102;
sends agent to Berlin, 104;
submits a false affidavit, 104,
167; on the Arabic, 127;
promises liners will not be
sunk without warning, 128-
129; protest against Wilhel-
mina case and shipments of
munitions, 145-147 ; on letters
stolen from Albert, 170, 171,
172; on the seized papers,
181, 182; notifies Secretary
of State of recall of Boy-Ed
and von Papen, 188; on the
Arabic, 198; on propaganda,
255; on seizure of von Igel
papers, 261; case of the Ap-
pamf 265-267; delivers note

464

INDEX

on ruthless submarine war,
279 ; dismissed, 324 ; attempts
to influence Congress, 411-
412, 414-415.

Berwindvale sunk, 217.

Bethmann-Hollweg, Dr. Theo-
bald von. On the Arabic,
128; on severance of rela-
tions with Germany, 338-
339.

Bey, A. Eustem, Turkish Am-
bassador, dismissed, 35.

Blacklist; the British act, 274;
protest of U. S., 274-275; re-
ply of Great Britain, 276.

Blockade, the submarine. North
Sea Zone, 54; German War
Zone, 62-64, 71-73; U. S.
suggests an agreement, 75-76 ;
answer of the Allies, 77, 78-
79.

Bolivia breaks with Germany,
363.

Bolsheviki ; overthrow Provi-
sional Government, 433; "no
annexations, no indemnities,"
433, 434; Council of People's
Commissaries, 434 ; offer
armistice, 434 ; Trotzky's
policy, 434-435 ; send peace
delegates to Germans, 435;
Brest-Litovsk, 435; suspen-
sion of hostilities, 435 ; Allies
to define attitude, 435 ; armi-
stice, 440; peace negotiations,
440 ; Count Czernin on, 441 ;
terms discussed, 440-443; Al-
lies given time to join nego-
tiations, 441 ; negotiations re-
sumed, 448; broken off, Eus-
sia out of the war, 455-456;
Germans invade Eussia, 456-
457; treaty of Brest-Litovsk
signed, 457; President's mes-
sage to people of Eussia, 457-
458 ; Gompers to Congress of
Soviets, 457-458.

Bombs, dropped on Belgian
towns, 29 ; on vessels of the
Allies, 156, 157, 183, 262;
on the Gushing, 86, 101, 105.

Boy-Ed, Captain Karl, Naval
attache, 93, 162, 169, 171,
189; recalled, 188.

Boy Scouts, 368.

Brazil breaks with Germany,
363.

Bread. Bakers licensed, 419 ;
Victory Bread, 425.

Brest-Litovsk. Suspension of
hostilities, 435; peace terms
discussed, 440-443 ; negotia-
tions resumed, 448; negotia-
tions broken off, Eussia out
of the war, 455 ; Germany in-
vades Eussia, 456-457; treaty
signed, 457.

Brincken, Baron George Wil-
liam von, 190.

Brindilla, the, seized, 52.

Bryan, William J., Secretary of
State. To von Bernstorff on
dum-dum bullets, 37; to Sen-
ator Stone on unneutral acts,
39-44; protests against deten-
tion of U. S. ships, 54-56 ; on
misuse of our flag, 65, 66 ; on
German war zone, 66; on
regulation of submarine war-
fare, 75, 76; first Lusitania
note, 95-97; resigns, 106;
statement by, 107; German-
Americans approve, 108; ap-
peal "To the American Peo-
ple," 111; "To the German-
Americans," 112; speech at
New York City, 113-114; con-
fers with Dumba, 114-115;
on sinking of Arabic, 126; on
armed merchantmen, 245,
252; on resumption of ruth-
less submarine war, 321; ap-
peal against war, 325.

Buenos Aires, 363 ; "spurlos ver-

INDEX

465

senkt" note, 409-410; effect
of, 411.

Biinz, Carl, 162, 165, 166.

Bureau of Foreign and Domes-
tic Commerce, 370.

Burgess, John W. Endorses
"Truth About Germany," 31.

Burian, Baron, 186.

Busse, T. F., 261.

Caine, Hall. On President's
note to belligerents, 299; on
"peace without victory/' 312;
"American Day" in London,
362-363.

California sunk, 329.

Cambon, Paul, 11.

Cambrai, American troops at,
429.

Carib sunk, 82.

Cassin torpedoed, 426.

Causes of the war, as stated by
the President, 350-355; by
House Committee on Foreign
Affairs, 356-359.

Censorship Board, 418.

Censorship of foreign language
press, 418, 419.

Censorship of the mails, 40,
267-270; of cables, 39.

Chamberlain, Senator. Bill for
national defense, 252-253,
254.

Cliauncey, destroyer, sunk, 426.

Chemin-des-Dames, American
troops, 430.

Chemung sunk, 280.

Chicago. Pro-Germanism, 394.

Chili, 363.

China enters the war, 403.

City of Memphis sunk, 349.

Clark, Champ, Speaker of H.
R. Action on McLemore res-
olution, 247-248.

Clearances. False ones obtained
by Hamburg-American line,
162; in San Francisco, 190;

262-263; not granted Oden-
wald,83.

Clemenceau, Georges. Dispute
with Count Czernin; the
Prince Sixte letter, 458-459.

Coal. Price fixed, 420; Gar-
field Administrator, 420 ;
shortage of, 420-424.

Coaling of German warships,
43, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166.

Columbian sunk, 279.

Commerce. Effect of war on,
13, 20, 40, 51-81; our ships
detained, 52, 53, 58-60;
North Sea war zone, 54; pro-
test against detention of
ships, 54-56; British answer,
56-57; the Dacia and Wil-
helmina, 59-60, 61, 62; Ger-
man order as to foodstuffs, 60,
61; German war zone, 65-
66.

Commissions, The High; from
Great Britain, 364; from
France, 364.

Community Gardens, 369.

"Concert of free peoples," 294.

"Condonation, entire and recip-
rocal," 404.

Congress. Aids stranded Amer-
icans, 16; Ship Registry
Bill, 21 ; War Risk Insurance,
21; asked to stop munition
shipments, 35-36; President's
speeches to ; on more revenue,
21-22 ; preparedness, 134-137 ;
President's speech, 134-135 ;
Sussex address, 219-221;
President on hyphenates and
preparedness, 192-193 ; resolu-
tions on, 193; annual speech,
230-231 ; resolutions, 231-
232 ; did Great Britain warn
her subjects not to travel on
ships of belligerents? 232-
233; petition for embargo,
234; the great petition, 234;

466

INDEX

work of American Embargo
Conference, 234-236 ; Hay
bill, 239-240 ; action on armed
merchantmen, 243-244 ; Mc-
Lemore resolutions, 244-245 ;
Gore resolutions, 247, 251;
action of the President, 246-
247; Bryan on, 245, 252;
President forces a vote, 251 ;
army enlarged, 231-232, 252-
253, 383, 385; retaliation for
Blacklist, 270, 274; Senate
endorses President's call for
statement of aims, 292-294;
President's "peace without
victory speech/' 307-310;
speech on severance of rela-
tions with Germany, 322-324;
bill to arm merchantmen,
340, 342, 344 ; President asks
power to arm, 240-241; the
Senate filibuster, 344-345 ;
"little group of willful men,"
347; Senate rules amended,
347; special session 65th
Congress called, 347; war
message, 350-355; resolution
declaring war, 355, 356 ;
causes of war, 356-359; Food
Control Bill, 374; war meas-
ures, 417.

Conservation of Food, 370; the
President on, 373-374; Food
Control Bill, 374; Hoover
Food Administrator, 376 ;
policy of announced, 376.

Contraband, 51, 52, 53, 55-56,
56-57, 59-62, 73-74, 84, 96.

Conventions, National Nomi-
nating. Democratic Party on
hyphenates, 264-265; Repub-
lican Party on hyphenates,
265

Copper, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57.

Costa Rica, 363.

Cotton, 57. Case of Dacia, 58,
59.

Council of National Defense,
366.

Council of Workmen's and Sol-
diers' Delegates, 398, 399,402.

Courland, lost to Russia, 457.

Cronholm, Folke, 411.

Crowley, Charles C., 190.

Cuba declares war, 363.

Gushing bombed, 86, 101, 105.

Czernin, Count V. zu Chude-
nitz. On Russian peace
terms, 441; Lloyd George on
Czernin's Speech, 445; an-
swers Lloyd-George and the
President, 450 ; answers
President's 4 points speech,
458; dispute with Clemen-
ceau, 458-459; the Prince
Sixte letter, 459.

Daria, the. Case of, 58, 59.

Deache, Paul, 183; sent to
prison, 263.

Declaration of London, 51, 63,
71.

Declarations of war. Austria
on Serbia, 7; Germany on
Russia, 9 ; on Belgium, 9 ; on
France, 10; Great Britain on
Germany, 10, 11; Japan, 24;
Italy, 100; China, 403; Cuba,
363; United States on Ger-
many, 355-356, 359; on Aus-
tria, 439.

"Deliberately unfriendly."
Third Lusitania note, 122.

Democratic Party. Platform on
hyphenates, 264-265.

Denmark protests against war
zone and mines, 54; exports
to, 56, 57.

Deportations from Belgium,
281-289.

Dernburg, Dr. Bernhard, 23;
propaganda work, 34; on
sinking of Lusitania, 91 ; on
conditions of peace, 148-150.

INDEX

467

Deutschland, the. Arrival at
Baltimore, 271-273; at New
London, 273; protest of the
Allies, 273-274; reply of the
U. S., 274.

Dillon, John, on "peace with-
out victory/' 312.

Diplomatic relations. Threat
to sever, 219-221; effect at
home and abroad, 221-224;
severed with Germany, 324-
327, 328, 329. Austria sev-
ers relations with United
States-, 359.

Disarmament of merchant ships,
241-242; Germany's action,
242-243; in Congress, 243-
246; action of the President,
346-348; Bryan on, 348, 350;
in Congress, 351-352.

District of Columbia, alien ene-
mies shut from, 419.

Draft, the selective. Tfhe act,
383-385; the President on,
386; opposition to, 387-388;
number registered, 388 ; draw-
ing the numbers, 388 ; the call
to the colors; the President
to the men, 390-391; God-
speed to the boys, 391-392;
pro-German propaganda, 392-
394.

Dumba, Dr. Constantine, Aus-
trian Ambassador. Bryan
confers with, 114, 115; the
Archibald papers, 173-175 ;
request for recall, 175; let-
ters, 176-179.

Dum-dum bullets, 26; Bern-
storff on, 36.

Eagle Point sunk. Americans
lost, 217, 218.

Eavestone, the, sunk, 329.

Eckhardt, von. German minis-
ter to Mexico, letter from,
411.

Edelsheim, General von. On
war with U. S., 132-133.

Embargo on export of muni-
tions, 36, 37, 38; American
League to Limit Armament,
135; bills offered in Senate
and House, 136, 137; Journal
of the Knights of Labor, 136;
American Peace Society ;
German-American Alliance,
137 ; American Neutrality
League, 137; reply of Bishop
Ehinelander, 138; action of
foreign language newspapers,
143, 144; Chicago election,
144; von Bernstorff protests,
145-147; the reply, 150-152;
Austria protests, 152-153 ;
reply of Mr. Lansing, 154-
155; the Dumba letters, 176-
179; monster petition, 234;
activities of American Em-
bargo Conference, 234-236.

Embargo on food, 370-371.

Englishman sunk, 216, 217,
357.

Evelyn, the, sunk by sub-
marine, 82.

Exports, increase to neutrals,
55, 56, 57; to neutrals, 370-
371.

Falaba. Sunk by submarine,

82, 85, 101.
Farmers' Non-Partisan League,

393.
Farmers. President appeals to,

367.

Fay, Eobert, 183.
Felbrueck, Hans. On feeling in

Germany, 339.
Ferdinand, Archduke Franz,

murdered, 1.
Filibuster in Senate against

armed-neutrality bill, 344-

345; the President's appeal

to the people; "little group of

468

INDEX

willful men/' 345-347; rules
amended, 347.

Finland. Lost to Kussia, 457.

Finland, transport, sunk, 426.

Flag Day. President's speech,
264. Hexamer's speech, 264.

Flag note. U. S. protests
against use of flag, 65, 66, 67 ;
reply of Great Britain, 67,
68; reply of Germany, 70, 71-
73.

Foch, General, 431.

Food. President appeals to
Farmers, 367; Secretary of
Agriculture on need, 368;
Hoover on, 369-370; call for
young men for farming, 368;
Community gardens, 368-369 ;
Hoover on waste, 370; con-
servation of, 370; export to
neutrals, 370-372 ; Food Con-
trol Bill, 374-375; Hoover,
Food Administrator, 376;
announces policy, 376; prices
of wheat, flour and bread
regulated, 376, 377; bakeries
licensed, 419; prices regulat-
ed, 420.

Food Control Bill, 374; put in
force, 418.

Food Supply and Prices, Com-
mittee on, 367.

Food. United States Food Ad-
ministration, 370.

Foodstuffs, to neutrals, 55 ; case
of Wilhelmina, 59, 60; Ger-
many on, 60, 61 ; von Bern-
storff on, 62; U. S. on, 76;
Germany on, 76 ; embargo on,
370-371"; to neutrals, 371.

"Forcible resistance," 109, 121,
129

Ford Peace Party, 140-143.

France. Time for Serbia, 5 ;
will respect Belgian neutral-
ity, 8, 9 , mobilizes, 9 ; Ger-
many declares war, 10 ; Kaiser

charges use of dum-dum bul-
lets, 26; protest of Poincare.
27; Eheims Cathedral, 30;
relief for northern, 50; Ger-
man war zone, 62-65; reply
to U. S. note on submarine
blockade, 77, 78, 79; on cen-
sorship of the mails, 268;
Lansing's reply, 269; on the
Deutschland, 269, 273-274;
on German peace note, 295-
296; on war aims, 303-304;
German war zone, 317-318; on
our entrance into the war,
360; sends mission to U. S.,
364; the Pope's peace note,
404; American army in, 377,
394-395, 428-432; war in,
403, 433 ; Alsace-Lorraine,
306, 404, 406, 447, 449, 458 ;
Prince Sixte letter, 458-459.

Freedom of the Seas, 109, 121,
309, 340.

Fritzen, Alfred, 261.

Frye, William P., sunk by Ger-
man raider, 82; the case of,
84-85, 199.

Fuel saving, 421-424.

Fuller, resolution on armed
ships, 245.

Gardner, Augustus. On pre-
paredness, 133, 134, 233.

Garfleld, Harry A. Appointed
fuel administrator, 419 ; coal
shortage, 420-424; heatless
days ordered, 422-423.

Garrison, Lindley M., Secretary
of War. On preparedness,
239; resigns, 240.

Gerard, James W., American
Ambassador at Berlin. Speech
in Berlin, 300; recalled, 324;
treatment of by Germany,
334-335.

German-Americans, 26; ask
Congress to stop munition

INDEX

469

shipments, 38 ; charges
against the U. S., 39-44.
Bryan appeals to, 112 ; Pres-
ident on, 192-193, 263; de-
nounce the President and
Roosevelt, 263; Saengerbund,
194; political action, 263;
Democratic platform on, 264-
265 ; Republican platform on,
265.

German- American Alliance.
Appeal to President to use his
good offices with Japan, 24,
25; on shipment of muni-
tions, 36, 38, 137; Roosevelt
to, 263-264; Hexamer on,
264; on severance of diplo-
matic relations, 328.

Germany. Warns the Powers,
4; asked to join a conference,
6 ; asked to join in mediation,
7; seeks British neutrality, 7,
8; demands Russia demobi-
lize, 8; declares war on Rus-
sia, 9 ; mobilizes and enters
Luxemburg, 9; ultimatum to
Belgium, 9; declares war on
France, 10; the "scrap of pa-
per," 11 ; war with Great Brit-
ain, 11; ships in our ports,
13 ; Americans in, 14, 15 ;
German propaganda, 23-26 ;
the Kaiser protests to IT. S.,
26; answer of the President,
27; Bernstorff on atrocities,
29, 30; on dum-dum bullets,
36; Declaration of London,
51, 63, 71 ; foodstuffs, 60, 61 ;
case of the Willielmina, 59, 60,
61, 62 ; War Zone around Brit-
ish Isles, 61-65 ; use of mines,
53, 64; U. S. protest against
war zone, 66; reply, 71-73;
Admiral Behncke on use of
submarines, 70, 71 ; U. S. pro-
poses regulation, 75, 76; an-
swer, 76; "strict accountabil-

ity," 66 ; sinking of Lusitania,
86-91; medal struck, 100;
first Lusitania note, 101-102 ;
second Lusitania note, 109-
111; answer; will permit use
of "reasonable number of neu-
tral steamers under the Amer-
ican flag," 118; Nebraskan
note, 120; third Lusitania
note, "deliberately unfriend-
ly," 121; Arabic sunk, 123,
124, von BernstorfFs note,
126-127; von Bethmann-Holl-
weg on, 128; von Bernstorff
promises liners will not be
sunk without warning, 128-
129; Hesperian sunk, 129-
130; disavows part in con-
spiracies, 195-197; disavows
responsibility for sinking of
Arabic, 198 ; case of the Frye,
199 ; case of the Orduna, 200 ;
note on submarines, 211, 214;
Sussex sunk, 215-216; denial
by Germany, 218; U. S.
threatens to sever diplomatic
relations, 219-221; admits
sinking Sussex, 224-226; the
Sussex pledge, 226; note on
armed merchantmen, 241-
243 ; disavows support of
plotters, 255; Dr. Albert's pa-
pers, 170-171 ; Archibald
papers, 173-174; von Papen
papers, 255-257 ; confession
of von der Goltz, 257-260;
case of the Appam, 265-267;
the Deutschland, 271-274; the
U-53 sinks ships off Nantuck-
et, 276-277; note on Arabia,
280-281; deportation of Bel-
gians, 281-289; peace, offer,
291-292; answer of Lloyd
George, 292; President asks
belligerents to state aims,
292-294; Germany and Aus-
tria answer President, 298;

470

INDEX

note to neutral nations, 304;
resumes ruthless submarine
war, 315; war zone around
British Isles and Mediterra-
nean, 316-318; American
ships to be striped, 316-317;
diplomatic relations with sev-
ered, 322-324; sinkings re-
sumed, 329; offer to discuss,
330-331; answer, 331; Yar-
rowdale prisoners, 333, 334;
treatment of Gerard, 334,
335 ; seeks to amend Prussian
treaties, 335-336; Bethmann-
Hollweg on severance of rela-
tions, 338-339; Hans Del-
brueck on, 339 ; proposes Mex-
ico-Japanese alliance against
U. S., 343; U-boat sinks
three American vessels, 349;
U. S. declares war on, 350-
355, 359; effect of declara-
tion on her South American
relations, 363 ; vessels in our
ports seized, 366; number of
ships sunk by, 397; the war
in France, 397; offers Eussia
an armistice, 401 ; collapse of
Eussia, 402 ; the Pope's peace
note, 403-406; answer of the
President, 406-407; German
press on, 408-409 ; Luxburg's
"spurlos versenkt" note, 409-
411; the von Eckhardt note,
411 ; von Bernstorff seeks to
influence Congress, 411-412 ;
von Igel papers seized, 412;
disclosures, 412-415 ; destroys
our naval vessels, 426-427;
war zone around Azores, 428 ;
our troops fight, 428, 429;
armistice with Eussia, 435,
440 ; Brest-Litovsk treaty,
440-444, 448, 455; involves
Eussia, 456-457; treaty of
Brest-Litovsk, 457 ; peace
with Eoumania, 459; Count

Hertling on basis of peace,
448, 454-455.

Gibbons, Cardinal, on Belgian
relief, 47.

Gibson, Hugh. Belgian relief
work, 45, 46.

Goltz, Major von der. Confes-
sion of conspiracy, 257-260;
brought to U. S., 261.

Gore, Senator. Bills to forbid
American citizens to travel
on ships of belligerents, and
issuance of passports, 232;
resolution on travel, 232; on
armed ships, 249, 251.

Goricar, Joseph, 183-186.

Great Britain. Sir E. Grey
seeks to prevent war, 5, 6, 7;
Germany bids for neutrality,
7; the "scrap of paper," 11;
enters the war, 11 ; no sep-
arate peace, 11; American
refugees in London, 15; on
Declaration of London, 51;
detains our ships, 52, 53;
North Sea a military zone,
54 ; answers U. S. protest, 56-
57 ; case of the Dacia, 58, 59 ;
case of the Wilhelmina, 59-
62, 74; German War Zone,
62-65 ; uses our flag, 65 ; U. S.
flag note, 66; reply, 67, 68;
U. S. proposes regulation of
submarine war, 75-76; reply
of the Allies, 77; answer of
U. S., 77, 78; reply of
France, 78-79 ; reply of Great
Britain, 79-81; "Did Great
Britain warn her subjects not
to travel on ships of belliger-
ents?" 232-233; case of the
Appam, 265-267; detention
of mails, 267-268; contents of
the mails, 268; reply of
Great Britain and France,
268-269; case of the Deutsch-
land, 271-273; the "Black-

INDEX

471

list/' 274, 275-276; on the
Arab fa, 280-281 ; German
peace offer, 290-293; answer
of Lloyd George, 292 ; answer
of the Allies, 295-296; an-
swer to President's note to
belligerents, 301-303 ; Bal-
four>s note, 305-307; As-
quith on our break with Ger-
many, 330; Bonar Law on,
330 ; King George, the War
Cabinet, and Parliament on
our declaration of war, 360-
361 ; "American Day" in Lon-
don, 362 ; sends High Com-
missioner to U. S., 363-364;
reception of Pershing, 395 ;
reception of the Pope's peace
note, 404-405; Lloyd George
appeals for troops, 432; war
aims, 444-446.

Greece — a n s w e r s President's
note, 298.

Grew, Joseph Clark, work in
Belgium, 285-287.

Grey, Sir E. Seeks extension
of time for Serbia, 5; pro-
poses conference of Powers,
6; proposes mediation, 7;
German bid for neutrality, 7,
8; asks if Belgian neutrality
will be respected, 8, 9; the
"scrap of paper," 11; on de-
tention of our ships, 56-57;
on use of our flag, 67, 68 ; on
submarine war, 67; on Wil-
helmina, 74-75; on censor-
ship of mails, 268; on the
Deutschland, 273-274; on the
blacklist, 276.

Guard, The National; sent to
the Mexican border, 253;
federalized, 252-253, 254 ;
mobilization, 378-379, 396.

Gulftight torpedoed, 86, 88, 101.
105.

Hague Conventions, 153, 154;
case of the Appam, 265-267.

Hamburg-American Line. In-
dicted, 162; the trial, 165,
166.

Hay bill for defense, 239-240,
253.

Heatless days, 422-423.

Hertling, Count George V. von.
Answers Lloyd George and
Wilson, 448; President an-
swers, 450-454; answers the
President, 454-455.

Hesperian sunk, 129, 130.

Hexamer, Dr. C. J., 24, 25. On
hyphenates, 264; severance of
diplomatic relations, 328.

Holland. On war zone and
mines, 54; regulation of food
exports, 10, 371; takes over
Belgian relief work, 337.

Holt, Frank. Attacks J. P.
Morgan, 156.

Holtzendorff, Admiral von. De-
nies U-boat sank Sussex, 224.

Hoover, Herbert C. Belgian re-
lief work, 46, 47, 50, 339;
Chairman Committee on Food
Supply and Prices, 367; to
the Boy Scouts, 368; appeals
to women on food saving,
369-370; Food Administrator,
376; policy, 376; on food sav-
ing, 424; Victory Bread, 425;
meatless ..days, wheatless
meal, 425; wheatless days,
426.

Hopfer, General, deportation of
Belgians, 283.

Horn, Werner. Attempts to
destroy bridge, 160, 161.

Housatonic sunk, 327.

Huerta, Victoriana. German
agent for Mexico, 167-169.

Hustings, Senator. On activi-
ties of American Embargo
Conference, 234-237.

472

INDEX

Hyphenates, denounced by the
President, 192, 193; reply of
the Saengerbund, 194; the
President denounced by, 263;
President's Flag Day speech,
264; Dr. Hexamer on, 264;
Democratic and Eepublican
Party Platforms on, 264, 265.

"Idiotic Yankees," 180.

Igel, Wolf von. Papers seized,

261; indicted, 262, 412-415.
Illinois sunk, 349.
Intmrance, Bureau of War Eisk,

21.
Interned German ships. Prinz

Eitel Friedrich, 82, 85 ; Kron-

prinz Wilhelm, 85.
Irish-Nationalists on the war,

25.

Italy, enters the war, 100; de-
feat, 433.
I. W. W., opposition to draft,

392 ; seizures of papers, 394.

Jacob Jones, destroyer, tor-
pedoed, 426.

Jagow, Gottlieb von, 10, 11; on
the William P. Frye, 84; on
first Lusitania note, 101, 102 ;
on Gulflight and Gushing,
105; U. S. reply, 109-111;
answer of, 117; note on the
Arabic, 198-199, 200; denies
sinking the Sussex, 218; ad-
mits it, 229.

Japan. Ultimatum to Germany,
24 ; German-American alli-
ance on, 24, 25 ; Germany
proposes she join Mexico in
war against U. S., 343.

Joffre, General Joseph Jacques
Cesaire. Visit to U. S., 364;
receives Pershing in Paris,
396.

Jone«, Senator, on armed ships,
249.

Journal, the Providence, OR
Lusitania, 87, 88, 92, 93, 104,
114-115, 144, 145, 167, 168,
169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 183-
186, 188, 189, 190, 255-256,
277-278.

Kerensky, Alexander F., 399,

433.

Kirk Oswald, bombs on, 262.
Knights of Labor, Journal of,

against aid to belligerents,

136.

Konig, Paul, 167.
Kronprinz Wilhelm. German

raider enters Newport News,

85.

Kroonland, the, 52.
Kiihlmann, Dr. Eichard, 440,

457.

Labor's Peace Council. Pro-
German work, 190, 191.

Laconia sunk; American lives
lost, 342.

Lamar, David, 191.

Lansing, Eobert, 16; Secretary
of State, 107 ; sends 2d Lusi-
tania note, 109; sends 3d
Lusitania note, 121; sends
Ancona note, 203 ; answers
Ancona note, 208; on Zim-
mermann's statement, 213;
Sussex note, 219; on Sussex
pledge, 228 ; asks Allies to dis-
arm merchantmen; 241-242;
on the Appam case, 267; on
censorship of mails, 269-270;
case of the Deutschland, 273-
274; on the British "Black-
list," 274-276; on deportation
of Belgians, 285-289; state-
ment on President's note to
belligerents, 294-295; on
Gerard's Berlin speech, 301;
the Zimmermann letter, 343;
makes public Luxburg letters,

INDEX

473

409-410; the von Eckhardt
letter, 410.

Law, Andrew Bonar. On our
break with Germany, 330.

L<LW, Lyman H.f sunk, 341.

Leelanaw sunk, 123, 124.

"League for Peace," 308, 310.

"League of nations/' 293, 308,
448, 450.

Lenine, Nikolai, 399.

Leuderitz, Karl A. Indicted,
262.

Liberty Loans. The first, 380-
383 ; the second, 415-416.

Licenses to manufacture, 375;
bakeries, 419 ; alien-enemy,
418.

Liebau Employment Agency,
413-414.

Lithuania, lost to Russia, 457.

"Little group of willful men,"
347.

Liquor, import stopped, 375.

Lloyd George, David, on Ger-
man peace offer, 292; on our
declaration of war, 360-361;
appeal for troops, 432 ; on war
aims, 444-445.

Loans, to the Allies, 380; to
Russia, 400, 403.

London. American refugees in,-
15; "American Day" in, 362-
363.

Lou vain, atrocities in, 26, 27,
28, 30.

Luneville, American troops, 430.

Lusitania, uses American flag,
65, 66, 69; the flag note, 66;
the warning, 86-87; sunk
by submarine, 89; German
language press on, 90; Dern-
burg on, 91 ; the German note,
92; first note, 95-97; medal
struck, 100; German note,
101-102 ; German language
press on, 90, 98, 99, 103 ; false
affidavits, 104 ; Bryan resigns,

106; second Lusitania note,
109-111; von Jagow's an-
swer, 117-118 ; will permit use
of "neutral steamers under
American flag," 118; British
press on note, 118; the Pres-
ident's "deliberately un-
friendly" reply, 122; German
press on, 123; attempt to
reach agreement, 212-213.

Luxburg, Count. "Spurlos ver-
senkt" note, 409-410; effect
of in Buenos Aires, 410; ex-
planation of Sweden, 410-
411.

Luxemburg, invaded by Ger-
many, 9.

"Mails, The, as a German War
Weapon," 269, 271.

Mail, The Evening. Bought by
German agents, 171.

Mails, censorship of, 267; con-
tents of, 268; protest of IT.
S., 269-270.

McAdoo, Secretary of the Treas-
ury. On Liberty Loan, 415,
416; Director General of
Railroads, 420.

McLemore resolution on armed
merchantmen, 244-245.

Manchester Engineer sunk, 217,
218.

Marina sunk; American lives
lost, 279; German note, 281.

Meatless days, 425.

Medal. German Lusitania
medal, 100.

Mercier, Cardinal. On Belgian
relief, 47.

Mexico. Huerta. German agent
for, 167-169; Villistas raid
the border, 253; troops called
out, 253; Germany proposes
she join Japan in war on U.
S., 343 ; von Eckhardt letter,
411.

474

INDEX

Meyer, Dr. F. W. Letter from,
256.

Meysenburg, Baron von. Letter,
256.

Milwaukee, 393-394.

Milyukov, Pavel Nikolaivich,
349, 399.

Mines, in the North Sea, 53, 54;
protest of neutrals, 54; U. S.
on, 75; Germany on, 76.

Minneapolis. Socialists at-
tempts to hold anti-war meet-
ing, 393.

Minnesota, pro-Germanism, 393.

Mobilization. Eussia against
Austria, 7, 8; Germany
against France, 9 ; France
against Germany, 9; Ger-
many begins general mobiliza-
tion, 9; of U. S. army, 378-
379; of drafted men, 390; of
militia, 396.

Mowe, German raider, sends
Appam to Newport News,
265-267.

Mond, Sir Alfred, 362.

Monnett, Frank S., 191.

Monroe Doctrine, 134, 298, 309,
313, 409.

Mons, deportations from, 283.

Morgan, J. P., attacked by Holt,
156.

Munitions. Congress asked to
stop export, 35-36; protest of
von Bernstorff, 36, 37; an-
swer of the companies, 37;
answer of Bryan, 37-38; Ger-
man-Americans on, 38 ; bills
to forbid export to belliger-
ents, 136, 137; Journal of
Knights of Labor on, 136;
German-American Alliance
on, 137; Bishop Ehinelander
on, 138 ; German- Americans
in Philadelphia, 138-139; in
Washington, 139, 140; appeal
of the foreign language press,

143, 144, 145 ; von Bernstorff
protests, 146; Austria pro-
tests, 152-153; reply of Lan-
sing, 154-155; Holt attacks
Morgan, 156; von Bernstorff
on, 164; attempts to organize
strikes in factories; Dumba's
letters, 176-179; attempt to
control, 179-180, 181, 182.
Federal statutes, 187, 188;
Pacific coast plots, 190; peti-
tions for embargo on export,
234; the monster petition,
234 ; American Embargo Con-
ference, 234-237 ; attempts to
injure factories, 413-414.

National Security League, 135.

Naturalized Citizens. Presi-
dent's "too proud to fight"
speech, 94.

Navy. President's plan for in-
crease, 231; mobilization,
379; recruiting, 380; disas-
ters to our war ships, 426-
427; man-power, 427.

NebrasJcan sunk, 100; note on,
120.

Neutrals. Increase of our trade
with, 56, 57, 58; Great Brit-
ain on our trade with, 56-57;
protest against mine laying
.aid war zone, 54; reply to
President's note, 298; Ger-
man note to, 304; protest
against war zone, 324-325 ; ex-
ports to regulated, 371; pro-
test against regulation, 372.

Neutral rights. The Allies on
Declaration of London, 51,
52 ; Great Britain detains our
ships, 52, 53; North Sea a
military zone, 54; U. S. pro-
tests, 54, 55; reply of Great
Britain, 56-58; the Datia,
58, 59; Wilhelmina,, 59-62,
74; German foodstuffs order,

INDEX

475

60-62; German Zone around
British Isles, 61-65; misuse
of our flag, 65, 66 ; U. S. pro-
tests against zone, 66 ; against
use of U. S. flag, 65, 66;
British reply, 67, 68; reply
of Germany, 70, 71-73; U. S.
proposes regulation of sub-
marine war, 75, 76 ; answer of
Germany, 76 ; policy of the Al-
lies, 77; submarine sinkings;
the Prim Eitel Friedrich, 82,
85; the Frye, 82, 84-85, 199;
the Odenwald, 83; the Kron-
prinz Wilhelm, 85 ; the- Gush-
ing, 86, 101, 105; the Gul-
flight, 86, 88, 101, 105; the
Lusitania, 86-89; first Lusi-
tania note, 95-97; second
Lusitania note, 109-111; von
Jagow's reply. Germany will
permit "neutral steamers un-
der American flag," 118;
London press on notes, 118;
Nebraskan note, 100, 120;
Armenian sunk, 120, 121;
President's "deliberately un-
• friendly" warning, 122; Or-
duna, 121; third Lusitania
note, 122; Leelanaw sunk,
123; Arabic sunk, 123-124;
Hesperian sunk, 129, 130;
Germany not responsible for
Arabic, 198-199 ; Ancona
sunk, 202; notes on the An-
cona,, 203, 205, 208, 209;
Persia sunk, 210-211; Sussex
sunk, 215; Sussex notes, 218-
229 ; Sussex pledge, 226 ; Cen-
tral Powers on armed mer-
chantmen, 241-243; Lansing
on use of submarines, 241-
242; resolutions in Congress,
243 ; McLemore resolutions,
244-245 ; Fuller resolution,
245; excitement in Congress,
245-248 ; Gore resolution,

249, 251; case of the Appam,
265-267; censorship of mails,
267-268; British Blacklist,
274, 275-276; ruthless sub-
marine warfare resumed, 279 ;
new war zones around British
Isles and in Mediterranean,
316-318; treatment of Amer-
ican ships, 316-317; excite-
ment in U. S., 318-321; dip-
lomatic relations with Ger-
many severed, 322-324.

New York City, Oberburger-
meister of Berlin to Mayor,
32.

Newspapers — in Germany, on
the Dada, 59; on Flag note,
69; on war zone protest, 73;
on "deliberately unfriendly"
note, 123; Arabic note, 199;
on Ancona note, 207 ; on Sus-
sex note, 223; on relations
with the U. S., 301 ; on "peace
without victory," 313.

Newspapers — British, on the
Flag note, 69 ; on "too proud
to fight," 95; on resignation
of Bryan, 109; on Germany's
Lusitania note, 118; on An-
cona note, 207; on President's
letter to Senator Stone, 249;
on Deutschland, 272 ; aims of
the Allies, 299; on "peace
without victory," 311; recep-
tion of Pershing, 395-396.

Newspapers — Foreign language,
seek to cripple munition fac-
tories, 144; licensed, 418-419.

Newspapers — The German-
American, propaganda, 23 ;
The Fatherland, 24; on atroc-
ities, 30; on German War
Zone protest, 69 ; on the Lus-
i itania, 90; on first Lusitania
note, 98, 99; on Germany's
reply, 103; on resignation of
Bryan, 108-109; President's

476

INDEX

"deliberately unfriendly"
warning, 122; on sinking of
Arabic, 125; on the Hespe-
rian, 131 ; on the Sussex note,
222; on Sussex pledge, 227;
on President's League %for
Peace speech, 311; new war
zone, 319-320; on severance
of relations with Germany,
325-326; on Presidential can-
didates, 263; on President's
war aims note, 300; on Ge-
rard's speech ; on severance of
diplomatic relations, 325-326 ;
on armed neutrality, 342; on
President's answer to the
Pope, 408.

"No annexations, no indemni-
ties," 399, 401, 404, 433, 436,
452.

North Dakota, pro-Germanism,
393.

North Sea: mined by Germany,
53, 54; made war zone by
Great Britain, 54; German
war zone, 62-65 ; protest from
neutrals, 66; zone defended
by Germany, 70-71.

"No quarrel with the German
people," 353, 354.

"No selfish ends to serve," 354.

Odenwald, case of the, 83.

Oliver, Sir Frederick Scott. On
President's note to belliger-
ents, 299.

"Omit any word or any act," 97.

"One choice we cannot make,"
352.

Orduna, 121, 201.

Organization of American
Women for Strict Neutrality,
monster petition from, 234.

"Our object now," 353.

"Out of the trenches by Christ-
mas," 141.

"Overt acts," 324.

Pacifists, opposition to sever-
ance of relations with Ger-
many, 328; to war with Ger-
many, 351 ; to the draft, 387-
388; to registration, 392-394.

Page, Walter H., American Am-
bassador at London. On Bel-
gian relief, 45, 47, 48.

Palermo sunk, 280.

Panama breaks with Germany,
363.

Papen, Captain Franz von.
Military attache, 114; spy
work done by, 159, 160, 161,
162, 170, 171, 179-180, 189;
recalled, 188, 189, 190 ; papers
seized, relations with von
der Goltz; "idiotic Yankees'"
letter, 180; recalled, 188;
farewell, 189-190; indicted,
261 ; seizure of papers, 255-
257.

Paraguay, 363.

Paris. Eeception to Pershing,
395.

Parker, Sir Gilbert. On Belgian
relief, 49.

Passports, false, 14, 158-160,
358.

Peace. The Ford peace party,
140-143 ; Dernburg's seven
conditions, 148-150 ; the Pres-
ident on, 230; German offer,
290-292; Emperor to his
army, 291; offer sent to
Great Britain and France by
U. S., 291 ; answer of Eussia,
292; of Lloyd' George, 292;
the President asks belligerents
to state aims, 292-294; Allies'
reply to German note, 295-
296 ; Emperor replies to Allies
in address to his army, 297;
Senate endorses the President,
297-298; Germany and Aus-
tria reply to President's note,
298; Swiss Federal Council

INDEX

477

reply, 298; Norway replies,
298; Spain replies, 298; Hall
Caine on the' note, 299 ; Sir
F. S. Oliver on note, 299;
London Times and Count
Andrassy, 299-300; Allies an-
swer President's note; their
peace terms, 302; Belgian
note, 303; German note to
neutral Powers, 304; Allies'
note, 305-307; President's
"peace without victory"
speech, 307-310; Congress
amazed, 310; reception of
speech by the press, 310-312;
in London, 312-313 ; Bryan to
New York Peace Meeting,
321; excitement in U. S., 318-
321; Pope's note, 403-404;
Allies' opinion of note, 404-
405 ; President's answer, 406-
407 ; German opinion of
note, 408-409; Brest-Litovsk
treaty, 440-444 ; Lloyd-George
on, 444-445; Wilson's 14
points, 446-448 ; Count
Hertling on, 448-449; Count
Czernin on, 450.

"Peace without victory" speech
of the President, 307-310; re-
ception of at home and
abroad, 310-313.

People's Council of America for
Democracy and Peace, 393-
394.

Pershing, General John. Sent
to Mexican border, 253 ; com-
mander of our troops in
France, 377; reception in
London, in Paris, 394-396.

Persia sunk, 210; Austrian
note, 210-211, 357.

Philadelphia, pro-Germans in,
24, 25, 26, 36, 38; Belgian
relief work, 48 ; American
Neutrality League, Bishop
Rhinelander to, 137-138 ;

German-Americans demand
embargo on munitions, 138-
139 ; anti-war demonstrations,
387, 392-393.

Platuria seized, 52.

Plots. German plots, conspir-
acies in U. S. False pass-
ports, 158, 159, 160, 162;
false clearances, 162,165,166;
Wedell, 158; Euroede, 159,
160; Horn, 160-161; Steg-
ler, 162; Hamburg- American
Line, 162-163, 165-166; Ko-
nig, 167; Stahl, 167; Huerta,
167-169; Fay and Scholz,
183 ; Goricar, 183-186 ; Crow-
ley, 190; von Brincken, 190;
Dr. Albert's papers, 170;
seizure of Archibald papers,
173, 174; of Dr. Albert's pa-
pers, 170, 171; Dumba letters,
176-179; dismissed, 173-175;
von Papen and Boy-Ed dis-
missed, 188; Germany dis-
avows support of plotters,
195-197 : seizure of von Papen
papers, 255-257 ; confession of
von der Goltz, 257-261; ar-
rest of plotters, 261; von Igel
papers seized, 261; convic-
tions, 262.

Poincare, Raymond, President
of France, protests to Presi-
dent Wilson, 27; congratu-
lates President on declaration
of war, 360.

Poland, 442, 444, 447, 449, 450,
451, 453, 457.

Pope, The. Peace note to bel-
ligerents, 403-404; reception
of note by the Allies, 404-405 ;
Lord Robert Cecil on, 405;
reception of note in U. S.,
405 ; reply of the President,
406-407; reception of the
note in Germany and Austria,
408-409.

478

INDEX

Postmaster General on foreign
language newspapers, 418-
419.

Preparedness. Gardner on, 133;
General Wood on, 134; the
President's speech, 134-135;
National Security League,
135; Journal of the Knights
of Labor, 136 ; Senator Cham-
berlain's bill, 137; American
League to Limit Armament,
135; bills and resolutions be-
fore Congress, 133, 136; the
President on, 230-231; bills
and resolutions in Congress,
231-232 ; the President's tour
of the West, 237-238 ; Secre-
tary of War on, 239; resigns,
240; Chamberlain bill for de-
fense, 255-256 ; Hay bill, 239 ;
President heads parade,
264.

President, The, On war prices,
13; proclaims neutrality, 18-
20; the Kaiser protests to,
26; Poincare protests to, 27;
answer to the Kaiser, 27 ; Bel-
gium protests to, 27, 29 ; an-
swer to, 29; "strict account-
ability," 66; "too proud to
fight," 94; first Lusit&ma
note, 95-97; "omit any word
or any act," 97; second Lusi-
tania note, 109-111; third
Lusitama note, 121-122; "de-
liberately unfriendly," 122 ;
on preparedness, 134-135; re-
ply to von Bernstorff's protest,
145-147; denounces the hy-
phenates, 192, 193; Ancona
notes, 204, 208; the Sussex
note; threatens severance of
diplomatic relations, 219-221;
on the Sussex pledge, 228-
229; on preparedness, 230-
231; speeches in the West on
preparedness, 237-238; Secre-

tary of War resigns, 239-240 ;
action on McLemore resolu-
tion, 246-247; forces a vote,
251; signs bill for National
defense, 254; denounced by
German-Americans, 263 ;
heads preparedness parade,
264; Flag Day speech, 264;
asks belligerents to state aims,
292-294; answer of the neu-
trals, 298; answer of the Al-'
lies, 295, 296; of Belgium,
296; of the Allies to German
offer, 304-305; Balfour an-
swers note, 305-307; speech
to Congress on "peace with-
out victory," 307-310; severs
diplomatic relations with
Germany, 322-324 ; "overt
acts," 324 ; asks power to arm
merchantmen, 340-341 ; fili-
buster in the Senate, 344-
345; appeals to the people;
"little group of willful men,"
345-347; given power to arm
merchantmen, 347 ; the war
speech, 350-355; "world must
be made safe for democracy,"
354; war declared, 355-356;
congratulations from Entente
Allies, 360-362; appeals to
farmers, 367; forbids exports,
370 ; on price fixing, 373 ; ap-
peal to women to save food,
373-374; Food Control Bill,
374; declines to send Roose-
velt to France, 377-378; on
increase of army, 383; fixes
registration day, 386-387; to
the drafted men, 390-391 ; an-
swer to the Pope's note, 406-
407, 407-409; defines "heat-
less days" order, 423; on the
war, 435-438; asks declara-
tion of war on Austria, 439;
war declared, 439; peace
terms of, 446-448.

INDEX

479

Prices. Effect of war on, in IT.
S., 13, 14; regulated, 374,
418-419.

Prim Eitel Friedrich; enters
Newport News, 82; sinks the
William : P. Frye, 82; in-
terned, 85.

Professors, the German, appeal
of "To the Civilized World/'
33.

Profiteers, President appeals to,
372-373 ; Hoover to, 376.

Propaganda. German, in U. S.,
23, 24, 25, 36, 38; appeal of
the President, 24; "The
Truth About Germany," May-
or of Berlin to Mayor of N".
Y. C., 32; appeal of German
Professors, 33; of German
Universities, 33; Dr. Dem-
burg, 34; Baron von Schoen,
34; the Turkish minister, 34,
35; shipment of munitions,
36-38 ; unneutral acts charged

- against U. S., 39-44 ; embargo
demanded, 135, 136, 137-140,
143-145, 148-150; Germany
denies any part in, 255 ; Bern-
hardi, 257.

Prussia, old treaties with cited
and discussed, 84; case of the
Appam, 265-267; attempt of
Germany to amend, 335-337.

Railroads, taken over by Gov-
ernment, 420-421.

Rathenau, Dr. Walter. Plan for
treatment of conquered na-
tions; put in force in Bel-
gium, 288.

Reading, Lord. Appeal for
troops, 432.

Recruiting, 379-380.

Red Cross. American aids Bel-
gium, 48; prepares for war,
327.

Reichstag. Resolutions on sub-

marine war, 217; the Chan-
cellor on peace, 290-292.

Remington Arms Co., charges
against, 36, 37-41.

Republican party platform on
hyphenates, 265.

Reservists, seek to go home, 17,
18; false passports for, 14,
158-160, 358.

"Restitution, reparation, guar-
antees," 292, 312.

Rheims, destruction of cathe-
dral, 30.

Rhinelander, Bishop, patriotic
note, 138.

"Right is more precious than
peace/' 355.

Rintelen, Franz von, 191, 262.

Rockefeller, John D., the,
seized, 52.

Rome. Rejoicings over our
declaration of war, 360.

Root, Elihu, heads commission
to Russia, 400 ; reaches Petro-
grad, 401; opinion of Russia,
403.

Roosevelt, Theodore, denounced
by German-American Alli-
ance, 263; reply, 263; Presi-
dent declines to send him to
France, 377-378; on Ger-
many's peace offer, 297.

Roumania. Lost to the Allies,
459.

Rowanmore torpedoed, 279.

Ruroede, Carl. German spy,
158, 159, 160.

Russia. Seeks extension of time
for Serbia, 4, 5 ; declines good
offices of Great Britain, 6;
asks mediation, 7; partial
mobilization, 7 ; will stop mil-
itary preparations, 8; full
mobilization, 8 ; Germany de-
mands demobilization, 8 ;
Germany declares war, 9 ; rev-
olution in, 348 ; the new. re-

480

INDEX

public, 348; the Provisional
Government, 348 ; Lenine,
398; revolution in, 398-399;
Kerensky, 398 ; American
Federation of Labor to Coun-
cil of Soldiers' and Workmen's
Delegates, 399; Loan to, 400;
Commission sent to, 400;
President's address, 400-401;
German offer of armistice re-
jected, 401-402; military col-
lapse, 402; loans to, 403;
Bolshevist Government, 433-
434; German armistice, 435;
peace terms discussed, 440-
443, 448; out of the war,
455 ; invaded by Germany,
456-457; treaty of Brest-Li-
tovsk, 457 ; loses Finland,
Livonia, Courland, Lithuania,
Ukraine, Poland, 457 ; Presi-
dent's message to, 457; Gom-
pers to Soviet Congress, 457-
458.

St. Mihiel, American troops at,

430.

Scheele, Walter T., 262.
Schoen, Baron Wilhelm von, 34.
Scholz, Walter, 183.
"Scrap of Paper," 11.
"Self-determination," 452, 454,

455.
Serajevo, Archduke Franz

Ferdinand murdered at, 1.
Serbia. The Serajevo murder,

1 ; Austria's ultimatum, 3 ;

the reply, 5 ; war declared on,

5.
Shaler, Willard. Belgian relief

work, 45.
Ships. Merchant ships not to

be sunk unless they resist or

flee, 226, 227, 228-229.
Sinking without warning, 66,

96, 109, 110, 226, 227, 228-

229, 352, 356, 357.

Socialists' opposition to regis-
tration and draft and enlist-
ment, 387-388, 392-394.

Spain. Answers President's
note, 298-299; takes charge
of our affairs in Germany,
324.

"Spurlos versenkt," note of
Count Luxburg, 409-410.

Stahl, Gustav. Lusitania affi-
davit, 167.

Stegler, Eichard Peter, 162.

Stone, Senator. On unneutral
acts of U. S., 39; answer of
Secretary Bryan, 39-44; on
McLemore resolution, 246-
247; President's letter to,
247.

"Strict accountability," 66.

Stumm, Dr. von. Explains de-
tention of Gerard, 335.

Submarines, The German.
British war zone, 54 ; German
war zone, 62-65; sinkings by,
65 ; U. S. protests to Germany,
66; the reply, 70, 71-73;
Admiral Behnke on use of,
71 : U. S. proposes regulation
of submarine war, 75-76 ; re-
ply of Germany, 76 ; policy of
the Allies, 77; answer to the
Allies, 77-78; answer of
France, 78-79 ; of Great Brit-
ain, 79-81; sinkings by, 82;
the Cushing bombed, 86 ; G-ul-
flight torpedoed, 86; Lusi-
tania sunk, 86-88; first Lusi-
tania note, 95-97; Nebraskan
sunk, 100 ; reply of Germany,
117-118; reply of the Presi-
dent, 121-122 ; Armenian
sunk, 120; the Orduna, 121;
Leelanaw sunk, 123, 124;
Arabic sunk, 124; Hesperian
sunk, 129-130 ; Germany dis-
avows responsibility for Ara-
bic, 198; case of Orduna, 200;

INDEX

481

Ancona sunk, 203; exchange
of notes on Arizona,, 203-210;
Persia sunk, Austria explains,
210-211; German note on
submarine war, 211, 214; Sus-
sex sunk, 215-216; Reichstag
resolutions on submarine war,
217: British vessels sunk,
216-218; Sussex notes, 217-
221, 229; Sussex pledge, 226;
answer of U. S., 228-229 ;
German - Austro - Hungarian
note on unrestricted use, 241 ;
Lansing on use of, 241-242;
case of the Deutschland, 271-
274; protest of the Allies,
273-274; reply of Lansing,
274; the U-53 at Newport,
276-277; sinks ships off Nan-
tucket, 277; the Marina, Ro~
wanmore, Arabia and other
ships sunk, American lives
lost, 279, 280 ; more sinkings,
279; Germany resumes ruth-
less submarine war, 315; the
new zones, 316-318; treat-
ment of American ships, 316-
317; Housatonic sunk, 327;
more sinkings, 329; Germany
proposes discussion, 331; re-
ply of U. S., 331; Barthelme
to Cologne Gazette, 331-332;
Germany's explanation of of-
fer to discuss, 332; City of
Memphis, Illinois, Vigilancia
sunk without warning, 349;
number of ships sunk, 397.
Sussex sunk, American lives
lost, 215-216; German denial,
218; President's note: "Can
have no other choice but to
sever diplomatic relations/'
219-221; public opinion on
the note, 221-223; Admiral
von Holtzendorff denies U-
boat sank Sussex, 224; von
Jagow admits, 224-226; the

Sussex pledge, 226; public
opinion on the pledge, 227;
President refuses conditions,
228-229.

Sussex pledge, 226, 227, 228-
229.

Sweden, on mines and war zone,
54; exports to, 56, 57; Lux-
burg letter, 409-411; von
Eckhardt letter, 411.

Switzerland. Answers Presi-
dent's note, 298; takes over
German Embassy in U. S.,
324; Swiss Minister sends
offer of Germany to discuss
troubles with U. S., 331;
regulation of exports to, 371;
remonstrates, 372.

Tarnowski, Count, Austrian
Ambassador, not received, 359.

Tauscher, Hans, 261; indicted,
261.

Tennessee, the ruiser, carries
gold to stranded Americans,
16, 17.

"Too proud to fight," 94.

Tournai, deportations from,
282, 283.

Trading-with-the-enemy Act,
418; foreign-language news-
papers to be licensed, 418-
419.

Trotsky, Leon (Leber Braun-
stein), overthrow of Eussian
Provisional Government, 433 ;
Commissary of Foreign Af-
fairs, 434; declares policy,
434-435; sends peace dele-
gates to Brest-Li to vsk, 435;
armistice, 435; Allies must
declare attitude, 435; breaks
off peace negotiations; Eussia
out of the war, 455-456;
treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 457.

"Truth About Germany, The,"
31.

482

INDEX

Tuppel, Admiral Oscar von,

115-116.
Tuskama with American troops

sunk, 427.

U-53. German submarine sinks
vessels off Nantucket Island,
276-277, 278.

U-Boat in Central Park, N. Y.
C., 415.

Ukraine, lost to Eussia, 457.

Ultimata, to Serbia, 3; to Rus-
sia, 8; to Belgium, 9.

United States. Effect of war
on, 11-14; stranded Ameri-
cans, 14-17; reservists in, 17,
18; proclamation of neutral-
ity, 18, 19; effect on com-
merce, 13, 14, 20; Ship Regis-
try Bill, 21; War Risk Insur-
ance, 21 ; German propa-
ganda, 21-26; Kaiser pro-
tests to President, 26, 27;
France protests to, 27; an-
swer to the Kaiser, 27; Bel-
gium protests, 27, 28; answer
to Belgium, 29 ; von Bern-
storff, 29, 30; Mayor of Ber-
lin appeals to Mayor of New
York, 32, 33 ; Congress asked
to stop munition shipments,
36, 38 ; unneutral acts charged
against, 39-44; Belgian relief,
44-50; Declaration of Lon-
don, 51, 52; Great Britain de-
tains our ships, 52-54; pro-
test of Mr. Bryan, 54-55 ; an-
swer of Great Britain, 56-57;
case of the Dacia, 58, 59; of
the Wilhelmina, 59, 60, 61,
62, 74; Germany on food-
stuffs, 60-62 ; of German War
Zone, 61-65; note on misuse
of flag, 65, 66; on German
War Zone, 66 ; answer of Ger-
many, 70 ; Admiral Behnke on
submarines, '70, 71; U. S. pro-

poses regulation of submarine
war, 75, 76; reply of Ger-
many, 76 ; the Allies announce
their policy, 77 ; answer to the
Allies, 77, 78; reply of
France, 78; of Great Britain,
79: Prim Eitel Friedrich,
82, 85; Frye, 84-85; Oden-
wald, 83 ; Kronprinz Wilhelm,
85; Gushing, 86; Gulflight,
86; Lusitania, 86792; first
Lusitania note, 95-97; Ne-
brashan, 100; Lusitania note
of Germany, 101-102; the
false affidavit, 104; Bryan re-
signs, 106; Lansing takes his
place, 107; second Lusitania
note, 109-111; von Jagow's
answer, 117-118; will permit
use of "reasonable number of
neutral steamers under the
American flag," 118; Nebras-
Jcan note, 120; Armenian
sunk, 120; reply to German
note on Lusitania; will con-
sider repetitions of sinking
without warning "deliberate-
ly unfriendly," 121-122; Ger-
man-American and German
press on the 'note, 122; Lee-
lanaw sunk, 123-124; Arabic
sunk, 124; German- American
press on, 125 ; Bryan on, 126 ;
von BernstorfFs note, 126-
127; von Bethmann-Hollweg
on the Arabic, 128 ; von Bern-
storff promises liners will not
be sunk without warning, 129,
130; Hesperian sunk, 129;
Germany disavows responsi-
bility for Arabic, 128; case
of Orduna, 200; Ancona
sunk, 203; note to Austria,
203; reply of Austria, 205-
207; reply of U. S., 208-209;
Austria's reply, 209; Persia
sunk, 210; Austria explains,

INDEX

483

210-211; German note on
submarines, 211-214; Sussex
sunk, 215; Germany denies
responsibility, 218; severance
of diplomatic relations
threatened, 219-221; recep-
tion of note at home and
abroad, 221-224; Germany ad-
mits sinking, 2-24-226; the
Sussex pledge; the condition,
226; condition not accepted
by U. S., 228-229 ; the Presi-
dent on preparedness, 230-
231; measures in Congress,
231-232; the President tours
the West, 237-238; Secretary
of War resigns, 239 ; German-
Austro-Hungarian note on re-
newal of submarine frightful-
ness, 241, 243 ; Lansing on use
of submarines, 241-242; ex-
citement in Congress, 243-
245; McLemore resolution,
244; Gore resolutions, 249;
President forces a vote, 251;
Mexican border raided, 253;
troops sent, 253; army en-
larged, 254; von Igel papers
seized, 261-262; prosecution
of plotters, 261, 262, 263;
case of the Appam, 265-267;
censorship of the mails, 268-
270 ; case of the Deutschland,
271-274; the British Black-
list, 274, 276; case of the
Arabia, 279-281; deportation
of Belgians, action on, 285-
289; transmits German peace
offer, 291 ; President asks bel-
ligerents to state aims, 292-
294 ; answer of neutrals, 298 ;
of Allies, 295, 296; of Bel-
gium, 296 ; supplementary
note from Great Britain, 305-
307; President's speech to
Congress on "peace without

victory/' 307-310; reception
of at home and abroad, 310-
313 ; ruthless submarine war-
fare resumed, 315; the new
zones, 316-318; treatment of
American ships, 316-317; ex-
citement in U. S., 318-321;
German-American press on,
319-320; diplomatic relations
with Germany severed, 322-
324; Bryan appeals to people
not to enter war, 325 ; German
language press on severance
of relations, 325-326; prep-
arations for war, 327-328;
more sinkings, 329; Asquith
and Law on our break with
Germany, 330; treatment of
Yarrowdale prisoners by Ger-
many, 333-334; of Gerard,
334, 335; Germany seeks to
amend old Prussian treaties,
335-336 ; Bethmann-Hollweg
on relations with America,
338; bill to arm American
merchantmen, 341, 342 ;
President asks power to arm,
341-342 ; Germany proposes
Mexico-Japanese alliance and
war against U. S., 343; fili-
buster in the Senate; bill to
arm lost, 344-345; the Presi-
dent to the people, 345-347;
Senate rules amended, 347;
special session called, 347;
U-boats sink three American
ships; Declaration of War
asked, 350-355 ; resolution de-
claring a state of war, 355-
356, 359 ; Austria severs rela-
tions, 359; effect of declara-
tion on South America, 363;
British mission, 363-364;
French mission, 364 ; German
vessels seized. 365; mobiliza-
tion of industries, 366-369;
embargo on exports, 370 ; neu-

484

INDEX

trals seek food, 371-372;
Food Control Bill, 374;
mobilization of the army and
navy, 378-379, 390, 396;
loans to the Allies, 380; the
Liberty Loan, 380-383; the
draft, 383-394; our troops
reach France, 377, 394-395;
the mission to Russia, 400;
loans to Russia, 400, 403;
President's address to Russia,
400-401; the Pope's peace
note and answer, 403-404,
406-407; "Spurlos versenk't"
note, 410-411; von Eckhardt
note, 411 ; von Bernstorff
seeks to influence Congress,
411-412 ; von Igel papers
seized, 412-415; war measures,
418-432; the President on
the War, 435-438; war de-
clared on Austria, 438,
439.

Universities, The German. Ap-
peal of, 33.

Uruguay, 363.

Vanceboro, Maine. Attempt to
destroy bridge, 160-161.

"Victory bread," 425.

Vigilancia sunk, 349.

Villa, 253.

Viviani, Rene, 10. Comes to
U. S., 364; receives Pershing,
395.

Wanamaker, John. Belgian re-
lief work, 48.

War Gardens, 368-369, 374.

Warren, Whitney, on Rheims
Cathedral, 30.

Waste. Hoover on, 376.

Wedell, Hans Adam, 158-160.

Welland Canal. Attempt to
blow up, 257-261.

Wheat, price fixed, 376;
"wheatless week" consump-
tion cut down, 424; Lord
Rhondda appeals for, 424;
substitutes, 425; ration, 425;
"Victory bread," 425; wheat-
less days, 426.

Whitlock, Brand. Belgian re-
lief work, 45, 46, 47; on de-
portation of Belgians, 284,
288-289 ; relief work, 337.

Wilhelmina, the, case of, 59, 60,
61, 62, 74, 145-146.

Winchester Arms Co., charges
against, 36, 37, 41.

William II., King of Prussia
and German Emperor. Pro-
tests to President, 26; answer
of the President, 27; peace
offers, 290; address to army,
291. .

Women's Peace Party, 140.

Women. Asked to save food,
370; appeal of the President
to, 373-374.

Wood, General Leonard. On
preparedness, 134.

"World must be made safe for
democracy/' 354.

Yarrowdale, The Case of, 307;
treatment of the prisoners,
333, 334.

Zimmermann, Dr. Alfred, Un-
der-Secretarv of State, 11 ; on
Lusitania, 212-213; confer-
ence with Gerard, 116; pro-
poses Mexico join Japan in
war on U. S., 343, 344; de-
struction of Canadian Pacific
Railway, 414.

Zones, North Sea, a military,
54; German Zone around
British Isles, 62-65; the Bus-

INDEX

485

sex pledge, 226, 227, 228-229 ;
new war zones, 316-318 ; treat-
ment of American ships, 316-
317; neutrals protest against,
66, 324-325; Germany's de-

fense, 70; Admiral Behnke
on, 70, 71 ; around the Azores,
428.

Zwiedinek, Baron Erich, Aus-
trian charge, 186, 210.

D

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McMaster, John Bach

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