841.857 L97/124½
The Secretary of State to
President Wilson
Washington,
January 7, 1916.
My Dear Mr. President: The German Ambassador
has just called upon me and stated that he was instructed by his
Government to say, in the first place, that they had heard through the
press reports of the sinking of the Persia and
that they had no information whatsoever in regard to it.
He then handed me a communication which he was also instructed to
deliver,89 setting forth
the attitude of the German Government in regard to submarine warfare in
the Mediterranean. At his request I am making public this statement.
The Ambassador then handed me a communication in regard to the Lusitania case, which he said his Government
wished to be considered confidential unless it was satisfactory to this
Government, when it could be embodied in a more formal document. I
enclose the communication, together with one marked “strictly
confidential” relating to arbitration of questions of fact in connection
with submarine warfare.90
I have not studied the proposed reply of Germany in regard to the Lusitania with sufficient care to express a final
opinion. There is lacking any recognition of liability since the
indemnity which they proposed to pay is, in fact, on the basis of comity
and not on the basis of right—at least that is my view at present. If in
any way the agreement to pay the indemnity can be construed into a
recognition of liability it would seem as if a final settlement of the
case was very near.
I also enclose for your information an extract from the reply of the
German Government in the Frye case,91 which has a direct bearing on submarine warfare
in general and must be read, I think, with these other communications.
In view of that declaration I do not see why the German Government is
not willing to definitely admit liability in the Lusitania case.
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The German Ambassador desires that the reply in the Frye case should be made public and, as I could see no reason
to withhold it, I agreed to do so.
I hope that I may soon receive your views in regard to the communication
relative to the Lusitania as I think the
negotiation, if it is to be continued, should be pressed to speedy
settlement.
Faithfully yours,
[Enclosure]
The German Embassy to
the Department of State
The German submarine war against England’s commerce at sea, as
announced on February 4, 1915, is conducted in retaliation of
England’s inhuman war against Germany’s commercial and industrial
life. It is an acknowledged rule of international law that
retaliation may be employed against acts committed in contravention
of the law of nations. Germany is enacting such a retaliation, for
it is England’s endeavor to cut off all imports from Germany by
preventing even legal commerce of the neutrals with her and thereby
subjecting the German population to starvation.
In answer to these acts Germany is making efforts to destroy
England’s commerce at sea, at least as far as it is carried on by
enemy vessels.
The question whether neutral interests may in any way be injured by
retaliatory measures should, in this instance, be answered in the
affirmative. The neutrals by allowing the crippling of their
commerce with Germany contrary to international law which is an
established fact cannot object to the retaliatory steps of Germany
for reasons of neutrality. Besides, the German measures, announced
in time, are such that neutrals easily could have avoided harmful
consequences by not using enemy vessels employed in commerce with
England. If Germany has notwithstanding limited her submarine
warfare, this was done in view of her long standing friendship with
the United States and in the expectation that the steps taken by the
American Government in the meantime aiming at the restoration of the
freedom of the seas would be successful.
The German Government, on the other hand, recognizes from the course
which the negotiations so far have taken, the difficulty to
reconcile in principle the American and the German point of view, as
the interests and legal aspects of the neutrals and belligerents
naturally do not agree in this point and as the illegality of the
English course of procedure can hardly be recognized in the United
States as fully as it is in Germany. A perpetuation of this
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difference of opinion,
however, would not tend to further the amicable relations between
the United States and Germany which have never been disturbed and
the continuation of which is so sincerely desired by both
Governments. Actuated by this spirit the Imperial Government again
expresses its deep regret at the death of American citizens caused
by the sinking of the Lusitania and, in order
to settle this question amicably, declares its readiness to pay
indemnity for the losses inflicted.
