841.857 L 97/128½
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: I received late Saturday night a letter from Count Bernstorff enclosing two drafts of memoranda in the Lusitania case. Copies of these papers I am sending you.
Neither of the drafts seems to me to be at all satisfactory. There is no acknowledgement of the illegality of the sinking of the Lusitania and no admission of liability for the indemnity offered. The proposed memoranda are no improvement over the last one which the Ambassador submitted. They come no nearer meeting our demands. The offer of indemnity is based on good will; it is an act of grace and not a matter of right.
I shall not see the Ambassador until I have your opinion of this last effort to settle the controversy, but, when I do, I am disposed to tell him very frankly that further conversations will be useless as they do not appear to bring us any nearer together, and that there seems to be no other course but to make a formal demand upon the German Government for admission of illegal conduct by the submarine commander and of liability for the lives of citizens of the United States destroyed by the sinking of the vessel.
It does not seem to me to be in accord with the dignity of this Government to continue these informal negotiations which have become purely dilatory and offer no possible middle ground for an agreement.
Of course if we take this step and Germany fails to comply with our demands it will mean that we will have to send Bernstorff home or announce that we will do so unless full satisfaction is given within a definite time. While I dislike this course I see no alternative. We have delayed bringing this matter to a direct issue as long as we can. I had hoped a satisfactory settlement through delay. With more or less justice there has been increasingly severe public criticism of the policy pursued by the Government. If I felt that all would come right in the end I would be indifferent to public comment, but in view of these drafts of memoranda I am convinced that further delay will accomplish no good purpose and will only add to the belief that we are not insisting on compliance as we should.
It is possible that a demand, which the German Government understands to be inflexible, will accomplish more than our informal negotiations have accomplished. I do not think that they want a diplomatic break, and, if they are convinced that compliance is the only way to avoid it, they may submit. In any event I see no other course which we can honorably take.
[Page 522]I would like to see you as early today as possible or else talk with you over the telephone, in order that I may arrange an interview with Count Bernstorff as he requests.
Faithfully yours,