File No. 763.72/1771

The Ambassador in Germany (Gerard) to the Secretary of State

[Telegram]

2243. Afternoon papers publish Lusitania note. Lokal-Anzeiger, a Government organ, says thus, the version of the Havas Agency:

German Government will certainly not delay long with the reply requested and will presumably have to answer that sacred duties are imposed upon it likewise in the fulfilment and which it will not permit itself to be disconnected by any one. That the American Government should call the Lusitania a harmless packet boat without taking note of the fact that it is a question of an auxiliary cruiser and ammunition steamer of the British Navy, appears hardly credible to us for the moment. But as already said, the German reply to Washington will make it plain to Mr. Wilson, in a form alike polite and clear, that we are obliged to carry on the battle as we are carrying it on, and that we can carry it on with a clear conscience.

Gerard