File No. 763.72/2429
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Germany (Gerard)
2756. Your 3528,1 February 25, 11 a. m. On January 26 Baron Zwiedinek telegraphed his Government the substance of a conversation with me to the effect, he said, that I would “welcome it” if the Central powers should come forward with a declaration that merchantmen with one or more guns will be treated as auxiliary cruisers.
By agreement the Department has been censoring wireless cipher messages of the German Embassy (which has also been sending cipher messages for the Austrian Embassy) for the sole purpose of determining whether they convey military information or whether they are of doubtful meaning. If the message is not objectionable [Page 184] in either of these respects, it is sent to the Navy Department for transmission, where the cipher and English text are compared to see if it has been correctly enciphered. If the message is objectionable in either of these respects, it is returned to the Embassy with an explanation. As to any statement of fact, or report of a conversation or other matter whatsoever, the Department treats the message as a confidential communication between the Embassy and its Government. Errors of statement have frequently been observed in messages passing through the Department, but adhering to its rule the Department has never stopped a message on that account and has not called it to the attention of the Ambassador unless it was later formally communicated to the Department. The Department does not consider itself bound by knowledge of confidential communications sent to a belligerent Government by one of its diplomatic officers, or in any way required to correct inaccurate statements or unwarranted expressions appearing in such communications.
In the course of transmission through the Department I saw the Zwiedinek message of January 26 and was aware of the misuse of the word “welcome,” but permitted the despatch to go through in the ordinary course. Later, however, when the reply of the Austrian Government was shown me by Zwiedinek, I noted that it referred to me as welcoming the proposed German and Austrian declaration as to submarine warfare. I thereupon pointed out to Zwiedinek that I had not intended to convey any such meaning in our conversation, calling his attention to the misunderstanding which had arisen and to the false impression which was conveyed through the misuse of the word “welcome,” and stating that I did not wish his Government to be deceived or to draw any impression of initiative on my part. This he in substance communicated to his Government on February 9. I also recalled to Zwiedinek’s attention that, during the conversation, after some discussion of the use of the submarine and the modus vivendi proposed to the Entente powers, he said that the German and Austrian Governments held the view that they could not warn armed vessels and had in mind issuing a declaration to that effect. He asked me when I thought it would be well to do this. I replied that the sooner it was done the better—having in mind that the Lusitania case, which was on the point of settlement, should not be settled if such a declaration was to be made afterward, as it would directly affect and apparently nullify the assurances already given by the German Government. The Chargé said that I had had an opportunity to see the telegram as it passed through the Department. I said that I had noticed the error, but that allowing the message to be sent was in no sense an endorsement by the Department of the accuracy of the statements contained—the sole authority being the writer of the message.
There will probably be an attempt to show that the German declaration was initiated and approved by me, but this is entirely unwarranted. In case my reported use of the word “welcome” should be referred to by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in future negotiations on this subject, you may explain this matter to him and emphasize that I did not use the word “welcome” or even intimate such [Page 185] an idea, only saying that if the German and Austrian Governments intended to issue a declaration, the sooner it was done the better.
Repeat Vienna as number 1149.