File No. 701.6311/269
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Austria-Hungary ( Penfield)
1606. Your 1760, 14th, 3 p.m. Department appreciates difficulty of your position and hopes a way may soon be found to make it easier. This Government is sincerely desirous of maintaining friendly relations with Austria-Hungary, and in order to accomplish this is prepared to go as far as it properly can. The following recapitulation of the whole question is for your information and guidance in your conversations with the Foreign Office.
On the day of Count Tarnowski’s arrival in Washington the Department received the Austrian note of January 31, which was almost identical with the German note. Shortly afterwards Count Tarnowski was informed, that this Government obviously could not dismiss Count von Bernstorff and receive an ambassador from Austria-Hungary unless the latter Government receded from the position taken in its submarine note. Count Tarnowski agreed to this and suggested the opening of conversations in the hope that some solution might be found.
The Department instructed you to ask the Austro-Hungarian Government for a restatement of its position. At the same time Count Tarnowski [Page 179] was permitted to send secret messages to his Government through the Department and your Embassy in the conduct of these conversations.
The Austrian restatement transmitted in your 1739, March 2, 5 p.m., carried the following passages:
The entire declaration is essentially nothing less than a notification to the effect that no merchant ship may navigate the sea zone accurately defined in the declaration; … that the Imperial and Royal Government is however unable to accept a responsibility for the possible loss of human life which may, nevertheless, result from the destruction of armed ships encountered in the enclosed zones. Moreover, it may be remarked that Austro-Hungarian submarines are operating only in the Adriatic and in the Mediterranean, and that therefore a prejudicing of American interests by Austro-Hungarian, men-of-war is hardly to be feared.
The kernel of this communication appeals to lie in the foregoing quotations, in that the Austro-Hungarian Government upholds the principle of the declaration of January 31, stating at the same time that the prejudicing of American interests by Austria-Hungary is “hardly to be feared.”
The Austrian reply of March 2 was apparently given out officially in Vienna and thereby assumes a rather definite character. In the face of a positive declaration of this kind the American Government can not receive Count Tarnowski without still further exciting a highly aroused public opinion. The delicacy of the Austro-Hungarian Government’s position is fully appreciated, but in view of the fact that Austria-Hungary has publicly declared her adherence to a method of warfare which is in direct conflict with the vital interests of this country, a method which has already resulted in the death of more than 200 American citizens, public opinion here would not welcome the reception of an ambassador at this moment.
Ever since his arrival all possible consideration has been shown Count Tarnowski. He has been received informally by officials of the Department whenever he so desired, and the question of his official reception has been frankly discussed with him on several occasions. Count Tarnowski is to-day cabling his Government through you to the effect that the Austro-Hungarian note had been received; that the President had been ill, and that he, Tarnowski, was advised by officials of the Department that it might be better to let the question of his reception rest for the present.
Tarnowski is greatly disturbed over his position.
You may say that this Government deplores the present situation and hopes that a way may be found in due course to eliminate existing difficulties, but that if the Austro-Hungarian Government considers the present situation is impossible of continuance, we shall be [Page 180] glad to receive any suggestions the Minister of Foreign Affairs may have in regard to the matter.