The Washington times., 1915-07-10
dERMANY'S LATEST NOTE

It is peculiarly interesting to
compare, not so much the, words, as
the. spirit of the message of Minis
ter Won Jagow, received last night,
with the note Of President Wilson
to which this message is reply.
The German author is either devoid
of frankness or else he deems that
quality misplaced in a governmental
and diplomatic document
His discussion of the Lusitania
incident is a notable example of this
quality. Despite President Wilson's
declaration that the Lusitania was
not armed and that she carried no
munitions on board, contrary to the
recognized law of maritime traffic,
Won Jagow discusses the matter as
if he still believed, and had proof
of his belief, that the ship carried
armament, and was prepared to use
it. He pays no attention to Mr..
Wilson's invitation to submit any
proofs of this contention, but as
suming an untruth to still be the
truth, despite its refutation, he ar
CUES from a false premise to an
unjustified conclusion.
And in Germany's treatment Of
the Lusitania question in yester-
days note is the crux Of Che whole
situation. We cannot abandon the
dead to negotiate for the living, and
nowhere in the German document is
there any intimation of the inten-
|tion Of the German government to
do anything other than dismiss the
slaughter of innocent Americans as
one of the unfortunate results of a
self-devised mode of warfare. Sure
ly we cannot discuss the matter of
safe transatlantic travel for pros
pective voyagers until we have set
tied the responsibility and received
the acknowledgment of that re-
sponsibility for the American dead
which somewhere upon or under the
sea testify to a wanton disregard of
law and humanity.
1t is we'll here to reread the most
impressive paragraphs Of the mes
sages which have gone from Presi
dent Wilson to the German govern
ment. The dates and demands were
as follows:
May l5-It (the United States Govern,
. that the imperial German governmen,
. will disavow the acts Of which the
{ Government Of the United States com
plains. that they will make reparation
SO far as reparation is possible. for in
l Juries which are without measure, ant
that they. will take immediate steps t.
obviously subversive Of the principle.
of warfare.
d June l0-The Government Of the
United States therefore very earnestly
and solemnly renews the representa-
tions Of its note transmitted to the i'm
. lperial German government on the 15tt
day Of May.
t The Government of the United State.
deems 1t reasonable to expect that tht
imperial German government will adop
the measures necessary to put these
principles into practice in respect Of the
sp st ana assa foy yes
ances that this will be done.
3 Today's reply does not answer
= these demands; it proposes plan!
E and suggest methods, but those plan
8 and methods are quite outside dis
8 cussion or consideration until the de
a mands Of this Government for tn,
t rights of it's innocent dead hav'
r been fully answered.
!. Herr Won Jagow devotes mucl
!, space and many words to explaining
the motives of Germany in her pres
t ent conduct. What bearing hav'
t motives upon the issues which hav,
y arisen between the United State
Government and the German gov
J.. ernment?
S We don't care what the motive O
t the Won Tirpitz admiralty was whel
e one of its submarines, under in
= structions from it's home office, mur
dered American citizens, men, WON
!, en-, and children, without mercy. w
n care about the fact.
t We don't care what the motiv
was when American merchant yes
sells, flying the Stars and Stripes
were destroyed and American crew
under the protection of our fla,
! were killed and wounded. We car
e about the fact.
e We don't care what the motive o
e the Berlin foreign Office Is when
n undertakes to defend acts of vic
n lence and savagery as indefensibl
J. as any crimes that ever were com
|, mitted by pirates. We care abou
l. the fact.
J. We cannot recognize the existenc
h or the possibility of good motive
y engaged in wantonly destroying in
e nocent property, inhumanly sacrific
o ing innocent life and brutally com
mitting other acts of barbarism. W
It cannot comprehend the mental con
It dition of the man who seeks to sub
r nit that in any affairs among pee