New-York tribune., 1915-03-14

London, February ls.
..M Gan 20 90 "a Hcl "


orhey will tell you to 60 to He'll"
crch was the answer TO my question
..hs, the Germans would do with the
D-..;6ent's protest against the sinking
fSr,crican merchantmen. My friend
o. nan who. though not IN the Ad-
n;ssl,v is near il. IL struck me as
n.nbshiv an echo of Admiralty opinion
PVT The German answer. The sea
s1s;rs man is apt 20 express himself
,S.n,9v He explained the German
Int Of view as follows:
PV.TLe German view is purely military.
r.,tenhayn and Won Tirpitz are the
who count. They think the mill
nv. nv rower of the United States for
...se1t purposes negligible. You have
srn,y. You have not the means OF
.,sstinc an army quickly enough to
of use. You have not the means
y transporting il across the Atlantic.
9 have not the officers TO train the
.n You have not the arms. You
ssye % no means Of offence which Ger
many need fear"
All that is German. SO is what fol-
lows; LII
and half by foreigners: The ships are
SnoS and the officers, but 1t is not TO-
sa7 feet in being for transatlantic
service. II il were 1t would be
Homeless feet. There is no good Eng
Lsh naval base but Portsmouth, and
tho English cannot spare you Ports
mouth. They have not the room nor
~ resources. Everything is wanted
co. the English feet; at the moment
American Fleet is not needed. 1t
sa;cht be useful later as reserve. or
- csse of disaster to Jellicoe's COM
- But If il were anchored IN
pIrroouth tomorrow il would not much
.Fect the present course of nava!
'SI,r 81 Give YOU that as the German view;
,be basis of their answer TO your
President.
Then he added: 90, -
aTbe German attack on English ship
ming is not meant as bIuh. Ahey
IIaaiIv believe they can interfere with
central trade and supplies for England
fror, the world over. They think they
can cripple English w6rld-commerce;
ssnd nm prices, create panic, serious
= obstruct II not paralyze the 1000
.nnply; stop the 'cross-Channel service
and the passage Of troops from Eng
land into France. II is piracy. but they
do not care what you call II. Ihey nave
tried all means, fair and foul, 10 WIN
over American opinion. Ihey. nave
failed. They probably will not SINK an
American ship known 10 be American
pnt ,bey will do that sooner than give
-, tLpir scheme. They will say it was
mine. and that mines are blind and
re Power which uses them irresponsl-
BE for accidents"
Sirce sU this was said the German
,nswer 10 Mr. Wilson has been pub
Tsbed IN England With the usual Ger
man politeress, il was in print here
Isfore II had reached the State Depart
mon, in Washington. II was in the
carly evening papers. | have seen II
since the foregoing was written. For
Tnolish comment there has been no
,;re IN rrint. But the men ! have met
III +ske tho same view. ! might sum IL
nm by saving they think il an answer
70 Mr. Wilson, not TO the President OF
the United States; still less to the
United States.
"A piece of deliberate insolence," is
,ba verdict Practically no answer at
,U Germany treats the United States
a, she treated Japan when Japan po-
E-ely invited her TO withdraw from
Tsjng-tau i'm eight days. Germany took
M notice: did not even send an IN
solent answer: preferred the lnsolence
Of silence. The result Of this the
world knows. Tsing-tau is no longer
German; il is Japanese. II 10 the
United States Germany vouchsaies the
form Of an answer, 1t is the form only
The husk. the diplomatic pretence. MI
Wilson's tone Of Difference, OF TREND
ship. for the Executioner Of Belgium
was thrown away. His obsequlo isness
added nothing 10 the value OF MS
warning; in itself plain and hrm, Eer-
many takes it up where he lett on.
She replies in the tone OF a superior
10 an inferior. and with a sneer at
the spirit which appears 10 nave
dictated Mr.. Wilson's appeal. My AG,
mjrsIty friend was right We are told
10 go 10 He'll -,
Who held the pen when this diplo-
matte torpedo was launched across
the Atlantic does not deeply matter
All these official Germans have become
Glib in using such terms as lnterna
tionsl law and accusing others OF
crimes they themselves commit with
system. There are, however, signs OF
authorship which are unmi stakable. II
Won Tirpitz supplies the substance, the
Imperial Chancellor is the actual
scribe. Every line is stamped with the
impress Of the mind which described
a treaty to which the honor OF Ger,
many stood pledged as a scrap or
PAPER" true description; true Of the
past. true now. True for all time. .,
This note, then, is from the practised
hand Of Won Hollweg, the
Imperial Chancellor, whose voice IS the
voice of Imperial Germany. Some
damned Professor" has called hlm the
greatest Of living men; the klnd OF
thing a Professor would say about ms
social superior. It is the servillty OF
the damned Professor TO the Junker
which is responsible for much OF the
existing mischief. Why q Princeton
Professor should COPY the slavish tone
Of his Berlin colleague is not so clear
But the real diplomacy OF Germany
. is now in the hands of the German Ad-
miralty. tn German Admiralty con-
sists Of Grand Admiral Won Tirpitz:
There is d staff, there is whole naval
bureaucracy; but the soul of il all, and
perhaps some Of the brain, are 10 be
sought inside the rough exterior OF Won
Tirpitz
knew Won Tirpitz in America at the
time Of Prince Henry of Prussia's visit,
He was 10 be met in New York. The
memory ! have is of a heavily-built,
heayy-faced, heavy-minded German;
very German TO look at; very German
10 talk with. ale who drinks beer
thinks beer He has since thought OF
good deal else. Then he was almost
at the beginning of his career, with lit
lie to excite expectation in the behold
er. He belongs, suppose, by virtue OF
nii Won" 20 the ruling class Of Prussia
de is Junker, and looks it. The