The record. [volume] (St. Maries, Idaho) 1913-1918, 1915-10-15
GERMANY YIELDS
lCapital news

o'OopNo III us tuliIcly Jne pfln-
ciple contended for this govern
ment. Not only so, but the con-
cession is made ungrudgingly and
handsomely. II is admitted that
submarines may not, without
warning and without insuring
the safety Of passengers and crew
attack even belligerent merchant
men unless they resist. And in
this case the German government
goes as far as to accept as con-
trolling the testimony of the Brit
ish officers. The German gov
eminent speaks through the am
bassador as follows:
1.-THE imperial government re-
grets and disavows this act. and
has notified Commander Schnei-
der accordingly. Under these
circumstances, my government is
prepared to pay an indemnity for
American lives which, to its deep
regret, have been lost on the Ara
bic. | am authorized to neg6-
tate with you the amount of this
indemnify"
Nothing more was asked, or
could be wished. With the prin-
ciple finally established, there
should be no difficulty in settling
the Lusitania case, and other
cases of like nature. For i'm the
Lusitania affair there was not
even a suggestion or suspicion of
resistance on the part of the lin
er. 1t was attacked absolutely
without notice. Thus there is
no reason why all our differences
with Germany should not be ad-
justed to the satisfaction of the
American government and peo-
pie.
1t would be ungenerous to boast
of triumphs, to talk of backdowns.
And yet there is one victory on
which the administration may
properly congratulate itself, and
that is the victory won for hui
manity and the law of nations.
Here, indeed, is a service to the
whole world. The proper limits
of submarine activity have beer
definitely established. For the
German and American govern
ments have agreed that the meth
DDS of warfare objected to by the
president ar wrong and indefen-
sible. And the kaiser's order has
been made so stringent that the
recurrence of incidents similar to |
the Arabic case is considered out |
of the question.
1t has taken much time to bring |
Germany to this way of thinking, |
out the time has been we'll spent |
Few people desired war, but war |
would have been inevitable had !
there been a continuation of the !
policy of sinking un2rmed mer- |
chantmen. Not only that, but the |
refusal to disavOw these lawless |
acts, or to cOncede the correct |
principle, would almost certainly |
have led to a breaking off of dip
lOmatic relatiOns-and that might
have brought war. We have got
everything we asked through
peareful negotiations. Patiense, /
self-restraint and determination
have brought us through the cri-
sis safely, and with honor. We
have certainly travelled far since
the day which brought the news
OF the sinking of the Lusitania.
The act, it Will be remembered,
was defended by German officials
and papers, and by some Germans
in America. 1t was Dr.. Dern-
berg's comment on that affair
that made it impossible for him
to remain in the country. Great
Britain was actually blamed for
the loss of American lives, and |
we were told that Americans had
no right to be on the steamer.
Even the German government,
through advertisement in Amer
lean papers, warned our people of
the danger that threatened them. +
and thus pointed to the very &C
ton which is now admitted by the
German government to be wrong.
Such a result as that which has
now been brought to pass was
surely worth waiting for. 1t
should in fairness be said that
Ambassador Won Bernstorn has
labored hard, and has co-operated
with this government in the work
of adjusting differences. But
for his help it might have been
difficult to make the German gov
eminent realize the intense feel
ing in this dsuBxtry.