The Washington times., 1915-08-21

mooted points. such ~ the questions
Of convoy, Of warning, OF intent to ram
the submarine, and the like.
Unless extenuating circumstances not
vet revealed are shown to exist in the
. case of the sinking Of the Arabic, the
Administration will soon have to de-
eide what action II must take in re-
taliation for a German act which was
deliberately unfriendly."
Most freely discussed in Washington
today is this question::
:'Will the United States break diplo-
matte relations with Germany"
A deep-seated feeling prevails that
things are headed for rapid develop
ments in that direction,
vious fact that II diplomatic relations
are broken the probable consequences OF
such a course sooner or later will be a
state Of open war with Germany
Won Tirpitz Controls.
Moreover, to O greater extent than at
any other time since the sinking Of the
Lusitania, there is a revived discussion
of whether Germany is really seeking
to drag the United States into the
European conflict to shut of munitions
from the allies and in the peace con-
ference to have the United States Q
party.
that the vons sTirpitz element is COM
pletely in the saddle SO far as German
naval affairs are concerned, that the
submarine campaign against alted
shipping is being renewed with great
energy. that 1t Is to be kept up re-
gardIess Of consequences to neutrals,
nd that the Kaiser has lately express
ed his deep appreciation to Won Tir-
pitz by comforting new honors upon
In other words. 1t looks much as II
the German government had deter
mined to wage submarine war on Eng
lish and allied shipping to the limit
and deemed 1t of much moro moment
to cripple such shipping than to pla-
cate the feelings OF the United states:
Two American Views.
Today two fatty contradictory views
obtain. One is that the Administration.
having used strong language to Ger
many in previous notes. and having
failed to make any visible impression.
will back up" when 1t comes for a
Showdown"
The other view, held by some Of the
men who know the President best. lis
that he will wait until he has what he
regards as indisputable proof that Ger
many intends to pay no attention to
American rights at sea. and then will
act with a celerity and a directness
that will surprise both the United States
and Europe.
Question of Convoy.
A good deal Of attention was directed
yesterday to the question whether the
convoy Of the Arabic was still in the
vicinity. but there is no evidence thus
far tc support this claim.
Tho boats of the Arabic drifted about
over four hours and this seems to show
that no warships were in sight.
Other questions being raised are
whether the Arabic tried to ram the
submarine and whether. in turning Of
the Arabic toward tho Dunslea. there
ened attack on the submarine. These
and some other points will have to be
cleared up before the United States
Government is in a position to act.
at Queenstown is had. it is expected
that ambassador Gerard will be asked
to obtain from the German government
its version of the matter.
sever diplomatic relations, such an act
IN itself would not constitute an act Of
war. nor necsssarily lead 70 war.
Two years ago the United States sew
Cdcu uipAOHlduC TclatlOnS with MEXICO,
and those relations are still 10 be re-
samed On entirely personal grounds
Secretary Of State Bayard, in the first
Cleveland Administrati ton. gave to Sack
= United States, his passports. but no
more serious eventualities resulted.
Question of Precedent.
In the present instance. Secretary of
State Lansing would send by personal
messenger to Won Bernstorff the lat
ter's passports. at the same time H.
recting Ambassador Girard at Berlin
to obtain his passports and return to
this country. Similar procedure would
be taken with respect to the consular
representatives representative in either country.
as he had communicated the facts of
the situation to his government, would
be directed to turn over to the diplo-
matte representatives here of some neu-
trai power all German interests in the
United States and the archives Of the
German embassy and either proceed
home. II that were possible. or 60 to
some neutral country. probably Cuba
Germany in Italy. the Spanish ambas.
sador, Don Juan Riano Gayangos,
would probably take over the German
interests here. while the American in
terests in Germany would be taken owe,
either by the diplomatic representatives
at Berlin Of one Of the Scandinavian
neutral powers or by the Brazilian
minister.
NEW YORK. Aug. 2l.-Ambassador
Won Bernstorff asserts he expects nc
serious international complications tc
arise out of the sinking Of the Arabic
Since the sinking became known the
sayville wireless station has been KEEP,
busy transmitting and receiving mes
sages between the German embassy
and the Berlin foreign office.
An attache OF the German embassy.
without disclosing his source Of infor-
nation. asserted positively that the
Arabic had been warned by the Ger
man submarine commander before she
was torpedoed, and that the shot was
fired only after the captain of the
White Star liner had made a desper-
ate effort to run away from the Ger
man submarine craft.
EXPECT REPLY TODAY
TO ITALIAN DEMAND