Evening star., 1915-06-11
Ambassador Gerard Hands
Document to Foreign Office
of KaiSer's Government.
OMISSION OF COMMENT
BY THE GERMAN PAPERS
One Journal Prints in Prominent
Position an Article Regarded
as Conciliatory.

BERLIN, June II, via London,
4 p.m.-Ambassador Gerard pre-
sented the American note at the
German foreign office at 1:1o
pm. today.
The American note. though printed
In full and given the greatest promi-
nence In the Berlin newspapers, was
not accompanied by editorial comment
in the editions appearing up to 3
O'Clock. The headlines OF the news
papers varied in wording. but were
similar in tone. American captions
were America Stands Firm; "A Very
Solemn Warning: Grave American
Warning to Germany" and "A Grave
Appeal"
The force of the American embassy
recoding the note as fast as It was re-
ceived from Washington.
None Of the morning newspapers
refers in any way to the American
note or the fact that it has been re-
ceiyed and there is no comment on the
general situation.
The first sections Of the note arrived
in Berlin late yesterday afternoon and
the other sections began coming. in
early in tho evening.
During the afternoon James w.
Gerard. the American ambassador, call
cd on Herr Won Jagow and was closeted
with him for over half an hour.
Significance Of Bryan Resignation.
The resignation Of william J. Bryan
as Secretary Of State made apparent
the earnestness with which the Ameri-
can administration was considering the
question of submarine warfare and
guarantees for the safety of American.
in this connection. The feeling which
had existed in certain quarters that the
negotiations could not pass beyond the
stage Of exchanging notes and express
ing views began to fade rapidly when
1t was seen the situation was serious
the head Of the cabinet
The ono question heard yesterday IL
all quarters, naval, military, diplomatic
and civil, was what will the United
States do. and what Is the signiflcanc<
Of Mr.. Bryan's retirement? That the
resignation of the Secretary of State
had not been without effect was showr
by a conciliatory article captione6
America" given most prominent dis.
play in double-leaded type by the Loka
AnZeiger.
Article Given Prominence.
This article. which appears in the po-
sition reserved for communications o1
the utmost importance. says:
President Wilson allowed his first nd.
wiser, who had made known his pa.
ciflst theories. to depart in this criticA,
hour. No compromise between thei1
attitude was possible, therefore. At.
tempts to reach peaceful solution
This is not the counsel Of faint-heart.
edness, but of an earnest will not te
make worse our political relations
Considerations Of humanity may nat.
urally be taken into consideration &C
far as the military situation and the
policy Of the empire will permit. II
easily may be believed that honorable
and unprejudiced negotiations betwee1
tho parties concerned may lead to an
understanding. Neither party should
sacrifice anything; neither needs tc
do SO.
ut is necessary to wait and see
whether President Wilson leaves the
door open for advantageous negotia-
tions. We believe a basis does exist
for such negotiations and that this
OASIS can De Du1lt upon Win the 8ooQ
will Of parties concerned. Our military
interests and our judicial standpoint
to which we must and shall adhere
do not stand in the way Of an honest
interchange of views which contains
a promise Of success"
Possible influence on Outcome.
1t is not known definitely whether
this article was inspired, but there is
good reason to believe it largely rep
resents the attitude Of at least some
of those persons responsible for the re-
lations between Germany and the
United States. The outcome Of the
German-American negotiations depends
on the extent to which this attitude IL
shared in other quarters of coordinate
and higher scope.