The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1915-05-13
Note Sent Germany
by President.
BRIEF BUT STRONG
AND TO THE POINT
Prediction Made at Washington
That Diplomatic Relations
viii Be Severed.

Washington, May 13.-The United
States government, in a note to Ger
many, formally demands of the i'm
perial government a strict accounting
for the loss of American lives in the
sinking of the Lusitania and viola
tions of American rights in the war
zone. II also asks guarantees that
there will be no repetition of such
events or practices.
The note is not lengthy document.
II was written by the president him.
self after a full and final determine
ton of his policy. 1t is described as
strong and virile without quibble or
hint Of parley 1t will recite the hor-
ror and resentment of the United
States against the acts of naval war
fare committed by Germany and will
be blunt notice to that country that
the strict accountability" warning
was not an empty declaration.
The note was prepared by the pres
ident in full realization of the fact
that it may be the first step in break
ing off diplomatic relations with Ger
many. There is no strong hope in
Washington that Germany will accede
to the demands of the United States.
Nothing but the furnishing of suffi-
cient guarantees against future out
RACES against Americans will satisfy
the administration.
Predict Recall of Gerard.
The prediction is being freely made
in Washington that not many weeks
will elapse before Ambassador Gerard
is called home and Ambassador Won
Bernstorff given his passports, based
on the assumption that Germany will
not comply with American demands.
At first there was some suggestion
that the communication be sent per-
sonally by the president to Emperor
William, but Mr.. Wilson determined
that it should be addressed, not TO an
individual, but to the German govern
ment and through it to the German
4 people.
/ AS for reparation the United States
naturally will seek financial repara-
/ tion, but its protest now is in the
name of international law and human
ity TO obtain a guarantee that such
/ tragedies will not be repeated and the
lives of noncombatants sacrificed.
While high officials and cabinet Of
4 ficers were reticent to discuss its con-
tents it was agreed that the note
voiced the intense feeling of the Unit
ed States over the occurrences in the
war zone and wanted an explanation
of them as we'll as a guarantee that
4 they would not be repeated.
Mentions Inhumanity of Attacks.
The communication lays stress on
/ the inhumanity of the attacks with
out warning on merchant vessels. 1t
reviews in general way every case
in the war zone in which the rights of
American citizens have been trans
gressed-the sinking of the steamer
Falaba with the loss of Leon c.
/ Thresher, an American; the attack by
German airmen on the American
steamer Gushing, the torpedoing of
the American steamer Gulfiight while
flying the American flag, and finally
the destruction Of the Lusitania with
the loss of more than a thousand nom
combatants, more than 100 of them
Americans.
! The note, while firm and pointed,
does not abandon tones of friendli-
ness, giving room for a disavowal by
Germany of her acts or an abatement
of her practices. This is intimated
in the suggestion that the German
government and the German people
could certainly not have intended to
sacrifice American lives in the pur-
suit of their maritime warfare.
Unlawful Act Unjustified.
Attention is called to the fact that
while advertisements of warning ap-
peared in the newspapers the United
States government was never official
ly informed of it, but irrespective of
that, the position is taken that the
serving of notice to do an unlawful
act neither justifies 1t nor makes 1t
lawful.
The note calls on Germany for an
explanation of her past and future
course and leaves open the steps the