Yellowstone monitor., 1915-06-17
THE REPLY TO GERMANY

and restrained without surrendering the Amer
lean contention in this controversy. -... ....-.,
In the main note is a reiteration of the prin-
ciples of international law and the code Of
humanity which the President defined and up
held in the note of May 13.
The United States stands where it stood in
the original protest of Feb. 10 against the Ger
man war-zone proclamation, and it's refusal to
recognize the lawless privileges which the Ger
man Government attempted to usurp for itself
on the high seas at the expense of neutral lives,
neutral property and the accepted rules of civil
lied warfare What is added to the orr gnal
statement of the American position is in the
way of elaboration and amplifcation of prin-
ciples hitherto unquestioned among civilized
nations. ...-
The only respect in which the note is unyeld
ing is in the final declaration that "the Govern
ment Of the United States deems it reasonable
to expect that the Imperial German Govern
ment will adopt the measures necessary to put
these principles into practice in respect to the
safeguarding of American lives and American
ships, and asks for assurance that this will be
done.' Even here the language is at the very
least as restrained as in the orr ginal war-zone
note holding Germany to "a strict accountable
ity." 1t is even more restrained than in the
note of May 13, in which Germany was warned
that the United States would omit no word or.
act necessary to maintain the rights of its citi-
zens on the high seas.
1t is apparent that the Presider. is d deter-
mined to give Germany every chance to put her
self in accord with the practices of civilized
warfare and to make it as easy as possible for
the German Government to accede to the de-
mands Of the United States Government.
No conscience less sensitive than that Of
William J. Bryan-and there are no such SEN
sitive consciences in Germany, or, indeed, in
Europe-could possibly be shocked by the
Presidents language or by the tone of his reply.
Had it not been for the mad performance of Mr..
Bryan in suddenly deciding to create a new
heaven and new earth in the international af-
fairs by his personal fat, we think the note, on
the whole, would have been disappointment
to majority of the American people. They
have expected a harder and less conciliatory
answer to Germany's quibbling and unsatis-
factory reply to the Presidents note of May Is.
1t is doubtless we'll, nevertheless, that the
note errs on the side Of moderation This is
particularly fortunate in view of the sorry per
Torrance of Mr.. Bryan. The President had al
ready stated the American attitude as clearly
as words could state it. Any reinforcement of
his previous declarations would have been
nothing short of an utimatum He has there
fore contented himself with reaffrming his
previous statements in terms that are both
courteous and conciliatory. 1t is even a ques-
tion whether he has not been at such pains toI
give the German Government chance to save
its face that his self lf-restraint will be misin-
terpreted by the blundering of diplomacy of
Berlin. Yet the attitude of the American
people, in their answering support of the Presi-
dent, should no longer be matter of doubt in
German official circles despite the antics of Mr.
Bryan.
Be that as it may, the President shows him. |
self an enlightened statesman eager to find pa
ci6c solution to the problem if such solution
can be found without sacrificing principles that
are vital not only to the United States but to |
every neutral nation whose citizens and whose
ships sail the high seas e.
AS for Mr.. Bryan's conduct in this natter
we do not think there is any sane American
citizen who will have difficulty in choosing be-
tween the diplomacy defined in Mr.. Wilson s
note and the diplomacy defined in Mr.. Bryanssl
simultaneous answer to that note. Mr. Bryan s
statement has all the frenzy and fervor Of q
page from the Book of Mormon It is the
lucubration of religious mystic who is preach
ing gospel which he cannot elucidate but which