Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-05-19

| SumeS, on the contrary, that the I'M
perial German government accepts, as
of course, the ;rule that the lives = of
| noncombatants,s whether they be of
| neutral citizenship or citizens of one
| of the nations at war, cannot lawfully
or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the
capture or destruction of an unarmed
merchantmen, and recognize also, as
all other nations do, the obligation to
take the usual precaution of visit and
search, to ascertain, whether a sus-
pected merchantmen is in fact Of bel.
ligerent nationality or is in fact car.
trail flag. -" ~,
Seas Must Be Safe for Americans.
1.-THE government of the United
States, therefore, desires to call the at.
tention of the imperial German gov.
ernment, with the utmost earnestness,
to the fact that the objection to their
present method of attack against the
trade of their enemies lies in the prac.
tical impossibility of,employing subma.
rines in the destruction Of commerce
without disregarding those rules OF
fairness, reason, justice and humanity
which all modern opinion regards as
imperative. It is practically impos.
sible for the officers of submarine to
visit a merchantmen at sea and ex.
anime her papers and cargo. It is
practically impossible for them to
make prize of her; and, If they can
not put prize crew on board of her,
they cannot sink her without leaving
her crew and all on board of her to the
mercy of the sea in her small boats.
These facts, it is understood, the i'm
perial German government frankly ad-
init. We are informed that in the in
stances of which we have spoken time
enough for even that poor measure Of
safety was not given, and in at least
two of the cases cited not SO much as
warning was received. Manifestly
submarines cannot be used against
merchantmen, as the last few weeks
have shown, without an inevitable vio-
lation Of many sacred principles Of
justice and humanity. ,&a*
American citizens act within their
ships and in travelling wherever their.
legitimate business calls them upon
the high seas, and exercise those
rights in what should be the well JUS
tilted confidence that their lives will
not be endangered by acts done In
clear violation Of universally acknowl-
edged international allegations. a
F. Warning 10 No Excuse. T., = =.
There was recently published in the
newspapers of the United States, re-
greet to inform the imperial German
government, q formal warning, pur-
porting to come from the imperial Ger
man embassy / at Washington, ad-
dressed to the people of the United
States and stating in effect that any
citizen Of the United States who ex-.
ercised his right to travel upon the
seas would do SO at his peril il his
journey should take him within the
zone of waters within which the Inn
perial German navy was using subma-
rines against the commerce of Great
Britain and France, Notwithstanding
the respectful but very earnest protest
Of his government, the government OF
the United States do not refer to
this for. the purpose Of calling the at
tention Of the imperial German gov
eminent at this time to the surprising
irregularity Of q Communication from
the imperial German embassy at Wash
ington addressed to the people of the
United States through the newspapers,
but only for the purpose of pointing
out that no warning that an unlawful
and inhuman act will be committed
can possibly be accepted as an excuse
or palliation for that act, or as an
abatement Of the responsibility for its
commission. III. m '-s.ss.1.}s 's:;t5,,%
Hopes Germany Will DIsavow Acts.
Long acquainted as this govern
ment has been with the character Of
the imperial German government and
with the high principles Of equity by
which they have in the past been
actuated and guided, the government
Of the United States cannot believe
that the commanders Of the vessels
which committed these acts of lawless-
ness did SO except under a misappre-
hension OF the orders issued by the i'm
perial German naval authorities. 1t
confidently expects, therefore, that the
imperial German government will dis
avow the acts of which the govern.
ment of the United States complains,
that they will make reparation so far
as reparation Is possible for injuries
which are without measure, and that
they will take immediate steps to pre-
vent the recurrence of anything so OBJ
viously subversive of the principles Of
warfare for which the imperial Ger
man government has in the past 80
wisely and so firmly commended. a."
1.-THE government and people Of the
United States look to the imperial Ger
man government for just, prompt and
enlightened action in this vital matter
with the greater confidence because
the United States and Germany are
bound together not only by special ties
Of friendship, but also by the explicit
stipulations of the treaty of 1928 be-
tween the United States and the king
dom Of Prussia. r
Will Maintain Rights Of U. s..
Expressions of regret and offers Of
| PREPARATION in case of the destruction
| of neutral ships sunk by mistake,
while they may satisfy international
| obligations If no loss of life results,
cannot justify or excuse practice, the
natural and necessary effect of which
is to subject neutral nations and neu-
trail persons to new and unreasonable
| risks.
1.-THE imperial German government
will not expect the government of the