The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-06-29

l,asins to the neutral party. aithcush
such things belong 70 ~ e9smy ex'2
the other "
No Gronnd FOR Destruction.
II seems clear to the uovr~nmene
of the United states, therefore. tl1At z
whether the cargo Of the Frye e fe5}
garded as contraband Or AZ nom
.contraband, the destruction Of the
vessel was, az stated in my previous
on this subject. =
violation Of the obligations Imposed
upon the Imperial German G0serns
ment under existing tret.y stipula-
tons between the United States ana
Prussia IN
For these reasons the Governments
OF the United States must disaErte
with the contention which II under-
stands is now made by the Impersot
German Government, that an Amert-
can vessel carrying contraband may
be destroyed without liability 9r ac-
countabil!ty beyond the payment o.
such compensation for damages ~ 4
may be fixed by German prize court
The issue thus presented arises ON
disputed Interpretation of treaty pro.
visions. the settlement of. WIN n rec
uuires direct diplomatic discussion be-
tween the two governments, and cam
not properly be based upon the de-
cision OF the German prize COURT
which IL in no way conclusive OF
binding upon the Government Of the
United States.
Moreover. even IL no disputed ques-
tious of treaty Interpretation were Inc
yolyed, the admission by the Imperial
German government of it's liability for
damages for sinking the vessel would
seem to make IL unnecessary, so rar
as this claim Is concerned, TO ask
the prize court TO decide whether
the destruction of the ship and cargo
was legal and whether, and under
what conditions, the property SUNK
was liable to confiscation, which you
state in your note dated June Z, are
questions which should be decided
by the prize court. In so far aS These
questions relate to the cargo, they
are outside of the present discussions
because, as pointed out I'M my pre-
vious note to you on the subject.
dated April 80, 'fhe claim under dis
cussion does not include damages Tor
the destruction Of the cargo.
Preparation For Breach Of Treaty.
The real question between the two
governments IL what reparation muA
be made for q breach of treaty oolf-
cations, and that is not question
which falls within the jurisdiction Of
q prize court.
In my first note on the subject the
government of the United States re-
quirei that "fuil reparation be made
by the Imperial German government
for the destruction of the William r.
Frye" Reparatfon necessarily I'M
cludes an indemnity for the actual
pecuniary loss sustained. and the gov
eminent of the United States takes
this opportunity to assure the Impe-
rial German government that sucn
an indemnity IL promptly paid viii
be accepted as satisfactory repara-
ton, but IL does not rest with the
prize court to determine what repa-
cation should be made, or what repa-
ration will he satisfactory to the gov
eminent of the United States.
Your Excellency stated in your note
of June 7, that in the event the prize
court should not grant Indemnity. IN
accordance with the treaty requires
ments, the German government wonld
not hesitate to arrange for equitable
Indemnity, but II Ia also necessary
that the government of the United
States should be satisfied with tho
amount of the indemnity should be
agreed upon now, rather than later.
The decision OF the prize court. even
on the question of the amount OF
indemnity to be paid, woufd not b
binding or conclusive on the govern-
ment OF the United States. The gov
eminent of the United States also
dissents from the view expressed II
your note. that there would be no
foundation for a claim Of the Ameri-
can government unless the pr1zo
cours should not grant indemnity IN
accordance with the treaty" The
claim presented by the American Cow
eminent is for an indemnity for =
violation of treaty, in distinction
from an indemnity in accordance
with the treaty. and, therefore, 10
matter for adjustment by direct dip
lomatic discussion between the two
governments, and is In no way de-
pendent upon the action or Ger
man prize court
For the reasons above stated, the
government of the United States can
not recognize the propriety OF sub
hitting the claim presented by Il
on behalf of the owners and captain
of the Frye to the German prise
court for settlement.
Not Interested In Other Gases.
The government of the United
States Is not concerned with any pr0-s
ceedings which the Imperial Ger
man government may wish to take
ION other claims or neutral and en-
envy interested parties" which have
not been presented by the BoVcFM~
ment of the United States. hut which
you state in your note of June I
make prize court proceedings in this
case indispensable. and 1t does not
perceive the necessity for postponinx
the settlement OF the present claim
pending the consideration OF thoeo
other claims by the prize court.
The government of the United
States. therefore, suggests that the
Imperial German government recora-
slider the subject in the light of Theses
considerations. and because OF the OBJ
jections against resorting to the prize
court the government OF the United
States renews it's former suggestion
that an effort be made to settle this
claim by direct diplomatic negoti-
atoms.
fSigned) LANSING.