The Spectator., 1915-07-27
Gerard Receiues Pres. Wilson, s Note

cd with interest and increasing satis- faction at the demonstration of that possibility by German naval command CTS. It is manifestly possible, there fore, to lift the whole practice of submarine attack above the criticism which it has aroused and remove the chief cause of offense.
 ''In view of the admission of ille- gality made by the imperial German government when it pleaded the right of retaliation in defense of it's acts, and in view of the manifest possibil- ity of conforming to the established rules of naval warfare, the govern ment of the United States cannot be- lieve the imperial government will longer refrain from diSavowing the wanton act of it's naval commander in sinking the Lusitania or from offering reparation for the American lives lost, so far as reparation can be made for a needless destruction of human life by an illegal act
 "The government of the United States, while not indifferent to the friendly spirit in which it is made, cannot accept the suggestion of the imperial German government that cer- tain vessels be designated and agreed upon which shall be free upon the seas now illegally prescribed. The very agreement would, by implication, sub ject other vessels to illegal attack and would be a curtailment and, therefore. an abandonment of the principles for which this government contends and which in times of calmer counsels every nation would concede as a mat ter of course.
 "Deliherately Unfriendly."
 The government of the United States and the imperial German gov ernment are contending for the same great object, have long stood together in urging the very principles upon which the government of the United States now so solenmly insists. They are both contending for the freedom of the seas. The government of the United States will continue to contend for that freedom, from whichever quar- ter violated. without compromise and at any cost It invites the practical government at this time when co-ope- ration may accomplish most. and th,s common object be most strikingly and effectively achieved.
 The imperial German government expresses the hope that this object may in some measure be accomplished even before the present war ends. It can be. The government of the Unit ed States not only feels obliged to iC. sist upon it, by whomoSover violated or ignored. in the protection of it's own citizens, but is also deeply inter- ested in seeing it made practicable be- | tween the belligerents themselves, and | holds itself ready at any time to act as the common friend who may be privileged to suggest way.
 Tn the meantime, the very value which this government sets upon the long and unbroken friendship between the people and government of the United States and the people and gov ernment of the German nation impels it to press very solemnly upon the inn perial German government the neces- sity for scrupulous observance of neutral rights in this critical matter Frienship itself prompts it to say to the imperial German government that repetition by the commanders of Ger man naval vessels Of acts in contra vention of those rights must be re. garded by the government of tho United States, when they affect Ameri- | can citizens. as deliberately un- friendly.
 LANSING"