Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1915-06-17

FEATURES u I TSSlQent WILSON'S [
ito Germany fail to iFisGate a belli
cose position. such as would cause u
severance Of relations between the
president and the secretary of state.
The note is much milder than the
country had eason to expect after
the resignation Of Mr.. Bryan. Re-
garding the Lusitania affair, 1t SAYS:
Your exceIlency's note in discussing
the loss OF American lives resulting
from the sinking Of the steamship
Lusitania adyerts at some length to
certain information which the imper-.
ial German government has received
with regard to the character and out
fit of that vessel and your excellency
expresses the fear that his informa-
ton may not have been brought to
the attention Of the government Of
the United States. 1t is stated in the
note that the Lusitania was undoubt-
eddy equipped with masked guns, sup
Piled with trained gunners and spec
ial ammunition, transporting troops
from Canada, carrying a cargo not
permitted under the laws of the
United States, to a vessel carrying
passengers and serving in virtual eff
feet, as an auxiliary to the naval
forces of Great Britain. Fortunately
these are matters concerning which.
the government of the United States
German government official informa-
ton. OF the facts alleged in your
excellency's note, if true, the govern
ment of the United States would have.
been bound to take official cogniz-
ance in performing its recognized
duty as a neutral power and in en-
forcing its national laws. It was its.
duty to see that the Lusitania was
not armed for offensive action, that
she was not serving as a transport,
that she did not carry a cargo pro-
hibited by the statutes of the United,
States and that if, in fact, she was
a naval vessel of Great Britain, she
did not receive clearance papers as
a merchantmen; and it performed
that duty and enforced it's statutes
with scrupulous vigilance through it's
regular constituted officers. 1t is
able, therefore, to assure the imper.i
ial German government that it has
been misinformd. If the imperial
German government should deem it.
self to be in possession of convincing
evidence that the officials Of the gov
eminent of the United States did not
perform these duties with thorough
ness, the government Of the United
States sincerely hopes that it will sub
nit the evidence for consideration.
whatever tmay be til %contntions
of the imperial German goyernmnt
Regarding the carrying of contraband
of wal on board the Lusitania, or re-
garding the explosion of that material.
by the torpedo, it need only be said
that in the view OF this government
these contentious ar irrelevant to the
question of the legality of the meth
Iods used by the German naval au-
thorities in sinking the vessel.
"But the sinking of passenger ships
Involves principles of humanity which
throw into the background any spe-
|cial circumstances Of detail that may
be thought to affect the cases, prin-
|ciples which lift it, as the imperial;
German government will no doubt be
quick to recognize and acknowledge,
out of the class of ordinary subjects
Eof diplomatic discussion or of inter
national controversy. Whatever be
the other facts regarding the LUST
tania, the principal fact is that a
great steamer, primarily and chiefly
a conveyance for passengers and car
rying more than a thousand souls
who had no part or lot in the conduct
of the war. was ~torpedoed and sunk
without SO much as a challengetNor a
warning, and that men, women and
Ichildren were sent to their death in
circumstances unparalleled in modern
warfare. The fact that more than
one hundred American citizens We're
among those who persisted made IT
the duty of the government Of the
United States t o speak Of these things
and once more, with solemn en-
pl,asis to call the attention of the i'm.
perial German government to the
Igraye responsibility which the gov-
ernment Of the United States I.
ceives that it has incurred in rms