Evening star., 1915-02-18

1.-The imperial government has ex-
amined the communication from the
United States government III the
same spirit of good will and friend
ship by which the communication
appears to have been dictated.
THE imperial government Is In
accord with the United States gov
ernment that for both parties it is
in a high degree desirable to avoid
Observation-Disclosures which might
arise from measures announced by
the German admiralty and to pro-
vide against the occurrence of incl
dents which might trouble the
friendly relations which so far hap
PLY exist between the two govern
ments.
Measure Of Self-Defense.
with regard to the assuring of
these friendly relations, the German
government believes that it may all
the more reckon on a full under
standing with the United States as
the procedure announced by the
German admiralty, which was fully
tApidlIcu III tiC liolt VI Tic nm III
stant. is in no way directed against
legitimate commerce and legitimate
shipping of neutrals. but represents
solely measure of self-defense,
imposed on Germany by her vital
interests. against England's method
of warfare, which is contrary to in
ternational law and which so far
no protest by neutralS has succeed
cd n bringing hack the 6ypnera1Iy
recognized principles Of law as ex-
isting before the outbreak of war.
I'm order to exclude all doubt re-
garding the cardinal points the Ger
man government once more begs
leave to state how things stand
Until now Germany has scrupulous-
ly observed valid international rules
regarding naval warfare. AT the
very beginning of the war Germany
Immediately agreed to the proposal
of the American government to rati-
fy the new declaration Of London,
and took over its contents unaltered.
and without formal obligation. into
her prize law.
Indictment of England.
The German government has
obeyed these rules. even when they
were diametrically opposed to her
Germany allowed the transportation
of provisions to England from Den
mark until today, though she was
well able. by her sea forces, to pre-
vent it. In contra distinction to
this attitude. England has not even
hesitated at a second infringement
of international law, if by such
means she could paralyZe the peace
full commerce of Germany with neu-
trails. The German government will
be the less obliged to enter into de-
tails. as these are put down suf-
ficiently. though not exhaustively. in
the American note to the British
government dated December 29 as
a result of five months experience.
"All these encroachments have
been made. as has been admitted. in
order to cut off all supplies from
Germany. and thereby starve her
peaceful civil population-a proce-
dure contrary to all humanitarian
principles. Neutrals have been un-
able to prevent the interruption of
their commerce with Germany.
which is contrary to international
laws. The American government, as
Germany readily acknowledges, has
protested against the British pro-
cedure.
Wilhelmina Case Cited.
I'm spite of these protests and pro-
tests from other neutral states.
Great Britain could not be induced
to depart from the course of action
she had decided upon Thus, for in
stance. the American ship Wilhel-
NINA recently was stopped by the
E-I~ "a