The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1915-06-10
Refuses to Concur in
German Note,
WILSON ACCEPTS
HIS RESIGNATION
Letter to Germany Is Said to
Contain Vigorous Language.

Washington, June 9.-William J.
Bryan has resigned as secretary of
state and his resignation has been
accepted by President Wilson to take
effect Immediately.
Mr.. Bryan retires from the Wilson
administration because he is unable
conscientiously to sign the note which
the president is about to dispatch to
Germany. TO attach his signature to
this communication would, in the
opinion of Mr.. Bryan, be unfair to
the cause nearest his heart namely.
the prevention of war.
At direction of President Wilson,
Robert Lansing, acting secretary of
state, has signed the note. It has
been rushed into the hands Of state
department experts to be coded and
will be on it's way to Berlin by the
time the American public is reading
the startling details of Mr.. Bryan's
refusal to lend his name to it as Sec
rotary Of state.
The note, to which Mr.. Bryan was
unable to subscribe, firmly restates
the position of the United States, re-
iterates President Wilson's previous
demands and calls upon Germany for
prompt expression as to whether or
not she intends to abide by the prin-
ciples of the international law and
humanity. That it is more vigorous
than the presidents first note to Ger
many is evidenced by the fact that
Mr.. Bryan signed the first, but re-
signed rather than sign the second.
Several Results May Follow.
Four things stand out impressively
among the results which seem certain
to come from the remarkable develop
First-That the country will be di-
vided on the question of President
Wilson's policy toward Germany.
Second-That there will be a real
awakening in Germany to the deter
mination of the president and the seri-
BUSINESS of the situation confronting
them as a result of the United States
demand
Third-That there will probably be
split in the Democratic party, with
Mr.. Bryan eventually appearing as a
leader in opposition to many of Presi-
dent Wilson's policies and probably
in opposition to Mr.. Wilson's renomi-
nation.
Fourth--That there will be a change
in the administrations general foreign
policy-the substitution of vigorous
assertion of American rights for the
temporizing policy of the last two
years.
Many officials in Washington also
expect to see a clean cut issue be.
tween President Wilson and Mr..
Bryan on the question of the national
defenses, with the probable retire
ment of Josephus Daniels, Mr.. Bryan's
friend, from the cabinet, as secretary
of the navy. Startling as was the
mere withdrawal of Mr. Bryan from
the administration it was the effect of
his action upon the immediate crisis
between the United States and Ger.
many over which Washington officials
were chiefly concerned.
One Sentence Is Puzz!ing.
One sentence in Mr. Bryan's letter
OF resignation to the president was
puzzling. This sentence read:
"Obedient to your sense of duty and
actuated by the highest motives YOU
have prepared for transmission to the
herman government note in which
l can not join without violating what
l deem to be an obligation to my
country and the issue involved is ct
such moment that to remain a men?
Der of the cabinet would be as unfai
to you as it would be to the cause
which is nearest my heart, namely
the prevention of war;
BY some the sentence was construed
as plain intimation that Secretary
Bryan feared that one of the posi-
bilities Of the note, which the presi
dent has ordered forwarded to Ger
many, may be war. The other con
struction was that Secretary Bryan
feared that his acquiesence in the
presidents determination to refuse tt
discuss the facts of the Lusitanis
sinking with the Berlin government
would be death blow to the princi
pies for which Mr.. Bryan has con
tended and for which he has embodied
in thirty peace treaties with foreign
governments.
While the correspondence between
the president and Mr.. Bryan is mark
ed with the utmost cordially on thu
presidents part, in fact with the mani
festation of deep regret and sorrow
there was one sentence in Secretar,
Rryan's letter which indicates he viii