The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-05

I |
 the country action just as soon as l the full facts in the Persia disaster
 can be learned.
 '@The President and the Secretary of | State are taking every means possible I to obtain the full facts in this grave
 matter and will act just as soon as
 the information is obtained" said the i official statement issued at the White House offices.
 LANSING TO GET
 l MORE INFORMATION
 1 The Presidents second step was to l direct Secretary Lansing to gather
 more information from the Persia sur vivors. The secretary ordered the con- l suls at Alexandria, Malta and Cairo to l obtain affidayits and at once cable l summaries of their contents. Until that information is received or Ambassador 1 Penfield reports some result from his inquiry to the 4 austrian government ,, the situation so far as can be seen to- l night will be at a standstill.
 1 Meanwhile, however, there is discus l sion of what steps the United States | may, take to make clear to the central l power belligerents as allies the eX- l tent to which it expects to hold them responsible for submarine operations I in violation of international law, be l they conducted by Germans, Austrians, I Turks or Bulgarians.
 | Austria's plea that she knew nothing 1 official of the outcome of the submarine controversy with Germany is recalled by 1 one set of officials who favor taking
 action which might forestall similar | plea by the other allies when the Uni
 ted States has finished with Austria. 1 It was discovered today that the United 1 States already had delivered to the Amer 1 ican diplomatic representatives in Tur- | L and IQI1lo ro1sio md n l and Bulgarian diplomats here copies of I the submarine correspondence with Ger many. This is taken as an indication | that they will be kept informed of future developments.
 1 The latest developments of the crisis | for the first time brought the President 1 into conference with the heads of the l congressional committees which deal with l foreign relations and disclosed that they l are to be informed of the coming steps. l Appreciation of this course was expressed 1 by senators and representatives who all
 along have been wanting to be taken | into the Presidents confidence without | the formality of resolutions It was in 1 dicated as possible that before any dras- l tic step was taken the President might l address Congress in person, laying bare all the facts and the steps in the long controversy.
 HEADERS UNEASY
 OVER CONGRESS
 1 Administration leaders were uneasy to- jday over the prospect of an opposition attack in the Senate on the administra- l ton policy, but that fear was relieved when the Senate after being in session l 10 minutes adjourned in respect to the memory of the late Justice Lamar The l House showed no uneasiness and the day which had begun with forebodings passed l over without speech-making which the l dr,iui ct ra tiOn feared might further flame the public mind.
 l An indication of the administration S l intention to proceed cautiously was seen :! in. the indefinite postponement of tomor- rows meeting of the Senate foreign rela- 1 tions committee, where the situation 1 would have been discussed.
 1 Back of the determination to be delib- | crate, however, officials say there is no intention of acting any the less firmly l and promptly if the facts warrant 1t. The President and all his advisers are 1 represented as realizing to it's full eX- | tent that the submarine controversy, I drawn over nearly a year with perplex- ling and critical negotiations, often i brought to the breaking point, now is at 1 the most critical stage 1t ever has as- 1 sumed and their intention is that the next step shall place the government in | a position in which it will be able to 1 maintain the principles of international law and humanity. They are represented as intending that all the facts shall be 1 so fully developed that when move is made it will withstand whatever event. l ualities are expected to follow.
 MAY EFFECT RELATIONS l WITH OTHER ALLIES
 The possibility that any action taken | will affect the relations of the United States not only with Austria, but with 1 all the central power belligerents as allies | is not being left out of consideration. There is always in the background the | possibility that the Persia was not tor l pedoed, or if she was torpedoed that the act cannot be proved, and the assur-
 ances of Baron Zwiedinek, the Austrian l charge. that should one of his country's ] submersibles be found responsible, repa-
 ration and satisfaction would be given, 1 is relieving factor
 l But in the background of the whole case 1 lies the continued destruction of ships with loss of life after both Germany and | Austria have given the United States as-
 surances that passenger ships would not be attacked without warning or oppor- tunity for their noncombataits to find places of safety. This broader phase of
 (Continued on page Two)