The Washington herald., 1916-05-06
GERMAN NOTE DEFENDS
KAISER'S U-BOAT WAR
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

OF statements the gist of which Is the
assertion that the incident to be consid-
cred was but one instance Of deliberate
method of the indiscriminate destruction
OF vessels OF all sorts, and all nation
alities and destinations by German sub
marine commanders.
THE German government must en-
phatically repudiate the assertion, but
the German government, however thinks
II of little avail TO enter into details In
ticularly as the government of the United
States omitted to substantiate assertions
by reference to concrete facts.
The German government Will only
state that It has imposed far-reaching
restraints upon the use of the subma-
rlne weapon, solely in consideration of
the neutrals, In spite of the fact that
these restrictions were necessarily OF ad-
vantage to Germany's enemies.
Orders to U-Boats.
shown to ncutrals by Great Britain and
her allies.
German submarine forces have. in
fact. had orders to conduct submarine
warfare in accordance with the general
principles of visit and search. The de-
struction Of merchant ships has been rec
ornized by international law, the sole
exception being the conduct of warfare
against enemy trade carried on against
enemy freight ships encountered in the
war zone waters around Great Britain
British Isles) With regard to these no
assurances were ever given to the United
States government.
No such assurances were contained in
the dncla n tioFa 90
The German government cannot admit
that 1t has any doubt about these orders
being carried out in good faith (by the
submarine commanders).
Errors actually may have occurred
In no kind OF warfare can they be avoid
ed altogether and allowances must be
made in the conduct of naval warfare
against an enemy that is resorting to all
kinds of ruseS, be they permissible or
Illegal.
"ImPIies Unavoidable Dangers"
But apart from the possibility Of er-
rors, naval warfare. like warfare on land.
implies unavoidable dangers for neutral
persons and goods entering a fighting
zone.
Even in cases where naval actions
were confined to the ordinary form of
cruiser man-of-war) fighting neutral
persons and goods have repeatedly come
to grief
THE German government has repeat
edly and explicitly pointed out dangers
Of mines that have led to the loss of
numerous ships.
The German government has made
several lboposals to the government OF
the United States in order to reduce
to minimum for American travellers
and goods the OnherenO natural dangers
of naval warfare.
unfortunately the government OF the
United States decided not to accept the
proposals. Had it accepted them the
government OF the United States would
have been instrumental in preventing a
greater part of the accident that Ameri-
can citizens have met with In the
meantime. the German government still
stands by its offer to come to an agree
ment along these lines.
Cannot Dispense with U-Boats.
The German government has repeated
ly declared it cannot dispense with the
use of the submarine weapon in the con-
duct Of warfare against enemy trade.
The German government. however. has
now decided to make further concessions.
adopting the methods of submarine war
fare to the interests of neutrels In
TeaChlng thls decision the German gov
ernmept was actuated by considerations
which are above the level OF the questions
in dispute.
The German government attaches no
less Importance to the sacred principles
OF humanity than the government OF the
United States. Again it fully takes into
account the fact that both governments
German and American) have for years
cO-operated in developing international
law in conformity with these principles
Cof humanity The object has been al
ways to Confine warfare on both sea and
land to armed forces of belligerents and
safeguard as far as possible noncom-
batants against the horrors of war.
Puts Blame on British.
But while these considerations are of
great weight they alone. under the pres
ent circumstances. would not by them
selves have determined the attitude of the
German government
In answer to the appeal by the gov
crnment of the United States on behalf Of
the sacred principles of humanity and
law the German govern
ment must repeat once more with all the
emphasis at its command that It was not
the German but the British government
which. ignoring all the accepted rules OF
international law, extended this terrible
war to the lives and property Of non
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