Valdez daily prospector., 1916-01-04
WILSON'S NOTE TO AUSTRIA
 ON THE ANCONA SINKING

IIlSSAucAI "llSOu tO Iuo AusCAioh
 government regarding the sinking ot
 the Italian liner Ancona, when g
 number of American < citizens lost
 their lives. The note was cabled tc
 Ambassador Penfield in Vienna, and
 by him delivered to the Austrian
 ministry.
 Reliable information obtained
 from American and other survivors
 who were passengers on the steam
 ship Ancona shows that on Novem.
 Der 7, submarine flying the Aus.
 tro-Hungarian flag fired a solid shot
 toward the steamship, that thereupor
 the Ancona attempted to escape, but
 being overhauled by the submarine
 she stopped, that after brief peri.
 cd and before the crew and passen.
 gers were all able to take to the boats
 the submarine fired a humber ot
 shells at the vessel and finally tor.
 pedoed and sank her while there were yet many persons on board, and that
 by gunfire and laundering of the yes sel a large number of persons lost their lives or were seriously injur- ed, among whom were citizens of the United States.
 The public statement of the Aus
 tro Hungarian Admiralty has been
 brought to the attention of the Gov Iernment of the United States and re- Iceived careful consideration.
 This statement substantially con- firms the principal declaration of the survivors, as it admits that the An coma, after being shelled, was torpe- doed and sunk while persons were still on board.
 The Austro-H Hungarian Govern ment has been advised, through the correspondence which has passed be- tween the United States and Ger many, of the attitude of the Govern ment of the United States as express ed in no uncertain terms to the ally of Austria-Hungary, the commander of the submarine which attacked the Ancona failed to put in a place of safety the crew and passengers of the vessel which they purposed to de- stroy, because, it is presumed of the impossibility of taking it into port as prize of war
 The Government of the United States considers that the commander violated the principles of interna- tional law and of humanity by she'll ing and torpedoing the Ancona be- fore the passengers on board had been put in a place of safety or even given sufficient time to leave the ves- sel. The conduct of the commander can only be characterized as wanton slaugter of defenseless noncombat- ants, since at the time when the yes gel was shelled and torpedoed she was not, it appears, resisting or at- to escape, and no other req son is sufficient to excuse such an at tack, not even the possibility of res cue.
 The Government of the United States is forced, therefore, to con- clude either that the commander of the submarine acted in violation of his instructions or that the Imperial and Royal Government failed to is- sue instructions to the commanders of it's submarines in accordance with the law of nations and the principles of humanity. The Government of the United States is unwilling to believe the latter alternative and to credit the Austro-Hungarian Government with an intention to permit it's sub marines to destroy the lives of help less men, women and children. It prefers to believe that the comman- der of the submarine committed this outrage without authority and con- trary to the general or special in- which he had received.
 As the good relations of the two must rest upon a common regard for law and humanity, the of the United States can not be expected to do otherwise than to demand that the Imperial and Roy al Government denounce the sinking fo the Ancona as an illegal and inde- act: that the officer who per- petrated the deed be punished, and that reparation by the payment of an indemnity be made for the citizens of the United States who were killed or injured by the attack on the ves- sel.
 The Government of the United States expects that the Austro- Hun garian Governments, appreciating the gravity of the case, will accede to it's promptly, and it rests this on the belief that the A A,,o&~o u~r~or;ov, vr,ivI