New Britain herald., 1916-04-20
Germany Is Convicted 0f
 Inhumane U-B0af Warfare Stiff Note from President Wilson to Berlin Demands ss End to Attacks on Vessels Endangering x American Lives.

, and payment of a suitable indemnity by the Imperial Government. l But, though the attack upon the 1 Sussex was manifestly indefensible
 and caused a loss of life so tragical
 as to make it stand forth as one of the most terrible examples of the in
 humanity of submarine warfare as | the commanders of German vessels
 are conducting it, it unhappily does ] not stand alone.
 l On the contrary the Government of 1 the United States is forcved by re-
 cent events to conclude that it is only | one instance, even though one Of l the most extreme and most distress l ing instances, of the deliberate me- , thod and spirit of indiscriminate de- | struction of merchant vessels of all | sorts, nationalities and destinations 1 which have become more and more | unmistakable as the activity of Ger man undersea vessels of war has in l recent months been quickened and extended.
 The Imperial Government will re- call that when, in February, 1915, it announced it's intention of treating the waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland as embraced within the
 
 l merchant ships owned by it's enemies that might be found within that zone of danger, and warned all vessels neutral as we'll as bel1igerent, to keep out of the waters thus prescribed or to enter them at their peril, the Gov ernment of the United States earnest ly protested. It took. the position that such policy could not be pur- sued without constant gross and pal pablo violations of the accepted law of nations, particularly if submarine craft were to be employed as it's in- struments, inasmuch as the rule3 prescribed by that law, rules found ed on the prin ciples of humanity and established for the protection of the lives of non-combatants at sea could not in the nature of the case be ob- served by such vessels. It based it's protest on the ground that persons of neutral nationality and vessels of neutral ownership would be exposed to extreme and intolerab1e risks; and that no right to close any part of the high seas could lawfully be as- serted by the Imperial Government in the circumstances then existing.
 Law Based on Human Principles.
 The law of nations in these mat ters, upon which the Government of is not of recent origin or founded upon merely arbitrary principles set up by convention. It is based, on the Contrary, sf upon manifest princi pies of humanity and has long been stablished with the approval and by the express assent of all civilized na- tions.
 The Imperial Government, not withstanding, persisted in carrying out the policy announced, expressing the hope that the dangers involved, at any rate to neutral vessels, would te reduced to a minimum by the in structions which it had issued to the commanders of it's submarines and assuring the government of the United States that it would take every possible precaution both to re- spect the rights of neutrals and to safeguard the lives of non-comba- tants.
 In pursuance of this policy of sub- marine warfare against the com merce of it's adversaries, thus an nounced and thus entered upon in despite of the solemn protest of the Government of the United States, the commanders of the Imperial Govern nent's undersea vessels have carried 1 on practices of such ruthless destruc- ton which have made it more and 1 more evident as the months have gone by that the Imperial Govern ment has found it impracticab1e to l put any such restraint upon them as it had hoped and promised to put. Again and again the Imperial Gov ernment has given it's solemn assur- ances to the Government of the United States that at least passen- ger ships would not be thus dealt with, and yet it has repeatedly per- mitted it's undersea commanders to disregard those assurances with en- tire impunity. As recently as Febru- ary last it gave notice that it would regard all armed merchantmen owned by it's enemies as part of the armed naval forces of it's adversares and deal with them as with men-of- war, thus, at least by implication pledging itself to give warning to vessels which were not armed and even to accord security of life to their passengers and crews; but even this limitation their submarine com manders have recklessly ignored.
 Vessels of neutral ownership. even vessels of neutral ownership bound nH@- -sanS -~