The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-12

Washington, May 12.-secretary Lam sing yesterday afternoon announced that the United States would make inquiries of the German government regarding the Inappropriate punish ment' imposed upon the commander of the submarine which attacked the Channel steamship Sussex.
 It also was announced at the State Department that the American gov ernment is preparing to protest to Great Britain against the policy of refusing to allow the shipment of hos pital supplies by the American Red Cross to Germany and her allies.
 It is not expected that a formal note will be sent to Germany asking infor- nation regarding the punishment inn posed on the U boat commander, but Ambassador Gerard probably will be required to make representations.
 A copy of the record of the court Which acted on the case probably will satisfy the administrat ton. The Unit ESentence be passed upon the com mander, as was required by the Ger man government in China when Ba- ron Kettler was murdered during the Boxer uprising. At that time Ger many compelled the government of the plot in the presence of a German official
 Neither the State nor Navy Depart ment is familiar with the rules of the German Admiralty governing cases in which naval officers are found guilty of misconduct.
 In the Ancona and Arabic cases the United States accepted the statements from Austria and Germany that the submarine commanders had been pun ished. No specifications were re- Quired. The administration believes hot %1oo AT. -lL vat1ng of all the cases that have oc- cured since the Lusitania, and Secre- tary Lansing desires Germany in or der to prove it's good faith to tell this government just what was done to the guilty commander. &E
 Within a few weeks it is probable that the German government will of fer to close the Lusitania ease. The State Department has satisfactory disavowal signed by Count won Bernstorff,. and 1t will1 be accepted by Secretary Lansing as soon as suffi- cient time has elapsed to indicate whether the new submarine policy is being lived up to.
 A letter received today by Secretary Lansing from former President Taft, chairman of the central committee of the Red Cross, urged that the British refusal to pass Red Cross shipments be taken up with the British govern ment in the near future.
 MT. Taft,s letter revealed for the first time that Great Britain formally had declined to issue permits for ship ments of supplies to the central pow CTS except when intended for Ameri- can hospital units. This exception, MT. Taft wrote, was worthless, because the Red Cross, lacking funds, had maintained no units in the be1ligerent countries since last October.
 The Red Cross considers the British attitude a violation of the Geneva convention, to which the United States and all of the belligerents are signatories. It holds that the Ameri- con government has the right to insist upon observance of the treary. MT. Taft expressed the hope that the British position was based upon an erroneous belief that the central pow CTS had failed to agree to reciprocal course in the treatment of articles for the sick and wounded.
 '-Since the beginning of the present war; MT. Tafts letter said, ''the American Red Cross has invited con tributions of money and supplies with