The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-20


 dent to it that the position which it took at Che very outset is inevitable.
 namely, the use of submarines for the destruction of an enemys commerce. is, of necessity, because of the very character of the vessels employed and
 the very methods of attack which their employment, of course, involves, utter I ly incompatible with the principles of
 humanity, the long-established and in controvertible rights of neutrals and
 the sacred immunities of noncombat- ants.
 l If 1t Is still the purpose of the i'm perial government to prosecute relent- less and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of commerce by the the use of submarines without regard l to what the government of the Uni ] ted States must consider the sacred | and indisputable rules of international
 law and the universally recognized dic- | tates of humanity, the government of l the United States is at last forced to the~ conclusion that there is but one course it can pursue. Unless the im- perial government should now imme- diately declare and effeCS an abandon4 ment of it's present methods of subma- i rine warfare against passenger and l freight carrying vessels. the govern
 ment of the United States can have no choice but to sever diplomatic rela- tions with the German empire alto- gether. This action the government of the United States contemplates with the greatest reluctance kut feels con-
 strained to take in be1talf of human 1 ity and the rights of neutral nations"
 APPENDIX TO NOTE
 The appendix to the note under the caption, statement of Facts in Sussex Case,' accompanying the note to German nnrt of rsI FoIJo [ The French channel steamer Sussex, employed regularly in passenger service between the ports of Folkestone Eng land, and Dieppe. France, as it had been for years (French foreign office), left Folkestone for Dieppe at 1:25 D. m, March 24, 1916, with 325 or more passen- gers and a crew of 53 men. Declaration of Captain Mouffett, Rear Admiral Gras- sets reporD. The passengers, among whom were about 25 American citizens Telegram London embassy, March 25, and Paris embassy March 26 and 2S) were 1 of several nationalities and many of 1 them were women and children and near ! ly half of them subjects of neutral states i Report of Commander Sayles and Lieu- tenant Smith, Rear Admiral Grassets re- port. The Sussex carried no armament (French foreign office, report of Con- mander Sayles and Lieutenant Smith: affidavits of American passengers), has | never been employed as a troop ship, and was following a route not used for trans porting troops from Great Britain to France. British admiralty statement; French foreign office). The steamer pro- ceeded on its course almost due south after passing Dungeness Declaration of Captain Mouffe). The weather was I clear and the sea smooth (Affidavits of | Edna Hale, John H. Hearley, Gertrude w Warren). At 2:50 D. m, when the l Sussex was about 13 miles from Dunge 1 ness Declaration of Captain Mouffet. the captain of the vessel, who was on 1 the bridge, saw about 15O meters from the ship, on the port side, the wake of a. l torpedo. Declaration of Captain Mouf- fetD. It was also seen very clearly bv the first officer and the boastwain, who were with the captain on the bridge (Report Of Rear Admiral GrasseD In- mediately the captain gave orders to port the helm and stop the starboard engine l (Declaration of Captain Mouffett) the purpose being to swing the vessely to starboard so as to dodge the torpedo by l allowing it to pass along the port bow on a line converging with the altered 1 course of the steamer. Before however the vessel could be turned far enough to | avoid crossing the course of the torpedo I the latter struck the hull at an angle a short distance forward of the bridge. ex- l ploded, destroyed the entire forward na I watertight bulkhead, carried away the I foremast with the wireless antennae and killed or injured about 80 of the persons I aboard Declaration of Captain Mouf 1 felt; report of Rear Admiral Grasset:
 deposition of Henry S. Beer). At the | time no other vessel was in sight (Affi- davits of Samuel F. Bemis, T. w. Cul- bertson, John H. Hearley and others). SEVERAL SAW TORPEDO '"The approach of the torpedo was wit messed by several other persons on the vessel. (Affidavits of Samuel F. Bemis Henry s. Beer, Gertrude w Warren). One of these, an American citizen named Henry s. Beer, was leaning on the port rail about 10 feet behind the bridge and gazing seaward when he saw the ap- preaching torpedo about 100 yards away and exclaimed to his wife and compan- ion: "A torpedo*" Immediately following his exclamation the missile struck the vessel. Dispositions of Henry s. Beer and Mrs Henry s. Beer).
 In further corroboration of the fact that the captain saw the torpedo com l ing toward the vessel, is the sworn
 statement of the engineers on duty that the order to port the helm and l to stop the starboard engine was re- ceived and obeyed. (Report of Admiral Grassett.)
 No reasonable explanation can be given for this unusual order other | than that the captain saw something which caused him to change ais course l sharply to starboard
 Tn addition to this evidence. which would in itself appear to be :cnclu- sive that the agent of destruction was torpedo. is that of Lieutenant Smith. United States navy, attached to the
 American embassy at Paris, who, &C.,
 companied by Major Logan, United states army, of the embassy, went to Roulogne, inspected the hull of the
 Sussex and personally found beneath | the mass of water soaked debris of
 the wreck IS pieces of metal, which