New Britain herald., 1916-12-07
ARABIA WARSHIP.
 GERMANY CLAIMS
Submarine Captair Justified in Sinking British Vessel in Med.
 iterranean, Says Note
SAW NO WOMEN OR
 CHILDREN ABOARI

CHILDREN ABOARI Ship Was in Lanes Used By Allies To
 Transport Service and U-boat Cont
 mander Concluded She Was BeinJ
 Used For Military Purposes.--TrltiX
 dent Recalls Wilson's Stand on .Re
 grettabIe Mistakes"
 Washington, Dec. 7.-Germany, fl a note made public by the state de . partment today, contends that tn f British steamer Arabia, sunk in tn l. Mediterranean on Nov. 6, was in real ity "a transport ship for troops in tn service of the British government which is to be considered as an auxil iary warship, according to internal tional law and can, therefore, b treated like a warship."
 The German governments attitude however, like that in the Marina case
 
 make amendments if it be shown tha | the submarine commander violate Germany's pledges to the Unite f States.
 Text of Note.
 The note addressed by the Berli foreign office to Charge Grew in replI to his inquiry made on instruction from Washington, follows:
 Foreign office, Berlin, Dec. 4, 191d
 "The undersigned has the honoI to inform MT. Grew, charge d'affairj of the United States of America, in rel ply to the note of 21st. ultimo, thaI the Investigation conducted by thI German government concerning thI sinking of the British steamer Arabia 1 has led to the following results: "On the morning of Novemberj5, ] German submarine encountered l'large steamer coming from the Con igo straits 100 nautical miles west ~ 1 the island of Corigo. The steamer wal painted black and had black rupeil structure and not, as is otherwise thl case with P. and O. line superstrpcI tures a light color. The steamed which was identical with the Arabij was not travelling on the route regul
  between Port Said and Malta, as Il made plain on the enclosed map, bu| was taking a zigzag course toward the west, 120 nautical miles north q that route. This course, on which thu submarine passed three simila1 steamers at the same spot on thl same morning, leads from the Aegead to Malta, so that the Arabia was mov| fra (NnT3p0j Malta. used solely for war purpQsed according to the experience until noWl
 'The commander of the submal1rl further ascertained that there Werd large patches of Chinese and. othe1 colored persons in their national cost tunes on board the steamer. He con sidered them to be workmen soldiers such as are used in great number behind the front by the enemies Germany. In spite of the clea weather and careful observation did not perceive any women ana chll dren.
 "In their circumstances the conn mander of the submarine was con vinced that in the case of this steam CT he was concerned with trans port ship for troops in the service Q the British government which IS 10 DC considered as an auxiliary Warshlp ac1 cordinp to international law and car, be treated iko9a warship. He accord l. ine1v considered himself justified in attacking the steamer without delay and sank it.
 Willing to Be Proved Erroneous.
 "Should the American government give the official data showing that thef Ara bia. was at the time of the torpedo- ing all ordinary passenger steanaelf the action of the commander WouldI not have been in accordance With thej instructions given him, since these in-l strlction are now as before In agre9-I nlent with the assurances 10 the Ger-| man note of May, 1916. This wouldI then be a case of a regrettable mis-I take from which the German goVern-I ment would promptly draw tho appro-! priate consequences"
 What action the state departm entI will take is problematical. Secretars-| Lansing refused utterly to commend on the case today and other ofticialsI were reticent. Should it be shown that the Arabial was, as Germany contends a trans-l port this government probably would| admit the sinking was justified If, however, it is shown that the subma-| rine commander was mistaken in| holding her to be a transport, a mostl serious situation will confront the| state department. At the time the Sussex was sunk Germany was told| that this country could not tolerate "regrettable mistakes"