The commonwealth., 1916-05-09
Full of
German
Note

Berlin, May 5.-(Via Wireless to
Sayviile.)-Following is the text of the
note of the German government in re-
ply to the American note respecting
submarine warfare, delivered on Thurs
day by Gottileb Won Jagow, the for
ei@n secretary, to Ambassador Gerard:
'.The undersigned on behalf of the
imperial German government has the
honor to present to his excellency, his
ambassador of the United States, Mr.
James w. Gerard, the following reply
to the note of April 20, regarding the
The Sussex Case.
The German government handed
over to the proper naval authorities
for early investigation the evidence
Ell by the government of the United
States. Judging by the results that the
investigation has hitherto yielded the
German government is alive to the
possibility that the ship mentioned in
the note of April 10 as having been
tOrpedoed by German submarine is
actually identical with the Sussex.
1.-THE German government begs to re-
serve further communication on the
matter until certain points are ascer-
tanned, which are Of decisive import
arae for establishing the facts of the
case. Should it turn out that the COM
m ho
vessel to be a man -of-war the German
government will not fail to draw the
consequence resulting therefrom.
I'm connection with the case of the
Sussex the Government of the United
States made a series of statements,
the gist OF which is the assertion that
the incident is to be considered but
one instance of deliberate method of
indiscriminate destruction of vessels
of all sorts, nationalities and destina-
tions by German submarine command
ers.
Reruoiates Assertion
1.-The German government must EN-
phatically repudiate the assertion The
German government, however, thinks
it of little avail to enter the details
in the present state Of offairs more
particularly as the government Of the
United States ommited to substantiate
the assertion by reference to concrete
facts.
1.-The German government will only
f,to %ba@ e
restraints upon the use Of the submar-
inc weapon, solely in consideration OF
neutrals' interests, in spite Of the fact
that these restric ctions are necessarily
OF advantage to Germany S enemies
No such consideration has ever been
shown neutrals by Great Britain and
her allies
Instructions to Submarines.
The German submarine forces have
had, i'll fact, orders to conduct the
submarine warfare in accordance with
the general principles of visit and of
search and the destruction of merchant
vessels recognized by international
law, the sole exception being the con-
duct OF warfare against enemy trade
carried on enemy freight ships en-
countered in the war zone surrounding
great Britain. With regard to these
no assurances have ever been given
to the government Of the United
States. No such assurances are con-
tanned in the declaration Of February
8, 1916.
Errors That Occur.
The German government can not
admit any doubt that these orders were
given or are executed in good faith.
Errors actually occur. They can, in no
kind of warfare be avoided altogether.
Allowances must be made in the con
duct of naval warfare against an enemy
resorting to all kinds of ruses, whether
permissible or illicit.
Wars Dangers to Neutrals.
But apart from the possibility of
errors, naval warfare, just like war
fare on land, implies unavoidable dan
gers for neutral persons and goods en-
tering the war zone. Even in cases
where the naval action is confined to
ordinary forms of cruisers neutral per-
sons and goods repeatedly come to
grief.
''The German government has repeat
edly and explicitly pointed out the dan
gers from mines that have led to the
loss of numerous ships
Would Renew Offers Made.
1.-The German government has made
several proposals to the government Of
the United States in order to reduce
to minimum for American travellers
and goods the inherent dangers of
naval warfare. Unfortunately the gov
ernment of the United States decided
not to accept the proposals. Had it ac-
cepted, the government of the United
States would have been instrumental
in preventing the greater part of the
accidents that American citizens have
met with in the meantime
'The German government still
stands by its offer to come to an agree
ment along these lines.
Will Make Concessions
''AS the German government rana,+