Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-04-06

was virtually settled and that Secretary
rMnsing had a satisfactory note from Ger.
.ne secretary OF state and other high of
.,ciais of the state department were con-
t,hlally importuned by representatives OF
me press to talk about or give out for
pupilcatlon the text of the alleged German
notc. which. as a matter of fact, was in
possession of the United States govern
Haeht' Dut mad not been accepted by Pres
gent Wilson as a settlement of the case.
~ was in vain that the state department
wsra he several newspaper men that ,r they
Iaese Tor news was so persistent that
Secretary lansing refused TO further dis
S" Abo ,ne f nus ami; case with " them; 1915
q subordinate official of the state depart
ment who assemblies the displomatic cor.
r published as , p @hifa adny compiled led G and
nan embassy a letter, which was signed
e,ther by Secretary Lansing or Counsellor
FOX, asking for permission to publish one
Of the Lusitania notes submitted by the
German ambassador on December 4. The
German embassy replied. giving it's as
aaIcd February 16, be published at the
same time. This suggestion was never
answered. and as the status of the case
oned.
Note Never Accepted.
WA Aa n Z Rernstorff was perfectly. well
ssysr been ssa' a ens aess and ar f that tGe q Rad
states did not have the faintest intention
. 70 Iu accept zee it. ne told a few n~ewspaypermsn,
United States had asked for and had re-
ceived permission to publish the German
note settling the Lusitania case and
mean its %acceptance by the American gov
eminent. This information was spread
abroad as being the position OF the Wilson
once more was called upon to issue a de-
nial in order to Illustrate Bernstorff's eff
forts to bedevil public opinion in this
among the stories believed BY. the state
indirectly from the German embassy was
newspaper purporting to give exclusive
details of a message said to have been
received from Ambassador Gerard con-
many. AS a matter of fact. a dispatch
q been received a short time previously
az tne state department from Berlin Civ
matters. one of which had a bearing upon
peace conditions, but any one of which
was at least as sensational as the So
was written.
Peace Story Released.
II IS certain that the Washington cor
RESPONDENT Of the paper which published
me story had not seen the state depart
menu dispatches, but Bernstorff had, of
course. received from his government full
Information az to the exchange OF views
mad with Mr.. Gerard and knew all about
eacn Of the four subjects treated in the
dispatch. There was only one matter the
publication Of which could have served
the German cause. and It was the peace
move. which was the only one made pub
Tic.
The state department believes that
one item which best served the purpose of
MS propaganda and was calculated to lull
the United States into a false sense Of Sc
newspaper c~orrespondents to write write stories
that Germany was ready to back q eaEue
70 enforce peace and was willing to sup
The sending of Germany's proposal for
Ia peace conference on December II, at
2 time when the submarine issue with
the United States was most acute and
relations were strained almost to the
breaking point. led President Wilson to
go ahead with q plan ne had long had UNI
Secretary Lansing sent an Identical note
70 all belltgerents asking them to state
the; aims and objects for which they were
tney conceived peace might be restored.
Lied About Peace Moves.
After the reply, OF the entente powers
TO Germany. had been received Bernstorff
did everything in his power to make 1t
other peace note. He assured his news
paper callers that he had information to
t this effect @a.a an, ndn q q result, day after day
Ing that the president would make one
more attempt to bring about peace; that
he would send another note to the allies.
statements. and Counsellor Polk, by in-.
struction from the president, issued An
Official denial.
Not content with this, Bernstorff man
aged TO put out indirectly as coming from
the entente. embassies q story to the ef-
outllned In dispatches to their home eov.
tern1nen1 their belief thai the initial
States would eiSner formally invite Of