New Britain herald., 1917-02-03

imply that the maintenance of it's newly announced policy is in any way continget upon the course or re- suit of diplomatic negotiation between the government, of the United States and other belligerent governments not withstanding the fact that certain pas sages in the imperial governments note of the fourth instance might appear to be susceptible of that construction.
 'In order to avoid any mlsunder- standing, the government of the United States notified the i imperial government that it cannot for a mo- ment entertain, much less discuss, a suggestion that respect by German au- thorities for the rights of citizens of the United States upon the high seas should in any way or in the slightest degree be made contingent upon the conduct of any other governments af- fecting the rights of neutrals and non- combatants. Responsibility in such matters is single, not joint, absolute, not relative.
 .To this note of the eighth of May the imperial government made no re- ply.
 "On the 31st of January, the We'd nesdav of the present week, the Ger man ambassador handed to the secre- tary of state a long formal note memorandum which contained the following statement:
 "The Imperial government there fore does not doubt that the govern ment of the United States will under stand the situation thus forced upon Germany by the Entente Allies brutal methods of war and by their 1@ Powers and that the government or the United States will further reallze that the now openly disclosed lnten- ton of the Entente Allies gives back to Germany the freedom of acton which she reserved in her note ad- dressed to the government of the United States on May 30, 1916. Under these circumstances Germany will meet the illegal measures of her enemies by forcibly preventing after February 1, 1917, in a zone around Great Britain, France, Italy and in the eastern Mediterranean all navigation, that of neutrals included from and to EnglaZ and from and , to France, etc., etc. All ships met within the war zone will be sunk s.
 "I think that you will agree with me that, in view of this declaration, which suddenly and without prior in- timation of any kind, deliberately would repudiate the assurance given in the imperial governments note of the fourth of May, 1916, this govern ment> has no alternative consistent with the dignity and honor of the United States but to take the course which, in it's note of the 18th of April, 1916, it announced that 1t would take in the even that the German govern ment did not declare and effect an abandonment of the methods of sub- marine warfare which it was then employing and to which it now pro- poses again to resort.
 T have therefore instructed the secretary of state to announce to his excellency the German ambassador that all diplomatic relations between the United States and the German empire are severed and that the American ambassador at Berlin will immediately be withdrawn and, in &C., cordance with this decision to hand his excellency his passports.
 Notwithstanding this action of the German government this sudden and deeply deplorable remuneration of it's assurances, given this government at one of the most critical moments of tension in the relations Of the two governments I refuse to believe that it is the intention of the German au- thorities to do, in fact what they have warned us they will feel at liberty to do. I cannot bring myself to believe that they will. indeed. pay no regard to the ancient friendship between their peon1e ard our own or to the solemn obligatione which have henn exchang- cd between them and destroy Ameri- can ships and take the lives of Ameri- oan citizens in the willful prosecution of the ruthless naval proeran they have announced their intention to adopt. Only actual overt acts on their par+ oan make me believe it even now
 If this inveteratc confidence on my part in the sobriety and prudent fore