within and without the area declared a naval war zone, shall not be sunk without warning and without saving human lives unless the ship attempt to escape or offer resistance.'

"But neutrals can not expect that Germany, forced to fight for existence, shall, for the sake of neutral interests, restrict the use of an effective weapon, if the enemy is permitted to continue to apply at will methods of warfare violating rules of international law. Such a demand would be incompatible with the character of neutrality, and the German Government is convinced that the Government of the United States does not think of making such a demand, knowing that the Government of the United States repeatedly declares that it is determined to restore the principle of freedom of the seas, from whatever quarter it has been violated."

The pledge thus made was immediately qualified by the ominous statement that Germany did "not doubt that the Government of the United States will now demand and insist that the British Government shall forthwith observe the rules of international law universally recognized before the war," and threatened that "should the steps taken by the Government of the United States not attain the object it desires to have the laws of humanity followed

by all belligerent nations, the German Government would then be facing a new situation in which it must reserve to itself complete liberty of decision."

President Wilson replied by accepting the pledge and ignoring the qualification that America's case against Great Britain would have to be successfully pressed. He said:

"The Government of the United States feels it necessary to state that it takes it for granted that the Imperial German Government does not intend to imply that the maintenance of its newly announced policy is in any way contingent upon the course or result of diplomatic negotiations between the Government of the United States and any other belligerent Government, notwithstanding the fact that certain passages in the Imperial Government's note of the 4th instant might appear to be susceptible of that construction. In order, however, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, the Government of the United States notifies the Imperial Government that it can not for a moment entertain, much less discuss, a suggestion that respect by German naval authorities 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 Government affecting the right of neutrals and non

combatants. Responsibility in such matters is single, not joint; absolute, not relative."

The exchanges were concluded with Germany's note of May 8th, admitting the destruction of the Sussex through a mistake by the submarine commander in forming a too hurried judgment of the character of the vessel. He did not, therefore,

'act fully in accordance with the strict instruction which called upon him to exercise particular care. "In view of these circumstances the German Government frankly admits that the assurance given to the American Government, in accordance with which passenger vessels were not to be attacked without warning, has not been adhered to in the present case. As was intimated by the undersigned in the note of the 4th instant, the German Government does not hesitate to draw from this resultant consequences. It therefore expresses to the American Government its sincere regret regarding the deplorable incident and declares its readiness to pay an adequate indemnity to the injured American citizens. It also disapproved of the conduct of the commander, who has been appropriately punished."

4 But no information has ever been available as to the nature of the penalty suffered by the commander in this case or in that of the Ancona. The commander of the submarine which sank the Lusitania was decorated.

CHAPTER X

THE PARTING OF THE WAYS

FROM the date of these conditional pledges to the decree of January 31, 1917, there occurred no sinkings which were deemed by the United States to violate the promises made, although the warfare of submarines seemed very far from being conducted with a regard for noncombatant lives, whether enemy or neutral. Two vessels under charter by the American Commission for Relief in Belgium were among those sunk, and on May 8th the White Star liner Cymric, engaged in the freight service, was torpedoed without warning, five being killed and many wounded, but there were no Americans on board. During the latter part of May and the first weeks in June, submarine activities seemed to abate somewhat, but Germany issued a warning that a neutral vessel could be attacked, if, upon being commanded

to stop by a submarine, it refused to obey. In the Mediterranean, the campaign was more successful than in the war zone, and in both regions during August and September submarines were able to account for about seventyfive vessels, some of them neutral. The safety and interests of American citizens were not affected, and so, from the purely national standpoint now taken by the United States, the German pledges had been kept. In October, however, there were sensational but not illegal developments.

A German submarine (U-53) of the largest type appeared on October 7th in the harbor at Newport and lay there several hours. It was, the captain said, seventeen days out of Wilhelmshaven and had sufficient supplies of all kinds for a three months' cruise. The incident was a noteworthy one for the U-53 was the first war submarine to cross the Atlantic without a convoy, and that a war engine belonging to a European belligerent could rise silently from the sea in an American harbor showed more effectively than any theoretical argument could, that our days of "splendid isolation” are