inflict any serious damage on the British navy, in an attack on British commerce. On February 4, 1915, Germany proclaimed a war zone around the British Isles, including the whole of the Channel, declared that all enemy merchant vessels encountered in these waters after the 18th would be destroyed, even though it might not be possible to save the passengers and crews, and added the warning that neutral vessels could not always be prevented from suffering from the attacks intended for enemy ships. Against this decree the United States at once protested and warned the German government that it would be held to a "strict accountability" for the destruction of American ships or the loss of American lives. The submarine policy was nevertheless inaugurated on the date set and within a few weeks two Standard Oil tankers bearing the American flag had been torpedoed and several American citizens had lost their lives. Before the American government had decided what action to take the whole world was startled by the deliberate torpedoing, without warning, off the southern point of Ireland, of the great ocean liner Lusitania, May 7, 1915. She was bound from New York for Liverpool, and had 1917 souls on board. Of this number 1153 perished, including 114 American men, women, and children. The German press hailed the sinking of the Lusitania as a triumph of the submarine policy. In America it was defended only by the extreme pro-Germans. The press of the country denounced it as an act of barbarism and it was generally believed that the German ambassador would be given his passports as soon as the press reports of the disaster were officially confirmed. President Wilson, however, decided to exhaust the resources of diplomacy before breaking off relations with Germany, and in a calm and dignified note to the German government he reasserted the right of Americans to travel on the high seas, denounced the illegality of sub The corre spondence marine warfare, and called on Germany for a disavowal of the act and for reparation, so far as reparation was possible. The German reply was unsatisfactory. It claimed that the Lusitania was armed and therefore not entitled to be treated as an ordinary merchantman, and that the destruction of a ship bearing ammunition to the enemy was an act of "just self-defense." President Wilson was on the point of dispatching a second note to Germany when Secretary of State Bryan tendered his resignation, stating as his reason that the new note meant war, and that therefore he could not sign it. Robert Lansing of New York, a well-known authority on international law and counselor for the Department of State, was appointed to succeed him. Germany Count promises to While the Lusitania correspondence was still in progress, matters were brought to a crisis in August, 1915, by the torpedoing of the White Star liner Arabic, involving the loss of two American citizens. Bernstorff realized fully the seriousness of the modify her policy situation, and without waiting for the American government to act, promptly assured Secretary Lansing that if it should prove true that American lives were lost on the Arabic, it was contrary to the intention of his government. This announcement indicated a change of policy on the part of Germany, and paved the way for further negotiation. The submarine campaign had not seriously interfered with British commerce, and it had brought Germany to the verge of war with the United States. On September 1, Count Bernstorff gave assurances that henceforth liners would not be sunk by submarines without warning and without saving the lives of noncombatants, provided they would not attempt to escape or offer resistance. This pledge, solemnly given in order to avert a crisis, was not kept in good faith. The German submarines continued their unlawful attacks and matters were again brought The attack on the Sussex to a crisis in March, 1916, when the Sussex, an unarmed passenger steamer, was torpedoed without warning in the English Channel. About eighty passengers, including several citizens of the United States, were killed or injured. The German government at first denied responsibility for the disaster, but conclusive evidence was finally adduced, showing that the vessel was attacked by a German submarine, and on April 18 Secretary Lansing drew up an ultimatum declaring that unless the German government should immediately abandon its methods of submarine warfare against passenger and freight vessels, the United States would have "no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether." In reply the German government stated that its naval forces had received orders not to sink merchant vessels without warning and without saving human lives, unless the vessels should attempt to escape or to offer resistance. The United States accepted this assurance as an abandonment of the submarine policy announced on February 4, 1915, and for some months there was a marked cessation of submarine activity. German activities in the United States After the German and Austrian governments had tried in vain to persuade the American government that the trade in munitions of war was unneutral, and after the German propagandists had failed in their efforts to get Congress to place an embargo on the export of munitions, an extensive conspiracy was formed to break up the trade by a resort to criminal methods. In July, 1915, an attempt was made by a German instructor in an American university to assassinate J. P. Morgan, the chief fiscal agent in America of the British government. Numerous explosions occurred in munitions plants, destroying many lives and millions of dollars of property, and bombs were placed in a number of ships engaged in carrying supplies to the allies. The Austrian ambassador, Dr. Dumba, lent his active support to a plan to cripple the munitions plants by widespread strikes among employees. As a result, his recall was demanded by Secretary Lansing in September, 1915. The German military and naval attachés at Washington, Captain Franz von Papen and Captain Karl Boy-Ed, were involved in these activities and in November their recall was likewise demanded. These conspiracies were not confined to foreigners, but many naturalized Americans of German origin were involved and arrayed against the government of the United States. The term "hyphenated" American was applied to them and soon came into general use. In his annual message of December, 1915, President Wilson publicly denounced those men who had "poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life," and urged Congress to enact laws which would enable him to handle the situation. The German propagandists resolved to defeat Wilson for reëlection at all hazards and thus made the "hyphen" a distinct issue in American politics. Defense Act The Congress which met in December, 1915, passed a number of measures of far-reaching importance. The National Defense Act provided for a regular army The of 186,000 officers and men, a federalized National National Guard of over 400,000 men, a system of civilian training camps for reserve officers, and the establishment of plants for the production of nitrates and other products used in the manufacture of munitions. The bill was passed after a long fight between the advocates of a new continental army" and those who favored federalizing the existing National Guard. The secretary of war and the general staff favored the former, but their plan was defeated by Chairman Hay of the House Committee on Military Affairs. The president's apparent willingness to accept the Hay Bill led Secretary Garrison to resign from the cabinet 66 in February, 1916, and a month later, Newton D. Baker of Ohio was appointed secretary of war. The naval program was likewise the subject of heated debate. The measure which was finally enacted in August, 1916, went far beyond the original proposals of the secretary of the navy. It provided for an expenditure of over $500,000,000 for new construction within the next three years. In order to meet increased army and navy expenditures a new revenue act was passed in September, doubling the normal tax on incomes and raising the surtax on large incomes to a maximum of 13 per cent on incomes of $2,000,000 or over; the taxes on inheritances, on munitions, and on corporations were also increased. Other important acts Other important measures passed during the same session were the act establishing a Shipping Board, the act extending a larger measure of autonomy to the Filipinos and promising them ultimate independence, the act excluding from interstate commerce products into the manufacture of which child labor entered, and the usual river and harbor bill involving millions of needless expenditure. Renomination of The strong leadership displayed by Wilson in putting through Congress his program of progressive legislation insured his renomination for the presidency, notwithstanding the severe criticism which his foreign Wilson policy called forth. His handling of the Mexican situation aroused bitter opposition, while his failure to secure effectively the rights of neutrals in the European War alienated many of those who had voted for him in 1912. There was, however, no opposition within the party and when the Democratic National Convention met in St. Louis, June 14, Wilson and Marshall were renominated unanimously. The Republican convention which met in Chicago a week |