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The Commoner
OCTOBER, 1915
25
Disavows Sinking of Arabic
'A Washington dispatch, dated Oct.
6, says: Secretary Lansing announced
today that Germany "had disavowed
the sinking of the Arabic and was
prepared to pay an indemnity for the
American lives lost."
Secretary Lansing gave out the text
of a letter received today from Count
von Bernstorff, "the German ambassa
dor, which f7ras as follows:
"My Dear Mr. Secretary: Prompted
by the desire to reach a satisfactory
agreement with regard to the Arabic
incident, my government has civen
me the following instruction:
"The orders issued by his majesty,
the emperor, to' the commanders of
the German submarines, of which I
notified you on a previous occasion,
have been made so stringent 'that the
recurrence of incidents similar to the
Arabic case is considered out of the
question.
"According to the report of Com
mander Schneider of the submarine
which sank the Arabic, and his affi
davit, as well as those of his men,
Herr Schneider was qonvinced tliat
the Arabic intended to ram the sub
marine. "On tho other hand, the imperial
government does not doubt the good
faith of the affidavit of the British of
ficers of the rabic, according to
which the Arabic did not intend to
ram the submarine.
"The attack of the submarine was
undertaken against the instructions
Issued to the commander. The imper
ial government regrets and disavows
this act and has notified Commander
Schneider accordingly.
"Under these circumstances my
government is prepared to pay an in
demnity for American lives, which, to
its deep regret, have been lost on the
Arabic. I am authorised to negotiate
with you. about-the amount of this in
demnity. ' -
"I remain, my dear Mr. Lansing,
yours very sincerely, '
. J, VON BERNSTORFF."-
Secretary Lansing said he would
make .no comment on the ambassa
dor's letter, as he considered the text
spoke for itself. Inasmuch as the
ambassador is acting with the fullest
powers conferred upon- him by the
Berlin foreign office his representa
tions are considered as final, the crisis
Is. considered passed, and nothing re
mains to the Arabic case, except the
fixing of indemnity, which will not be
done by arbitration, as Germany nrst
proposed, but by diplomatic negotia
tions between the two governments.
These negotiations probably will be
gin orally.
In the absence of official comment,
the ambassador's letter was generally
regarded as signalizing a completely
successful outcome for the principles
for which President Wilson has con
tended in the submarine warfare con
troversy, which at least twice brought
Germany and the United States to the
brink of a break in diplomatic rela
tions. Inasmuch as the Washington gov
ernment has contended that the Ara
bic case must first be settled before
it could consider the question oi in
demnity growing out of the sinking of
the steamship Lusitanla, for which
Germany has offered to pay, it is be
lieved that feature of the controversy
next will be taken up.
With the submarine issue with Ger
many considered virtually settled, the
way now is cleared for pressing the
American complaint against Great
Britain, on account of Interferences
"with neutral commerce. Sending of
a note long in preparation has been
withheld because the president wished
to avoid coupling controversies be
tween the. United States and -opposing
belligerents. :
GERMAN NOTE UK FRYE CASE
An Associated Press dispatch from
wuBumgion, aatea Kept. 23, says:
Germany's latest note of the sinking
of the American sailing ship, William
P. Frye, made public today by the
state department, discloses an im
portant diplomatic victory for tho
United States. Germany accepts the
proposal to fix damages by commis
sion and to let The Hague pass upon
disputed treaty rights involved. She
also elves assurance that nn moro
American ships carrying conditional
contraband will be destroyed under
any circumstances.
American ships carrying contra
band, however, still may bo de
stroyed. What effect this can have
in practical operation is problem
atical, because Germany and Great
Britain in their retaliations have
made absolute contraband practically
everything which was conditional un
der the Declaration of London.
One thing seemed certain to of
fllcials German naval commanders
now are ordered to exercise the
rights of visit and search with respect
to all American ships to determine
what cargo the vessels carry, thus
making it practically sure that none
will be attacked without warning of
ample time for passengers and crew
to be transferred irrespective of cargo.
lean government agrees the foreign
office is prepared to submit to tho
embassy a draft of such a compromise.
Considered with reference to the
entire controversy between Germany
and the United States the Frye note
is regarded as an indication that the
Berlin foreign office Is anxious to
avert a break with the Washington
government. This increased today
the interest In Germany's attitude to
ward the negotiations over the Arabic.
Text of the Note
The note follows:
"Wih regard first to the ascer
tainment of the damage by experts,
the German government believes that
it should dispense with the nomina
tion of an umpire. In the cases of
tho ascertainment of damages hither
to arranged between the German
government and a neutral govern
ment from similar causes, the experts
named by the two parties have al
ways reached an agreement as to the
amount of the damage without diffi
culty; should it not be possible, how
ever, to reach an agreement on some
int it should nrobably be settled
by diplomatic negotiations. Assum
ing that the American govenmieui
agrees to this, the German govern
ment names as its expert Doctor Kep
ny of Bremen, director of tho North
German Lloyds, it Degs 10 wjut
the designation of the American ex
pert. "The German government declares
that it agrees to tho proposal of toe
American government to separate the
question of indemnity from the ques
tion of the Interpretation of the
Prussian-American treaties of 178 b,
1799 and 1828. It therefore again
expressly states that In making pay
ment it does not acknowledge the vi
olation of the treaty as comenueu u,
ri a !.!. Ma. but It will admit
that the settlement of the jue8tjn
of indemnity does not. prejuui .
arrangement of the differences of
opinion concerning the tatexyroUtion
of the treaty rights, and that this
dispute is left to be decided bT The
Hacuo tribunal of arbitration.
"The negotiations relative to the
sliming of the compromise provided
by ar&le fifty-two of The Hague ar
bitration convention would best be
conducted between the foreign office
and the American embassy at Berlin
in view of the difficulties In the way
of instructing the -Imperial embassa
dor at Washington. In case the Amer-
BetUe by Arbitration
"ThB Amnrlenn rovnrnmnnf'i In
quiry whether tho German govern
ment win govern its naval operations
in accordance with tho Gorman or
tho American interpretation of the
treaty stipulations in question, pend
ing tho arbitral proceedings has been
carefully considered by the German
government. From tho standpoint of
law and equity it is not prevented In
its opinion from proceeding against
American snips carrying contraband
according to its interpretation until
the question is settled by arbitration.
For tho German government docs
not need to depart from the applica
tion of genorally recognized rules of
tho law of raaritlmo war, as tho Dec
laration of London, unless and Inso
far as an exception based on a treaty
is established beyond all doubt. In
tho case of the present difference or
opinion between tho German and
tho American covcrnment such an
exception could not bo taken to bo
established except on tho ground of
tho arbitral award. Moreover, tho
disadvantages to Germany which
would ensue from tho American in
terpretation of tho treaty stipulations
would bo so much greater as to be
out of proportion ' those which the
German Interpretation would entail
for tho United States. For whereas
the American interpretation would
materially impede Germany In hor
conduct of warfare hardly any par
ticular disadvantage to American cit
izens would result from tho German
interpretation since they receive full
reparation for nv property damage
sustained.
"Nevertheless tho German govern
ment in order to furnish to tho Amer
ican government evidence of its con
ciliatory attitude, has issued orders to
the German naval forces not to de
stroy American merchantmen which
have loaded conditional contraband
even when the conditions of Interna
tional law aro present, but to permit
them to continue their voyage un
hindered If it Is not possible to take
them into port.
"On tho other hand it must reserve
to itself the right to destroy vessels
carrying absoluto contraband
wherever such destruction is permis
sible according to tho provisions of
the Declaration of London."
ment expenses and just taxed tkt
that much, so thoy tell tho common
fellow that thoy want to shield kim
from competition with the pauptr
labor of the United States and they
got away with it Just llko our big
guns tell our laborers that they
want to shield them from tho pauper
labor of other countries, Frow
"Comment by Connolly," in Mankato
(Kans.) Western Advocate.
You wouldn't think that actions
speak louder than words if you could
hear somo pcoplo talk.- Philadelphia
Telegraph.
RHEUMATISM
CURED
I will glnrilr iml any lihniimfttlirn tuttenr
Rlmpln llrrb Itrilpn Ataolutoly Pno Uut will
Conrpwr niiPiunntliini to a poxltlvo certainty. I
hnvovlvcn It to ninny miffr-roni who txtllovod their
cnci ImpclcM, yi't llicy 'mind rnliol rom their
aiinrcrliiRby tokiiiK thro Nlrnplo hcrhf. It at red
inn o' n novrro nttnek of mmrtiinr nnJ Inflamma
tory IthniimntlHm. It nlno mibiltir Sciatica und
TJniirntt.ln nml iuirlHnitl.nl.lnml I tnrtUT 'ml Will
connldfrltnaod Kcmlnftrr ion linva put ft toth
text. Thrrr In nollilnir liiliirlou contained In It,
and yon enn wo lor yoiirnolf exactly what you are
tnklnjr. I will Kindly ond till Heolno ahjlutlr
frro lo nny Miircicr who will nnd nnmoandaa
drM. If convenient, rnclonn two-conttnmp.
W. A. SUTTON, 031 Oiclmnl Avoliue,
l.on Aiigolua, CUiorHf
"BEAUTIFUL" EXAMPLE OF THE
TARIFF TAX
In the last days of "the passage of
the Underwood tariff bill, old Champ
Clark took tho floor to approve the
bill, and in bir speech said some
things that appeared strange to even
those of us who were In favor of the
bill. He said, among other things,
that during tho campaign Just prior
to the passage of the bill, that the
protectionists in England advanced
the same argument for a protective
tariff there that protectionists ad
vance here. That they were not
willing to allow the laborers there
to compete with tho pauper labor of
the United States. Wo have often
wondered if the old man was right
and If his statement was not tho re
sult of too much enthusiasm. But
here Is some additional evidence that
it Is true. Take the advertisement
of the Dodge Bros, automobile that
appears regularly in the Saturday
Evening Post. They state frankly
that the car is priced here in the
United States at $785.00 and that
the Canadian price is 11,100.00.
There can bo but one reason why
the consumers of Canada should pay
$315.00 more for tho car than the
consur-er hero and that 1s the-tarlff
charges. Of course, it would not do
for the government there to say that
th'ey needdd tho money ifor gorern-
Single Tax
Is Coming
Don't take hearsay informa
tion of what tho Hinglo tax will
do investigate it for yourself.
Tho Public is a Journal of
fundamental democracy, not a
single tax paper, but it com
ments on national and interna
tional affairs from tho single
tax point of view. It shows
with a clearness of vision pos
sessed by few other periodicals
tho underpinnings of current
happenings. .
William Allen White, writer
and lecturer, says of it:
"What a wonder Tho Public
is. Every week I read in It
news I can find no place else."
William Marion Reedy, Edit
or St. Louis Mirror:
"Tho Public is tho greatest
Journal of pure democracy In
tho world."
Published Weekly at $1
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Single Tax
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