The Exeter Advocate, 1915-6-3, Page 7GERMAN ANSWER TO U.S. NOTE
Alleges Ship. Carried Guns—Wants Agreement, on
",Facts" Before Justifying the Lusitania Crime,
•
Berlin, via The Hague, May 3A.• --
The text Of the German reply team
American note regarding the Lusi-
tanria and other ineiden;ta+, as roadie
public here to -day is as fellows: ---
"The Imperial Government has
subjected the statements of the
United States to careful examinee
tion, and has a lively wish to eon -
tribute in a frank and friendly
manner to clear up any misunder-
standing which may have entered
into the relations between the two
Governments borough the events.
mentioned bee the American mote.
"With regard;, to the Cushing
and Gulflight incidents, the Amer-
ican Embassy already has been in-
formed that it is far from the Get-
man Government to have any in-
tention of ordering attacks by sub-
marines or flyers on neutral ships
in the war zone not guilty of any
hostile act. On the contrary, most
Brits: Admiralty. It is moreover
known to the Imperial' Government
from reliable information furnished
by its Officials and neutral paesen-
gers that for some time practically
`all the more valuable h'•nglisir mar -
chant vessels have been provided
with guns, ammunition and other
weapons and furnished with crews
especially practised in manning
guns. According to reports here,
the Lusitania., when she left New
York, had guns aboard which were
mounted under deck and masked.
Blames Great Britain.
"The Imperial Government fur-
thermore has the honor to direct
the particular attention of the
American Government to the fact
that the British Admiralty, by se-
eret instructions in February rJ of
this year, advised the British mer-
chant marine not only to seek pro -
explicit instructions repeatedly taction behind neutral flags and
have been given, the German armed markings, but even when so dis-
forces to avoid attacking such vas- gutsed to attack German submar
sells, yes by ramming. High rewards
"If neutral ships have come to
grief through German submarine
warfare during the past few months
by mistake it is a, question of iso-
lated end exceptional cases whicfh
are traceable to the misuse of flags
by the British, in connection with
careleu:sness or suspicious actions
on the part of ships. In ,all eases
where a neutral vessel, through. no
fault of its own, has come to grief
through German submarines or fly-
ers, according to these facts as 1 s' dais consequently are no lunger in,
oertaine�d: by the•German Go n
has express- the position to observe the rules of answer would be sent to Berlin per
ed, this Governmenthe n right of capture . otherwise usual, leaps Within twenty -tour or forty -
ed its regret at the unfortunate cc-
-This ice :end his promised indene- and with whine they invariably eight hours. This is expected to
nificatiun where the facts jus"tifieclcomplied before this, give the American Government's
it. Germany will treat the ev=es of "Lastly, the Imperial Govern- understanding of the facts, that the
theAmerican steamers Cushin and meat must sperifieally point out Lusitania wee unarmed and carried
a s e 8 cleat c n lei• last trip the Lusitania. n:, c.:nteal.t1 guns, that she depart-
prince le accordingve toi theowine as on earlier ec•caeiens, batt Cana.- ed from the United States a peace
principle. An tnv4sE{sults is in di,en' tritons and munitions of war ful merchantman and that under all
progress, and the results will be p'
communicated to the Embassy aboard, including nc, lee; than rules of international law and hu-
communicated
5,400 vases of .munition destined inanity the vessel should have been
were offered by the British Govern-
mea t as a special incentive for the
destruction of ,submarines by mer-
chant vessels, and such rewards al-
ready have been paid. In view of
these fact, which are sufficiently
known to the Imperial Government,
it is unable to consider British mer-
chant vessels any longer 'undefend-
ed territory' in the zone of war and
time of war designated by the Ad-
miralty and staff of the Imperial
German Navv. German comman-
ME�RAN.
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mg.• •.•. FRONd-!ER
This Map show's the
Mq�N RAI RpApS
S
itESTE
NO ,OIO NAO,.. 1V .5,,
frontier' along tsldch the Italian and Austrian Troops have clashed.
t.t
i
f lies
o a.,>The realization 'o t
sreg _, o
p
proposals failed on account of their
rejection by Great Britain."
Disappointment Is leen,
Washington, May 30.—Germany's
reply to the American note eon-
cerning the sinking of the Lusitania!
with a loss of more than 100 Ameri-
can lives, produced a feeling of
profound disappointment here.
Dissatisfaction at the Whizz. of
Germany to answer the demands of
the United States was reflected in
Goverztrnent' circles generally.
Will Stick to Position.
From a. previous knowledge of
President WiIson'�s position, it was
generally predicted that a prompt
• shortly.
for the destruction vf brave Gee visited and searcleed and her pas
"'If necessary the rove •tigati ,ns
1 f
Enquiry, as provided fur in Article duty to the' r 4-LII"1"1. The Ger- r.itiun or nut. American law clues
3 of The Hague Agreement of Octo maga Government believes it acts in not • prohibit ammunition from being
bar 18, 1907, just: self-defence when its soldiers carried on passenger ships, it will
can be ruppletaiected by a ,caill upon man s aldiars who
AUSTRIANS FLEE
IN DISDBDEIR
Rapidity of Italian Advance Has
Paralyzed' the
Enemy.
A despatch from London says:
With the occupation of the town of
Grade, on the Gulf of Trieste, the
Italian front in the advance over;
the eastern frontier into Austrian
territory, now forms a continuous
line of about 40 miles,. stretching
from Caporetto, on the left flank,
to the sea. The farthest advance
into Austrian territory is at Mon
falcon, on the railway to Trieste,:
the Italians being thus within 22
miles of that port.
The Daily Chronr le eorrespond-
ent Says: I hear that the Austrians
are in full retreat a?.,ng the whole
of their defensive line, burning
houses, stores, crops and forage
and de.truving Deeds and l,rid^•es
17 in fact, laying waste entire peon
WA �ABRITISH
The. Italian forces which invaded
Tyrol from the soutfsern frontier of
that region have advanced as far
Like the Triumph, h, She Was 5ubnnariued While
as the mouth of the Chieze River in
Lake Idre, occupying .all the rugged
Supporting Land Forces of Gallipoli Peninsular terrain between the lake and Lake
A despatch from London says:
The British battleship Majestic,
Capt. II. F. G. Talbot, was torpe-
doed and sunk by an enemy sub-
marine while the battleship was
supporting the allied land forces
on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Near-
ly all the officers and men were
saved.
It is supposed that the submarine
that sank the Majestic was the
same that sent the British battle-
ship Triumph to the bottom on
Tuesday last.
The Majestic was completed in
the year 1'+95, and was the oldest
battleship on the active list of the
navy. She was one of nine vessels
known as the Majestic class. Her
displacement was 14,000 tons,
Garda, to the east.. There have
been artillery engagements at, the
length 300 feet, speed 17 knots, and Ts,nole Pass, where very strong
he earned four i2 inch, twelve G- ` Austrian forts bar the progress of
inch and sixteen 12 -pounder guns: the Italians, argot c,n the A:siago
of old pattern,. with five torpedo plateau, onthe eastern frontier are
tubes. Her nominal complement '1 e rug, srard a hath ier invade
emceedto,: d sip Vat Su>;tana,.
was 75., , officers and men. Italian gunboats on Lake Garth
The sinking of the Majestic is gave effective sii ort tv the trop, s
said to have occurred off Sedelul , operatingon the eastern shore of
Bahr, at the southern point of the
state-
'
: te Iake, enabling them to occupy
Gallipoli Peninsula. This state : several strategic points gerund
t meat is made in a ConstantinopleI<;tnt. B strategic
gf wich a -n iris ort-
; despatehe received by way of Ser- , ant peak. Monte 1iti=sim-' zi go
Rn. feet !ia^'h,
A despatch to the Times from its ;r
was captured yesterday.
Andros. correspondent says that The objective elf theses tro,e,ps is
400 men of the crew of the battle• ,ll. ori, on the erste+.ad connecting
ship Trium. h which was sunk Riva and Aron with Rovereto and
u day i the Gulf of Savor, were Trent, thus cutting off from the
saved. The officers and crew on rear the .tnstrien garris"n at Riva.
board the Triumph in peace times ;i and the Austrian forces at the
numbered about 700 men. 4 me,}ith of the Adige.
Difficult. , A despatch from Paris says: The
? Rome correspondent of the Temps
Little Robert: `'Ma., Bras Robin-1telegraphs that nearly 11,000 woy-
son Crusoe an acrobat "' men have been ern -tilled in a. female
Mother: `'I don't know. Why r, M pollee force authorized by the Ital-
ian Government. These women he-
Little
e
,,i - eRuben,:•, i e
reads that after he Itad frni�hed his . die glasses. They will undergo spe-
are fulfilling; with senge^rs -transferred to, aa, p ace o j� \j
o-,alf-satrific:e and devotion their safety whether she carried ammu 51111 Ii uuu i
the International Commission of
The I'altibtt Case. destroy ammunition destined for be asserted, but only :self -,exploding
«the enemy with the means of war at material, and liners in the past
In the case of the sinking of the its command. The English steam- have been peirmitted to carry arms
English ship Falaba, the eumman• strip company must have been and ammunition by special ruling
der of the German submarine had
the intention of allowing t'se pas-
sengers and crew ample opportun-
ity to save themselves. It was not
until the captain disregarded the
order to lay to and took to flight,
sending up rockets for help, that
the commander ordered the crew
and passengers by signal from a
megaphone to leave within ten min-
utes. As a matter of fact, -he al-
lowed them 23 minutes, and did not
fire a, torpedo until suspicious yes -
seas were hurrying to aid the Fa•-
laba.
"With regard to the loss of life
when the British passenger steamer
Lusitania was sunk, the German
Government already has expressed
deep -regret to neutrals •concern;ed
that nationals of those countries
lost their lives. The Imperial Gov-
.--ernment is unable for the rest to
reject the inapr-esssion that certain
important facts most directly con-
meted with the :sinking of the Lusi-
tania,
usi
tania may have escaped the atten-
tion of the American Government.
It therefore considers it necessary
in the interests of a clear and full
understanding aimed at by both
Governments primarily to convince
itself that the reports of the facts
which are before the two Govern-
ments are complete and in agree-
ment.
"The Government of the United
States proceeds upon the assump-
tion that 'the Lusitania•' is to be
considered as an ordinary unarmed
merchant vessel. The Imperial,
Government• b,gs in this connection
to point. out that the Lusitania, was
one of the largest and Fastest of
English steamers participatin in
Governnvent funds ais an, auxiliary
cruiser, and is 'expressly included
in the navy list publish -ed by the
aware of the dangers to which pas-
sengers aliened the Lusitania were
exposed under the circumstances.
In taking them, :aboard in spite of
thi:,, the company quite deliberate-
ly tried 'to use the lives of American.
citizens as protection for the am-
munition carried, and violated the
clear provisions of American laws,
which expressly prohibit and pro-
vide punishment for carrying pas-
sengers on ships which have explo-
sives -aboard. The company there-
by wantonly caused the. deaths of
so many passengers. According to
the express report of the isubmar-
ine commander concerned, w'hidh is
only confirmed by all other reports,.
there can be no doubt that the ra-
pid sinking of the- Lusitania ,was
primarily due to, an explosion of
bier cargo of ammunition caused by
a torpedo. Otherwise, there Was
all -human possibility that the pas-
sengers would have- been saved.
"The Imperial Government holds
the facts recited to be. of sufficient
importance to recommend them to
careful examination by the Am:eri.-
can Government. The Imperial
German Government begs to re-
serve final statements of its posi-
tion with regard to the demands
made in connection with the sink-
ing of the Lusitania until a. reply
is received from. 'the American- Gov-
e-rnment, and believes it -should re-
call here that it took note with
satisfaction of the, proposals of
good offices submitted, by the Amer-
ican Government to Berlin sand
London with a view ' o providing a
way for the conduct of the mari-
time war between Germ -any and
Great Britain. The Imperial. Gov-
ernment furnished -at that time -am-
ple evidence of its good will'by its
willingness to consider these pro -
WILL BE INTERNED IN VATICAN
Pope's Private" Chamberlain Failed to Attend Mass
Where Prayers Were Offered ,for Italy's Triumph
A despatch from Rome says:
Monsignor Gerlach, the ' Austrian
private chamberlain of the Pope,
has been interned in the Vatican,
where he must remain until the cent
•of the war. , This action was taken
by the . Pope when. he learned.that
Monsignor Gerlach no longer at-
tends the daily mass of the Pontiff,
where- - prayers are. . offered for the
triumph of Italian .arras.
Monsignor Gerlach ways accused
of having falsified the words of
Pope Benedict in a, eaonversaftion
between the Pontiff and,the corres-
pondent of a paper recently; at
which Monsignor Gerlach acted.as.
interpreter.
,Austrian Consuls � in Italy Arrested
A despatch from Bologna, visa
-Paris, (saes : The police have ar=
rested the Austrian Consuls at
Genoa, Bologna, Bari, Leghorn and
other places while they were on
their way to Switz ;clan. The
Consuls are bring given aeeommo-
- el:ations . in . a! : hotel at 1:'ltaaenza,
where they are kept under cheer-
vation by the police.
This unusual measure is ,said to
have been the outgrowth of an alle-
gation cheat
Austria -has not permit-
ted the Italian Consuls in her ter-
ritory to cross the frontier to. Ital-
ian soil.
of the State Department on the
meaning of the Federal statutes.
Germany's failure even to discuss
the reparation demanded by the
American note, and evasion of the
request that guarantees be given
that American vessels and lives be
not end -angered in the future, are
the matin points, however,. which
the United States Government, it
was generally - believed to -night
would advert in the second note.
The -expressions of 'regret and offers
of reparation for Unintentional at-
tacks on neutral *hips are expected
to have little weight in determining
the nature of the response of the
United States.
While it is generally thought the
United States will a iaswer Ger-
many's request for facts with a re-
statement of the circumstances as
recited in the American note of
May 13th, the promptness with
which the reply will be despatched
is counted upon• to serve as an. indi-
cation that the American Govern-
ment wishes an -early answer, and
does not desire to engage,' in a, pro-
tracted diplomatic discussion.
Persons close to President Wil-
son have -learned that he is deter-
mined to obtain reparation for the
Lusitania victims, and assurances
of respect for American rights in
future, and that failing this, lie
would not hesitate to sever diplo-
matic relations with Germany.
IELITIA RESERVES
TO BE ORGANIZED
To Secure Enrolment of _ 200,000
Men Under 50 Years
of A.
A despatch from Ottawa says :
The militia reserve of 'Canada is to
be organized and will be thus avail-
able .as recruits for active service,
it has been announced. Details of
the plan .are yet lacking. It is esti-
mated that there are upwards of
200,000 men in Canada under 50
years of age who are *connected
with or have -been 'connected with
the active militia. They will be,
to •an : extent not yet announced,.
organized and will thus ,form a
third line of defence, ready in case
of necessity;
CA..NA.DIANS REACH ENGLAND
The Missanabie Landed Soldiers
and Nurses.
A despatch from Ottawa says:"
The t1VIissanabie, which arrived at
Plymouth on 'Saturday evening,
had •on board -the 29th 'battalion -of
Vancouver, the 4th field artillery
brigade head -quarters, 13th, 14th,
and 16th -field fhatteries;' reserve
park and• 30 St. John Amgbulance.
nurses.
E KILLED
3�5 1� N
Crew of `2.0 and 78 Workers. Perish
on Fortner C.P.U. Boat
at Sheerness.
A despatch from London says:
The Princess Irene, a. British mine -
laying
ship, was literally blown to
atoms with at least 325 men aboard
as she lay at anchor in Sheerness
harbor Friday morning. The ex-
plosion apparently was internal,
its origin being marked by complete
mystery. Only one man has sur-
vived, a stoker, named David Wills,
who was picked up badly injured.
It is understood that all but
three of her crew of 250 men were
aboard the steamer, a -s well as 78
dockyard men carrying out repairs.
The Daily Mail asserts that in addi-
tion to the 78 shipwrights there
were on board 100 workmen from
Chatham, as well as 240 members
of the crew, which would give a, to-
tal of 418 persons on the steamer
at the time she was blown up.
The disaster has immediately re-
called the fate of the British battle-
ship Bulwark, which was myster-
iously blown up on November 26
at practically the identical spot in
which rested the -Princess Irene,
with the loss of some 736 officers
and men. The destruction of the
Bulwark was never explained.
There were rumors at the time that
a German submarine had slipped
into Sheerness harbor and launched
a torpedo at the warship, subse-
quently stealing away without de-
tection. It has since 'seemed more
probable, how -ever, that -the Bul-
wark was blown up by an intern -al
explosion—the inference being, of
course, that aa, spy accomplished the
work.
The Princess Irene, which is aa,
Canadian Pacific liner requisitioned
by the Government, was lying at
her moorings, 70 yards off Port- Vic-
toria, her decks crowded with busy
workmen. The 'harbor was filled
with vessels of all descriptions.
Nothing of an extraordinary nature
had occurred 'to arouse suspiccion.
!+lags of the Allies
Displayed in Paris
A despatch from Paris says: The
flags of the European powers allied
against Germany—France, Italy,
Great Britain, Russia, Belgium and
Serbia—were, by '' order of the
French Government, displayed in
groups over many of_ the public
buildings and monuments of Paris.
Among the edifice's thus decorated
are''the residence of the President
of the republic, the Senate and the
Chamber of Deputies, and all the
Ministries.
Naturalized Baronet
Sails for New York
A despatch from London says
Sir Edgar Speyer, who recently re-
signed his Privy Coen -i'lorship on
account of criticism .based on the
occupancy of su•cli a position by a
native of Germany, sail -ed for New
York on the steamship Philadel-
phia. He said he was going on a
short holiday.
I ttl "tell I er zt ` long for the most part to the mid.
day's work he sat down on his eial physical training and wear ani -
chest." forms.
V YO...
SHIPS 1\ OT TO LEAVE NEW I��
Washington Instructs Navy Officers to Use Shells
if Any Gerfan Boat Attempts a Dash to the Sea
New York, May 30. ---Naval of-
ficers in New York -City were in-
tensely interested in unexpected
orders that came from Washington
to sink any German ship that at-
tempts to leave this harbor. The
orders were -based, it was learned,
upon reports submitted to Govern-
ment officials at Washington that
in the event of hostilities between
this country and Germany an ef-
fort will be made at onice to bottle
up New York harbor by sinking at
an advantageous spot in the Nar-
rows one or more of the big Ger-
man. steamships that have been
tied up at Hoboken piers since the
European .war began.
It was also admitted that the
same orders regarding German
steam -ships attempting to leave
the port were transmitted to the
commanders of all the forts that
guard New York -City.
No effort was made yesterday in
responsible quarters to congeal th.'
fact that the reports submitted
from these several sources main-
tained that there was a real basis
fur fear that Germany has decided
already upon a way to isolate New
York City, at- least temporarily, in
the event of a ,break in relations
with the United States. The state-
ment that the sinking of t -he Vater -
land, the Iargest steamship afloat,
and 'perhaps others of the German
commercial fleet held here, to bar
passage through the Narrows
would the embraced in the first
German effort has been believed in
Washington as a result of the vete
fication offered he the unusually
large c:,rps of investigators. The
order's :received regarding -the con-
duct of officers of both army and
navy here could not be mistaken.
They were simply to sink any Ger-
man- vessel that did not immediate-
ly respond to an order to stop.
BUY ALL HER SUPPLiES HERE
Three Parties of rlilitary Buyers Have Already
Left. Italy it is Said
A despatch from Paris says :
Americans who are offering sup-
plies to the French Government are
being instructed by the commis-
sariat to direct such offers -to J. P.
Morgan and Company, of New
York, who. were- recently authorized
to make purrchases in the United
States on behalf of the military ad-
ministratio Similar offers from
Canadian's should be addressed to
the Hudson's Bay Company, of
Montreal, who are doing in Canada
what Morgan ,and Company .are do-
ing for the French Government in
the United States.
Practically all of Italy's buying
will be done in the United States
and Canada, according to the be-
lief of the commission agents here.
Three parties, of military buyers
have been sent to New York al-
ready, it is said. '
TURKISH VESSELS B,Lkui WN UP
Torpedoes a Transport in 'harbor and Sinks Am-'
munition and Supply Ships in Sea of Marmora
A despatch from London says:
"The submarine E-11, Lieut.-Cora-
mender
ieut.-Com-mender Martin E. Nesmith, hags
'sunk in the Sea of Marmara aves-
sel containing a great quantity of
ammunition, -comprising charges for
heavy howitzers, several gun
mountings and a six-inch gen. She
also chased a supply ship with a.
heavy cargo of stores and -torpe-
doed her alongside a. pier at iso-
dosto. A small store ship was else
chased and run ashore.
"The submarine. E-11 entered
Constantinople` and discharged a
torpedo at a transport alongside
the arsenal: The torpedo was heard
to explode."