“Long acquainted as this government has been with the character of the imperial German government and with the high principles of equity by which they have in the past been actuated and guided, the government of the United States cannot believe that the commanders of the vessels which committed these acts of lawlessness did so except under a misapprehension of the orders issued by the imperial German naval authorities. It takes it for granted that, at least within the practical possibilities of every such case, the commanders even of submarines were expected to do nothing that would involve the lives of non-combatants or the safety of neutral ships, even at the cost of failing of their object of capture or destruction.
“It confidently expects, therefore, that the imperial German government will disavow the acts of which the government of the United States complains; that they will make reparation so far as reparation is possible for injuries which are without measure, and that they will take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of warfare for which the imperial German government have in the past so wisely and so firmly contended.
PROMPT, JUST ACTION BY GERMANY EXPECTED
“The government and people of the United States look to the imperial German government for just, prompt and enlightened action in this vital matter with the greater confidence because the United States and Germany are bound together not only by special ties of friendship, but also by the explicit stipulations of the treaty of 1828 between the United States and the Kingdom of Prussia.
“Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the destruction of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy international obligations, if no loss of life results, cannot justify or excuse a practice, the natural and necessary effect of which is to subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new and immeasurable risks.
“The imperial German government will not expect the government of the United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment.
“Bryan.”
THE WHOLE NATION BEHIND THE PRESIDENT
With anxiety, even if with confidence, the American people waited the publication of this note. Then they read, and the whole country resounded with enthusiastic support. More than at almost any previous period in the history of the United States, more certainly than at the outbreak of any previous foreign war, the nation stood solidly behind the President. According to the New York Tribune he “acted with calm statesmanlike directness, deserved well of his own nation and earned the respect of the world.” The New York Sun, commenting on the note, said: “The President has spoken firmly. The country, supporting him as firmly, awaits without passion the German reply,” and the New York Herald in an editorial declared that President Wilson had “expressed the unanimous voice of the great American republic.” “Everyone trusts the President because he has shown himself worthy of trust,” was the comment of the Philadelphia Public Ledger. “The Government’s position in this case is the country’s position. It is not extreme, yet it covers the ground,” spoke the Springfield Republican, and the Christian Science Monitor went so far as to state that there was “probably no body of opinion in the United States which will be dissatisfied either with the tone or temper of the message.”