It is a document in which lies the
choice of war or peace evenly balanced. I prefer to read into it all the
optimism which can be derived from the knowledge that two nations,
historically like-minded and bound to one another by strong ties of
friendship, seldom go to war over matters which can be settled without
resort to the arbitrament of arms. There is no question outstanding
today between the United States and Germany which cannot be settled
through diplomatic channels. I am inclined all the more to this optimism
by the temperament and character of the President of the United for the
time being.
I see in the note great possibilities for good. The undersea activities
of the German Navy in their effect upon the rights of the United States
and its citizens form, properly, the burden of its argument. We are
addressing Germany, and it is only over her submarine policy that our
interests have clashed with hers. The note takes cognizance, however, of
the inter-relation of Germany's submarine policy and the British policy
of "starving out Germany." The President has opened an avenue to the
full discussion of the rights and obligations of submarines in naval
warfare, and when Germany has stated her case it is not only not
impossible but it is highly probable that he will be asked to suggest a
modus vivendi by which the objectionable features of both these policies
may be removed.
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