every opportunity of saving her face if she desires to do so. Not only is it phrased in the most friendly terms, but it invites a submission of further evidence regarding the Lusitania's alleged guns and even the resumption of negotiations with Great Britain through American intermediacy. Here are the vistas of a negotiation which might keep the diplomatists of Berlin and Washington happily employed till the war is over; only the President insists once more that the submarine outrages must stop while the negotiations are in progress. It is this last point, firmly submitted at the end of the note, which gives significance to the whole. Obviously, without it the note would be nothing but an abdication on the part of the United States, and it is because it is not that Mr. Bryan disapproves it.

We do not question the sincerity of Mr. Bryan's attachment to the cause of arbitration; but it is strange that he does not see what a disservice he does to arbitration by accepting and preaching a travesty of it. When there is littigation between individuals over an alleged wrong, the first condition is that the wrong shall stop for the interim-a result effected through an interim injunction between nations. There is no judge to grant such an injunction.

It

note is published we are puzzled to find the reason for Mr. Bryan's action. The note contains nothing new; it merely affirms in a friendly manner the position taken up by the United States-a position founded upon the generally accepted principles of international law. It testates the claim which America has always made, that a belligerent has no right to sink a presumably innocent merchantman and endanger the lives of its crew and passengers, but must first determine the character of its cargo and establish its contraband nature and must secure the safety of the people on board. This is obviously a stand in the cause of humanity. We might call it the irreducible minimum of the rights of neutrals; for it is clear that, if a Government allows its subjects to be slain in cold blood and its ships to be destroyed, it abandons the primary function of a Government.

The Daily Mail says:

The first impression made upon most readers of the new American note to Germany will be, we suspect, that it is extremely polite and quite harmless. They will ask in wonder what Mr. Bryan could have found in it sufficiently menacing to call for his resignation. Το many people it will seem that Mr. Bryan altogether misjudged the effect of the American reply. They will find it difficult to believe that any diplomatic dispatch could in the circumstances be more courteous or more restrained. It observes all the forms of international politeness, with, if anything, almost exaggerated punctiliousness.

Yet it is possible that Mr. Bryan is an nearly right as he ever is. The vital passages in the note are those in which the United States Government "very earnestly and very solemnly renews the representations of its note" of May 15, and again asks for assurances that American lives and American ships shall not be endangered on the high seas. In other words, the United States still presses for an official disavowal of the acts of German submarine commanders, still demands reparation for the American lives lost in the Lusitania, and

still calls for a promise that no similar outrage will be perpetrated in future.

The Daily Telegraph says:

The note presented to Germany on behalf of the United States Government is a firm and courteous document-the courtesy at least as obvious as the firmness-stating the position of the President very much on the lines expected, and leaving us to wonder even more than we did before why Bryan thought it necessary to resign his Secretaryship. The spirit of the second note is exactly that of the first.

Following is The London Times com

ment:

The gist of President Wilson's note lies in the last half dozen words and proceeds. It remains to be seen what answer will be made to this categorical demand. The general opinion in the United States appears to be that it will not be a refusal. Germany, it is thought, will begin by making concessions enough to prevent the abrupt conclusion of conversations, and will finally extend them sufficiently to preserve friendly relations with the Republic.

un

It would be rash to express a decided view, but we shall not be surprised should this forecast prove to be correct. The feeling in Germany is very bitter against the Government and people of the United States; but it seems unlikely that the Government in Berlin will allow the ill-temper of the public to influence its conduct. The semi-official Lokalanzeiger is already deprecating an friendly attitude toward the United States. There is nothing in the note to suggest that a policy such as the American newspapers seem to expect from Germany would be doomed to failure. The American people, we are told, are determined to attain their ends, but they welcome every prospect of attaining them by peaceful means.

The note, it is observed, not only does not shut out further conversations, but gives a distinct opening for them by its treatment of von Jagow's renewed intimation that Germany would gladly accept American good offices in negotia

The note is not only dignified and statesmanlike, but it breathes a spirit of tolerance and Christianity that is as noteworthy as it is admirable. There is in it not even a suggestion of a threat, no word of bluster, no breath of jingoism. It is sound, sensible, firm, resolute, self-contained, magnanimous even. It does not incite to war, but, instead, appeals to the highest principles of justice and right.

But though the words are conciliatory and the spirit admirable, there is not the least abatement of the insistence upon the principles which the President formulated in his earlier message and laid down for the guidance of Germany and for the protection of the American people. The way is now open to Germany either for peace or for war. decision is left with her.

FRENCH COMMENT.

The Temps of June 12 says:

The

Germany must choose between having the services of America in proposing to the Allies a moderation of their blockade, conducted with the strictest humanity, and the cessation of torpedoing neutral ships, the continuation of which exposes Germany to a diplomatic rupture with the United States, if not to

war.

Assuredly this prospect caused Bryan's resignation.

La Liberté says of the note:

It is in every way worthy of a great country conscious of its dignity, its rights, and its duties. It has not the tone of an ultimatum, since it is couched in courteous terms, but it is energetic, and it requires Germany finally to cease recourse to false expedients.

The Journal des Débats, in discussing the note, says:

The United States, representing in this case the civilized world, places the sacred rights of humanity above considerations of the military order, to which Germany subordinates everything. They are resolved, so far as concerns American subjects, to have those rights respected.

The essence of the note is, first, measures required by humanity must be taken, and afterward, if desired, will come discussions of a new regulation of naval warfare. If Germany insists on putting herself outside the pale of humanity she will suffer the consequences.

ITALIAN COMMENT.

The Corriere della Sera of June 12 compares the attitude of Secretary Bryan to that of former Premier Giolitti, leader of the party which sought to prevent war with Austria. It says Mr. Bryan's action probably will have the same effect in America that Signor Giolitti's intervention had in Italy, and that it will

strengthen public opinion in favor of President Wilson.

It will give him greater power in this important moment, defeating men who are ready to lower the prestige and honor of the country.

The Tribuna says:

The United States, the greatest neutral nation, has with this document assumed a special rôle, that is, the defense not of a particular group or interest, but the interest of civil humanity; to guard those principles of common right which above any particular right constitute the sacred patrimony of humanity. She raises her voice, whose firmness is not diminished by the courtesy of the language.

We do not know if Germany will be able to understand the significance, but if she does not she will commit a grave error—the gravest perhaps in the immense series made by her in this war. Mr. Wilson seems to persevere in the hope that Germany will listen to the American admonition. Germany must not forget that the longer the hope the more violent will be the reaction.

The Idea Nazionale says:

The note is not only not a declaration of war or the prelude to a declaration of war, but a species midway of humanitarian sentimentalism and lawyerlike arguments which can have, at least for the present, but one consequence, that of encouraging Germany in intransigentism-that is, the maintenance of her point of view regarding naval warfare.

fied according to their professions of political faith:

DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPERS. From The New York World.

Unspeakable treachery, not only to the President, but to the nation.

From The Buffalo Enquirer.

Bryan's announced campaign has something of the character of submarine warfare.

From The Helena (Mon.) Independent.

As much mistaken in this instance as in years gone by.

From The Lexington (Ky.) Herald.

His propaganda is designed and intended "to defeat the measures of the Government of the United States " in violation of Section 5, [of the law of treason.]

From The Mobile Register.

If Germany is misled into actions still further violative of our rights, the resultant hostility will be very largely attributable to Mr. Bryan.

From The Columbia (S. C.) State.

The President's clear head may now be trusted the more that his methods of thinking are relieved of opposition in the Cabinet.

From The Montgomery Advertiser.

He will go back to his first love, agitation.

From The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Wilson, not Bryan, strikes the note to which the hearts of the American people respond.

From The Savannah News.

The people are following the President and not Mr. Bryan.

641

From The Austin (Texas) Statesman.

Mr. Bryan's diplomacy has not been of the type that has inspired the confidence of the American people.

From The Charleston News and Courier.

The bald and ugly fact will remain-he deserted his chief and his Government in the midst of an international crisis. From The Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Mr. Bryan's views, turned into a national mean policy, would national suicide.

From The Brooklyn Eagle.

An obstacle has seen fit to remove itself; it has substituted harmony for discordance.

From The Boston Post.

Mr. Bryan has shabbily infringed that good American doctrine that politics should end at the water's edge.

From The Baltimore Sun.

The Germans torpedo one "Nebraskan." Oh, for a "Busy Bertha" that could effectually dispose of the other one!

From The Charlotte Observer.

The country simply was afraid of him. From The Cleveland Plain Dealer. He is a preacher of disloyalty. From The Chattanooga Times.

*

if

The reason given for his resignation ** approximates disloyalty, nothing else; a monstrous statement. From The New Orleans Times-Picayune. His voluntary resignation will give satisfaction.

REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPERS. From The New York Tribune.

A man with such a cheaply commercial conception of the post held by so long a line of American statesmen was by nature disqualified for it.

From The New York Globe.

Instead of promoting a peaceful settlement, Mr. Bryan practically throws his influence in the other balance. From The Syracuse Post-Standard.

Billy Sunday in the wrong niche.

From The Rochester Post-Express.

Amazement and contempt for him

grow.

From The Pittsburgh Gazette Times.

He has not filled the place with dignity, ability, or satisfaction, nor yet with fidelity; a cheap imitation.

From The Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph.

The peace-piffle and grape-juice states

man.

From The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A peace-at-any-price man. From The Wilkes-Barre Record.

An amazing, an astounding blunder. From The Cincinnati Commercial

Tribune.

The seriousness of the situation is all that prevents Mr. Bryan's foreign policy from being laughable.

From The Baltimore American.

The country wants no more vapid theorizing; it wants no more Bryanism. From The Hartford Courant.

Those newspapers that said Mr. Bryan was in bad taste made a slight mistake. He is a bad taste.

From The Augusta (Me.) Kennebec Journal.

Impossible for a man of Mr. Bryan's ability and love of the limelight to remain longer wholly obscure in this national crisis.

From The Portsmouth (N. H.) Chronicle.

Childish policies and small politics, even if the Nobel Peace Prize is at stake, must not be considered by an American statesman.

From The Portland (Me.) Press.

There was nothing to do but get out and shut up.

From The Paterson Press.

He has dealt his country a stunning blow. From The Lincoln (Neb.) State Journal.

It is characteristic of Mr. Bryan to shut his eyes to arguments and facts when he reaches the ecstacy of sentimental conviction.

From The Omaha Bee.

His action may have a weakening effect on our position.

From The Nebraska City (Neb.) Press.

* *

Knowing his disposition to watch out for the main chance * that Mr. Bryan will be a candidate for the Senate from Nebraska is almost a foregone conclusion.

From The Topeka Capital.

Represents only the personal idiosyncrasies of William J. Bryan.

From The Milwaukee Sentinel.

Calculated to create prejudice and misgiving against the American note and to mislead foreign opinion.

From The St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Mr. Bryan could have found no better way of causing the President embarrassment at this crisis.

From The Minneapolis Tribune.

President Wilson has had his own way in State Department affairs, to the minimization of Secretary Bryan, almost at times to the point of humiliation. From The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

A pacifist temporarily bereft of reason and lost to sense of patriotic duty; a misplaced figurehead.

From The Portland Oregonian.

*

The archpriest of the peace-at-anyprice party a poor staff to lean upon.

From The Albany Knickerbocker-Press. Mr. Bryan must Chautauquahoot, as the rooster must crow.

From The Scranton Republican.

Prompt acceptance of his resignation was the proper thing.

From The Los Angeles Times.

The inefficiency and ineptness of the Secretary of State have been a reproach to the country.

From The Wilmington (Del.) News.

Far better if Mr. Bryan had retired long ago.

From The St. Paul Pioneer Press.

His retirement was merely a matter of time.