In the meanwhile the enforcement of the blockade order brought serious loss to Ameri can shippers. During the month of March 73 vessels carrying American cargoes, almost all of which were bound for neutral ports, were diverted to the port of Kirkwall alone. Goods were seized on mere suspicion that they were destined for the enemy. Detained vessels, moreover, were compelled to pay storage, har bor and other charges in advasice of judicial determination of the validity of the seizures. To preserve the rights of American citizens in proceedings in the British prize courts, the United States government served on Great Britain a formal caveat against the substitution of her own enactments for international law. *The Government of the United States? it principles and rules of international law, as hitherto established, governing neutral trade in time of war, without limitation or impairment by orders-in-council or other municipal legis lation by the British Government, and will not recognize the validity of prize-court proceed ings talcen under restraint imposed by British municipal law in derogation of the rights of American citizens under international law? Despite this warning the United States gov ernment permiued the blockade to continue and even refused for months to renew its protests. Damage to American shipping continued to be extensive, and pro-German interests in America brought pressure on the administration to take action. The government, however, felt dis iuclined to hold Great Britain to strict ac countability while it was suffering so grievously from wrongs at the hands of- Great Britain's -arch enemy— Germany. It held that the de fense of trade rights was of less importance than the protection of American lives from the deadly activities of the German submarines.
Submarine Warfare,— The German war zone decree went into effect on 18 Feb. 1915, and a campaign of submarine frightfulness en sued without delay. It so happened, however, that the first serious clash between the United States and Germany came not as the result of a U-boat sinking, but of the attadc upon an American vessel, the Frye, by an auxiliary cruiser, the Prince Eitel Friedrich. Despite its unlawful act this vessel entered Newport News 10 March, for protection against British war ships. The United States promptly presented a claim for damages amounting to $220,059.44. Herr von Jagow, the German Foreign Secre tary, maintained that the sinlcing of the Frye was quite in accordance with the principles of international law, since it was not possil)le te take the prize into a German port, but because of the Prussian-American treaty of 1799, the owners of the ship and the cargo would be com pensated even if the court decided that the cargo was contraband.
On 1 May 1915, the following notice ap peared in a munber of American newspapers: This notice was published in accordance with wireless orders from the Berlin Foreign Office as a warning to persons booked for passage ou the Cunard liner Lusitanio which sailed from New York the same day. It was inserted in the newspapers under the notice of the sailing of the Lusitania, and shows that that great vessel had been deliberately singled out for destruc tion.
' A week later (7 May 1915) the Cunarder was attacked without warning by a German submarine off the Irish coast, and went down with no less than 1,153 persons. Of the 1:.:
Americans on board, 114 perished. A cry of horror went up from all parts of the United States. American citizens had been sent to their death by the deliberate action of the Ger men government. From all sides pressure was brought upon President Wilson to demand pr.ompt reparation for the outrage. Had he so wished, he might have brought the country into the war at once upon the tide of popular indig nation caused by this event. The feeling of resentment was increased by the undisguised elation of the German people at the sinking. The news was received in the consulate at Philadelphia with cheers. Throughout the Ger man Empire it was celebrated as though it had been a great victory. Cities were decorated, school children were given a holiday, and a medal was struck to commemorate the event.
Dernburg, the kaiser's spokesman in Amer ica, immediately tried to allay indignation in America by a published defense of the sinking. *We have done and will do the best we can to avoid such trouble,* he said; abut we cannot allow Americans to be used as shields to get articles of war into the hands of the Allies. The death of the Americans might have been avoided if our warning had been heeded. We put in ad vertisements and were careful to put them in next the advertisements of the Cunard line's sailing dates.* A few days later the German Foreign Office sent a note which was delivered to Secretary Bryan. °The German Government,* it said, °desires to express its deepest sympathy at the loss of lives on board the Lusitania. The re sponsibility rests, however, with the British Governrnent, which, through its plan of starving the civilian population of Germany, has forced Germany to resort to retaliating measures. In spite of the German offer to stop the submarine war in case the starvation plan was given up, British merchant vessels are being generally armed with guns, and have repeatedly tried to ram submannes, so that a previous search was impossible.* On 11 May, President Wilson delivered an address in Philadelphia before an audience of 4,000 people. That the occasion would be tail ized by. the President to give ari intimation of the policy. to be followed by the government was anticipated by everyone. Although not mentioning the Luntania by name, he made one statement which all the world accepted as an indirect reference to the sinking. (The ex ample of America,* he said, amust be a special example. The example of America tnust be an example not of peace because it will not fight, but of peace because peace is the healing and elevating Influence of the world and strife ia not. There is such a thing as a nutn's being too proud to fight. There is such a thing as a nation's being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.* The President afterward explained that these words did not foreshadow the policy of the administration toward Germany. He was de fining only a tpersonal attitude. However, many both in the United States and Germany still believed that under no circumstances would the government permit the submarine sinkings to lead to war.