the effect that after the 18th of
February, German submarines would destroy every enemy merchant vessel
found in the waters about the British Isles, which were declared a "war
zone"; and that it might not be possible to provide for the safety of
crew or passengers of destroyed vessels. Neutral ships were warned of the
danger of destruction if they entered the zone. The excuse alleged for
this decided departure from the custom of nations was the British
blockade upon foodstuffs, which had been declared as a result of the
control of food in Germany by the Government. Here was quite a different
matter from British interference with American trade-rights; for if the
German threat were carried into effect it signified not merely the
destruction or loss of property, for which restitution might be made, but
the possible drowning of American citizens, perhaps women and children,
who would be entirely within their rights in traveling upon merchant
vessels and to whom the Government owed protection.

Wilson's reply was prompt and definite. "If the commanders of German
vessels of war should ... destroy on the high seas an American vessel or
the lives of American citizens, it would be difficult for the Government
of the United States to view the act in any other light than as an
indefensible violation of neutral rights.... The Government of the United
States would be constrained to hold the Imperial German Government to a
strict accountability for such acts of their naval authorities and to take
any steps it might be necessary to take to safeguard American lives and
property and to secure to American citizens the full enjoyment of their
acknowledged rights on the high seas." It was the clearest of warnings.
Would Germany heed it? And if she did not, would Wilson surrender his
pacific ideals and take the nation into war?

CHAPTER III

THE SUBMARINE

Early in the winter of 1914-1915 President Wilson apparently foresaw
something of the complications likely to arise from the measures and
counter-measures taken by the belligerents to secure control of overseas
commerce, and sent his personal adviser, Colonel House, across the
Atlantic to study the possibilities of reaching a _modus vivendi_. There
was no man so well qualified for the mission. Edward Mandell House was a
Texan by birth, but a cosmopolitan by nature. His hobby was practical
politics; his avocation the study of history and government. His
catholicity of taste i