sharply. Not merely his leadership of the party and the
country was at stake, but also that moral leadership of neutral nations
and the world toward which the struggle with Germany was to take him.
Refusing to receive Senator Stone, he sent him a letter in which the
cardinal points of his position were underlined. "Once accept a single
abatement of right," he insisted, "and many other humiliations would
certainly follow, and the whole fine fabric of international law might
crumble under our hands piece by piece. What we are now contending for in
this matter is the very essence of the things that have made America a
sovereign nation. She cannot yield them without conceding her own
impotency as a Nation and making virtual surrender of her independent
position among the nations of the world." This definite enunciation was
in effect an appeal to the American people, which came as a relief to
those who had suffered from presidential patience under German outrages.
The storm of public feeling aroused against the rebellious Congressmen
was such that Wilson's victory became assured. Demanding concrete
justification of his stand, he insisted that the resolutions be put to
the vote. The issue was somewhat confused in the Senate so that the vote
was not decisive; but in the House the McLemore resolution was defeated
by a vote of 276 to 142.

And yet the submarine issue was not finally closed. Less than a month
after the rights of American citizens were thus maintained, the British
passenger steamer _Sussex_, crossing the English Channel, was torpedoed
without warning. It was the clearest violation of the pledge given by the
German Government the previous September. Once again Wilson acted without
precipitancy. He waited until the Germans should present explanations
and thereafter took more than a week in which to formulate his decision.
Finally, on April 19, 1916, he called the two houses of Congress in joint
session to lay before them his note to Germany. Unlike his _Lusitania_
notes, this was a definite ultimatum, clearly warranted by the undeniable
fact that Germany had broken a solemn pledge. After recounting the long
list of events which had so sorely tried American patience, Wilson
concluded that "unless the Imperial German Government should now
immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of
warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels this Government
can have no choice but to sever diploma