and search to
ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of belligerent
nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war under a neutral
flag." (The Secretary of State, Washington, D. C., to the German
Minister for Foreign Affairs, May 13, 1915.)

"The fact that more than one hundred American citizens were among those
who perished" (reference to the sinking of the Lusitania) "made it the
duty of the Government of the United States to speak of these things and
once more, with solemn emphasis, to call the attention of the Imperial
German Government to the grave responsibility which the Government of
the United States conceives that it has incurred in this tragic
occurrence, and to the indisputable principle upon which that
responsibility rests. The Government of the United States is contending
for something much greater than mere rights of property or privileges of
commerce. It is contending for nothing less high and sacred than the
rights of humanity, which every government honors itself in respecting
and which no government is justified in resigning on behalf of those
under its care and authority." (The Secretary of State, Washington, D.
C., to the German Minister for Foreign Affairs, June 9, 1915.)

"If a belligerent cannot retaliate against an enemy without injuring the
lives of neutrals as well as their property, humanity, as well as
justice and a due regard for the dignity of neutral powers, should
dictate that the practice be discontinued. If persisted in it would in
such circumstances constitute an unpardonable offense against the
sovereignty of the neutral nation affected. . . . The rights of neutrals
in time of war are based upon principle, not upon expediency, and the
principles are immutable. It is the duty and obligation of belligerents
to find a way to adapt the new circumstances to them." (The Secretary of
State, Washington, D. C., to the German Minister for Foreign Affairs,
July 21, 1915.)

"The law of nations in these matters, upon which the Government of the
United States based that protest" (i.e., against the German declaration
of February, 1915, declaring the danger zone around Great Britain and
Ireland) "is not of recent origin or founded upon merely arbitrary
principles set up by convention. It is based, on the contrary, upon
manifest principles of humanity and has long been established with the
approval and by the express assent of all civilized nations. . . . It
has become painfull