because he
was one of the two representatives of Missouri, and could not ignore
the large number of Germans among his constituents. For this reason
he was called by the pro-Entente Press, like the _New York Herald_,
"pro-German Mr. Stone." Senator Gore was a Pacifist on principle,
and thought that the resolution for which he was responsible, to
prohibit Americans from travelling on armed merchantmen, would
avert the danger of war.

The whole Congress story can only be read as a domestic party skirmish,
with a view to the approaching Presidential election; one section of
the Democratic party wanted a candidate other than Wilson. Just as it
was at that time a mistake to expect any advantage from the Congress
Opposition, so to-day a similar mistake is made in Germany, when it
is assumed that the struggle in the Senate over the ratification
of the Peace Treaty has a pro-German background.

The debate in Congress was not in any way connected with an acute
German-American situation. It seems necessary to give here a short
survey of the negotiations, as they appeared from my point of view.
Our first concession occurred after the _Arabic_ incident, our second
later, after the _Sussex_ incident. Between these two there was never
any concession to America on the part of Germany, for the shelving
of the second _Lusitania_ crisis constituted a compromise. Between
February, 1915, and the _Lusitania_ incident we were conducting
an unrestricted submarine campaign, subsequently a limited one,
though this was not known to America until after the sinking of
the _Arabic_; after February, 1916, the unrestricted campaign was
renewed until the _Sussex_ incident, after which cruiser warfare was
begun. This is all that concerned me in this connection. Internal
differences of opinion within the German Government, such as occurred
after February, 1915, did not make their way across the Atlantic;
for instance, the resumption of the unrestricted submarine campaign
in February, 1916, was discussed with me as little as it was with
the American Government itself.

From these facts it is evident that the action of Congress was
of no practical importance for us, for when, after this debate,
the _Sussex_ incident occurred--when, moreover, it was a question
of an unarmed ship--Mr. Wilson was free to issue his ultimatum,
and could also have broken off diplomatic relations, if we had
refused to give way. The American Government had then no thought of