eir lives on that occasion. The Imperial
Government must state for the rest the impression that certain
important facts most directly connected with the sinking of the
Lusitania may have escaped the attention of the Government of the
United States. It therefore considers it necessary in the interest of
the clear and full understanding aimed at by either Government
primarily to convince itself that the reports of the facts which are
before the two Governments are complete and in agreement.

The Government of the United States proceeds on the assumption that
the Lusitania is to be considered as an ordinary unarmed merchant
vessel. The Imperial Government begs in this connection to point out
that the Lusitania was one of the largest and fastest English commerce
steamers, constructed with Government funds as auxiliary cruisers, and
is expressly included in the navy list published by British Admiralty.
It is moreover known to the Imperial Government from reliable
information furnished by its officials and neutral passengers that for
some time practically all the more valuable English merchant vessels
have been provided with guns, ammunition and other weapons, and
reinforced with a crew specially practiced in manning guns. According
to reports at hand here, the Lusitania when she left New York
undoubtedly had guns on board which were mounted under decks and
masked.

The Imperial Government furthermore has the honor to direct the
particular attention of the American Government to the fact that the
British Admiralty by a secret instruction of February of this year
advised the British merchant marine not only to seek protection behind
neutral flags and markings, but even when so disguised to attack
German submarines by ramming them. High rewards have been offered by
the British Government as a special incentive for the destruction of
the submarines by merchant vessels, and such rewards have already been
paid out. In view of these facts, which are satisfactorily known to
it, the Imperial Government is unable to consider English merchant
vessels any longer as "undefended territory" in the zone of maritime
war designated by the Admiralty Staff of the Imperial German Navy, the
German commanders are consequently no longer in a position to observe
the rules of capture otherwise usual and with which they invariably
complied before this. Lastly, the Imperial Government must specially
point out that on her last trip the Lusitania, as o