The Bridgeport Evening Farmer

PRESIDENT WILSON INFORMS CONGRESS
OF DIPLOMATIC BREAK
WITH GERMANY

Appears Before Joint Session
and in Dramatic Recital Presents Review of
Events That Have Caused
Severance of Relations
With Berlin -- Galleries
Thronged With Spectators.

Washington, Feb. 5--Severance of
diplomatic relations with Germany
was formally announced by President
Wilson at a joint session of congress
Saturday afternoon.

Fervently invoking the guidance of
Almighty God in the step he had tak-
en, President Wilson detailed to the
congress why the United States could
not continue relations with a warring
power that repeatedly invades its sa-
cred rights and takes the lives of its
citizens.

Calm, with a sense of right in
what may prove to be the most som-
bre moment of American history, the
president stood in the historic hall of
representatives, and with senators
and representatives before him spoke
the words that may carry the country
into the world conflict, not for aggres-
sion and not for power; only for law
and humanity.

The president spoke as follows:

"Gentlemen of the congress:

The imperial German government
on the 31st of January announced to
this government and to the govern-
ments of the other neutral nations
that on and after the first day of Feb-
ruary, the present month, it would
adopt a policy with regard to the use
of submarines against all shipping
seeking to pass through certain desig-
nated areas of the high seas, to which
it is clearly my duty to call your at-
tention.

Let me remind the Congress that
on the 8th of April last in view of the
sinking on the 24th of March of the
cross channel passenger steamer Sus-
sex by a German submarine without
summons or warning and the conse-
quent loss of the lives of several citi-
zens of the United States, who were
passengers aboard her, this govern-
ment addressed a note to the imperial
German government, in which it made
the following declaration:

If it is still the purpose of the
Imperial government to prosecute re-
lentless and indiscriminate warfare
against vessels of commerce by the
use of submarines without regard to
what the government of the United
States must consider the sacred and
indisputable rules of international
law and the universally recognized
dictates of humanity, the govern-
ment of the United States is at last
forced to the conclusion that there
is but one course it can pursue. Un-
less the imperial government should
now immediately declare and effect
an abandonment of its present meth-
ods of submarine warfare against
passenger and freight carrying ves-
sels, the government of the United
States can have no choice but to sever
diplomatic relations with the Ger-
man empire altogether.

In reply to this declaration the im-
perial German government gave this
government the following assurance:

"The German government is pre-
pared to do its utmost to confine the
operations of war for the rest of its du-
ration to the fighting forces of the
belligerents, thereby also insuring the
freedom of the seas, a principle upon
which the German government be-
lieves now, as before, to be in agree-

ment with the government of the
United States.

The German government, guided
by this idea, assures the government
of the United States that the German
naval forces have received the follow-
ing order: In accordance with the
general principles of visit and search
and destruction of merchant vessels
recognized by international law, such
vessels, both within and without the
declared naval war zone, shall
not be sunk without warning and
without saving human lives, unless
these ships attempt to escape or offer
resistance.

But it added, 'neutrals cannot
expect that Germany, forced to fight
for her existence, shall, for the sake
of neutral interest, restrict the use of
an effective weapon if her enemy is
permitted to continue to apply at will
methods of warfare violating the rules
of international law. Such a demand
would be incompatible with the char-
acter of neutrality and the German
government is convinced that the gov-

ernment of the United States does not
think of making such a demand,
knowing that the government of the
United States has repeatedly declar-
ed that it is determined to restore
the principle of the freedom of the
seas, from whatever quarter it has
been violated."

To this the government of the
United States replied on the 8th of
May, accepting, of course, the assur-
ances given, but adding:

"The government of the United
States feels it necessary to state that it
takes it for granted that the imperial
German government does not intend
to imply that the maintenance of its
newly announced policy is in any way
contingent upon the course or result
of diplomatic negotiations between
the government of the United States
and any other belligerent government,
notwithstanding the fact that certain
passages in the imperial government's
note of the 4th instant might appear
to be susceptible of that construction.

In order, however, to avoid any mis-
understanding, the government of the
United States notifies the imperial
government that it cannot for a mo-
ment entertain, much less discuss, a
suggestion that respect by German
naval authorities for the rights of citi-
zens of the United States, upon the
high seas should in any way or in
the slightest degree be made contin-
gent upon the conduct of any other
government, affecting the rights of
neutrals and non-combatants. Re-
sponsibility in such matters is single,
not joint; absolute, not relative."

To this note of the 8th of May
the imperial German government
made no reply.

On the 31st of January, the Wed-
nesday of the present week, the Ger-
man ambassador handed to the secre-
tary of state, along with a formal
note, a memorandum which contained
the following statement:

"The imperial government, there-
fore, does not doubt that the govern-
ment of the United States will under-
stand the situation thus forced upon
Germany by the Entente allies' bru-
tal methods of war and by their de-
termination to destroy the Central
powers and that the government of
the United States will further realize
that the now openly disclosed inten-
tion of the Entente allies gives back
to Germany the freedom of action
which she reserved in her note ad-
dressed to the government of the
United States on May 4th, 1916.

"Under these circumstances Ger-

many will meet the illegal measures
of her enemies by forcibly preventing
after Feb. 1, 1917, in a zone around
Great Britain, France, Italy and in
the eastern Mediterranean, all naviga-
tion, that of neutrals included, from
and to England and from and to
France, etc., etc. All ships met with-
in the zone will be sunk."

I think that you will agree with
me that in view of this declaration
which suddenly and without prior in-
timation of any kind, deliberately
withdraws the solemn assurance given
in the imperial government's note of
the 4th of May, 1916, this government
has no alternative consistent with the
dignity and honor of the United
States but to take the course which
in its note of the 18th of April, 1916,
it announced it would take in the
event that the German government
did not declare and effect an aban-
donment of the methods of submarine
warfare which it was then employing
and to which it now purposes again
to resort.

I have, therefore, directed the sec-
retary of state to announce to his ex-
cellency the German ambassador
that all diplomatic relations between
the United States and the German em-
pire are severed and that the Ameri-
can ambassador at Berlin will imme-
diately be withdrawn; and, in accord-
with this decision, to hand to his ex-
cellency his passports.

Notwithstanding this unexpected
action of the German government, this
sudden and deeply deplorable renun-
ciation of its assurances, given this
government at one of the most critical
moments of tension in the relations of
the two governments, I refuse to be-
lieve that it is the intention of the
German authorities to do in fact what
they have warned us they will feel at
liberty to do. I cannot bring myself
to believe that they will, indeed, pay
no regard to the ancient friendship
between their people and our own, or
to the solemn obligations which have
been exchanged between them, and
destroy American ships and take the
lives of American citizens in the wil-
ful prosecution of the ruthless naval
program they have announced their
intention to adopt. Only actual overt
acts on their part can make me be-
lieve it even now.

If this inveterate confidence on
my part in the sobriety and prudent
foresight of their purpose should un-
happily prove unfounded; if Ameri-
can ships and American lives should
in fact be sacrificed by their naval
commander in heedless contravention
of the just and reasonable under-
standings of international law and the
obvious dictates of humanity, I shall
take the liberty of coming again be-
fore the congress to ask that author-
ity be given me to use any means
that may be necessary for the protec-
tion of our seamen and our people
in the prosecution of their peaceful
and legitimate errands on the high
seas. I can do nothing less. I take
it for granted that all neutral govern-
ments will take the same course.

We do not desire any hostile con-
flict with the imperial German gov-

ernment. We are the sincere friends
of the German people and earnestly
desire to remain at peace with the
government which speaks for them.
We shall not believe that they are
hostile to us unless and until we are
obliged to believe it; and we purpose
nothing more than the reasonable
defense of the undoubted rights of
our people. We wish to serve no
selfish ends. We seek merely to
stand true alike in thought and in ac-
tion to the immemorial principles of
our people; which I have sought to
express in my address to the senate
only two weeks ago -- seek merely
to vindicate our right to liberty and
justice and an unmolested life. These
are the bases of peace, not war. God
grant that we may not be challeng-
ed to defend them by acts of wilful
injustice on the part of the govern-
ment of Germany."