New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 2, No. 1, April, 1915 | Page 3

citizens, it would be difficult for the Government
of the United States to view the act in any other light than as an
indefensible violation of neutral rights, which it would be very hard,
indeed, to reconcile with the friendly relations now happily subsisting
between the two Governments.
If such a deplorable situation should arise, the Imperial German
Government can readily appreciate that the Government of the United
States would be constrained to hold the Imperial Government of
Germany to a strict accountability for such acts of their naval
authorities, and to take any steps it might be necessary to take to
safeguard American lives and property and to secure to American
citizens the full enjoyment of their acknowledged rights on the high
seas.
The Government of the United States, in view of these considerations,
which it urges with the greatest respect and with the sincere purpose of
making sure that no misunderstandings may arise, and no
circumstances occur, that might even cloud the intercourse of the two
Governments, expresses the confident hope and expectation that the
Imperial German Government can and will give assurance that
American citizens and their vessels will not be molested by the naval
forces of Germany otherwise than by visit and search, though their
vessels may be traversing the sea area delimited in the proclamation of

the German Admiralty. It is stated for the information of the Imperial
Government that representations have been made to his Britannic
Majesty's Government in respect to the unwarranted use of the
American flag for the protection of British ships.
AMERICAN NOTE TO ENGLAND.
Feb. 10, 1915.
The Secretary of State has instructed Ambassador Page at London to
present to the British Government a note to the following effect:
The department has been advised of the declaration of the German
Admiralty on Feb. 4, indicating that the British Government had on Jan.
31 explicitly authorized the use of neutral flags on British merchant
vessels, presumably for the purpose of avoiding recognition by German
naval forces. The department's attention has also been directed to
reports in the press that the Captain of the Lusitania, acting upon orders
or information received from the British authorities, raised the
American flag as his vessel approached the British coasts, in order to
escape anticipated attacks by German submarines. Today's press
reports also contain an alleged official statement of the Foreign Office
defending the use of the flag of a neutral country by a belligerent vessel
in order to escape capture or attack by an enemy.
Assuming that the foregoing reports are true, the Government of the
United States, reserving for future consideration the legality and
propriety of the deceptive use of the flag of a neutral power in any case
for the purpose of avoiding capture, desires very respectfully to point
out to his Britannic Majesty's Government the serious consequences
which may result to American vessels and American citizens if this
practice is continued.
The occasional use of the flag of a neutral or an enemy under the stress
of immediate pursuit and to deceive an approaching enemy, which
appears by the press reports to be represented as the precedent and
justification used to support this action, seems to this Government a
very different thing from an explicit sanction by a belligerent

Government for its merchant ships generally to fly the flag of a neutral
power within certain portions of the high seas which are presumed to
be frequented with hostile warships. The formal declaration of such a
policy of general misuse of a neutral's flag jeopardizes the vessels of
the neutral visiting those waters in a peculiar degree by raising the
presumption that they are of belligerent nationality regardless of the
flag which they may carry.
In view of the announced purpose of the German Admiralty to engage
in active naval operations in certain delimited sea areas adjacent to the
coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, the Government of the United
States would view with anxious solicitude any general use of the flag of
the United States by British vessels traversing those waters. A policy
such as the one which his Majesty's Government is said to intend to
adopt would, if the declaration of the German Admiralty be put in force,
it seems clear, afford no protection to British vessels, while it would be
a serious and constant menace to the lives and vessels of American
citizens.
The Government of the United States, therefore, trusts that his
Majesty's Government will do all in their power to restrain vessels of
British nationality in the deceptive use of the United States flag in the
sea area defined by the German declaration, since such practice would
greatly endanger the vessels of a friendly power navigating those
waters and would even seem to impose upon the Government of Great
Britain