ake reparation as far as possible, and
take steps to prevent "the recurrence of anything so obviously
subversive of the principles of warfare." The note closed with a clear
caution to Germany that the government of the United States would not
"omit any word or any act necessary to the performance of its sacred
duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its citizens and
of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment." The die was cast;
but Germany in reply merely temporized.
In a second note, made public on June 11, the position of the United
States was again affirmed. William Jennings Bryan, the Secretary of
State, had resigned because the drift of President Wilson's policy was
not toward mediation but the strict maintenance of American rights, if
need be, by force of arms. The German reply was still evasive and German
naval commanders continued their course of sinking merchant ships. In a
third and final note of July 21, 1915, President Wilson made it clear to
Germany that he meant what he said when he wrote that he would maintain
the rights of American citizens. Finally after much discussion and
shifting about, the German ambassador on September 1, 1915, sent a brief
note to the Secretary of State: "Liners will not be sunk by our
submarines without warning and without safety of the lives of
non-combatants, provided the liners do not try to escape or offer
resistance." Editorially, the New York _Times_ declared: "It is a
triumph not only of diplomacy but of reason, of humanity, of justice,
and of truth." The Secretary of State saw in it "a recognition of the
fundamental principles for which we have contended."
=The Presidential Election of 1916.=--In the midst of this crisis came
the presidential campaign. On the Republican side everything seemed to
depend upon the action of the Progressives. If the breach created in
1912 could be closed, victory was possible; if not, defeat was certain.
A promise of unity lay in the fact that the conventions of the
Republicans and Progressives were held simultaneously in Chicago. The
friends of Roosevelt hoped that both parties would select him as their
candidate; but this hope was not realized. The Republicans chose, and
the Progressives accepted, Charles E. Hughes, an associate justice of
the federal Supreme Court who, as governor of New York, had won a
national reputation by waging war on "machine politicians."
In the face of the clamor for expressions of sympa
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