Germany's and
disregarded the American ruling on armed merchantmen, which held that
"the determination of warlike character must rest in no case upon
presumption, but upon conclusive evidence."

Berlin was looking for trouble. A period of complications in
American-German relations was frankly predicted. The Administration
was plainly concerned by the situation; but no decision to take action
was forthcoming. Its hesitation appeared to be due to the apparent
need for a further note to dispose of new interpretations Germany had
ingeniously woven in her various excuses by way of evading the letter
and spirit of the _Sussex_ agreement. One view of her submarine
"rights" which Germany insisted on upholding was that armed
merchantmen were not legally immune from attack on sight.

Herr Zimmermann, the German Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, defined
anew his Government's attitude:

"As the armament of several British ships has been used for attack,
and has therefore endangered the lives of crew and passengers, of
course armed ships cannot be considered as peaceful trade boats."

The cases of the _Marina_ and _Arabia_ put the German pledges to a
test. Neither vessel attempted to escape nor offered resistance,
though armed with a solitary gun. The issue therefore resolved itself
into these considerations:

First. Since the German submarine commanders have pleaded extenuating
circumstances on which they based their presumption that the _Marina_
and _Arabia_, were transports, and not passenger vessels, were these
circumstances sufficient to have justified the commanders in mistaking
the two steamers for transports?

Second. If there were such extenuating circumstances, were they such
as to warrant the commanders in departing from the general rule laid
down by the American Government in the _Sussex_ note, calling forth
the pledges given by Germany in May, 1916, in which it was guaranteed
that "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 area declared as naval war
zone, shall not be sunk without warning and without saving human
lives, unless these ships attempt to escape or offer resistance?"

Whatever intimation was made to Germany by the United States did not
become public. By December, 1916, the whole question appeared to have
been suddenly shelved by the peace proposals Germany hurled at the