appointment and endeavoring
by every means to avert the impending strife and find a basis for the
preservation of an honorable peace.

It was now evident to most thinking people that the apparent concessions
of the Germans were granted merely to provide them time to complete a
larger program of submarine construction. This must have been evident to
the president; but he appears to have possessed an optimism that rose
above his convictions.

Our government, January 18, put forth a declaration of principles
regarding submarine attacks and inquired whether the governments of the
allies would subscribe to such an agreement. This was one of the
president's "forlorn hope" movements to try and bring about an agreement
among the belligerents which would bring the submarine campaign within
the restrictions of international law. Could such an agreement have been
effected, it would have been of vast relief to this country and might
have kept us out of the war. The Allies were willing to subscribe to any
reasonable agreement provided there was assurance that it would be
maintained. They pointed out, however, the futility of treating on the
basis of promises alone with a nation which not only had shown a
contempt for its ordinary promises, but had repudiated its sacred
obligations.

A ray of hope gleamed across our national horizon when Germany, on
February 16, sent a note acknowledging her liability in the Lusitania
affair. But the whole matter was soon complicated again by the "armed
ship" issue. Germany had sent a note to the neutral powers that an armed
merchant ship would be treated as a warship and would be sunk on sight.
Secretary Lansing made the statement for this government that by
international law commercial ships have a right to arm themselves for
self-defense. It was an additional emphasis on the position that the
submarine campaign as conducted by Germany was simply piracy and had no
standing in international law. President Wilson, in a letter to Senator
Stone February 24, said that American citizens had a right to travel on
armed merchant ships, and he refused to advise them against exercising
the right.

March 24 the French steamer Sussex, engaged in passenger traffic across
the English channel, was torpedoed and sunk without warning. About
eighty passengers, including American citizens, were killed or wounded.

Several notes passed between our government and Germany on the sinking
of the Sussex and other vess