s a war area was a legal formality modelled on the
earlier English proclamation of the barred zones, and at once
antagonized public opinion in the United States. By adopting the
point of view we did with regard to reprisals, we laid ourselves
open to the charge of illegality, and added to the ill-feeling
already excited by the submarine campaign. If the contention of
certain naval authorities that the observance of the Declaration of
London by our enemies would have brought us no important material
advantage is correct, the issue of our Note of February 16th becomes
even less comprehensible. Having admitted in this Note that the
declaration of the barred zones was caused by the fact that all
was not well with us, we could hardly expect England would fall
in with the proposal made at our suggestion by Mr. Wilson, and
thus allow us so easy a diplomatic triumph. The President, however,
after his rebuff from England, was bound, in order to maintain
his prestige, to bring all possible pressure to bear on us, in
the hope of compensating by diplomatic success in Berlin for his
failure in London. My subsequent attitude was laid down, but at
the same time made more difficult, by this interchange of Notes;
but, generally speaking, my personal action in the matter began
with the _Lusitania_ incident; previous to this the negotiations
had been entirely in the hands of Berlin.

The Washington Government then for the present assumed a waiting
attitude, until such time as loss of American lives through our
submarine activities should compel its intervention. With regard
to damage to property, the standpoint was consistently maintained
that claims for compensation for financial loss must be fully met.
Every day might see a serious conflict, and this possibility was a
source of constant anxiety to us Germans in the United States. The
American Government, we thought, still underestimated the dangers
of the situation, and failed to take any measures of precaution.
In the middle of April I held a meeting in New York, with the
representatives of the other German administrative departments, and
in view of the great responsibility incumbent on us, we resolved
on the motion of Dr. Dernburg to issue a warning to the Press in
the form usually adopted for shipping notices. As a rule, these
shipping notices were published by the Consulate as a matter of
routine. Dr. Dernburg having, however, been unable to come to an
agreement with the New York