ded, in public, the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_. I
had, therefore, no other resource but to advise him to leave the
country of his own accord. He would probably have been deported
in any case, and his continued presence in America could no longer
serve any useful purpose, while it was to be hoped that his voluntary
departure would appease the popular wrath in some degree, and postpone
the imminent rupture of diplomatic relations. The sea was raging
and demanded a sacrifice. I sent the following report to Berlin
on the subject of Dr. Dernburg's resolve to leave the country:

"Washington, May 17th, 1915.

"As I have already wired to your Excellency, Dr. Dernburg has decided
to leave the country of his own free will. I believe that, in so
doing, he is rendering a great service to the Fatherland, a service
rendered easier by the fact that he could no longer hope to continue
in the exercise of his former duties. As I have already reported,
he had exposed himself to attack by our enemies by his action in
going counter to the present outbreak of hysterical feeling in a
speech and an interview which were, unfortunately, not in accordance
with your Excellency's instructions, received by me on the following
day. So long as Dernburg only wrote articles for the papers, he
rendered distinguished and highly appreciated service, but when he
commenced to deliver speeches at German-American meetings he trod
on very dangerous ground. On this point we are all in agreement
here. In any case, in war every possible method must be tried, and
if any individual is sacrificed it must be regarded as unfortunately
unavoidable.

"When I informed Mr. Bryan that Dr. Dernburg had decided to return
home if the American Government would secure him a safe conduct
from our enemies, the satisfaction of the Secretary of State was
even more pronounced than I had expected. He remarked that Dr.
Dernburg's speeches had given rise to the suspicion that the German
Government wished to inflame the minds of the American people against
President Wilson's administration. It might be possible, now that
there were no longer any grounds for this idea, to avoid an immediate
rupture of diplomatic relations."

On May 13th the American Government dispatched a strongly worded
Note to Berlin, which restated their point of view, as previously
given. I reproduce textually the following passage from the Note,
which, from the point of view of subsequent events, is of f