Chapter 5

_The Daily Standard of Kingston, Ont., commenting on June 11, says:_

President Wilson's second message to Germany will rank with his first one as a document that at once convinces and convicts--convinces of the sincerity of the President that he is "contending for nothing less high and sacred than the rights of humanity," and convicts the nation to whom it is addressed of being responsible for the fact that the men, women, and children on the Lusitania were sent to their death under circumstances "unparalleled in modern warfare."

The note is not only dignified and statesmanlike, but it breathes a spirit of tolerance and Christianity that is as noteworthy as it is admirable. There is in it not even a suggestion of a threat, no word of bluster, no breath of jingoism. It is sound, sensible, firm, resolute, self-contained, magnanimous even. It does not incite to war, but, instead, appeals to the highest principles of justice and right.

But though the words are conciliatory and the spirit admirable, there is not the least abatement of the insistence upon the principles which the President formulated in his earlier message and laid down for the guidance of Germany and for the protection of the American people. The way is now open to Germany either for peace or for war. The decision is left with her.

FRENCH COMMENT.

_The Temps of June 12 says:_

Germany must choose between having the services of America in proposing to the Allies a moderation of their blockade, conducted with the strictest humanity, and the cessation of torpedoing neutral ships, the continuation of which exposes Germany to a diplomatic rupture with the United States, if not to war. Assuredly this prospect caused Bryan's resignation.

_La Liberté says of the note:_

It is in every way worthy of a great country conscious of its dignity, its rights, and its duties. It has not the tone of an ultimatum, since it is couched in courteous terms, but it is energetic, and it requires Germany finally to cease recourse to false expedients.

_The Journal des Débats, in discussing the note, says:_

The United States, representing in this case the civilized world, places the sacred rights of humanity above considerations of the military order, to which Germany subordinates everything. They are resolved, so far as concerns American subjects, to have those rights respected.

The essence of the note is, first, measures required by humanity must be taken, and afterward, if desired, will come discussions of a new regulation of naval warfare. If Germany insists on putting herself outside the pale of humanity she will suffer the consequences.

ITALIAN COMMENT.

_The Corriere della Sera of June 12 compares the attitude of Secretary Bryan to that of former Premier Giolitti, leader of the party which sought to prevent war with Austria. It says Mr. Bryan's action probably will have the same effect in America that Signor Giolitti's intervention had in Italy, and that it will strengthen public opinion in favor of President Wilson._

It will give him greater power in this important moment, defeating men who are ready to lower the prestige and honor of the country.

_The Tribuna says:_

The United States, the greatest neutral nation, has with this document assumed a special rôle, that is, the defense not of a particular group or interest, but the interest of civil humanity; to guard those principles of common right which above any particular right constitute the sacred patrimony of humanity. She raises her voice, whose firmness is not diminished by the courtesy of the language.

We do not know if Germany will be able to understand the significance, but if she does not she will commit a grave error--the gravest perhaps in the immense series made by her in this war. Mr. Wilson seems to persevere in the hope that Germany will listen to the American admonition. Germany must not forget that the longer the hope the more violent will be the reaction.

_The Idea Nazionale says:_

The note is not only not a declaration of war or the prelude to a declaration of war, but a species midway of humanitarian sentimentalism and lawyerlike arguments which can have, at least for the present, but one consequence, that of encouraging Germany in intransigentism--that is, the maintenance of her point of view regarding naval warfare.

American Comment on Mr. Bryan's Resignation

THE NEW YORK TIMES _of June 14, 1915, presented the following condensed quotations condemning unsparingly Mr. Bryan's retirement from the Secretaryship of State, gathered from newspapers throughout the United States, and classified according to their professions of political faith:_

DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPERS.

_From The New York World._

Unspeakable treachery, not only to the President, but to the nation.

_From The Buffalo Enquirer._

If Mr. Bryan goes on, he will share the detestation of the most despised character in American history.

_From The Buffalo Courier._

The new note to Germany puts Emperor William and former Secretary Bryan in the same hole.

_From The Utica Observer._

He turns tail in the face of a crisis and seeks refuge by counseling dishonor.

_From The Louisville Courier-Journal, (Henry Watterson.)_

Treason to the country, treachery to his party and its official head.

_From The Portland (Me.) Eastern Argus._

Bryan's announced campaign has something of the character of submarine warfare.

_From The Helena (Mon.) Independent._

As much mistaken in this instance as in years gone by.

_From The Lexington (Ky.) Herald._

His propaganda is designed and intended "to defeat the measures of the Government of the United States" in violation of Section 5, [of the law of treason.]

_From The Mobile Register._

If Germany is misled into actions still further violative of our rights, the resultant hostility will be very largely attributable to Mr. Bryan.

_From The Columbia (S.C.) State._

The President's clear head may now be trusted the more that his methods of thinking are relieved of opposition in the Cabinet.

_From The Montgomery Advertiser._

He will go back to his first love, agitation.

_From The Richmond Times-Dispatch._

Wilson, not Bryan, strikes the note to which the hearts of the American people respond.

_From The Savannah News._

The people are following the President and not Mr. Bryan.

_From The Austin (Texas) Statesman._

Mr. Bryan's diplomacy has not been of the type that has inspired the confidence of the American people.

_From The Charleston News and Courier._

The bald and ugly fact will remain--he deserted his chief and his Government in the midst of an international crisis.

_From The Memphis Commercial-Appeal._

Mr. Bryan's views, turned into a national policy, would mean national suicide.

_From The Brooklyn Eagle._

An obstacle has seen fit to remove itself; it has substituted harmony for discordance.

_From The Boston Post._

Mr. Bryan has shabbily infringed that good American doctrine that politics should end at the water's edge.

_From The Baltimore Sun._

The Germans torpedo one "Nebraskan." Oh, for a "Busy Bertha" that could effectually dispose of the other one!

_From The Charlotte Observer._

The country simply was afraid of him.

_From The Cleveland Plain Dealer._

He is a preacher of disloyalty.

_From The Chattanooga Times._

The reason given for his resignation ... approximates disloyalty, if nothing else; a monstrous statement.

_From The New Orleans Times-Picayune._

His voluntary resignation will give satisfaction.

REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPERS.

_From The New York Tribune._

A man with such a cheaply commercial conception of the post held by so long a line of American statesmen was by nature disqualified for it.

_From The New York Globe._

Instead of promoting a peaceful settlement, Mr. Bryan practically throws his influence in the other balance.

_From The Syracuse Post-Standard._

Billy Sunday in the wrong niche.

_From The Rochester Post-Express._

Amazement and contempt for him grow.

_From The Pittsburgh Gazette Times._

He has not filled the place with dignity, ability, or satisfaction, nor yet with fidelity; a cheap imitation.

_From The Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph._

The peace-piffle and grape-juice statesman.

_From The Philadelphia Inquirer._

A peace-at-any-price man.

_From The Wilkes-Barre Record._

An amazing, an astounding blunder.

_From The Cincinnati Commercial Tribune._

The seriousness of the situation is all that prevents Mr. Bryan's foreign policy from being laughable.

_From The Baltimore American._

The country wants no more vapid theorizing; it wants no more Bryanism.

_From The Hartford Courant._

Those newspapers that said Mr. Bryan was in bad taste made a slight mistake. He is a bad taste.

_From The Augusta (Me.) Kennebec Journal._

Impossible for a man of Mr. Bryan's ability and love of the limelight to remain longer wholly obscure in this national crisis.

_From The Portsmouth (N.H.) Chronicle._

Childish policies and small politics, even if the Nobel Peace Prize is at stake, must not be considered by an American statesman.

_From The Portland (Me.) Press._

There was nothing to do but get out and shut up.

_From The Paterson Press._

He has dealt his country a stunning blow.

_From The Lincoln (Neb.) State Journal._

It is characteristic of Mr. Bryan to shut his eyes to arguments and facts when he reaches the ecstacy of sentimental conviction.

_From The Omaha Bee._

His action may have a weakening effect on our position.

_From The Nebraska City (Neb.) Press._

Knowing his disposition to watch out for the main chance ... that Mr. Bryan will be a candidate for the Senate from Nebraska is almost a foregone conclusion.

_From The Topeka Capital._

Represents only the personal idiosyncrasies of William J. Bryan.

_From The Milwaukee Sentinel._

Calculated to create prejudice and misgiving against the American note and to mislead foreign opinion.

_From The St. Louis Globe-Democrat._

Mr. Bryan could have found no better way of causing the President embarrassment at this crisis.

_From The Minneapolis Tribune._

President Wilson has had his own way in State Department affairs, to the minimization of Secretary Bryan, almost at times to the point of humiliation.

_From The Seattle Post-Intelligencer._

A pacifist temporarily bereft of reason and lost to sense of patriotic duty; a misplaced figurehead.

_From The Portland Oregonian._

The archpriest of the peace-at-any-price party ... a poor staff to lean upon.

_From The Albany Knickerbocker-Press._

Mr. Bryan must Chautauquahoot, as the rooster must crow.

_From The Scranton Republican._

Prompt acceptance of his resignation was the proper thing.

_From The Los Angeles Times._

The inefficiency and ineptness of the Secretary of State have been a reproach to the country.

_From The Wilmington (Del.) News._

Far better if Mr. Bryan had retired long ago.

_From The St. Paul Pioneer Press._

His retirement was merely a matter of time.

PROGRESSIVE NEWSPAPERS.

_From The New York Press._

A sorry misfit in our Government--mortifyingly, dangerously so.

_From The Boston Journal._

He appoints himself, though now a private citizen, the director of the nation.

_From The Washington Times._

The only person who has been talking war and giving out the impression that he thought this note meant war.

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS.

_From The New York Evening Post._

How far he will carry his treachery by actual machinations against Mr. Wilson remains to be seen.

_From The New York Sun._

Sulked and ran away when honor and patriotism should have kept him at his post.

_From The New York Herald._

His convictions are all wrong; his retirement should be heartily welcomed by the country.

_From The Philadelphia Public Ledger._

How much longer, as Cicero asked Catiline, does he intend to abuse our patience?

_From The Pittsburgh Dispatch._

Bryan's obsession by the peace-at-any-price propaganda bordered on the fanatical.

_From The Baltimore News._

A surrender to opportunism such as calls for a nation's contempt.

_From The Chicago Herald._

As a private citizen he will be less a menace to the peace of the nation than he has been as Secretary of State.

_From The Denver Post._

His services can be most satisfactorily dispensed with.

_From The Kansas City Star._

Has not impressed the country as a practical man in dealing with large affairs.

_From The Toledo Times._

He should support the President.

_From The Terre Haute Star._

Now free to pursue the prohibition propaganda.

_From The Newark (N.J.) Star._

The statement [Bryan's] is simply an effort to corral for himself a large voting element in the population.

_From The Newark Evening News._

His narrow vision has overcome him.

_From The Boston Traveler._

If war does come Mr. Bryan will be the one American held most responsible for the trouble.

_From The Boston Globe._

Mr. Wilson has been relieved of one of his many problems.

_From The Boston Herald._

Is certainly not inspired by a sense of loyalty to the party or the country.

_From The Lowell Courier-Citizen._

Lagged superfluous on a stage in which he played no part beyond that of an amanuensis, and hardly even that.

_From The Manchester (N.H.) Union._

Should mark the end of Bryanism in American politics.

_From The Providence Journal._

He has bowed himself into oblivion.

GERMAN-AMERICAN PRESS.

_Under the caption, "He Kept His Vow," the evening edition of the New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung, which for months had been referring to Secretary Bryan as "Secretary Bryan Stumping," as opposed to "Secretary Lansing Acting," said on June 9:_

As unreservedly as we believe that he [Mr. Bryan] is sacrificing high office to a principle--something that seems to be incomprehensible not alone to American politicians; readily as we pay him tribute that a man in public life has again had the courage to act, despite the machinations of editorial offices, pulpits, and the counting rooms of money agents; clearly as we see again his latest act, the old Bryan, who can sacrifice nothing to utilitarianism, everything to an idea, no matter how fantastic it may be, nevertheless it must not be left unmentioned that his exit out of the Wilson Cabinet was under all circumstances only a question of time. Bryan may want to be a candidate in 1916, a rival of Wilson; there may be a political motive at the bottom of the dramatically staged resignation; the fact remains that two hard heads, Wilson and Bryan, could not permanently agree. One had to yield; one had to go. Just as Bismarck had to go when Wilhelm II. felt himself safe in the saddle, so Bryan had to yield as soon as Woodrow Wilson himself took the reins, all the reins, into his hand.

Whether the departure of Bryan will exercise great influence on the course of events, so far as relations with Germany are concerned, is an open question. At all events, the peace party in Congress and in the country as a whole has found a leader who is a fighter, who today still has a large following in Congress and out of it. And in Congress, through the masses, the question must finally be decided. Meanwhile, is it to be assumed without further ado that President Wilson himself stands diametrically opposed to the peace views of Bryan? We do not believe that. We are even today still of the opinion that Wilson desires war with Germany as little as does Bryan, the friend of peace, who has just let his deeds follow his words.

_From the St. Paul Daily Volks Zeitung._

Bryan's stand for fair play forces his resignation. Bryan's resignation at this critical moment is the greatest service the Commoner has ever rendered his country, because it has aroused the people to see the danger of the foreign policy now pursued by the President.

_From the Minneapolis Freie Presse Herold._

It is evident that Mr. Bryan, believing that Wilson and Roosevelt will be the next Presidential nominees, now sees the opportunity to secure the German vote for himself, but Mr. Bryan's hypocrisy will fool no one, particularly the Germans.

_From Alex E. Oberlander, Editor the Syracuse Union._

Mr. Bryan will be a greater power for peace out of the Cabinet than in it. As a member of the Cabinet diplomacy muzzled him, but now as a private citizen he can and will be outspoken, and his voice for peace will carry far more weight than the manufacturers of war munitions, Wall Street, would-be Generals, Colonels, and Captains, and the jingo press.

_From Paul F. Mueller, Editor Abendpost of Chicago._

The people will choose Mr. Bryan's side if the President persists on a way which may lead to war and must lead to dishonor.

_From Horace L. Brand, Publisher Illinois Staats-Zeitung._

Mr. Bryan will have the support of all sane Americans on any reasonable proposition which will keep this country out of war. Mr. Bryan, with all his faults, evidently has his principles.

_From the Waechter und Anzeiger of Cleveland, Ohio._

He would not be a man had he signed the death warrant for what he regarded as the crowning deed and success of his life's work. And, because this was asked of him, many a person will say the Scotch in the President's veins did not deny itself in the manner which compelled Mr. Bryan's resignation, although keeping up the appearance that it came of Bryan's own free will because of a disagreement over principles.

_From the Colorado Herald of Denver._

Bryan's resignation comes as the biggest surprise of the year to all those of pro-German proclivities who were heretofore laboring under the impression that Bryan represented the spirit in the Cabinet that savored of anything but a square deal for Germany.

_From the Illinois Staats-Zeitung of Chicago._

Mr. William Jennings Bryan, by his resignation and by his reasons of his resignation, caused us fear that President Wilson's second note to Germany would be full of thunder and lightning, and would lead at best to a severance of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the friendship of which grew almost to be a tradition.

Our surprise is just as great as it is pleasant. The note of the President is in its tone sound and friendly, and excludes the possibility of hostilities. Germany, though she had many reasons to complain about a hostile disposition on the part of the people, the press, and the Government of the United States, will readily admit that our Government is in duty bound to protect American lives and American property, even though she should have been justified in torpedoing the Lusitania. President Wilson seems to be willing to admit such justification and invites Germany to submit her evidence. This means an invitation to further negotiations, to which President Wilson was apparently opposed in his first note.

_From Charles Neumeyer, Editor the Louisville Anzeiger._

It is inexplicable why Bryan could reconcile the signing of the first note, which was of a much more assertive tone, with his sentiments and principles, and then refuse his assent to this one, characterized by dignified friendliness. Mr. Bryan must either have become extremely touchy and particular over night, or somebody must have been fooling somebody else. At any rate, the American note is a guarantee of continued peace as to the issues now pending.

Mr. Bryan's Defense

In a statement headed "The Real Issue" and addressed "To the American People," issued on June 10, 1915; in a second statement, appealing "To the German-Americans," on June 11; in a third, issued June 12, on the "First and Second German Notes," and in a series of utterances put forth on three successive days, beginning June 16, Mr. Bryan justified his resignation and offered what he styled a practical working solution of the problem of bringing peace to Europe. These statements were preceded by a formal utterance about his resignation, published on June 10. Their texts are presented below.

THE REASON FOR RESIGNING.

Washington, June 9, 1915.

My reason for resigning is clearly stated in my letter of resignation, namely, that I may employ, as a private citizen, the means which the President does not feel at liberty to employ. I honor him for doing what he believes to be right, and I am sure that he desires, as I do, to find a peaceful solution of the problem which has been created by the action of the submarines.

Two of the points on which we differ, each conscientious in his conviction, are:

First, as to the suggestion of investigation by an international commission, and,

Second, as to warning Americans against traveling on belligerent vessels or with cargoes of ammunition.

I believe that this nation should frankly state to Germany that we are willing to apply in this case the principle which we are bound by treaty to apply to disputes between the United States and thirty countries with which we have made treaties, providing for investigation of all disputes of every character and nature.

These treaties, negotiated under this Administration, make war practically impossible between this country and these thirty Governments, representing nearly three-fourths of all the people of the world.

Among the nations with which we have these treaties are Great Britain, France, and Russia. No matter what disputes may arise between us and these treaty nations, we agree that there shall be no declaration and no commencement of hostilities until the matters in dispute have been investigated by an international commission, and a year's time is allowed for investigation and report. This plan was offered to all the nations without any exceptions whatever, and Germany was one of the nations that accepted the principle, being the twelfth, I think, to accept.

No treaty was actually entered into with Germany, but I cannot see that that should stand in the way when both nations indorsed the principle. I do not know whether Germany would accept the offer, but our country should, in my judgment, make the offer. Such an offer, if accepted, would at once relieve the tension and silence all the jingoes who are demanding war.

Germany has always been a friendly nation, and a great many of our people are of German ancestry. Why should we not deal with Germany according to this plan to which the nation has pledged its support?

The second point of difference is as to the course which should be pursued in regard to Americans traveling on belligerent ships or with cargoes of ammunition.

Why should an American citizen be permitted to involve his country in war by traveling upon a belligerent ship, when he knows that the ship will pass through a danger zone? The question is not whether an American citizen has a right, under international law, to travel on a belligerent ship; the question is whether he ought not, out of consideration for his country, if not for his own safety, avoid danger when avoidance is possible.

It is a very one-sided citizenship that compels a Government to go to war over a citizen's rights and yet relieve the citizen of all obligations to consider his nation's welfare. I do not know just how far the President can legally go in actually preventing Americans from traveling on belligerent ships, but I believe the Government should go as far as it can, and that in case of doubt it should give the benefit of the doubt to the Government.

But even if the Government could not legally prevent citizens from traveling on belligerent ships, it could, and in my judgment should, earnestly advise American citizens not to risk themselves or the peace of their country, and I have no doubt that these warnings would be heeded.

President Taft advised Americans to leave Mexico when insurrection broke out there, and President Wilson has repeated the advice. This advice, in my judgment, was eminently wise, and I think the same course should be followed in regard to warning Americans to keep off vessels subject to attack.