763.72/2393½
President Wilson to the Secretary of State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I have no hesitation in saying that, but for the recent announcement of the Central Powers as to the treatment to which they purpose subjecting armed merchantmen and those which they presume to be armed, it would clearly be our duty in the circumstances to accept the accompanying note as satisfactory. But that announcement inevitably throws doubt upon the [Page 533] whole future, and makes it necessary that we should think the situation out afresh.
I would suggest that you have a frank conversation with the German Ambassador17 and point out to him just our difficulty—the difficulty of interpreting their recent assurances in the light of their new and dangerous policy, and of understanding that new policy in view of the fact that all the circumstances upon which they base their adoption of it were known to them at the time of the Arabic note.
I doubt whether it would be wise to address a note to him. I think that it would be best, all things considered, to make the interchange of explanations oral only, for the present.
Faithfully Yours,
- For a report of this conversation, see ibid., p. 172.↩