Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 237, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1915 — GERMANS TO PAY ARABIC INDEMNITY [ARTICLE]

GERMANS TO PAY ARABIC INDEMNITY

Von Bemstorff Expresses Regret, Disavows the Act, And Says His Government Will Pay. Germany has acceded to the demands of the U. S. with reference to the Arabic and the letter of ‘Count Von Bernstoff shows every willingness to do the right thing. Now if England would accede to our demands regarding out neutral shipping it would seem that the United States was being treated as neutrally as we are professing to treat the nations at war. The Von Bernstorff letter follows: “My dear Mr. Secretary: “Prompted by the desire to reach a satisfactory agreement with regard to the Arabic incident, my government has given me the following instructions: “The order issued by his .Majesty, the Emperor, to the commanders of the German submarines,! of which I notiled you on a previous occasion, has been made so stringent that the recurrence of incidents similar to the Arabic case is considered out of the question. According to the report of Commander Schneider of the submarine which sank the Arabic and his affidavit as well as those of his men, Commander Schneider was convinced that the Arabic intended to ram the submarine. “On the other hand the imperial does not doubt the good faith of the affidavit of the British officers of the Arabic, according to which the Arabic did not intend to ram the submarine. The attack of the submarine was undertaken against the instructions issued to the commander. The imperial government regrets and disavows this act and has notified Commander Schneider accordingly. / “Under these circumstances my government is prepared to pay an idemnity for American lives which, ' to its deep regret, have been lost on the Arabic. I am authorized to negotiate with you about the amount of this idemnity.” ;