Above all, such an action will settle the whole question of permanent peace.  The absolute and grateful loyalty of the whole British Empire, of the British Fleet, and of all the Allied countries will be ours.  The great English-speaking nations will be able to control the details of the peace and this without any formal alliance.  There will be an incalculable saving of human life and of treasure.  Such an act will make it possible for Germany to give in honourably and with good grace because the whole world will be against her.  Her bankrupt and blockaded people will bring such pressure to bear that the decision will be hastened.

     The sympathies of the American people will be brought in line with
     the Administration.

If we settle the Lusitania question by compromising in any way your original demands, or if we permit it to drag on longer, America can have no part in bringing the war to an end.  The current of allied opinion will run so strongly against the Administration that no censorship and no friendly interference by an allied government can stem the distrust of our Government which is now so strong in Europe.

     We shall gain by any further delay only a dangerous, thankless, and
     opulent isolation.  The Lusitania is the turning point in our
     history.  The time to act is now.

     PAGE.

FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 1:  The Ambassador’s granddaughter.]

[Footnote 2:  “A Cycle of Adams Letters, 1861-1865,” edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford.  Vol.  I, p. 84.]

[Footnote 3:  “The Life and Letters of John Hay,” by William Roscoe Thayer.  Vol.  II, p. 166.]

[Footnote 4:  On September 6th, certain documents seriously compromising Dr. Constantin Dumba, Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United States, were published in the British press.  They disclosed that Dr. Dumba was fomenting strikes in the United States and conducting other intrigues.  The American Government gave Dr. Dumba his passports on September 17th.]

[Footnote 5:  August 26th, Count Bernstorff gave a pledge to the United States Government, that, in future, German submarines would not attack liners without warning.  This promise was almost immediately violated.]

[Footnote 6:  Sir Lionel Sackville-West was British Minister to the United States from 1881 to 1888.  In the latter year a letter was published which he had written to an American citizen of British origin, the gist of which was that the reelection of President Cleveland would be of advantage to British interests.  For this gross interference in American domestic affairs, President Cleveland immediately handed Sir Lionel his passports.  The incident ended his diplomatic career.]

[Footnote 7:  In this passage the Ambassador touches on one of the bitterest controversies of the war.  In order completely to understand the issues involved and to obtain Lord Haldane’s view, the reader should consult the very valuable book recently published by Lord Haldane:  “Before the War.”  Chapter II tells the story of Lord Haldane’s visit to the Kaiser, and succeeding chapters give the reasons why the creation of a huge British army in preparation for the war was not a simple matter.]