Germany's handling of the outrage is characteristic and familiar. Count
Bernstorff has requested the American State Department to defer action until be has bad an opportunity of presenting it with the report of the German Government. He asserts that so far "no official information is available "; and expresses the hope that the United States Government will not take a definite stand on the reports of one side only, Which, in the opinion of the German Government, cannot correspond to the facts. "If Americans had actually lost their lives," he continues, "this would naturally be contrary to our intentions. The Imperial Government would deeply regret the fact, and begs to tender it sincerest sympathies to the American Government." Simultaneously the Geenran "wire- less" issues a string of explanations for American consumption, suggesting that the 'Arabic' was sunk by a loose English mine ; and, alternatively, that if a German submarine sent her to the bottom, the act was fully justified, for the 'Arabic,' though she carried no munitions, had done so on previous voyages, was going for more, and carried gold to pay for them.
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