"I hope, dear Holland, this explanation is all you want." Holland: "Yes, thank you, it is quite sufficient."
Reading edition
Seven Dutch Steamers which left Falmouth on February 22 were attacked about 5 p.m. of the same day by a German submarine, without their papers being examined. Three of the ships are known to have been sunk, one has been towed into harbor, the other three, says a Lloyd's telegram, "might still be afloat."
If the Dutch reports are correct that these seven vessels perished, this will be deeply regretted, but responsibility for it falls on the ship-owners, who preferred to send out their vessels on February 22 on a promise of relative security instead of waiting until March 17, when absolute security was promised. The report of the submarines has not yet arrived.
We regret the rupture with a nation who, by her history, seemed to be predestined to work together with us, not against us, for common ideals. But since our honest desire for peace has only encountered hostile ridicule on the part of our enemies, there is no more "going back," but only "ahead" possible for us.
Imperial Chancellor, Berlin, February 27, 1917.
