Much anger has been caused in the United States by
Count Bernstorff's latest enterprise. He has issued from the German Embassy in Washington a Memorandum to the United States Government without obtaining the permission of the State Department to publish it. It is a very offensive Memorandum. It accuses the American Government of not maintaining a real neutrality. It complains that they have not secured the release of the Wilhelmitra,' and that it must therefore be assumed that they have "accepted England's violations of international law." The Memorandum also says : If the American people desire to observe true neutrality, they will find the means to stop the exclusive exportation of arms to one side, or, at least, to use this export trade as a means to uphold legitimate trade with Germany, especially trade in foodstuffs?' Count Bernstorff, with his superb talent for bungling, has met the indignation he has aroused by explaining that his strictures were unexceptionable since they were contained in a "Memorandum" and not in a "Note." As though one should say that an insult was not an insult if it were written on a postcard and not in a letter.
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