Germany replies to Wilson. It wants to discuss the details of German withdrawal from occupied territory. “It trusts that the President of the United States will approve of no demand which would be irreconcilable with the honor of the German people and with opening a way to a peace of justice.” It “protests against the reproach of illegal and inhumane actions” by Germany; destroying towns you’re evacuating “will always be necessary” and u-boats certainly don’t shoot at lifeboats from ships they’ve sunk. It will, however, graciously order u-boats to stop sinking passenger ships (but doesn’t guarantee that all u-boats will actually receive that order). It says that the changes Wilson requires in Germany’s constitution to destroy arbitrary power have now been more or less made (removing the kaiser’s sole power to declare war, cabinets made responsible to the Reichstag rather than the kaiser, etc) and that should be good enough. It does not say anything about Alsace-Lorraine.
Members of Congress interviewed by the NYT find the German reply “cunningly devised,” “shifty,” “equivocal” and “subtle” – perhaps the first instance in history something German has been described as subtle.
The royal families of Germany and Austria are said to be moving an awful lot of cash to Swiss bank accounts under fake names, despite the really bad current exchange rate.
The American National Council of Uhro-Rusins asks Pres. Wilson to detach Ruthenian regions from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, maybe attaching them to some other Slavic country, they’re not picky.
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