On the 3rd of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government . . .
American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of . . .
There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it.
The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation.
