Page 152 - Lunacy and the Age of Deception

Germany had spies who worked on the New York docks. They reported
that weapons were being loaded onto the Lusitania, which was also set
to carry more than a thousand passengers to be disembarked in Ireland.
Germany did not want America to enter the war on the side of the
English and French. The German government did all it could to avoid
inflaming American public opinion. When Germany learned that the
Lusitania was being used to ferry both passengers and war supplies (a
violation of International law), the German Embassy in America took out
ads in 50 American newspapers, most of which were on the East Coast.
The advertisements read:

NOTICE! Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are
reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and
Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters
adjacent to the British Isles; that in accordance with formal notice given
by Imperial German government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain,
or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in these waters and that
travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies
do so at their own risk.

The advertisement included a picture of the Lusitania with her sailing
schedule.

The American State Department intercepted the ads and would not permit them to be posted in the
American papers. Only one ad slipped by them, and this one was printed in the Des Moines Register,
from which the above image was obtained. Captain Dow, the captain of the Lusitania resigned on
March 8, 1915, just two months before the ship was sunk, because he was unwilling to shoulder the
responsibility of hazarding passenger lives by carrying munitions on the ship.

When the Lusitania arrived in the English Channel off of Ireland it slowed to await the arrival of the
escort ship Juno which was to lead her into port. Churchill ordered the Juno back to port, causing
the Lusitania to idle for hours out in the channel where German U-boats were known to be operating.
On May 7, 1915, a single torpedo from a German U-boat struck the Lusitania with its 300 pound
charge of explosives. A secondary, and much larger explosion followed. This second explosion was
caused by the ammunition exploding that was being carried illegally in the ship. So great was the
damage caused by the second explosion that the Lusitania sank approximately 18 minutes later with
a loss of more than 1,200 lives, more than a hundred of which were Americans.

The sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-boat was splashed all over the front pages of America’s
largest newspapers. Germany was vilified, and eventually America entered the war on the side of
Great Britain.

Cunard Lines had merged with White Lines, and J.P. Morgan was a major shareholder in the
company. It is estimated that the J.P Morgan banks issued more than $500,000,000 worth of loans
to nations on both sides of the war.
[End Excerpt]