London, Feb. 10.
Germany and Austria have notified neutrals of their intention to treat merchantmen as men-of-war after March 1.
Amsterdam, Feb. 11.
The German Government, in a memorandum handed to the representatives of neutral country in Berlin, declares that though 1 considers the arming of merchant men as contrary to International Law, it treats their crews as belligerents, not pirates. The memorandum asserts that there have been numerous cases of British merchantmen, by order of the Admiralty, attacking German men-of-war repeatedly, using false colours. Therefore Germany warns neutrals against voyaging in armed merchantmen The German threat to treat ed merchantmen as belligerent regarded as involving no practical change, inasmuch as the Austrians and Germans have already torpedoed merchantmen without warning. It is thought that the object of the Note is to justify further outrages in the eyes of neutrals.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.