a private letter written by Emperor Charles to a relative (Prince Sixtus of Bourbon) and conveyed by him to President Poincaré and the French Premier under seal of the strictest secrecy, but with no permission to communicate it to any one except the Sovereign and Premier of this country, [Great Britain.] The letter was communicated to the French and English Premiers under these pledges. He stated that he had no secrets from President Wilson, and added: "Every thought I have on the war or on the diplomacy connected with the war is as open to President Wilson as to any other human being." He declared that he regarded the Sixtus letter as not a peace effort, but a manoeuvre to divide the Allies. He declared that they were not fighting for "a bigger Alsace-Lorraine than in 1870," and added: If any representative of any belligerent country desires seriously to lay before us any proposals we are ready to listen to them. Lord Robert Cecil, Minister of Blockade, in the same debate, after indorsing the preceding statement of Mr. Balfour, added this reference to Russia: We have no quarrel with Russia at all. On the contrary, with the Russian people we have always desired to be on the closest possible terms of friendship. We are anxious to do all we can to support and assist the Russian people to preserve Russia as a great country, not only now, but in the period after the war. Lord Robert denied that Great Britain had any quarrel with the Bolsheviki over their domestic policy, saying: That is a matter for Russia, and Russia alone; we have no other desire than to see Russia great, powerful, and non-German. ATTACKS ON HOSPITAL SHIPS The British Admiralty issued an official announcement on May 1, stating that it was considered proved conclusively that the British hospital ship Guildford Castle was attacked by a German submarine in the Bristol Channel, March 10, and narrowly escaped destruction. At the time the Guilford Castle was carrying 438 wounded soldiers and flying a Red Cross flag of the largest size with distinguishing marks distinctly illuminated. The attack occurred at 5:35 P. M., in clear weather. Two torpedoes were fired. In evidence of attacks on hospital ships the British Admiralty quotes the following extracts from the German official message, sent through the German wireless stations on April 24, 1918: With respect to the results of the submarine war for the month of march, the Deutsche Tageszeitung says: "Lloyd George and Geddes falsify the losses of ships plying in the military service (? ignoring) so-called naval losses, auxiliary cruisers, guard ships, _hospital ships_, and very probably also troop transports and munition steamers, that is to say, precisely that shipping space _which is particularly exposed to and attacked by the U-boats_. TWO MORE LATIN-AMERICAN REPUBLICS ALIGNED AGAINST GERMANY