"Yes," he replied, "even before me declaration of war and our formal recognition of a state of war. Germany was menacing us, and committing warlike acts against the frontiers of our colonies in Africa, where German East Africa is wedged in between our colonies and those of England and Belgium. Hemmed in as she was, Germany made constant inroads on our territory, although we were at that time out of the war. Our protests to Berlin brought the reply that no information could be obtained from the German authorities in Africa. It was much the same as the fruitless efforts to secure information on the sinking of ships by German submarines. And so our representatives received little or no satisfactory response, and this in the end contributed to our feeling that a state of war was preferable to such intolerable conditions." 