The _Dacia_, a merchantman of the Hamburg-America line, had been lying at her wharf in Port Arthur, Texas, since the outbreak of the war.

In early January, 1915, she was purchased by Mr.E.N.Breitung, of Marquette, Michigan.

Mr.Breitung caused great excitement in the newspapers when he announced that he had placed the _Dacia_ under American registry, according to the terms of this new law, had put upon her an American crew, and that he proposed to load her with cotton and sail for Germany.

The crisis had now arisen which the well-wishers of Great Britain and the United States had so dreaded.

Great Britain's position was a difficult one.