The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-08-04
SOLEMN TREATIES PROVE
BUT SCRAPS Of PAPER
Might Makes Right In Eyes OF Euro.
pean Nation and All Things Yield
to Demand for Success.
MURDER BUT A PAsTIM e


~
serve. or ought 70 observe. In their
conduct toward one another" may
have foreseen the time when solemn
treaty would become "a scrap Oh
paper,. FOR the clause expressing the
dutv Of nations appended TO the sup
positfor that that duty actually was
peffornieA was prophetic Of the day
wsaen International law. rules of war,
HAGUE cofvenfione--all OF them
would Be :heapins waste pa per baskets.
Thxx ID where they lie today. and so
far as their immediate potentiality Is
concerned their value Is that of real
scraps Of PAPER.
True, they are stili invoked by nea-
trail nations, but the more powerful
OF the beliigerants, while outwardly
solicitous that Justice be done. show
discrimination to permit no law. rule
or convention TO stand between them
and SUCCESS International law, IL not
the law of humanity itself, has des-
cended into Egypt and mo- Moses has
50 far led II forth.
Germany invades q country whose
neutrality she was sworn TO uphold.
She torpedoee a passenger steamship
and thereby sacrifices more than a
thousand Hives. those OF neutrsis and
non-cam batants, women and children.
On the hattlefleids she employs pois-
orous vApors. AT night, sometimes
with cruiser. sometimes with Zeppelin.
che attacks undefended towns and
kills non~confbntAnts. With shell ana
torch she FexAe classic Louvain, des-
troys the beauty OF the world venerat-
ed Rheims Cathedral for all time.
wipes out the famous Cloth Hall of
Ypres.
Great Britain, not inconsistentiy
with her earlier dealings with Amer
icAn shipping. 10 interprefs her role
OF mistrees of the seas that she seizes
neutral ships and carsoes without due
prpcess OF law.
Might Makes Righs.
All these things have been admitted
By the nations concerned They stand
OUT clearly as deliberate violations o.:
either the spirit or the letter of inter-
national law and OF the rules OF war
fare As ssxch they exemplify the
principles that might makes right and
that victory must be won az any cost
principles that are subsersive OF all
law.
II would be inaccurate, however. to
way that the nations thus cuipsbie
have thrown Law 10 the winds without
expressing regret therefor. or with
out pleading extenuating cfrcum-
stances
While Germany was pounding her
way through Belgium, devastating as
she went. she made two pleas for sus-
pension OF human Judgment First.
she must strike France before France
could strike her. and Belgium was the
read over which military necessity
compelled her TO advance in her own
protection. The violation OF the treaty.
the wrongnsss OF the invasion. were
frankly admitted: rectification and re-
ronhpense were promised Later after
Brussels was occupied. the plea OF
guilty was withdrawn and justifica :
ton vas claimed on the ground of
newly discovered evidence---in the ar
chfves OF the Belgian capital---shat
Belgium instead OF being neutral
state was really a secret ally OF Great
Britain Only few months ago Ger
mary declared that Belgium was
hencetorei to be o part Of the Ger
man Empire.
such was Germany's first plea and
its ia psequent developments. Her sec
ond plea CONCERNED the change that
her soldiers rnassacrcd Belgian civil
ians. To this .charge she replied that
the civilian population OF Belgium
fired upon German soldiers, maltrea.-
ed 0ermar, wounded and were In TACT
WIgla regard 10 the torpedoing Of the
Lusi.s mia. Germany mAda several con-
sentions, all Of which have been re-
'1etEeH ~ the American Government
First, thar the great vessel was armed
and. therefore. liable to attack as
warship: second, that she carried mu-
nitiofe Of war; third, that due warning
had been given by publication prior
10 sailing: fourth, that most impor-
tant. that by reason Of its construc-
ton the German submarine could not
safely halt the liner and in accord
ance with the principles OF law give the
passengers and crew an opportunity
to escape gefore the vessel was des-
troyed. To do this would be to i'm
peril the submarine and Its crew. the
situation being quite different from
that Of other types Of warships which
the trainers OF international law had
had Ia mind
See Revision of Law.
Americas reply to this defense was
that no such circumstances justified
the sacrifice Of women and children
ana that IL the submarine could not
destroy the Lusttania according to the
recognized principles OF law the liner
ought TO have been permitted to pro-
coed on her way unmolested. Other
German suggestions with respect to
thA future avoidance of disasters
Ike this have little to do with inter-
national law 40 IL now exists. Indeed,
tho development OF submarine war
fAfe seems destined to have an Inn
p0rtAnt effect upon the revision OF in
tsfpattonai laws, particularly those
that have TO do with the rules of war
Technically submarine IL subject to
the same laws ~ other war vessels:
actually, Germany contends. this Is
impossible. ~
Article XIV Of The Hague conven-
tions foroids tbs bombardnaent OF un-
defended placer In 20 far a. this IL
invoked In the casa Of the attacks on
whitby. SCARBOROUGH and the Hartle-
pools towns on the east coast 81 Eng
land. Germany declares that those
places were not uIadSxsndsd, ana that
\ thsy contained troops. Howexor that
may be, civilians. particularly women
ana children. were the chief suffereYs
70 the charge, Of wrecking Rheims
Cathedral Germany replies that while
that act was = violation OF law. the
French themselves were the real vio-
laaors, because they; used the tca.er
80 point Of observation for military
purposss LouvAin, the Germans say,
was destroyed because Of the behavior
of the civilian population.
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