The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-14
WAR ECHOES

Richmond Times Dispatch: That the British admiralty was grossly negligent In not providing a convoy of destroyers Tor the Lusitania is evident. Germany had announced her purpose to destroy the giant liner. and the property inter- ests at stake were amply sufficient to have demanded protection. The admir- alty is freed of no blame by the sugges- ton that the civilized world had found It impossible to believe the German plans also contemplated the wanton, causeless and unprofitable destruction of so many hundred innocent lives.
 The admiralty's answer will be that it is impossible to provide convoys for all the merchant shipping that every day enters and departs from the ports of the British Isles. Broadly, that statement is true, for British commerce has been interfered with only slightly-in relative sense by the activities of German submarines, but liners of the Lusitania's s type suggest exceptional treatment. Had the com mander of the submarine that sank the Lusitania obeyed the ordinary dictates of humanity and followed the rule of the sea by giving the Cunarder's passengers and crew a few minutes to take to the boats, there would have been the danger and even likelihood, nevertheless, of loss of life By inviting Americans and other neutrals to take passage on the vessel, Britain assumed a special responsibility that should have inspired special precau- tions. Statements by officials Of the line that the Lusitana and Mauretana were too fleet to be in danger from submarines were published broadcast, and produced
 in the minds of prospective passengers a sense of security the dreadful aftermath has shown to have been without warrant The almost criminal folly of the admir- alty has nothing to do, obviously, with the degree of German guilt That guilt is intensified in American minds by the ac- cumulating evidence that the plot was made, in part, in this country, or at any rate was understood and approved in it's every detail by high German digntaries. who continue to enjoy hospitality and the privileges and immunities that l diplomacy confers.
 Guilt is intensified further by the state
 ment of Dr. Dernburg the Kaiser's non-
 official spokesman in the United States,
 which was published in full in the Times Dispatch yesterday. He had only perfume 1 tory regret for the 115 American lives that
 were sacrificed. 'It was most unfortu-
 nate.' said this genial apostle of Kultur
 He declared that every American shiI carrying goods to England would be sunk i, with the same notice, presumably, as that given the Lusitania. Every American
 ship carrying contraband anywhere is lia-
 ble. he asserted, to the same treatment
 and that. of course. means any American
 ship German submarine commander de | cides to destroy.
 | We confess We can see no advantage 1T continuing diplomatic relations with country that takes this position. It is in
 conceivable that the United States will ac quiesce in the German contentious, an, equally inconceivable that Germany vii modify them because of our protests Whatever else we do or decide not to do we can at least preserve dignity and self respect by ceasing to make representa- tions that are certain to be fiouted. l President Wilson, say dispatches fror Washington, will make formal demand O Germany for absolute assurances of pro lection for American lives. The Presiden is right, of course, in allowing German
 this opportunity to retreat from a rule 0 Lwar that by comparison makes the prac
 tices of naked savages merciful and re
 spectable, but he can entertain sma hope that the assurances he is to ask wi
 be given.
 In the meantime, let us get our nation als out of Germany. They have no plac , there. and their situation becomes increas ingly dangerous. The time will come whe the President will hand Count von Berns , torff his passports, and diplomatic rels