The Washington times., 1915-03-31
NOT THE COMPLETE CASE

An American ship, the William p.
Frye, has been sunk, while flying the
American flag; sunk deliberately by
a German commerce raider after ex-
animation of her papers. This Gov
ernment insists that she was not en-
gagged in contraband trade.
The life of a non-combatant
American citizen has been sacrificed
to the German submarine warfare.
He was a passenger on a British
merchant ship, unarmed and subject
to be taken as a prize, but not, un-
der any rules of civilized war, sub
ject to be sent to the bottom with
out a chance to take off her people.
1t is perfectly plain that if Leon
Chester Thrasher had been a pas
senger aboard the William P. Frye
an American on an American ship,
under the American fag-a complete
case would have been made out
against Germany, within the terms
of President Wilson's declaration
that Germany must be held to "strict
accountability" for the consequences
which her uncivilized maritime war
fare might inflict upon Americans.
But there is difference between
sinking ship and taking a life. The
one loss can be compensated in cash;
the other cannot. Therefore the
crisis in American relations with the
admiralty butchers of Berlin has not
yet been technically forced.
But it is manifest that the crisis
may come any day, any hour. The
case of Thrasher is one which makes
relations more difficult than ever.
War has, until now, known no effort
of a state calling itself civilized, to
enforce such lawless law as Berlin
has made to serve the purposes of
its desperation. The very modera-
tion of the British embargo against
German commerce made it unique
and embarrassing; it was promised
that the shutting-in of Germany
would be accomplished without dan
ger to life or unnecessary destruc-
ton Of property. Germany goes to
the other extreme; neither life nor
property has a chance, gets a mo-
ment's consideration, in the German
program of authorized piracy.
1t is highly important that Ameri-
cans should recognize every distinc-
ton that marks the various cases
which arise. But it is also neces-
sary that technicalities shall not
stand in the way of actual defense
and full maintenance of the rights of
Americans throughout the world.
The case of Thrasher is that of an
individual. But suppose the Falaba
had been the Lusitania; that instead
Of carrying one American to the bot
tom of the ocean she had carried
hundreds of them? What then?
The case would not have been diff
ferent in any essential. The wanton-
ness of the outrage would not have
been more horrible. The inhumanity
would have been precisely the same.
We are told today that III lives
were lost with the Falaba. Of these,
11O were British or other neutrals
than Americans; just one was an
American.
But there would have been abso-
lutely no difference in the principle
of the thing if Ill lives had been
lost on an east-going North Atlantic
liner, of which 110 might have been
Americans and one English. In that
case, what would American public
opinion have demanded? How many
people would have cared a finger
snap for the flag at the masthead,
whether it was the Union Jack or
the Stars and Stripes? The question
would have concerned the American
lives deliberately destroyed; de-
stroyed with full knowledge that
they were there to be lost; destroyed,
after giving warning that American
lives might be lost in just that way.
1t is not believable that Germany
seeks deliberately to make the con-
tinuance of American neutrality i'm
possible. But it is also not believ-
able that American neutrality can
continue always if such perform
ances as these of the Frye and the
Falaba are to be repeated with con-
temptuous disregard of the Ameri-
can nation.