The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1915-05-19

ships of belligerent nationality; and
that IT must hold the imperial Ger
man government to a strict account
ability for any infringement of those
rights, intentional or accidental. It
does not understand the imperial
German government to question
those rights. 1t assumes, on the con-
traiy, that the imperial German
government accepts, as of course, the
rule that the lives of non-combat-
ants, whether they be of neutral
citizenship or citizens of any of the
nations at war, cannot lawfully or
rightfully be put in jeopardy by the
the capture or destruction OF an un-
armed merchantmen, and recognizes
also, as all other nations do, the OBJ
LEGATION to take the usual precaution
CT visit and search to ascertain
whether a suspected merchantmen
is in fact of belligerent nationality
or is in fact carrying contraband of
var under a neutral flag.
The government of the United
States, therefore, desires to call the
attention of the imperial government,
With the utmost earnestness to the
fact that the objection to their pres
ent method of attack against the
trade of their enemies lies in the
practical impossibility of employing
submarines in the destruction OF
commerce without disregarding
those rules of fairness, reason, JUS
tiee and humanity, which all mod
efn opinion regards as imperative.
Il is practically impossible for the
officers of a submarine to visit a
merchantmen at sea and examine
Ter papers and cargo. 1t is prac-
tically impossible for them to make
a prize of her and, If they cannot
out a prize crew on board her, they
cannot sink her without leaving her
crew and all on board of her to the
mercy of the sea in her small boats.
These facts. it is understood, the inn
perial German government frankly
admit. We are informed that in the
INSTANCES of which we have spoken
time enough for even that poor
measure of safety was not given,
and in at least two of the cases cited
not so much as warning was re-
ceived. Manifestly submarines can
not be used against merchantmen, as
the last few weeks have shown,
without an inevitable violation of
many sacred principles of justice
and humanity.
American citizens act within their
ships and travelling wherever their
indisputable rights in taking their
legitimate business calls them upon
the high seas and exer -ise those
rights in what should le a we'll JUS
tilted confidence that their lives will
not to be endangered by acts done in
clear violation of universally ac-
knowledged international obligation
and certainly in the confidence that
their own government will sustain
them in the exercise of their rights.
There was recently published in
the newspapers of the United States
| regret to inform the imperial gov
ernment a formal warning. purport-
ing to come from the imperial Ger
man embassy at Washington, ad.
dressed to the people of the United
States, and stating in effect that any
ercised his right of free travel upon
the seas would do so at his peril il
his journey should take him within
the zone of the waters within which
the imperial German navy was using
submarines against the commerce oi
Great Britain and France. notwith-
standing the respectful, but very
earnest, protest of his government
the government of the United States
| do not refer to this for the purpose
of calling the attention of the inn
perial German government at this
time to the surprising irregularity
of communication from the i'm
perial German embassy at Washing
ton, addressed to the people of the