New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-12
GERMANS WILD
BEASTS OF SEA,
BRYCE INSISTS
Diplomat Condemns Pi-
ratical Methods Which
Sank LuSitania.
OPEN CHALLENGE
TOLAW OF NATIONS
Saws Britain Must Fight Until
Safety of Innocent Voyagers
IS Assured.
fRr Cahle % n. Trlhune J

fBT Gable to Ths Tribune J
London. May 12-LOrd Bryce. speak
ing al the Institute OF Journalists on
the principles Of international law
said;
"In tho last ten months interna-
tional law has been completely dlsre-
Rarded, more cast down and trodden
under foot than Il ever has been IN
the last three or four centuries.
can hardly remember a time when so
many of the established usages and
rules of conduct as between nations
have been violated. In fact. in Bel
gium. greater forocity has been shown
10 non -combatants than 20 combatants.
During the wars of the last two or
three centuries on-conbatants were
SHARED. but that state of things IN our
time has undergone "A complete change'
AT sea. too, ships full Of innocent
persons. trade ships not engaged IN any
warfare operations. have been suddenly
sunk and their crews drowned. inter.
national law allows the capture 81
enemy merchant ships, but such snlps
must be taken into prize court ana
be adjudicated upon, and II that couId
not be done il was" he understood, per
mitted under circumstances OF great
necessity TO destroy the snip, but II
always has been understood that notice
should be given 20 the ship 70 stop
and submit and ample provision made
for saving the lives of those on board
In many cases that rule has been abso-
lutely disregarded. e.,
an the latest case q vessel with
1000 people on board was sunk so
suddenly that it was Impossible 70
save many, and the commander OF the
hostile vessel knew it to be Impossible
to save them. That sort Of thing mas
sometimes been done before. But by
whom? BY pirates. And who are
pirates? The technical legal Gescrip-
ton of pirates IS that they are enc
mics Of the human race thostes hu-
mani generisl and are, so 20 speak,
the wild beasts 81 the sea ths wild
beasts and the tigers of the sea. whom
everybody is at libert- TO seize and
kill. or. il possible, TO bring home to
be tried and duly executed for OF
fences committed against mankind as
whole.
This is a danger not to any partic-
ular nation, but TO all mankind, II the
habit OF destroying innocent lives
against whom there can be no cause
Of complaint should become common"
The principle now avowed and prac-
tised. Lord Bryce said, was that there
was nothing not permitted 10 a power
at war. All restraints and limits upon
human ferocity imposed by the prog
ress Of mankind had vanished. Even
neutral ships had been sunk on the
chance that they might contain the.
property of the enemy.
such conduct as this" Lord Bryce
continued, els challenge 10 inter
national law itself, and war takes on
an importance greater than some OF
us thought. international law is the
only thing whNch stands between us
and primitive savagery. The only
reason for these acts is that they are
likely to tcrrify the nation. What an
extraordinary mistake that IS,
"To suppose that a great nation can
possibly be terrified or driven into
abandoning its purpose by conduct like
this is one of the grossest misconcep-
tions which have marked the conduct
Of the enemy. So far from frightening
US. these successive violations of in
ternational law and the sentiment OF
humanity make il more clearly our
duty 10 persevere in the war we have
undertaken. and to 60 on until we have
vndicated the faith OF treaties. re-
stored 10 international law its position
and satisfied outraged humanity for
the crimes it has been obliged to wit
ness. We must do what we can. and
we must do it by the exercise of that
perseverance and resolution which. We
are happy to think, our country has
shown with a unanmity never par
alleled in history, until We have pro-
claimed and re-established the absolute
immunity and safety of innocent peo-
pie by land and by sea, and until we
have set the solemn condemnation Of
mankind upon practices which would
bring Us back to savage times and
which must be expunged by all who
have at heart the welfare and progress
of mankind