The Alaska daily empire., 1915-02-20
GERMAN VIEW OF
 WARS PROGRESS
By Herman R.dder, in Cincinnati
 Enquirer.

| By Herman R.dder in Cincinnati ! i Enquirer
 NEW YORK Winston Spencer Churchill First Lord of the British
 Admiralty and coiner of the phrase extraordinary to the present British I government. is quoted tn London CO., ble of the 8rd instand as having used these words in a recent iuteryiew;
 "The acton of the navy is neces- sWily slow. The pressure it exercis- es upon an adversary Is unremiaant It may bo compared to the forces Of nature, to the inexorable grip of win ter which nothing can for long re- sist The seas are free; for the first tune in tho history Great Britain can say the seas are free"
 A local wit. promising h's prophecy on tho fact that Mir Churchilrs state ments had invariably been followed by unusual activity ln the German Ad. miralty. promised a like consequence .o this latest boast; and it came on she lth in the form of a declaration Issued by the German naval authori- ties in the sense that after the 18th
 nstaut the waters surrounding the British Isles would be regarded as Q ewar zone." in which enemy shipping would be destroyed when found.
 Tle proclamation under reference is not, however SO much reply to churchilrs boast that "the seas are
 rec. as 1t is to the policy of starving out Germany which the British gov ernment announced at an early stage 3f the var aud has consistently at- tempted to maintain Its promulgat.on. The German government does not wish to see Germany starved out and to he best of its ability it apparently Intends to see that it is not It would much prefer to see England atarved out.
 The interpretation placed upon the proclamation by the press Of New New York naturally followed that of tho British press The Administra- tion officials, hoewver have apparent
 v not been misled by this proposan- da.
 The course outlined by the Wash. ngton correspondents as that which hos heen adopted by the Cabinet and State Department is the only legiti- mate one under the conditions as they appear today This course provides In the first place, for the establlsh- ment of the official nature of the proc 'amation. the subsequent establish ment or controversion of the aiicga tion that the British Admiralty sug gested that British merchantuen nyl neutral flags to eyade the consequent ces of enemy vessels, as such, end fi- nolly the adoption Of measures to pro- tect neutral shipping of America. The government Of Holland, the cableo telIl us. is moving along similar lines
 The German proclamation does not close ts ''war zone to neutral ship, ping. the British did, in fact, if not In s5 many words The Gerraan Ad. miralty has declared war on enemy shipping alone. and its reference toI neutral shipping is solely in .he na- ture of a warming There is no threat that 1t will be interlerred with. Sub marine warfare contains clements en-l tirely different from those inherent in supermarine warfare, and this fact must be taken into consideration. No pretension is made to Blockade. as has been erronously stated; and the neu- tral ship which comes 60 sorrow asI the result of the German policy Will arr.ve at that end more probably than not because of the misuse of neutral flags
 I have advocated steadily and con-l sistently that we sacrifice our rights, to no one of tho belligerants inter- ests. say now. in all seriousness and earnestness that # Germany should seize or destroy an American f vessel in her attemtpt to injuro Eng land the German Americans in the United States would be the first to rise .n protest and demand that prop CT protection be extended to the American flag on the seas.
 The great objection which have had Co the Administration to date has been against it's weak and inyertebrate { defense" it con be cal. ed-of the American Has American and American interests In general The possible commission off by some one Of the indiscre- tions of which Great Britain has re-k peatedly been guilty might stimulate