The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-08-01
The Freedom of the Seas.

The freedom of the seas" the phrase which
Germany faunts in her efforts to obscure the crime
of the Lusitana, means, of course freedom of the
seas for German commerce and nonblockade of
German ports, war or no war. "You cannot have
your cake and eat it." is an old adage. If Ger
many had expended one-half of one-third as much
money and time on her navy as she has in the huge
army establishment in preparation during the past
thirty years more for of conquest, she
might now be equal terms, power,
with her allied opponents.
But the Kaiser wanted an army of millions, with
its skilled training and complete equipment, for
the purpose of going to Paris again for another
billion or two of money, his grandfather and
Bismarck had done in 1870. With those funds
secured it would have then been easy enterprise
to annex Belgium and Holland, with their sea
ports and commerce to the "Fatherland.' But
Bismarck was no longer living to advise in matters
of state nor was the great soldier Won Moltke at
hand with his plans of campaign. And with singu-
lar stupidity the Prussians could not understand
why Great Britain should intervene a "mere
scrap of water" and they were sure, of course,
Italy would stand with Austria as a member of
the Triple Alliance, under all circumstances.
So having taxed all Germany to the verge of
bankruptcy for the army and having failed to get
ments, like the destruction of the commerce of the
empire and the loss of all its colonies largely
through the British, the Prussians now whin-
ing about the freedom of the seas and resorting
to piracy in the North and Irish seas with their
submarines. 1t is not to be denied that England
has been doing the same thing the past quarter
of century with her navy that Germany has been
doing with its army; but she has been building her
warships for dear life-her very existence-and not
for conquest-certainly not for a piracy of the
seas.
During the year of war just passed, England's
navy destroyed the life of no innocent noncom-
batant nor confscated any innocent civilian prop
erty, whatever it may have done to innocent
American commerce" by Selling and taking before
prize courts for legal adjudication certain ships fitted
out by certain hyphenated German firms in this
country with foodstuffs for the German army via
the neutral nations of Sweden and Denmark. And
so it falls out that loud cries are heard for the
freedom of the seas not only by the advocates
of submarine piracy but by the innocent German
American firms engaged in innocent American
commerce." carrying food supplies to Denmark
and Sweden which in amicable accord with
Germany in matters of trade.
1t is within the bounds of possibility that Prus-
STA may win this war. to a certain degree, just as
the famous slaughtering match known as the bat
tie of Sadowa, the force on each side being about
equal the Prussians routed the Austrians with only
a loss of 5000 to themselves. while killing and
woundng 10000 of the enemy. The Prussians
were armed with the breech-loadng needle
gun which unknown to the Austrans who had
only the old muzze-loading musket with its per-
cussion cap. Attila, the Hun, turned the same
trick when he overran Central Europe which had
not known war for nearly century. His semi
barbarous hordes were we'll armed with spears.
swords and shields and some defensive armor, and
easily disposed of the peasants armed only with
their agricultural implement. 1t was not till he got
into France (GauD. that the Huns was busted
up" by the last of the Roman legons and Theo-
doric, of Spain, the plain of Chelon- Marine.
Equipment and longtime preparation has much
to do with success in war. Mr.. J. Bull has no
such industrial plant that of the Krupps at
Essen in Germany, and yet no establishment
for the turning out of poisonous gas or liquid fire
though he is getting ready rather high ex-
plosives. But England has the equipment, through
long preparation, for its own freedom of the
seas" and the denial of it to his enemy the Prus-
sian oligarchy which has proclaimed war zone"
thereon And, unless all signs fail, he intends to
keep the advantage obtained by him by holding
up all innocent supplies guncotton or wheat or
breadstufs-sailing through the German pro-
claimed war zone of the English Channel and
North Sea toward the neutral ports of Denmark
contiguous to the friendly country of Prussia.
In view of all the circumstances, the freedom
of the seas" that widely surround, the British
Islands, far up around the Orkneys, seems some
what of problem to innocent America German