The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-06-10
WHAT WE CANNOT YIELD.

The chief of the German admiralty
staff informs the American ambas-
sador in Berlin that the Gulflight
was sunk through a mistake" Two
boats Similar to traWlers" were zap
parently conveying the Gulflight."
The commander, therefore, thought
it was British boat and did not see
the American flag on the stern until
just after giving the order to fire."
This brief report epitomizes the
fundamental lawlessness and the fun
damental blunders of the German
submarine policy. 1t is the duty of
the commander of belligerent war
ship to know what he is doing before
he does it. He has no right to sink
German have reversed this long-es-
tablished rule of the sea, with grave
not so much to their
enemies as to themselves.
In order to leave no excuse or JUS
LITIGATION for such mistake, the rule
of visit and search was long ago laid
down by the civilized nations. This
rule made it mandatory for the COM
mander of a belligerent warship to
determine the status of the merchant
ship which he had overhauled. But
because it is not always convenient
for a submarine to follow this rule,
the German government allows it's
commanders to strike blindly at
friend or foe.
The contempt for interna tional law
which characterized the destruction
of the Gulflight, when the German
commander did not see the Ameri-
can flag at the stern until just after
giving the order to- fire." runs
through the official defense of the
massacre. The Lusitania
is assumed to have been a warship.
She is assumed to have been ''un-
doubtedly" armed. She is assumed
to have. been destroyed in "self-de-
fense,'' together with hundreds of
helpless non-combatants and neu-
trails. All these assumptions are I'M
true No attempt was made to veri-
fy any of them before decreeing the
destruction of the ship. A simple in
Quiry at Washington would have fix
ed the precise status Of the Lusitania
if Germany had been concerned
about the facts, but the law of ma
lions and the law of humanity were
alike set aside because they ran
counter to German assumption.
For hundreds of years ships have
carried contraband Of war and mu-
nitions of war. For hundreds of
years belligerent nations have been
dealing with such ships and such
cargoes under the accepted rules of
law. Never before has
any country undertaken to affirm
that its own convenience took pre-
cedence of>the rules of warfare.
The Lusitania slaughter can be
compared only to the action of gen.
eral occupying a hostile town who
in cold blood all the in
male and female, neutral
and non-combatant, because he re-.
garded their existence as an obstacle
20 the accomplishment of his mill
tary ends.
Germany is in trouble with the
United States only because Germany
is violating the rules of war in re-
spect to the rights of neutrals and
-combatants on the high seas.
The trouble will increase in serious
ness as long as Germany continues
such violations. 1t will end the in
slant that Germany undertakes to
abide by the rules that she herself
had always respected prior to Feb.
IS.
The president stated the whole
case in a single sentence when he
said that the United States takes it
for granted that at least within the
possibilities of every such case the
commanders even of submarines
were expected to do nothing that
would involve the lives or safety of
neutral ships, even at the cost of fail
ing in their intention The German
contention is that commanders OF
may do anything rather
than fail in their object
This is a conflict of principles that
cannot be reconciled. One of the
parties to the dispute must yield, and
the United States, as the most power
fy.l and influential of neutral nations,
cannot yield. To do that is to accept
the doctrine that, in time of war,
and non-combatants have
no rights that belligerents are bound
to respect. If we have reached that
stage, the world is back to barbar-
ism, and the whole fabric of interna-
tional law that has been erected
through twenty centuries lies crum-
bled in ruin.-New York World