Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1915-01-14
DIR. DERNBURG STRIKES HIGH
NOTE
Continuation.

In yesterdays issue of the German
Correspondent We published that
part of Dr. Bernhard Dernburg's
speech before the Republican Club
Of the City OF New York, in which he
dwelled upon the i'll feeling in this
country against Germany and Aus
I tria-Hungary and the lasting effect
| 1t may have In the second and last
part, which wo publish below, Dr..
Dernburg speaks Of the effect of the
war on our trade through the action
Of Great Britain assuming to be
master over all the seas. Dr. Dern-
burg continued:
What is the War About?
In view of this grave situation, of
the absolute necessity OF drawing the
] lessons from this universal disaster
and of stamping out the causes that
! brought it about, it is incumbent on
| all Independent minds to examine
| into those causes in order to find
out, not why the people took up
arms, but what their ends are and
their ambitions. so that those ma
/ tions that are free to express their
/ sentiments shall speak up and help
in the right direction.
To my mind the whole fight and
all the fight is, on the one side, for
an absolute dominion of the seven
seas and, on the other side, for free
sea, the traditional mare liberum.-
A free sea viii mean a cessation of
war danger and a stopping of world
wars
There is no doubt that the struggle
commenced because Servia found
( herself deprived of an outlet to the
Adriatic sea, in consequence of the
/ jealousy of the Mediterranean pow
! ers. The cause of Servia was taken
/ up by the Russian empire, which is
/ fighting now, as for a hundred years,
I for an outlet from the Black sea.
Sho is fighting Germany because Of
/ the Russian feeling that the way
J past Constantinople was going over
h Bcrlin--a feeling that seems per-
haps justified by the fact that Turkey
has now joined the dual alliance.
The japanese, by occupying all the
/ islands formerly in the possession Of
( Germany in the Pacific, want to
strengthen their hold on those wa
ters and bring them under the COM
mand of the Japanese fleet.
The English have time and again
/ declared that their dominion of the
/ channel and the North sea depended
upon o neutral Belgium that Bri-
tannia must rule the waves as q
matter Of safety for the empire.
Germany has for years back had to
prepare navy Of its own in order
I to protect It's rapidly growing over
seas trade ia case Of an emergency
1 Just as has now arisen. The British
! have chased all German merchant
A vessels from the high seas, and
/ British statesmen have repeatedly
| declared that the German navy must
be utterly destroyed.
America Involved by British Action.
Even the United states, which has
no part in the European struggle, has
had TO take up that same fight with
I England because OF the violation OF
/ its own doctrines regarding contra
! band, tho stopping of ships, the
searching OF cargOes, the compulsory
! purchase OF supplies needed by Eng
| land and tho delaying Of quite inno-
cent American shipping.
/ cannot but consider this whole
! situation q most anomalous one.
Tho British doctrine is that Eng
/ land must dominate on the high seas,
\ and her policy has been 10 afortify
those high seas by at least sixty
naval stations all around this con-
tinent and around the wole world.
That doctrine leads further Of neces-
/ sity to the claim that tho British
empire begins at the three mile limit
of other territory claim that has
no foundation either in the law of
nations in a higher sense or in the
! feeling of the civilized world.
The sea is free to all. It belongs
to no nation in particular. neither to
/ the British, nor to the Germans. nor
| to the Americans. The rights of tho
contiguous nations cease with the
territorial line Of three miles from
( low tide. Any domination exercised
/ beyond that line is o breach and in
fringement on the rights OF the
! others. Tho sea is the common
property OF all the world, and tho
patrolling Of tho sea by any one
force is q breach and violation OF
that right
The evidence is now conclusive
that heretofore and for consider
able time back all mercantile shipp-
4 ing has been done under British per-
mission and tolerance and that Great
Britain could stop it at any time she
chose. She has done so now, net
only in making war on her adver-
sarics, but in taking action to the
very great detriment and dislocation
of the trade Of ncutrals.
But the sea is not only in law a
free territory and the common prop
erty Of all the nations, but it is also
the vital instrument for human
activity in commerce and trade, the
! lungs from which this activity draws
it's nourishing and upbuilding breath,
/ and the voluntary closing and lock-
ing up Of those lungs can at any
/ time destroy the wolo body.
The High Seas Must BE Freed
n you want TO do away with wars
/ in the future We must put the prize
for which these wars are being
I fought beyond the reach OF any one
! competitor. We must re-establish
that "free sea" to be piled on ex-
clusively by the merchant marine Of
all nations. Within their territory