New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-06
Cermanv's Choice

new note 10 Berlin Germany must choose
between reason and pridc Of opinion. Rea-
son counsel, the avoidance of an issue with
the United States, Pride " opinion COM
bats an acknowledgment that the Won Ilr-
pitz submarine campaign was planned and
conducted on lines rcpugnant to neutra-
rights and to the rules OF civilized warfare.
To Hmi, the original scope Of the SUBJ
marine campaign and 70 bring submarine
operauoas into harmony with 'nterna-
tional law and humane usage may cost
Germany some sacrifice Of anon" Dropro'
But it Will not involve the surrender Of
any material military advantage.
The submarine campaign has been so
enormously advertised that the world has
gotten very fictitious idea Of It's value.
!, has caused British and neutral shipping
a great deal Of annoyance and has ed TO
considerable los, Of life and destruction of
property. Bu; from a military point Of
view the results achieved have been Of al
most as little consequence as the results
achieved by the Zeppelin raids.
Between February IS and May 81 fifty
seven merchant steamers and thirty-seven
fishing vessels were sunk by German sub
marines Yet in that period 2o.73S vessels
arrived at or cleared from British ports.
The German submarine snipcrs have there
fore cut down less than onc-half Of per
cent Of the ships travcrsing the war zone.
The interruption Of sea traffic 10 and
from Great Britain has been practically
negligible.
We're there any prospect Of seriously OBJ
structinc the passage Of food supplies and
munitions of war into British ports Ger
many might have some excuse for wishing
10 continue 10 torpedo unarmed merchant
men without notice. But the shipment Of
munitions of war to the Allies cannot be
checked. If it were dangerous for neutral
manufacturers to send such supplies direct
TO Great Britain they could easily be d.
verted to French ports either on the At
lantic or the Mediterranean. or to Italian
ports. for overland transit TO the Allied
bases on the Continent.
The submarine war therefore reduces
itself merely to bushwhacking on a large
scale-to petty reprisals Of which non
combatants and ships doing no military
service are the victims. Blind anlmoslty
may be appeased by operations Of this sort
which have only the slightest color Of mill
tary advantage But i reason controls IN
Berlin the really barren results Of the sub
marine campaign against merchant ships
will be weighcd-as they ought to be
weighod-against the vast new resources
TO be thrown into the scale against Ger
many in case of rupture with the United
States.
Most German newspapers are disposed
TO belittlc our military resources because
the latter are VIGOROUSLY undeveloped
The Berlin "Kreuz Zeitung," the scmi-off-
cial organ OF the government, said on Fri
day: The value Of diplomatic relations
with the United States has to us become
rather imaginary But if those relation,
are broken of and war follows Germany
will have to face combination of great
powers whose resources IN men, wea.ti
and supplies viii so vastly exceed her owr
that she can have no hope Of outlastinl
them in a war Of attrition and exhaustion
II is true that our present military es
tablishment is mere skeleton. But We
can create armies, and our wealth and
prestige can be applied at once ia strength
ening and extending the anti-German ALI
ance. We are fighting the battle Of the
other neutral nations as well as our own
and the assurance that the United States
with all its latent military energy, is com.
mtted TO a struggle to finish with Ger
man militarism will make the anti leu
tonic union invincble.
Some writers have held that the entry
Of the United States into the war would
work TO the disadvantage Of the Allies be-
cause II would check the flow Of military
supplies from this country. But that
check would be slight and temporary
With the government putting tens of mill
ions Of dollars into new arms plants and
patriotism melting every American manu-.
facturer 90 turn his equipment so far as il
could be turned 10 the production Of wal
materials. we could within year multiply
several times over our present capacity
using our product, here or in other cou1-
tries, wherever j., would do the greatest
immediate good.
If the United States goes 20 war II VIII
make war in earnest. 1t will still be max