The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-06-12

Punta Gorda, Fla, June, IL, 1918.
Sometime ago, President Wilson
was reported TO have stated that he
would like to secure the consensus
of opinion of the American people
concerning certain matters relating
to the war. Little drops of water
make the mighty ocean. l am 60
ing to drop a drop into this mighty
ocean.
When the present international
rules of war were agreed upon there
was no such thing as a submarine.
According to such rules, before a
boat could be sunk in anger, the
crew and passengers were to be TAX
en- off and conveyed to safety. In
this war Great Britain and her al
lies have the absolute control of the
seas, so far as numerical superior
ity, battleships and cruisers can
give it.
According to the international
|
ship foodstuffs to other neutral ma
tions. If any of our citizens were
now to ship foodstuffs say to Hol-
land or to Sweden, Great Britain
would violate international rules Of
war by selling the cargo. She would
afterwards make amends for it by
~; Go would hn in
contravention of the rights of Amer
lean citizens. Germany has de-
clared a submarine war zone around
Great Britain. Owing to the very
nature of a submarine, it is impos-
sible for submarine to take the
crew and passengers off of a mer-
chairman before sinking the same.
If any British merchantmen carried
several tons of ammunition with
which to shoot at the Germans, and
were to get two or three American
citizens to ride on the boat, it would
be almost an act of war for Ger
man submarine to sink that boat
because by so doing these American
citizens would be liable to lose theil
lives.
Germany is now fighting for hel
life. The development of the sub
marine has changed in itself the in
ternational rules of warfare. If i
were not for the possession of He'll
: goland by the Germans, it would b.
, absolutely impossible for. the Ger
mans to establish submarine war
t fare. Great Britain took this islant
5 from the Danes in 1907 and swappe,
it to the Germans in 1890 for 10
t of territory in Africa. The German
e have transferred the Gibraltar of tn
: Mediterranean to this island. At tn
p time Great Britain snapped this t
d Germany the building of the Ger
e man canal was not thought OF b
: Great Britain, or there would hav
d been no swap.
: There is some talk about peace
j. There will be no peace until on Q
the other parties to the contest
T, eaten up alive. There is some tai
: of disarmament. After the war
y over, who is going to make Gres
Is Britain turn all her battleships an
y cruisers into merchantmen and int
e fishing boats? The British would
II fools to do such. Nobody has eve
E. accused them of being fools. I'll
n very life of Great Britain depend
'e upon her navy. AS long as Gre;
20 Britain has such preponderance I
Is naval armament, her rivals will Il
n to have large standing armies an
e, will sooner Or later attempt to on
IS strip her even in naval supremacy
"a There has been a great deal
lie talk about hyphenated American
or meaning n-Americans. If al
n of us had been naturalized as Bri
lie ish subjects and the United Stat
lie was at war, say with Japan, the
Il would not be man who would n
ID be naturally in sympathy with Il
10 l