The Washington times., 1915-05-08

dangerous at the present time in the
/ neighborhood of the English Channel.
German Savagery."
The submarine peril has been char
acterized In this country variously as a
'olun,' "blunder," and as further
evidence OF German savagery." The
sinking of the Lusitania will change
the temper Of this thought both in Eng
land and In the United States
When February IS came and went and
the German submarine failed to develop
the tremendous spectacle which. II at
all, England expected would be staged
FOR 1t on that date. what little fear
there may have been In English hearts
gradually dmmed away. The first lord
| OF the admiralty. in his clustering
chauvanism. assured the world that the
British Islands were never more safe
and the British navy never better able
the American flag served the useful
purpose Of persuading American pas
sengers that no harm could come to
them. Later British shippers felt so
Churchill that they ceased to fy the
Stars and Stripes when crossing the
| war zone,
| hTe submarine peril was forgotten.
along with Zeppelin raids and other
war scares." British owners became
careless. few days ago the British
government gave out a resume Of the
| losses sustained in the last three
months. The British public was en-
couraged at just the moment when.
farther than the tip of its nose, 1t
would have cautioned against optimis-
tic generalities They have now paid
the first installment Of the penalty
penalty should have been borne by the
American people. There will be other
great liners torpedoed. The German
, submarine Is a real peril.
Took Own Life.
We might as we'll face the facts. The
American who would sail on board a
British liner takes his life In his hands
The sinking of the Lusitania will cleal
the atmosphere In many respects. II
will teach the British government tha
Germany Is not bluffing but is In deac
earnest-a lesson It should have learned
months ago, but which even yesterda!
1t seemed not to have .grasped In tn
slightest degree. Whether or not tn
Austro- German offensive from Belgium
to Libau and from Libau to Gorlice /
nothing more than an attempt to I'm
press neutrals" and the reports from
Berlin and Vienna nothing more sub
stantial than bluff" remains to b
seen. The loss Of the Lusitania affords
J as well. a chance to answer the ques
, | ton which Fnglishmen asked when tn
war zone was declared. The America
people are not going to protect BIRTHS
: shipping from German submarines
That is a responsibility which rests no
upon Washington. but London.
The Lustania was not an America
vessel and, on this trip, was not nyin
the American flag. She was owned an
operated by British interests and wa
a sailing under the British ensign an
should have had British projection
Great Britain is unfortunately for tn
( moment at war with Germany an
s must grin and bear the losses whic
: war may bring her. That America
people should have to bear a part {
this loss Is due more to British sure
,. ! ness. than to American recklessness.
4, We shall undoubtedly hear much dul
ing the next few days. of the Falab,
William p. Frye, and Gulfight. Ever
skeleton or straw that can be dug u
: by the English press in England an
| America will be paraded before OF
: eyes, linked to the Lusitania. 1t
s scarcely necessary to say that there
= no connection between the cases OF an
two Of these vessels.
' The Cunard line has long advertise
that II had never lost a passenger. p,
p fore long we would have had the di
h agreeable situation of the sinking of
trans Atlantic liner anyhow with a grei
attendant loss Of life. We had to pr
!. pare ourselves for the contingency, b.
d cause it inevitably had to arise. So lor
as the German submarines confine the
attention to cargo boats and trawler
e passenger lines and passengers had litt
= reason to worry. The fact which no
I seems patent beyond the possibility
- a doubt. that their attention is turnr
to larger same alters this condition @
y sentially. Americans are douhly warne