New-York tribune., 1916-07-27
PEACEFUL SUBMARINES
Uses to Which They May Be Put Besides
Blockade Running.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: A correspondent whose letter Is pub.
lshed in your issue Of July %. takes excsp.
tion to the inference in my previous letter
that if the submarine Deutschland is an IN.
armed merchantmen she is entitled TO tn,
same privileges under international usage
are other merchantmen. This proposition is
so obvious that it did not seem TO require
explanation.
In view of the rather startling contention
of your correspondent however, TO the con-
trary, | would like, if l may trespsss again
upon your space, to point out the ineonsis.
tencies of his argument.
We start with the admitted fact that there
is a rule requiring that a signal to stop Be
given a merchant ship and that she be vis'
tied and searched before she may be sunk or
captured. Your correspondents first reaso,
why this rule does not apply tC the Deutses'
land and why. as he says, different legal
presumption" attaches to a surface merchant
man and a submarine freighter, is that the
surface merchant ship has been construct"
entirely for the purpose Of carrying freight
or passengers. If this constituted distin''
ton, then Of course the Lusitania, which was
not constructed entirely for the purpose
carrying freight or passengers, but also
an auxiliary war cruiser OF the British nsvy
and the Mauretania, which, believe, is noT
serving in the British navy, were never sub
iect to the rule.
Your correspondent goes on to state thai
the surface ship has always conformed to tn
laws prevailing at the ports at which h'
touches and the regulations required BY tas
international code. Isn't it safe to say that
the Deutschland has done so also, inasmuca
as she has been allowed to dock, and to SAIL
and, after inspection officially declared en-
unarmed merchantmen? Within the three
mile limit, too, she proceeded on the surfa's
like any other vessel entering our ports.
The next argument Of your correspondent
indicates a total lack of Imagination. Inc
conclusion that a submarine in time OF peace
would not be used except for some illesA
purpose ignores the fact of the rapid aa'
vancement of our civilization, our luxury ana
our willingness TO pay for material comforts
can imagine many Of my acquaintance ~n'
would be glad, for example, 70 pay douo"
the ordinary price Of transportation across
the English Channel for the privilege OF De-
ing conveyed under water and undisturoe'
by the usual eccenrricities OF the surface
"She has been created for purposes OF war,
says the writer. Where is the authority fo'
that statement, particularly after the repon.
of the United States inspectors that she eouia
not be converted into a war vessel witnos'
Substantial structural changes2
"ln the surface going freight we are tod
"the carrying of freight is the main elemen'
Of her makeup; in the submarine freignp
the element Of escape is the main feature o.
her construction Escape" is hardly tm
proper word in this connection. Doesn,
"evasion" more aptly describe her design
We cannot assume that she is going 70 w
to escape" because Of the fact that she
able 20 dive any more than We can assun'
that fast passenger liner is going 10 ram
submarine because she happens 70 be cen
structed with sharp prov.
Admitting her design. however, how aoo''
the ships constructed during our civil W.
for the purpose of running the blocSsas'
Did they forfeit every privilege because ounI
as we'll as they could be at that time as
speed and invisiblity, for that purpose! =.
when the hatch Of her coming tower
closed so that she may dive Immediately ~.
is in the act of escaping just as much as Wv
surface freighter is escaping when she que.
ems the stroke of her engine" Doesn't 70,
writer see where this reasoning will les'
him? To justification of the German sFsu,
ment that because the Cunard line announces,
before the Lusitania sailed that she woa's
rot stop the commander Of the submann'
which sank her would simply have been was.
ing time BY hailing her before launching NV
torpedo, and TO Justification OF the sinnDs
without warning of British merchant snp'
because of the Admiralty instruction 10 tnsA
20 escape. JAMES o. TRiuSh
New York, July %. 1919