The Washington times., 1916-07-29
THE CASE. .OP CAPTAIN FRYATT

The precise facts surrounding the
trial and execution Of Captain Fry
att, of the British ship Brussels, in
Germany, are not yet all at hand.
The Berlin wireless to Sayville,
which cannot have been mutilated by
any censor, does not by any means
provide all the facts necessary for
judgment.
This German narrative says that
the Brussels was captured and taken
into a German port in June; Captain
Fryatt was tried on the charge that
in March, 1915, he had tried with his
ship to ram a German submarine.
For this "brave conduct" Berlin
says, Fryatt and his immediate
subordinates were commended in the
House Of Commons, and awarded
watches by the British admiralty.
So Fryatt was tried on the charge
that. though not belonging to the
armed forces Of his country, he had
undertaken to make war.
The British accounts deny much
Of this story, but not the essential
part: that Fryatt did try to ram a
submarine. The question is whether
he had the right to make such at
tempt. The law Of nations has per-
mitted merchant ships from time
immemorial to attempt escape, and
to resist capture, and to carry arma.
ment for defensive purposes. The
attempt to escape, the carrying and
use Of defensive armament, have not
been construed as violating any sea
law. In the present war, the United
States Government has permitted
armed merchantmen of belligerent
countries to enter and clear from it's
ports; and they have carried weapons
so big and powerful that a genera
tion ago they might have over
mastered almost any Of the warships
of that time.
A merchantman's right to attempt
escape has never been questioned till
this war; and now only by Germany.
The United States. as the chief neu-
trail of the world, has stood by this
right of the merchant ship, and by
it's right even to resist when at
tackled.
II, now, the Berlin admiralty pro-
poses to enforce the rule of murder
ing in cold blood the officers of ship
that attempts resistance, it means
the opening of a new submarine
campaign of vastly more ferocity
and horror than even the one that
found it's greatest atrocity in the
Lusitania. 1t means applying on the
seas the rules eff extreme frightfdl-
ness that were enforced in Belgium
and Serbia. 1t means the overturn-
ing Of every right Of neutr lis and
belligerents alike, on the seas which
are the common property of the
world. The United States has rights,
and every other country has them,
on the high seas, which the world is
under necessity to protect.
The consequences Of such an act
as the execution of Captain Fryatt
might easily be much more serious
than any that followed, or could fol-
low, from the Lusitania destruction.
This latest horror is deliberate. The
court-martial and execution seem to
have been hurried and as nearly
secret as possible; but once consum-
mated, Berlin announced the facts
or as much of them as it deemed
necessary to impress the shipping
community. Berlin indeed seems
rather proud of it's achievement.
The Fryatt murder suggests that
the long-promised campaign of un.
restricted and unbridled submarine
assault is about to be inaugurated
1t will bring, if the rule of the Fry.
att case is followed, a new crisis az
horrible as that of Belgium, and
vitality affecting every commercial
and governmental interest in the
/ ,,orld