Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-04-20
CONGRESS TOLD OF
GRAVE CRISIS BETWEEN
BERLIN AND WASHINGTON

these UNDERSTANDINGS aside under Gil
| cumstances which it deemed extra
ordinary. Even the terms In whc
II announced its purpose thus sti
further to relax the restraints it ha
previously protested its Willingness
and desire to put upon the opera
tons of its submarines. carried III
plain implication that at least vessel
which were not armed would still b
exempt from destruction withou
warning, and that personal safet
would be accorded their passenger
and crews; but even that limitation
il it was ever practicable to observ
it, has in fact constituted no checl
at all upon the destruction of ship
of every sort.
Promises Violated.
again and again the imperial Ger
man goyernment has given this gov
crnment its solemn assurances that n
least passenger slips would not III
thus dealt with, and yet il has aeaiI
and again permitted its undcrsei
commanders To disregard those as
suranccs with entire impunity. Great
liners like the Lusitania and the
Arabic and mere ferryboats like the
Sussex have been attacked without @
moments warning, sometimes before
| they had even become aware that
they were in the presence of an arm
ed vessel of the enemy, and the lives
| of non-comhatants, passengers and
crew, have been sacrificed wholesale
! in manner which the government OF
| the United States cannot but regard
as wanton and without the slightest
color Of Justification. No limit of any
| kind has in fact been set to the indis-
eliminate pursuit and destruction OF
merchantmen Of all kinds and nation
alities, within the waters, constantly
extending in area, where these oper-
atoms have been carried on; and the
roll of Americans who have lost their
! lives on ships thus attacked and de-
stroyed has grown month by month
until the ominous toll has mounted
! into the hundreds.
zone of the latest and most shock
ing Instances of this method of war
fare was that of the destruction Of the
French cross-channcI steamer Sussex.
II must stand forth as the sinking of
the steamer Lusitania did, as so sin
gularIy tragical and uniustifiablc az
10 constitute truly terrible example
of the inhumanity of submarine war
fare as the commanders of German
vessels have for the past twelve
months been conducting il.
IF this incident stood alone, some
explanation, some disavowal by the
German government, some evidence
Of criminal mistake or wilful dis
obedience on the part of the COM
mander of the vessel that fired the
torpedo might be sought or enter
tanned but unhappily it does not
stand alone. Recent events make the
conclusion inevitable that it is only
one instance. even though il be one
of the most extreme and distressing
instances, of the spirit and method Of
warfare which the imperial govern
ment has mistakenly adopted, and
which from the first exposed that
government TO the reproach Of thrust
ing all neutral rights aside in pursuit
of its immediate objects.
Patience Exhausted.
'rhe government of the United
States has been very patient. At
every stage of this distressing eXper-
fence of tragedy after tragedy in
watch its own citizens were involved,
it has sought to he restrained from
any extreme course of action or Of
protest by thoughtful consideration
OF the extraordinary circumstances of
this unprecedented war, and actuated
in all that it said or by the senti-
ments of genuine friendship which
the people of the United States al
ways have entertained and continue
TO entertain toward the German ma
ton. 1t has, of course, accepted the
successive explanations and assur-
anees Of the imperial German gov
eminent as given, In entire sincerity,
and good faith, and has hoped, even
against hope, that 1t would prove to
be possible fer the German govern
ment so to order and control the acts
of its naval commanders as to square
its policy with the principles of hui
manity as embodied in the law OF ma
tons, II has been willing to wait un-
til the significance of the facts be-
came absolutely unmistakable and
susceptible of but one Interpretation
THAT point hos now unhappily been
reached. The facts are susceptible of |
but one Interpretation, the imperial !
German government has not been |
able to put any limits or restraints |
upon its warfare against either freight !
or passenger ships. II has, therefore, +
become painfully evident that the po- |
sition which this government took at I
the very outset is inevitable, namely, |
that the use of submarines for the de-
struction Of any enemy's commerce |
is Of necessity because of the very !
character of the vessels employed, and I
the very methods of attack, which
their employment, of course, involves.
with the principles of
the long established and
incontrovertible rights of neutrals.
and the sacred immunities of non
Has Notified Germany.
Il have deemed il my duty, there
fore. to say to the imperial German
government that if IL is still its pur-
pose to prosecute relentless and in
discriminate warfare against vessels
Of commerce by the use of subma-
rines. Notwithstanding the now DEM
Dnstrated impossibil;ty of con,luct;nV
mat warfare in accordance with what
lie '2overnmcnt of the United States
must consider the sacred and indis-