The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1916-04-27

despite OF the solemn protest or this
government. the commanders Of Ger
man undersea vessels have attacked
merchant ships with greater and great,
or activity. not only upon the high
seas surrounding Great Britain and
Ireland, but wherever they encounter
them. in a way that has grown more
and more ruthless, more and more
indiscriminate as the months have
gone by. less and less observant OF re-
straints of any kind; and have deliv-
cred their attacks without compunc-
tion against vessels Of every national.
ity and bound upon every sort Of er-
rand. Vessels of neutral ownership.
bound from neutral port to neutral
port, have been destroyed along with
vessels Of belligerent ownership. in
constantly increasing numbers. Some
times the merchantmen attacked has
been warned and summoned to sur
render before being fred on or tor
pedoed; sometimes passengers or
crews have been vouchsafed the poor
security Of being allowed to take to
the ships boats before she was sent
to the bottom. But again and again
no warning has been given. no escape
even to the ships boats allowed to
those on board. What this government
foresaw must happen has happened.
Tragedy has followed tragedy on the
seas in such fashion. with such at
! tendant circumstances. as to make 1t
| grossly evident that warfare of such a
sort, If warfare 1t be, cannot be car
ried on without the most palpable
violation of the dictates alike of right
and of humanity. Whatever the dispo-
sition and intention of the imperial
German government, It has manifestly
proved impossible for it to keep such
methods of attack upon the commerce
of its enemies within bounds set by
either the reason or the heart of man.
kind.
As to Armed Merchantmen.
I'm February of the present year the
imperial German government informed
this government and the other neutral
governments of the world that it had
reason to believe that the government
of Great Britain had armed all mer-
chant vessels of British ownership and
had given them secret orders to attack
any submarine of the enemy they
might encounter upon the seas, and
that the imperial German government
felt justified in the circumstances in
treating all armed merchantmen of
belligerent ownership as auxiliary YES
sells of war, which it would have the
right to destroy without warning.
THE law of nations has long rec
ognized the right Of merchantmen to
carry arms for protection and to use
them to repel attack, though to use
them, in such circumstances, at their
own risks; but the imperial German
government claimed the right to set
these understandings aside in circum-
| stances which 1t deemed extraordi-
nary. Even the terms in which 1t an
nounced its purpose thus still furth-
er to relax the restraints it had pre-
viously professed its willingness and
desire to put upon the operations OF
its submarines carried the pain impli-
cation that at least vessels which
were not armed would still be exempt
from destruction without warning and
that personal safety would be accord
ed their passengers and crews. but
even that limitation, If it was ever
practicable to observe 1t, has in fact
constituted no check at all upon the
destruction of ships Of every sort
Again and again the imperial Ger
man government has given this gov
ernment its solemn assurances that at
least passenger ships would not be
thus dealt with, and yet it has again
and again permitted its undersea com.
manders to disregard these assur.
ances with entire impunity. Great
liners like the Lusitania and the Ar
abic and mere ferry boats like the
Sussex have been attacked without
a moments warning, sometimes be-
fore they had even become aware that
they were in the presence of an armed
vessel of the enemy, and the lives of
noncombatants, passengers and crew.
have been sacrificed wholesale, in a
manner which the government of the
United States cannot but regard as
wanton and without the slightest col
or Of justification. No limit of any
kind has in fact been set to the indis.
criminate pursuit and destruction Of
merchantmen of all kinds and nation.
alities within the waters, constantly
extending in area, where these oper.
ations 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 in.
to the hundreds. @ r..
Sussex Late Example.
"One Of the latest and most shock
ing instances Of this method Of war
fare was that of the destruction oil
the French cross-channel steamer
Sussex. It must stand forth, as the
sinking of the steamer Lusitania did
as SO singularly tragical and unjusti
fable as to constitute truly terribls
example of the inhumanity of subma
rine warfare as the commanders Oi
German vessels have for the past
twelve months been conducting
it. If this instance stood alone, some
explanation, some disavowal by the
German government, some evidences
of criminal mistake or wilful disobe
dience on the part Of the commander
Of the vessel that fred the torpedo
might be sought or entertained; bui
unhappily it does not stand alone
Recent events make the conclusion
inevitable that 1t is only one instance
4 even though II he ono of the most nv