The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1916-02-19
HANS SCHMIDT PAYS
PENALTY OF DEATH:
ASKS FORGIVENESS
SENATOR LODGE
TAKES THE FLOOR
HE ANNOUNCES THE CHANGE IN
NATIONS POLICY AS AN
UNNEUTRAL- ACT.

| WASHINGTON, Feb. Ex-senator
Lodge, ranking minority member OF
the foreign relations committee, made
| a speech in the senate today. declar
| ing that abandonment by the United
States at this time of the principle
that its ports were open to and its
citizens free to ravel upon merchant.
men of belligerent nations armed
solely for defensive purposes would
be an unneutral act and a step to-
ward war He said it would make
the United States the ally of the bel
ligerents whose merchant marine
had been swept from the seas.
The senator dwalt upon the his.
tory Of international law relating to
the arming of merchantmen for de.
oense and citing precedents in the
ecord Of the United States. He re-
ferred to reports that the administra-
tion was preparing to change its pol
icy, which have been denied by Sec
retary Lansing, since the issuance of
GlAC bCi man anu [huotl etil-
dums announcing their intention to
treata rmed merchant ships as war
vessels afte February 30.
AS late as the presidents note of
May 13, 1915, Senator Lodge said,
lthis government recognized THAT
American citizens were within their
undisputed rights in taking their
ships and in travelling wherever their
legitimate business calls them upon
the high seas"
Such" he added, ''has been the
practice of II nations in regard to
the armed merchantmen. 1t seems
utterly incredible that our govern
ment should be ready to surrender
the unquestiOned rights of Americans
to travel or ship goods on belliger-
ent merchantmen subject to all the
rules established by all international
authorities for at least +wo centur-
les.
THE abandonment of these rights
by any neutral government on the
ground that the invention of subma-
rines with the necessary limitations
under the powers of capture possess
ed by those boats is inconceivable.
Such abandonment could only rest on
the ground that he rights of neu-
trails, the rules which for centuries
have been agreed upon by all nations
for the protection of innocent lives
upon vessels captured in war, must
be thrown aside and discarded in or
der that new instrument of mari
time destruction must not be impeded
a doctrine is revolving to every in
stinct Of humanity, to every principle
of law and justice.
There is, however, another side to
this matter which Is of even greater
Importance. There can be no ques
ton that any act by a neutral which
is an unneutral act and places the
neutral upon the side of one bellig
erent or the other.
"rhis is eminently true of any
form Of embargo, and there Is no
need that | should repeat the unan-
swerable argument on this point en-
bodied by Mr.. Lansing in his note Of
last August to the government of
Austria Hungary. The war, and the
war alone, has also created condi-
tions under which any change at this
time in the attitude which we took
officially at the outset Of the war in
regard to armed merchantmen would
be an unneutral act The merchant.
men of one belligerent have been
swept from the seas. Therefore IL
we should abandon all the principles
on this subject that we have ever
sustained, If we should abandon the
rules laid down by Mr.. Lansing In
his circular of September, 1914, and
declare that our ports were closed to
armed merchntmen, or that goods
and passengers from the United
States could not be placed on an
uncommissioned merchantmen, arm
ed solely for self-defense, our action
would affect only one belligerent; II
would alter conditions created by
the war, and woud therefore be un-
neutral. 1t would make US at once
the ally of the belligerent whose
merchant marine has been driven
from the ocean.
81 cannot believe that the ad-
ministration thinks for moment OF
altering. the well-defined position
which n. took at the outset of the
Euronean war and | believe that 1t