The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1916-10-13

WoFlo war 0ey nave certainly kept Sir
John Bud bothered . geod deal with
their almost startling novelties in war.
fare. They have kept the great British
navy "swatting flies" ever since the war
began. The sudden arrival and success
full sai6og Of the 'Deatschlard d" cub.
marine nerchantman was one Of these;
Saturday another submarine ''U IS"
came quietly into Hampton Roads, se.
mained few hours, sailed away and
next day sunk five or six ships right il
front of-New York harbor. We speak.
of these as jokes, hut they are grimi
Jokes. with certain kind of humor, 1ut
not the sort that brings a laugh, for all
hunor is not laughable.
That the act OF the III 53'' was anew
and surprising development Of sub
marine warfare and struck blow ina
new and unexpected quarter is the prin.
opal part Of the reid from German
and British standpoint. What it means
to neutral America is another question.
Except that the submarine has the
power to submerge, and thereby conceal
herself from British cruisers, her acts
we're no more than might have occurred
it any other German armed ship had
appeared of tho same port and perform.
ed the same acts.
But that performance amounts to q
pprtiai blockade OF busy American
port. Nine tenths of the shipping sail.
ing in and out of American ports is for.
.eign; most of the cargoes are consigned
to beligerent nations. While all the
ships torpedoed were sunk outside of
the "three mile limit" yet for all ,practl.
cal purposes they might as we'll have
been sunk in New York harbor itself.
Uncle Sam will certainly not enjoy such
q blockade, though tits difficult at this
time to see how he can help himself un-
der the present international rules.
However, like the adventurous "Deut
-schland" this may be only single per.
tormance. Certainly it cannot be very
largely extended or repeated for many
reasons Germany has too few sub
marines and Britain has too many war
ships. Such raids may happen again
and at other unexpected points, but like
the rest of the German raiders it is
only question of time and opportunity
when their careers are stopped.
The history of this war is that sub.
marines as war weapons are very little
use SO far. The theory that they would
be able to fight and sink any war ship
has not been proven. In fact the Brit
ish navy has been able to keep the Brit
ish Island waters comparatively free
though the submarines had only short
distances to sally out from the home
bases. The submarine evidently fears
the cruiser and destroyer.
The submarine Is built to run away
and not for stand.up fighter. 1t can
prey on nnarmed ships but as warrior
SO far it has cut but little figure.
There is one circumstance in Satur-
days work that is worth noting. The
six ships sunk were all done for in one
afternoon or day, but it kept the sub
marine busy all that time IN disposing of
the vessels. Doubtless many more ships
we're sighted in that busy sea lane but
she had no time to stop any others.
Then she disappeared. Why did she
not remain and continue her work?
Now, in the English and Irish chan.
nels ships are as plenty as off New York
harbor, but there has never been any
such a number Of ships sunk at one
time or one place about the British
Isles. Why?
There will be no general blockade of
the ports of the United States by sub.
marines, though the possibility has and
will set the world agog for week or
two, until our German jokers start some-
thing else.