Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-20

the bounds set by either the reason or
the heart of mankind.
In February of IN" present yea, tho
imperial German government informed
this government and the other ncu.
trail governments of tho world that il
had reason TO believe that the gov
ernment of Great Britain had armed
all merchant vessels OF British owner
ship and had given them secret orders
TO attack any submarine of the enemy
they might encounter upon the seas.
and that the imperial German govern
ment felt justified in the circumstances
in treating all armed merchantmen of
/ halli84ssntl luhHessts1p~ssrt a llsii ia5yFree<
sells Of war. which it would tave the
right 10 destroy without warning. The
law Of nations has long recognized
the right of merchantmen to carry
arms for protection and 10 use them, to
rcpel attack. though TO use them, in
such circumstances, at their own risk :;
hut the imperial German government,
claimed the right to set these under
standings aside in circumstances which
1T deemed extraordinary Even the
terms in which it announced it's pur-
pose thus still further to relax the re-
Willingness and desire 70 put upon the
operations of IT'S submarines carried
the plain implication that nj least ves-
sells which were not armed would still
be exempt from destruction withou;
warning. and that personal safety
would be accorded their passengers
and crews; but even that limitation. if
1t was ever practicable to observe il
n IA
upon the destruction OF ships OF every
sort
Again and again the imperial Ger
man government has given this govern
ment ITS solemn assurances that at least
passenger ships would not he thus dealt
with. and yet il has again and again
permitted it's undersea commanders to
disregard those assurances with entire
impunity. Great liners like the Lust
tanta and the Arabic and mere ferrv-
boats like the SUSSEX have been at
tackled without Il moments warning.
some times before they had even he
come aware that they were in the
presence of an armed vessel of rhe
enemy, and the lives of non-comba,-
tants, passengers and crew. have been
sacrificed wholesale. in manner which
''N s7'NN''H'ShI VI the United states
cannot but regard rs wanton and
without the slightest color OF i,,stj
hcation. No limit OF any kind has. in
iact. been set 10 the indiscriminatc
pursuit and destruction OF merchant
men or all kinds and nationalities
within the waters, constantly extend
ing in area. where those operations
nave been carried on; and the roll of
Americans who have lost their lives
on ships thus attacked and DESTROYED
has grown month by month until the
oininous toll has mounted into the
hundreds
EXAMPLE or iNHUMANITN
OF SUBMARINE WARFARE
One OF the latest and most shocking
! instances of this method of warfare
was that OF the destruction OF Tho
French ss-channel steamer Sussex
1t must stand forth. as tho sinking of
the steamer Lusitania did. a., so singu-
larry traEica1 and unIustifable as to
constitute truly terrible example Of
!nhumanity nf submarine warfare as
the comma andcrs OF German vessels
have FOR the past twelve months been
conducting il. II this instance stood
alone. some explanation. some disa-