The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1916-04-11
WASHINGTON LETTER.
THE LEADER Bureau.
Washington, April 10, 1916
(By John Marinan.)

(By John MaTlnan.)
If war results from the submarine
controversy the responsibility for that
war will result upon President Wood
row Wilson and his vacillating foreign
policy If war comes, it viii be war
that might have been avoided. II war
comes, America will pay for the Will
son administration with thousands OF
her best lives and millions Of her
treasure.
International law is a maze of un-
Ineligible phrases to most persons.
In ordinary times the average citizen
concerns himself but little in inter
national questions Unable to COM
prehend the rules under which diplo-
macy is conducted, in crisis such as
the present he is inclined to trust
blindly in the administration, or en-
brace the first explanation, 10 matter
how impossible.
We have seen the submarine situa-
ton stated nowhere so clearly as it
was recently explained by an ex-Sena
tor in a speech at Trenton. He has
evidently felt that delicate situation
caused by the war the President should
be unhampered by criticism. But
when the crisis came and we began
floundering toward the weller of blood
in Europe, he has spoken plainly on
the dangers Of a shifty diplomacy. In
a few sentences he showed why our
present unenviable plight is due to
President Wilson's vacillating foreign
Il I, Io,, ! I, al Nv
that anyone can understand it.
1.-THE whole difficulty" he said
"arose from the exercise of those two
conspicuous talents of the present ad-
ministration, the passion for inter
ference in the affairs OF other nations
and the inability to keep away from
both sides of the question
"On the 10th of February, 1915, the
administration warned the German
government of the consequences of
carrying out the policy fOreshadowed
in it's admiralty proclamation in case
it should result in destroying any
merchant vessel of the United States
or in causing the death of American
citizens, and threatened to hold the
ability for any such act
"A note from the Secretary OF State
on the 18th of May last limited the rule
that lives Of -combatants of neu-
trail states should not be put in
jeopardy on unarmed merchantmen.
The word 'unarmed' is important.
"In the latter part of January, 1916,
the State department in a note to the
various powers sought to induce the
Allies to disarm their merchantmen
and placed especially stress on the
disadvantages of submarines in con-
fiict with armed merchantmen, saying
in substance that it would not be fair
that the submarines should be COM
PEELED to expose themselves to destruc-
ton from such vessels and that
merchantmen should not be permitted
to carry armament at all, stating
further that the United States govern
ment was seriously considering the
announcement of the purpose to treat
merchant vessel carrying guns as an
auxiliary cruiser because of the
changed conditions in maritime war
fare resulting from the introduction
Of the submarine and it's defenseless
character.
after the publication of this note,
Germany and Austro-Hungary, about
the 10th of February announced that
on and after March 1st they would re-
gard all merchantmen carrying arma-
ment as warships and would exercise
the right to destroy them without
warning.
What did the President do then?
He said, No for such a course would
involve the loss of life of American
citizens, and American citizens have
the right to travel on merchantships
armed for Defense
"Thus we attempted to persuade
England and France to give up a right
which they claimed under interna-
tional law, but would not ask Ameri-
can citizens to yield a right which we
alleged belonged to them under the
same law.
''In other words, we took the posi-
ton that England and France had no
right TO arm their merchantmen, for
thus they became warships, while, on
the other hand, only few weeks later
we maintained that although they were
warships, Germany had no right to
sink them without warning.
THUS it appears that the whole con-
troversy in which we are now engaged,
fraught as it is with so much danger
to the peace of the United States, was
brought about by shifting our posi-
ton and taking a stand directly con-
trary to the first assumed
No wonder it is hard to stand by
the President. In Mexico we marched
up the hill and then marched down
again; in this controversy over the
arming of merchantmen we marched
down the hill and then marched up
again.