The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-20
)f The Manufacturers Permanent Exhibit Building at 1921 First Avenue


 earnestly protested. It took the position that such a policy could not be pur-
 sued without constant gross and pal pable violations of accepted law of na- tions, particularly if submarine craft were to be employed as its instruments, inasmuch as the rules prescribed by that law, rules founded on the principles of i humanity and established for the protec- ton of the lives of noncombatants at sea, could not in the nature of the case, be observed by such vessels It based it's protest on the ground that persons of neutral nationality and vessels of neutral ownership would be exposed to extreme and intolerable risks, and that no right to close any part of the high seas could lawfully be asserted by the imperial gov ernment in the circumstances then exist ing. The law of nations in these matters upon which the government of the United states based that protest, is not of re- cent origin or founded upon merely ar- Dltrary principles set up by convention It is based on the contrary, upon mani Test principles of humanity and has long been established with the approval and by the express assent of all civilized na- tions
 The imperial government notwith-
 standing persisted in carrying out the hope that the dangers involved, at any rate to neutral vessels, would be reduced to minimum by the instructions which if had issued to the commanders of it's sub marines, and assuring the government of the United States that it would take every possible precaution both to respect the rights of neutrals and to safegra I'd the lives of noscombatants
 RUTHLESS DESTRUCTION Tn pursuance of this policy of subma- rlne warfare against the commerce of its ,, adversaries, thus announced and thus en- tered upon despite the solemn protest of the government of the United States. the commanders of the imperial gov 1 ernment's undersea vessels have carried on practices Of such ruthless destruction which have made it more and more evil dent as the months have gone by that the imperial government has found if lmpractlcable to put any such restraints upon them as It had hoped and prom- ised to put. Again and again the i'm perial government has given its solemn assurance to the government of th United States that at least passenger ships would not be thus dealt with. ana yet cit has repeatedly permitted it's ,,n- oersea commanders to disregard those as surances With entire impunity As re- gently as February last it gave notice that it would regard all armed roercban n+ . men owned by it's enemies as part of tbe armed naval forces of it's adversaries and deal with them as with men of war thus, at least by implication. pledging Q ltselI to give warning to vessels which were not armed and to accord security
 oL ire to tnelr passengers and crews, but even this limitation their submarine cor,- manders have recklessly ignored.
 vessels of neutral ownership. eve, vessels or neutral ownership bo,,nd rom neutral ports to neutra, ports nave been destroyed along with yes, sels of belligerent ownership in con stantly increasing numbers Sometimes | rme mercnantmen attacked have been warned and summoned to surrender before being fired on or torpedoed :. sometimes their passengers and crews nave been vouchsafed the poor secur- ny or being allowed to take to tba shlps boats before the ship was sent to the bottom. But again and arain no warning has been given, no escape even 10 the ships boats being allowed to those on board
 LINERS ARE SUNK
 Great liners like the Lusitania and Arabic and mere passenger boats Iil,a the sussex have been attacked With
 out d moments warning, often before they have even become aware that they were in the presence of an armed snip Of the enemy, and the lives or noncom patants, passengers and creuy nave been destroyed wholesale and in manner which the government nf the United States cannot but regard as wanton, and without the sliehtart color of justification. No limit of sn~ kind has in fact been set to their in, discriminate pursuit and destruction of merchantmen of all kinds and nation al1tles within the waters which the inn perlal government has chosen to des-
 1gnate as lying within the seat of war
 The roll of Americans who have lost
 thelr lives upon ships thus attacked
 month until the ominous total has
 mounted into the hundreds
 The government of the United States
 has been very patient. At every stage
 Of this distressing experience of trar
 edy after tragedy it has sought to
 be governed by the most thoughtful
 consideration of the extraordinary cir
 and to be guided by sentiments of very
 genuine friendship for the people and
 government of Germany. It has accept ed the successive explanations and as- surances of the imperial government as of course given in entire sincerity
 and good faith and has hoped. even against hope, that it would prove to be possible for the imperial govern
 nent so to order and control the acts Iof it's naval commanders as to square its policy with the recognized prin-
 cip]es of humanity as embodied in the
 law of nations. It has made every allowance for unprecedented condi-
 tions and has been willing to wait un- til the facts became unmis istakable and
 were susceptible of only one interpre- tation.
 THE TIME HAS COME
 'It now owes it to a just regard for it's own rights to say to the inn perial government that that time has
 come. It has become painfully evil