The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1916-04-28

and Ireland, but wherever they could
encounter them, in a way that has
grown more and more ruthless, more
and more indiscriminate as the months
have gone by, less and less observant
or restraints of any kind; and have
delivered their attacks without COM
junction against vessels of every ma
tionality and bound upon every sort of
errand.
Neutral Vessels Destroyed.
vessels of neutral ownership, even
vessels OF neutral ownership bound
from neutral port to neutral port. have
been destroyed along with vessels of
oelligerent ownership in constantly in
numbers. Sometimes the
merchantmen attacked has been
warned and summoned to surrender
before being fired upon or ~torpedoed;
sometimes passengers or crews have
been vouchsafed the poor security of
being allowed to take to the ships
boats before she was sent to the bot.
tom.
But again and again no warning
mas been given, nc escape even to the
SHIPS boats allowed to those on board.
What this government foresaw must
happen has happened. Tragedy has
followed tragedy on the seas in such
fashion, with such attendant circum-
stances, as to make it grossly evident
that warfare of such a sort, If warfare
II be, cannot be carried on without the
most palpable violation of the dictates
alike OF right and humanity. What
ever the disposition and intention of
the imperial German government, it
mas manifestly proved impossible for it
to keep such methods Of attack upon
the commerce of its enemies within
n bounds set by either the reason or
the heart of mankind.
In February of the present year the
Imperial German government informed
this government and the other neutral
governments Of the world that it had
reason to believe that the government
OF Great Britain had armed all mer-
chant vessels Of British ownership and
a given them secret orders to attack
any submarine of the enemy they
might encounter upon the seas and
that the Imperial German government
felt justified in the circumstances in
treating all armed merchantmen OF
belligerent ownership as auxiliary YES.
sells OF war, which it would have the
right to destroy without warning.
THE law Of nations has long recog
nized the right of merchantmen tc
carry arms for protection, to use them
to repel attack though to use them ir
such circumstances at their own risk
but the Imperial German government
claimed the right to set these under
STANDINGS aside IN circumstance!
which it deemed extraordinary. Ever
the terms in which it announced 1T
purpose thus still further to relax N
restraints it had previously professet
its willingness and desire to put upor
the operations of its submarines car
ried the plain implication that at leas
vessels which were not armed woult
still be exempt from destruction with
out warning and that personal safet,
would be accorded their passenger
and crews; but ever that limitation
II 1T was ever practicable to observ,
it. has in fact constituted no check a
all upon the destruction Of ships O
every sort
Again and again the Imperial Ger
man government has given this gov
eminent its solemn assurances that a
least passenger ships would not be
thus dealt with, and yet it has agar
and again permitted its undersea com
manders to disregard those assurances
with entire immunity. Great liners like
the Lusitania and The Arabic and NERO
Ferry boats like the Sussex have been
attacked without a moments warning
sometimes before they had even be.
come aware that they wore In the pres.
ence OF an armed vessel Of the enemy
sengers and crew have been sacrificed
wholesale in a manner which the gov
ernmcnt Of the United States cannot
but regard as wanton and without the
slightest color Of justification. No
limit " any kind has in fact been set
% the indiscriminate pursuit and de-
%struction Of merchantmen Of all kinds
and rationalities within the waters,
constantly extending in area. where
these operations have been carried on;
and the roll of Americans who have
lost their lives on ships thus attacked
and destroyed hes growl month by
month until the ominous toll has
mounted into thu hundreds.
L. S. Government Has Been Patient.
Recent events make the conclusion
inevitable that 1t is only n instance,
even though it BE n of the most ex-
IRENE and distressing instances, OF
the spirit and method Of warfare
which the Imperial German govern
ment has mistakenly adopted. and
which from the first exposed that gov
eminent to the reproach of thrust.ng
all neutral rights aside in pursuit OF
its immediate objects.