The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-08-07
BORAH AND

Senator Borah that he
believes that the United States should
state the conditions on which she
would make peace with Germany. The
thereby gives us an awful pain. The
senator at the beginning of the war
was one of those who believed that we
should declare what some people then
called "a private war with Germany"
That is. that we should utterly disre-
gard all things that did not concern
u own quarrel, and when that quar-
rel was settled we should make peace.
This view was plausible enough in
many ways. In spirit we have adopted
it, for we have refused to form bind
ing treaties of alliance with the en-
tente powers. But it has developed
since that the only way to protect our
rights permanently is to lick the
kaiser.
Now, taking this view of the case
in it's narrowest sense, taking the po-
sition of Borah as defined by him
self before the war, and why should
we offer peace to Germany at this
time? When the war broke out, Ger
many announced that she would close
the ports of the enemy by strewing
mines in the paths of trade. She did
not strew the mines, however, but la
ter adopted a submarine warfare
which she admitted was not in accord
ance with international law.
When the Lusitania was sunk she
gave several lying excuses. First she
said that the ship was a British aux
iliary cruiser in commission, which
would have permitted the sinking
without warning. Next she said that
the Lusitania carried hidden batteries
SO placed as to violate international
law. Both statements were wholly
false. The one thing she did not say
in this controversy was that she had
a right to sink a merchant vessel
ven though carrying %contraband,
without previous warning. Brought
to book in the Sussex case, Germany
acknowledged that the whole subma-
line policy as previously carried out
by her was a violation of information
al law. She admitted tina the United
States violated no rule of information
al law by allowing belligerents to buy
munitions of private American citi-
ZONE and shin thon IN U,n,opo o,,bioot
TO the risks and penalties prescribed
by international law. In short she
specifically stated that we were gull
~ of no formal violation of the laws
by those rules in the future. Ger
many tackled a proviso to this, stating
hat under certain contingencies she
might return to submarine warfare.
The United States notified her that
The promise was accepted, but the pro-
nj rejected, and Germany acquiesced
by silence.
Several American ships were sunk
without warning afterwards. In each
case, Germany hedged and equivocat-
ed, but wound up by acknowledging
that the German commander in the
case was at fault, stating that she
had punished him, and promising fl
nancial recompense for the injury
done. Everyone of these cases was in
itself an admission that the subma-
rine warfare was illegal. even had this
fact not been specifically admitted
when the pledge to abide by interna-
tional law was made in the Sussex
case. 1t is probable that these spo-
radio sinking after the Sussex case,
we're in violation OF Instructions
Chancellor Won Hollweg afterwards
said that Germany was not prepared
at the time to successfully carry on
submarine warfare. Therefore these
premature attacks might spoil these
plans. The submarine commanders
hungered for blood and could with
difficulty be restrained.
Last February German specifically
repudiated the Sussex case pledge and
announced that she would no longer
he bound by the conditions of the law
Of nations. President Wilson then
carried out his threat to sever diplo-
matte relations and in no uncertain
terms gave Germany to understand
that a carrying out of the policy of
ruthlessness would entail graver on
sequences. At this point let us call
the attention OF professed pacifists
who say that the president was elect
ed to keep up out of war, to the fact
that President Wilson had months be-