The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-02-08
Sinking Of American Ship
with American Lives Would
Be Only Casus Belli
WASHINGTON
BELIEVES
Many Think U-Boats Will
Ignore Our Vessels to
Avoid Clash with Us

| Washington. Feb. s.--A fresh study
of President Wilson's latest address to
Congress has turned the German .situa'
ton over to the parsing experts in Wash
ington rather than to the military au'
thorities. The peculiar use Of the word
"and" when the employment of "or'
would have confirmed the doctrine OF
the Sussex note has given Washington
pause and accentuated the hope which
has been springing eternal in many
breasts since the president cancelled re-
lations with Germany that the imperial
government given the leeway easily pos
| sble of inference from the language of
the president, will not be foolish enough
to invite war with the United States
when a closing of the eyes of submarine
commanders to less than half a dozen
ships that float the ocean would avoid
one.
The promise of the president to re-
turn to Congress for authority to con-
duct war with Germany was contained
in these clauses: eff American ships
and American lives should in fact be
sacrificed by their naval commanders
in needless contraveption of the just and
reasonable understandings of interna-
tional law and the obvious dictates of
humanity, ! shall take the liberty of
coming again before the Congress to ask
that authority be given me to use any
means that may be necessary for the
protection of our seamen and our peo-
pie in the prosecution OF their peaceful
and legitimate errands on the high seas"
The construction Of the speech, no less
than the trend of events since the Ger
man ambassador was given his pass
ports, has suggested what has almost
become a conviction here that the sit
uation resolves itself into three phrases:
|. The sinking of an American ship
with American lives on board would be
followed by declaration of war.
2 The sinking of a belligerent ship
with American lives on board would not
be followed by a declaration of war.
3. The sinking of neutral ship with
American lives on board would create a
very delcately balanced situation which
probably would not eventuate in war.
1t may be needless to say, of course,
that the situation here outlined would
be profoundly governed by whether the
vessels were sunk without warming.
If anything is clear as to the purposes
of the administration it is that only the |
most unprovoked outrage by Germany, |
directed specifically against American /
rights, will lead to further action by the /
president In this connection the proph- /
cts of peace point out that the number [
of ships in foreign commerce flying the
American flag is so small as to be almost
negligible and that in many cases their
owners, as the Standard Oil company,
are showing disposition to keep them
tied to the docks.
The foregoing are some of the reasons
why Washington to-day is studying
grammar and syntax and recovering
from the shivers of the early week pro- +
duced by fear of war Men are to be
found some of them of great weight
in the Senate, who believe that Germany
is determined to embroil the United
States and that an overt act of such
character that the United States could
not ignore it, may be as confidently ex-
pected from her as President Wilson Is
confident" that nothing
Of the kind win occur. But the tension
Of the hour Is nothing to what it was
when the week opened--or, more strict.
y speaking, when the last week closed ,