Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-17

marine attack on unprotected sea-
board cities and towns, raids on ship
ping within sight of American shores,
and q submarine blockade of the prin-
cipal Atlantic ports with the purpose
of terrorizing shipping and people
were expected.
Last week word came to Washing
ton in a roundabout way that Ger
many was about to declare a prohi-
bited submarine zone about the har-
bors at Boston, New York, the Della
ware capes, Chesapeake bay, Charles
ton and Savannah. This would have
included all the important ports on
the Atlantic seaboard. 1t was said
then that an official warning 20 neu-
trails of the prohibited zone would be
issued from Berlin.
would Install Fear
Some American officials were disin-
clined to credit the report, but the
entente diplomatic corps here believed
in it, and predicted that Germany
would soon carry the submarine cam
paign to this side of the Atlantic, prin-
cipally for the purpose of soaring nSu-
trail shipping away from American har-
bors and to raid the great squadrons
of merchant ships which are moving
food and supplies to Americas allies on
the European battlefronts.
Some officials are inclined to believe
that the lack of declaration CO a
prohibited zone in American waters
may be due to the crippled condition
of communications with Germany since
the United States entered the war.
without such declaration, they point
out, Germany will incur great claims
of damages to neutrals and will carry
on new campaign without the color
of legal authority which she contends
the declaration of a barred zone lends
to it.
German Task Difficult
BY declaring a prohibited zone
around any of the American ports and
limiting it \to those waters, Germany
would escape the necessity of declar-
ing and maintaining a general block
ade of the Atlantic coastline. When
| the task of the Union navy during the
Civil War, in maintaining an effective
| blockade of the southern ports is re-
| called, the difficulties of subma-
| rine blockade of that vast costline may
| be estimated.
Look Fer Bases
With submarine war brought close
| to the doors of America, the possibil-
| ity that German U-boats may have
| bases on this side of the Atlantic is
again revived. The raid of the U-53
and the two trips of the Deutschland
demonstrated that it was possible for
German submarine to escape the
British cordons in the North Sea and
a submersible could make such a trip
and return without having a supply
base somewhere on this side of the
Atlantic is gravely doubted.
Many officials here always have be-
lieved that the U-53 had a mother ship
somewhere down on the horizon. The
possibility that merchant submarines of
the Deutschland type now converted to
carriers of fuel oil and supplies, might
accompany flotillas of the war boats
on their transatlantic raids is recog
nized as being ever present. The pos
sibility of bases having been planted
by the German raiders recently at
large in the South Atlantic is one OF
the foremost problems.
Suspect Mexico
1t even has been suspected that parts
of submarines have been shipped to
Mexico and assembled there but by
many well-infirmed officials that is
doubted. The possibility of a German
submarine base in the Gulf of Mexico,
however, has long been recognized and
many officials have been convinced that
when the raiding began-as they were
sure it would soon after the declara-
ton of war-the raiders would come
from that quarter.
There also have been may reports of