The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-18
ATTACK
 FIRST WARLIKE
 MOVE BY BERLIN

Washington, April 1S.-Whether the presence of German submarine off the Atlantic coast of the United States. as reported yesterday to the Navy Department, foreshadows a sporadic raid such as the U-53 con- 1ducted eff the New England coast. or whether 1t is the signal for the begin l ming of a general submarine blockade of the Atlantic coast is not known.
 The attack by the U-boat on the U. S. S. Smith Is Germany's first rec 1 ognition of the state of war declared by the United States. Itswas said in Germany soon after the action of congress that no aggressive steps would be taken against the United States.
 Virtually no American officials be- Neved this statement. however, and steps to meet aggressive steps were at once taken. The probability of submarine attack on unprotected sea- board cities and town, raids on ship ping within sight of American shores. and submarine blockade of the { principal Atlantic ports with the pur- pose of terrorizing shipping and peo- pie were expected.
 Last week word came to- Washing ton in roundabout way that Ger ! many was about to declare a prohi- bited submarine zone about the har- bors at Boston, New York, the Dela- ware capes, Chesapeake bay, Charles ton and Savannah. This would have included all the important ports on the Atlantic seaboard It was said then that an official warning to neu- ! tralsl of the prohibited zone would be issued from Berlin. Some American officials were disinclined to credit the I report, but the Entente diplomatic !. corps here believed it, and predicted that Germany would soon carry the submarine campaign to this side of , the Atlantic, principally for the pur- pose of soaring neutral shipping away from American harbors and to raid [ the great squadrons of merchant ships which are moviE.4; food and supplies to Americas allies on the battle fronts.
 i Some officials are inclined to be- leve that the lack of a declaration of a prohibited zone in American wa l! ters may be due to the crippled con- dition of communication with Ger many ever since the United States en- IoIGQ sLu6 war yfslluOul SuCIl d uCC~ laration. they pointed out. Germany , will incur great claims for damages i by neutrals and will carry on a cam ,. paign without a color of legal Au- thority. which she contends the dec- , laration of a. barred zone lends to it. , By declaring prohibited zone around any of the American ports and limiting 1t to those waters, Ger many would escape the necessity of !! declaring and maintaining a general blockade of the Atlantic coast line. When the task of the Union navy dur ing the Civil war in maintaining an effective blockade of the southern ports is recalled, the difficulties of a { submarine blockade of that vast coast line may be estimated.
 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-55 and the two tripsAof the Deutschland demonstrated that it was possible for a German submarine to escape the British cordons in the North Sea and make their way. to. America, .Wheth- CT a submarine could make such a trip and return without having SUD- ply base. somewhere on this side of the Atlantic is gravely doubted
 It is suspected that parts of sub- marines have been shipped to Mexi- co and assembled there, but by many we'll informed officials that is doubt cd. The possibility of a German sub marine base in the gulf of, Mexico, however. has long beeni recognized, and many officials have been convin- ced that when the raiding began 4s they were sure it would soon after the declaration of war-the Nraiders would come from that quarter.
 There also have been many reports or secret German bases established on the rocky and inaccessible coast of Maine and northern Canada, from which the German U-boats could be supplied to raid the train of troops and supplies going from Canada to the continent. Inasmuch as there has been no evidence of the use of such bases in more than two years of war it is considered unlikely that. even if they exist. they can now be brought into use. in German warfare against the United States.
 The navy has taken all the meas ures 1t now has on hand against the submarine, menace, and is taking more as they become available. Naval officers, are confident of ability to deal with the submarine menace So Tar as is possible at this time.
 Expert opinion is that some ship ping is bound to be lost if the raiding Is extensive, but that submarines op- erating 5000 miles away from home nave, most of the disadvantagesf to contend with