Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-06-10

never pN tnt mouse or lOrlS.
America believed the declaration to be
binding, with or without ratification.
because II was not treaty, but a
statement of the fundamentals ofNpre-
viously existing international law (Sir
Edward Grey instructed the British !
delegates To the 1905 conference to
arrive NJ "a uniform definition of the |
main principles of the existing law"
this agreement was arrived al. and in !
their report the British delegates !
stated: "As a body. these rules do |
practically amount 10 n statement Of |
what is the essence of the law of
nationsD.
American opinion, then. held the
British blockade activities to be ille- |
gal, and protested against them on |
December is, 1914, SO that when, on |
February is, 1915, Germany an
nounced the submarine Blockade as |
"retaliatOry measures rendered neces- |
sary by the means employed by Eng |
land contrary to international law in |
intercepting neutral maritime trade |
with Germany" II was impossible for |
us to deny that some excuse existed |
for reprsals, and our protest to Ger |
many was based largely on considera-
tions of humanity The next restric- !
tive measures taken by Great Britain |
were announced as rcprisals for the |
German submarine war; space and |
patience forbid a further list 70 the |
reprisals and counter-reprisals down |
TO the present time.
Iopsidcd Neutrality.
America all along has been profess |
ing strict neutrality, but in effect her |
neutrality was one sided, because Mr.. |
Wilson did everything possible, even |
to threats of war, TO prevent, and |
afterwards to restrict. the German |
submarine activities, but was unwilling |
to use threats against the allies, not |
even the threat OF an embargo This |
attitude of Mr. Wilson--in itself a
greater victory for the entente than |
any battle of the war except the Marine |
was justified by Americans because |
they felt their material and moral in |
terests were bound up with the fate of |
England and France, and because they |
desired the defeat of the ravagers OF |
Belgium, but their conscienccs COM
PEELED them to admit the truth of the |
frenZied German reproaches America |
was pretending to be neutral, and was |
not neutral, because she enforced sea |
law against one belligerent and not |
against the other. Under the declara
ton of London, Germay indubitably |
could have imported thru. neutral |
countries much of what she needed, |
and the blockade would have been a
farce. We turned the issue on the in
humanity of the submarine warfare,
but IL was difficult to answer the Ger
man contention that if her people
were being starved by Illegal means,
the only available method of reprisal
could not be outlawed, however cruel.
And German propaganda impressed us
when it pointed out, at that time prob
ably truthfully, that Germany at any
moment would abandon submarine
warfare if England could be induced
TO observe what we regarded as the
fundamentals of sea law; altho we
told ourselves that we or any other
people in Great Britain's place would
do exactly as Great Britain was doing,
we wondered whether the same OBJ
servatiOn did not apply to Germany.
When our people were killed at sea,
our sense of justice compelled us to
consider, tho not to accept, the Ger
man argument that the killing was
accidental and incidental to the in
Fiction of positive military damage on
the enemy by destroying his food and
munitions, and that these operations
if Illegal were not more so than the
procedure of England.
A Choice of Evils.
My distasteful task of eXpounding
controversies between our two peoples
now so happily united need be carried
no further, and | can ignore the black
list and the censorship, if ! have made
clear to British readers that the war
at sea, like the war on land. was not
to Americans the clear-cut issue be-
tween Jehovah and Satan that it has
to the belligerents. If it is
understood in how difficult a position
we have been placed by the British
blockade of neutrals If our vacillation
towards England is remembered our
tame submission to measures against
which we said we could contend
without compromise and at any cost"
it will be clear that, we could not,
straint at ALL consistently give effect
those barbarities which at last, in con-
junction with the moral sanitation of
Russia. have brought us in with you
If we hesitated so long, we never lost
sight of the main point, that German
anarchy at sea could not be tolerated,
that If we must choose between the
two we vastly preferred a tolerant and
friendly British despotism, and that II
Germany intended to definitely run
we should have to fight her.
! have tried to show that America
has come to you in her good time
with honor untarnished, after Crap
pling with issues and problems scarce
ly understood in Europe, where frank
discussion OF them has not been per-
mitted