The Washington herald., 1917-09-09
Sweden's Breach.


war-one of those shattering things
which batters down a whole caravan
sary of specious neutral arguments
comes in the sensational expose
made by the State Department yes
terdsy.
1t breaks down all slight remain
ing faith in things Teuton or things
under the Teuton shadow-for Sweden,
notoriously, has had Teutonic leanings
since the beginnings of the war. But
she was entitled to the status of a
neutral. She was scrupulously given
all the rights and privileges Of a
neutral, and she has rewarded this
courteous respect of her neutrality by
conduct which is nothing less than
shameless treachery and utter faith
lessness to international morality
1t is not to be supposed that Swe-
den had not been suspected before she
was caught in her duplicity. Diplo-
matte circles have echoed with gos-
sip and suspicious directed not only
at her. but at other neutrals contig-
uous to Germany. Despite these
suspicious, the treatment given her
by the United States, and by the en-
tente generally, has been generous in
the extreme. Doubtless this gener-
osity stockholm regarded as a sign of
weakness. as a sign that We were
utterly asleep!
But the Zig is up now. The Ameri-
can government has the most excel
lent reasons for believing that not
merely the Swedish Legation I'm
Buenos Aires. but other places-per-
haps even the Swedish Legation in
washington-have been highly eff
cient branches of the German intelli-
sence service. We have been puzzling
about various leaks" to Germany
ere this. We may be doing a cruel
pointing the finger of suspicion at
him. but whatever injustice we can
do to him personally, we can do none
to his government. Sweden has for
feited her standing among the pa-
tions for the time being, at least. She
has been revealed as nothing less han
an international prostitute. 1t may
be that a ring" within the Stockholm
foreign Office has been solely respon-
sible for the illegal traffic, and that
the government itself is blameless.
But that is difficult to believe. and in
any event it does not modify the
obvious duty OF the entente govern
ments.
That duty is. in our judgment,
severance of relations with Sweden.
No milder course is commensurate
with the Offense which has been COM
mitted. The three cablegrams made
public doubtless tell only an infni-
tesimal fraction of the story; no one.
can tell how many military secrets
have crept into Germany through
Stockholm. The revelations are quite
enough to drive the United States
and Great Britain to drastic action.
The irony of it all is that Sweden
now has a commission in the United
States appealing for wheat, coal.
steel and other commodities which
her people need. Surely no nation
could find itself in a more humiliat-
ing. a more debasing rosition. Her
people will have to suffer for the
faithlessness of their government, for
il is obvious that the United States
can have no further commercial re-
lations with a government of this
type.
The other neutrals such as Hol-
land. Denmark and Norway. who al
so are making urgent appeals to the
American government anent the en-
barge, will suffer in the public mind
through the delinquency of one Of
their group; unjustly. we hope. Swe-
den has put them under a cloud, and
yet the public must not forget that
ancient precept OF he law which pre-
sumes innocence until incontrovertible
proof of guilt is forthcoming.
We make no reference to the cal
lous. cold-blooded, cynical messages
which the German charge sent to
Berlin via Stockholm. they were ex-
actly what we have been taught to
expect from the Hun. We rejoice,
however, that they will probably
serve to bring Argentina into the war.