The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-31
FRENCH OPPOSE
|. RUTHLESS WAR
+. BY SUBMARINES
Repudiate Opinion of Off
GER as Quoted by
Lord Lee.
HONOR OF STAFF
is DEFENDED
Sarraut Replies to Sharp
Attacks; Asks Mutual
Confidence.

france ard Great Britain during
yesterdays discussion of the Root
proposals to limit the use of sub
marines took occasion to clear away
some of the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. en-
gendered- by the bitter discussion
that has marked the proposals of
the British to abolish submarine
warfare.
Lord Lee of Fareham. speaking
for the British, read into the recorc
the views of Capitaine de Fregate
Castex. Tow principal lecturer of
the senior officers course of the
Frerch navy. eulogizing ruthless
submarine warfare ard calling At
tention to the fact that the torpedo
was essentially a French invention.
Among other thirgs he had said:
ITO sum up one can see nothing
in the attitude of the Germans
which, Enthusiastically speaking, is
not correct. The failure to give
notice before torpedoing has raised
a storm of protest, but IL Is not SO
inadmissable as at first sight ap-
pears. Thanks to the submarine af-
ter many centuries OF effort, thanks
to the ingenuity of. man, the instru-
ment, the system. the msrtingale is
at hand which will overthrow for
good and all the naval power of the
British Empire"
Asks for Reputation.
Lord Lee called attention to the
fact that this was the responsible
utterance Of a responsible member
of the French naval staffi He then
said:
at seems to me now that we have
expressed our apprehensions that
the way is open for the French DEL
egatios and the French government
to disavow and repudiate these
things." ~
He then appealed to the French
to approvesthe two Root resolutions
to show the world that France does
not. believe in ruthless submarine
" 2sanSsat de Bon. after thanking
.Lurd Lee for explaining why the
British had misunderstood French
motives, said:
This charge should be laid at
the door of the man who wrote that
article. and to him alone, The arti-
Gle in no way represents, thank
Heaven. the views of the French.
Condemned by France.
The author OF that article has
written what we consider to be
monstrosity. The French delegation
has repeatedly stated that IT unre-
servedly condemned the practices of
the German. submarines during the
war and that it desired that a dec
laration strongly condemninE them
should issue from this conference
and be spread over the entire world.
/ beg Lord Lee to believe that the
French navy never has harbored any
idea of using methods of war prac
ticed by the German submarines.
for which we feel only horror. not
only against the British Empire but
against any other country what
ever.
'I maintain that the honor of the
French general staff, and OF the
French navy. which have a recora
of centuries of struggle without a
single stain on their escutcheon,
cannot be sullied by the article in
question. This article Is the work
of an officer who is a man of letters
rather than a sailor, and I for
mally repudiate it in the name of
the French navy"
Echoes AdmiraPs statement.
Following the admiral. NJ. Sar-
raut said: !:
Although I must await the in
structions of my government with
regard to certain points in the res
olutions proposed by Mr.. Root I
have no need of any instructions
to associate my sentiments with
those of Admiral de Bon. which I
solemnly confirm as head of the
French delegation. or to offer the
French governments formal repu-
diation of those methods of war
fare which have just been men,
toned.
'I hope that these explanations
will be of such a character as to
dispel for all time the misunder-
standing which, to my profound re-
gret, was arising between us-a
Misunderstanding of which i did
not comprehend the reason or the
nature. I hope and believe, more
over, that we may all of us draw
lesson of mutual confidence from
this incident.
Replies to Criticisms.
Lord Lee has uttered a word
!" III "hiSh Shnil HOt TepTOaCn
him. He has spoken of the ground
which has been lost by France
since these deliberations COM
menced. This phrase is well known
to us; we heard 1t Throughout the
war; there were days then when
we lost ground or positions which
nevertheless We contrived to regain
Immediately. I am well aware that
every day in the press we witness
campaign of bitter criticism
launched against us, against the
motives Of France, to. the end that
our country may be made to appear
under an aggressive guise OF i'm
perfalism and militarism.
This very morning there was an
odious caricature representing France
trying on the spiked helmet of Prussia.
We have borne these attacks calmly
and with serenity, not wishing to en-
bitter the discussion by replying to
them. Strong in our right and In our
loyalty. we have remained silent in
spite Of the violent prejudice which
this campaign was arousing against
rs.
Will Not FORGET Debts.
I'VE are impatient to see a clear.
ing Of the atmosphere and the dis
appearance Of all unwholesome In
situations. We are given to understand
(and in what termsD that even before
reconstituting our defensive forces and
CosstSxxeA on Pase Three.