Evening star., 1925-10-08

If peace hath its victories no less
than war. it also has it's disasters. :"
This comment from the Hartford
Times is characteristic of the phio-
sophie. attitude which America has
taken toward its latest tragedy among
her sons who go down To the sea
in ships-the sinking of the subma-
rine S-5l.
Man. in his restless determination
10 conquer all the walks of nature"
declares the Wheeling Intelligencer in
its comment. "is not content with
the domination of his own element.
He must conquer. also. the domains
of the birds and fish. When he
fights his fellow man he must he
prepared to battle on. above and be-
low both land and sea. When he is
at peace the spirits of science ard
adventure urge him to take the same
risks
The New York Herald Tribune sees
the tragic loss las heavy blow"
softened only by the realization that
1T is only one of many dangers
which the submarine service resu-
larly faces. and the loss of one of
these vessels can serve only to throw
a greater emphasis upon the courage
and devotion of her own men ard
the other submarine crews 1t is
inevitable to the eraldTribune. how
ever. that nothing will ever make
the business of war, even in peace
time. matter of absolute safety.
ever prevent the officers and men
Of the Navy from accepting their dan
gers and carrying on
Peace perils are also recognized by
the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin,
which remarks: mo doubt can be
entertained that the swelling heart
of American humanity will throb in
pity for the victims of this new dis
aster as poignantly as for the poor
fellows who perished on the Shena1-
doah. There should be an accom-
panying realization of the peace perils
of our naval service"
While some writer's demand an in
vestigation to determine the cause of
the disaster, others are ready to offer
their own explanation. The Provi-
dence Journal thinks the sinking
was evidently due to faulty naviga-
ton" and explains that ''it was a
collision such as rarely occurs except
in fog and when 1T does blameworthy
miscalculation on the part of the
human element is bound to he found
responsible. The KNOXVILLE Sentinel,
however, believes that while -"the
fixation Of blame cannot restore the
lives of these men, and cannot COM
fort their bereaved families, 1t can
bring to light the particular delin-
uuency that resulted in the tragedy,
and thus point a way that may serve
to prevent a similar occurrence"
There may be no truth in the as
sertionS that the steamer which ran
down the S-51 neglected making the
proper effort to save the sailors of the
submarine" according to the Racine
Journal News, but lat least there
should be rigid investigation to as
certain If the craft which struck the
submersible failed to obey the laws of
humanity" The Santa Barbara Press
! believes that ordinary caution would
have dictated that the captain of the
| liner stand by the wrecked craft to
assist rescue ships" and the Reno
Gazette points out that in the conduc-
| ton of the investigation why. the
| City of Rome (which collided with the
suhmarinel fastened on it's way
should not be lost sight of. The
Flint Journal argues, however. that
"in the absence of all the facts. 1t
| may be assumed that either the City
Of Rome failed to see the S-5l in the
darkness or that 1t. took the sub
! marine for small craft"