The Press. Tuesday, March 27, 1917. Underwater Frightfulness.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15860, 27 March 1917, Page 6

The Press. Tuesday, March 27, 1917. Underwater Frightfulness.

The torpedoing of the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamers Otaki and Rotorua —the latter the pride of the Company's fleet —has brought homo to us in a very disagreeable and impressive fashion the. 6eriousness of Germany's fell idea of running amok by means of her submarines. It is more than ever evident, we think, that this is her last device, adopted in sheer desperation as the only possible means of getting at tho enemy she now fears and hatoa tho most—England. Only a nation in a truly frantio state, of pallia and despair would start on such a a wild career of anarchy and assassination, thus markingitself out for eternal obloquy, as boaring the brand of Cain. Mr Balfour, in the memorable statement which, as First Lord of the Admiralty, he issued on tho second anniversary of the British declaration of war, put tho position with his accustomed force and lucidity when he said: "If any desire yet further proof of tho valuo which the Germans really

attach to their 'victorious' fleet, I > advise them to study the German policy of submarine warfare. The adviwtago of submarine attacks on commerce is that they cannot be carried ont on a large scale consistently with the laws of war or tho requirements of humanity. They make, therefore, a double appeal to German militarism —an appeal to its prudence and an appeal to its brutality. The knew their victorious fleeti

was useless; it could be kept safe ' in harbour while submarine warfare went on merrily outside. They knew that submarines could not be brought to action hv battleships or battlecruisers. They thought, therefore, that to these new commerce destroyers our merchant ships must fall an easy prey, unprotected by our ships of war. and unable to protect themselves."

Since these words were written Germany has extended her zone of operations and thrown down the gauntlet to tho entire world. Her bravo sailors— who, we were assured at, The Hague Conference, would as a matter of course always behave with chivalry and humanity—torpedo hospital ships and Belgian relief ships with the same fiendish glee as the German soldiers display in slaughtering and torturing women children and aged civilians. They ought to know by this time how vain is their hope that. British merchant seamen will be deterred from putting to sea or the British people terrorised into agreeing to an ignoble »nd disastrous^ 1 peace. The neutrals now know what Germany means by

" the freedom of the seas," for which she declares she is fighting. It means, to uso the apt words of Mr Balfour. " that the German Navy is to bohavc "at sea as the German Army behaves "on land. It means that neither " enemy civilians nor neutrals •'aro to possess rights against 'militant Germany; that those "who do not resist will be drowned "and that those who do will be shot." The greatest of the neutral nations— tho United States—which has shown unexampled forbearance to Germany, has now reached the limit of its patienco. China has intimated that sho would consider herself degraded if she continued in diplomatic relations with the .Pariah of Europe. Other neutral nations may not yet feel in a position to move openly against so powerful and so unscrupulous a Power. But there is not one of them that will not feel intensely thankful when this "Wild Beast among the nations has been forcibly beaten down and deprived of any further power for evil.