"U" BOAT CRIMES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 82, 31 December 1917, Page 9

"U" BOAT CRIMES

SAILORS DEMAND PUNISHMENT LORD BERESFORD'S SUPPORT Lord Beresford recently presided at tho Albert Hall, London, over a very successful meeting called by the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union to discuss the German U-boat crimes. The mooting decided lo recommend all citizens of the Empire to refuse to employ Germans in any capacity on land or sea, pledged themselves not to buy or use any.goods of Gorman origin, and called on all master mariners to refuse to salute or recognise the German flag on the high seas or in ports abroad, this boycott to continue for two years, plus one month for every crime committed from now contrary to the Hague Convention. Mitigation was promised if the German neoplo decide to establish full Parliamentary control over their Kaiser and Government. The meeting was most enthusiastic. One of the speeches was interrupted by an official air-raid warning given to enable those who desired to do so to leave the hall. It was immediately met by a cry of "Carry on," in which the women of tho audience were most prominent. Nobody left tho hall.

Lord Bcrcsforri's Speech. Lord Beresford, in opening the meeting, said that was the first meeting to express the opinion of the people as to thc_ necessity of the Germans being punished for their barbarojs atrocities. (Cheers.) The resolutions proposed punishment, and showed how it would be increased in intensity if they continued .these crimes. What particularly affected that meeting was the irritation and anger in the mind of the' people regarding th* assassination of British seamen on the high seas, of women and children, as in the Lusitania, the cowardly, cruel murder of the men of the Belgian Prince, and of Captain Fryatt. Why had that feeling been roused? No Minister, nobody in authority, had yet mad© a clear and definite statement to bring it homo to the German people that they wen Id Ve severely punished after this war, or that the punishment would be increased if the crimes continued'. Ministers talked about. restoration and reparation. That was all platitude, all. heroics, but it was not going to bring homo to tho minds of the German people the anger aroused in this country by these atrocities. They must instil into the minds of tho commercial and finanoial classes that if this went on it meant absolute ruin to them. . (Cheers.) Tlie punishment should be proportionate to .the crimes.

At the beginning of this war tbo trade routes were unprotected, and hero was no security that the people would receive their food. The Government Were warned for years, but those who warned them were called bluefunkers, scaremongers, and treated with obloquy. The public as a, whole were ignorant of the debt they could never repay that they owed to tho ' Mercantile Marine. . Without, their splendid heroism we could not h.ive held our own. The Navy "appreciated what theso men had done, and hoped that after this war there would bo closer union between the Royal Navy and tho mercantile marine.- Which they hoped would be called "His Majesty's Merchant Servieo." '(Cheers.) One. great service was useless without the other. At: the beginning of the war they were .told; something, to the effect that if the battle fleets were in position it would almost secure tho trade routes. What that meant no architect had over been able to understand. Although unarmed, the merchant seamen faced the danger and did their bit. (Cheers.) - Yes, but' at'what cost? Over 9000 men were now lying at the bottom of the sea and-4000 were prisoners. . No seamen had ever refused to sign on. (Cheers.) Many snips' were missing. ('iAh.") . They had read what the Germans did to the .Argentine ships. They did just the same to ours. Dead men told no tales. Hundreds of our men were killed in that way. They must not forget tho patrols and the sweeper's, who faced death every hour. '

Seamen's Right to Demand Punishment. Who had a better right to demand punishment than the survivors of that mercantile marine? They had given their lives to feed us. We were still a long way from starvation, thanks to them. The figures given us with regard to the tonnage sunk were misleading. ' Why should not our peoplo know the truth?. (Cheers.) At the beginning of 1918 British, Allied, i>nd neutral shipping would be 6,000,000 : fens short of what they had in 1913. j Those were net figures; "The loss would be 12,000,000 tons, but we had, replaced 5,500,000 tons. That was a very serious ; position. There was no j danger of famine, but there was great : danger of very grave inconvenience un- ' less we economised. At present 10,000 ; tons of British, Allied, and- neutral ■• shipping were lost every day. He brought theso figures out not only to show the loss, but the terrible risks; run by the men. The Allies ought ■ to be building more ships. We were j not up to our own estimate. When a j Coalition Government was'in power | there was not criticism, and they had i also a muzzled Press. They did not | know the truth, and the Government I did not know the mind of the people, j Wo sTiould beat the submarine. < (Cheers.) It would take some time, ' hut they had run us up a terrible debt. ! The enemy, however, did not remember j that tlie submarine warfare would bring in the. great Eepubjic of the AVest. (Cheers.) The United States were going j to see this thing through, and his opinion was that the war would not bo over till the United States could bring an effective force of a million men int» the trenches. •Here, again, they were up against a question of tonnage. It would be done and we should win, but thoy must use all the energy, all tho patience, and all the comradeship and all the sentiment they had to enable them to see the tiling through fairly to the end.

The Seamen and Firemen's Union represented the officers and men of tho mercantilo marine. Ho asked them to stick it out. ("Wo will.") They had shown their power. ' They stopped that Pacifist Congress at Stockholm. (Loud cheers.) What did it matter it all tho Governments of the world gave passports when seamen and firemen said, "Give what you like, but wo do not take them" ? They were perfectly able to carry out what they proposed in their resolutions. ("We will.'') They were not usurping the functions of the Government but trying to make tho Government exercise the functions committed to their charge. It was in tho sea and on the sea that they wore going to win this war. Ho was not minimising tho bravery of the men in tho trenches but was talking about tho economic question—tho war after the war, tho commercial question. Do not let them talk about Tiegotiations with tho Germans. (Cheers.) The word was inappropriate. Tho peace had got to bo a peaco ordered by us and made at tho point of the bayonet and the muswle of the machine-gun. What was tho uso of talking about negotiations with people that had broken every law, human and Divine, that troated treaties as scraps of paper, that treated small countries as slaves? Never trust them again. (Loud cheers.) Peace would ho brought about by tho soldier with his bayonet and the sailor with his power at sea. "Bravo! Seamen's and Firomen's Union," concluded Lord Bercsford. "You have shown lis' the way to beat ■

the Gennans'and how to bring the war to an end quicker by putting out in clear and unmistakablo language what that country would suffer for ovory ciimo when they see your resolutions." (Loud cheers and "Bravo, Condor.")