The Dominion THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1918. A RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 292, 29 August 1918, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 1918. A RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT

The decision of the United States Supreme Court that Germany must pay the. damages caused by the sinking of the Lusitania to survivors of the disaster and relatives of those who perished is an unassailably righteous judgment. In this case law, common sense, and justice arc in perfect agreement. It is not possiblo to give effect to tho verdict at the present moment, but tlic Court rightly holds that it_ is the duty of Britain and America to enforce payment when tho enemy has been finally defeated and the day of reckoning comes. The disaster was not the result of any fault or neglect on the part of the owners of tho Lusitania. Tho American citizens on board wero travelling in a perfectly legitimate manner, and on porfectly lawful business. Tho destruction of the steamer by a German submarine was deliberately planned. It was _ a plain case of murder with malice aforethought. It is not enough that Germany should be compelled to pay compensation to survivors and dependants of those who lost their lives on the Lusitania. Murder cannot bo-expiated'by any monetary punishment. Justioe demands that someone shall be brought to trial for tho wanton killing 01 over a thousand non-combatants—men, women, and children. The brutal deed was committed in utter defiance of the rules of war and the laws and usages .of civilised nations. If the actual perpetrators of the crime can bo discovered they ought to lie made to pay the proper penalty; but the requirements of justioe make it even more imperative that their aiders, abettors, and instigators—the highlyplaced criminals who formulated the policy of"frightfulness'' and by whose-orders it has-been put .into operation with ruthless thoroughness —shall receive their deserts. Germany has from time to time endeavoured to show some moral justification for her piratical methods of naval warfare; but her excuses have boeii tooiflimsy to satisfy anyone with sufficient intelligence to form a rational opinion. The "trustworthy information" on which Germany based her allegation that the Lusitania had guns concealed under her decks was an impudent, lie. The declaration of the Judge that the evidence showed that there were no explosives on board only confirms the results -of previous inquiries and investigations, and is in full accordancc with all the probabilities. If further proof of Germany's guilt were needed it is now supplied by her- reply to Spain's protest against the illegal acts of German _ submarines. The Berlin authorities have informed Spain that German ships in Spanish poris may be taken possession of to replace the sunken tonnage. This is an unmistakable admission that the German submarine campaign violates the moral and international law, and that the U-boats .are out-and-out pirates. _ Germany,'s Note to Norway is a similar admission; but the Norwegian newspapers rightly insist upon the inadequacy of money payments—money cannot compensate for the seamen's, lives. The Notes to Spain and Norway aro equivalent to a plea of guilty in the Lusitania case. Germany now stands before the world as confessed criminal, an outlaw nation, which has placed itself outside tho pale of humanity. The verdict of the Supreme Court of tho United States is a weighty judicial ratification of tho passionate demand of the conscience of civilised mankind that the diabolical crimes of Germany shall not be allowed to go unpunished. The judgment has far-reaching application. It has very important logical consequences. It fully justifies tho contention that tho officials responsible for the deaths of Captain Fryatt and Nurse Cavell should be tried for murder and sent to the gallows if found guilty; It gives legal support to the demand that Germany shall be compelled to hand over to the Allies German ships of an equivalent tonnage to that of tho vessels illegally sunk by the U-boats. It means reparation and restoration as regards Belgium, Serbia, Rumania, and the devastated areas of France. It involves fitting punish- . ment _ for Germany's shocking brutalities to prisoners of war, ana for scores of other criminal acts done by the enemy since the commencement of the war. Some pacifists tell us that it would be unwise to punish Germany, because punishment would embitter her and make her hate us, and engender a desiro for revenge when an opportunity presented itself. But she hates us now with all the hate shp is capable • of—and she is a lusty hater. But her ill-will cannot do us much harm if wo take the necessary measures to prevent her from translating her ' will into deed.

How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds Makes ill deeds done.

That is a true saying, and it re-1' minds us of tho necessity of de-1' priving Germany of the power of J making another attempt to smash i her way to world-dominion. She must not be allowed to retain the means of _ repeating her ill deeds. Her colonies, for instance! Sho has used them as weapons of war. Those weapons must be wrested from her grasp if the world is to live in peace and security. A murderer docs not, as a rule, overflow with love for the Judge, jury, and executioner by whose agency justice is meted out to him, but it is, nevertheless, necessary that the law should be allowed to take its proper coursc. In an articlc in tho Nineteenth Century, M.R. W. S. Lilly reminds us that punishment is "tho other half of crime." It is a, debt society owes to tho criminal. It is a right applied -to him—/m> right; it is duo to him. To mako Germany suffer tho just penalty of her misdeeds and to prevent her from repeating them is, Mit. Lilly asserts, the plainest dictate of tho instinct of self-preservation; it is also the plainest dictate of justice. He declares that when tho Allies are in a position to impose their will upon the defeated enemy they will assuredly shoot or hang such of tho chief perpotrators of atrocities as may fall into their hands. Sincc these words were written Germany has continued to pile {rightfulness on frightfulness, crime on crime, and the demand for punishment and reparation has grown more and more insistent. When the day of retribution comes the . victorious Allies will be the judges, and it would bo a moral disaster if they should allow themselves to bo

| "moved by mealy-mouthed philanthropies." Theso words of Mr. Lilly givo vivid expression to the feelings of all right-thinking men and women. "Justice shall striko ami Mercy shall not hold her hands; she shall strike soro strokes; and Pitv shall not break the blow."