Evening Post. SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1915.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 55, 6 March 1915, Page 6

Evening Post. SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1915.

THE POLICY OP PIRACY ♦ 9 Germany's great submarine campaign, which was to have cleared the seas of British shipping and subjected Germany's most hated enemy to the sam» economic pressure with which she herself is troubled, has now been in operation for more than a fortnight. Yet Britain is neither starved nor terrified, and her ships pass to and fro across the four seas and all the other seas almost as freely as though the submarine had not been invented and the second naval PSwer of the world had not openly proclaimed a policy of piracy and murder. It would be an exaggeration to say that nobody is a penny the worse. Som» slight toll has been taken of British shipping, but neutral vessels and the submarines themselves have suffered about as much, and it is particularly gratifying from every point of view that j one of the submarines should have fallen a victim to a neutral merchantman that she had herself attacked. The campaign that was to have staggered humanity has entirely failed of its purpose. Humanity was indeed horrified by the wickedness of the design, but the futility of the execution has calmed its nerves. The Kaiser is reported today to have adjured his faithful Prussians to "trust/ firmly in our great Ally above." In view of the abject failm-e *»f the compact with the i-epresentatives i of another place which waa embodied in

the submarine "blockade/ the experiment seems to be well worth trying. Hitherto the German admiral who advised his fellow countrymen not to ex- i pect too much from this singxilar venture has appeared to be the wisest counsellor they have had. Only those who did not expect much from it hav % e not been disappointed. An interesting speech from another, German admiral, which was- reported yesterday, was devoted to the kindred object of assuaging disappointment over the inactivity of the German Navy. The immense advantage of keepins; it in harbour is that Germany will have an "unconquered navy" to enable her to drive a good bargain when the terms of peace are under discussion. The value of this method of rendering a navy invincible appears to have escaped the attention of the British Admiralty, who are indeed both ignorant and timid, for Admiral Koester assures us that they are "evidently afraid of the German ships." Another immense advantage in a, land-locked navy is overlooked by the ignorance of Lord Fisher and his colleagues. How could the German admirals do such great work on the platform if they -were perpetually chained in the foolish British fashion to the quarterdeck? The fact that Sir John Jellicoe has only been allowed twelve hours on shore since the war began shows that Englishmen know no more of the true functions of an admiral than in the days of Drake and Nelson. The progress of the sea campaign eerUinly indicates that Germany needs all the whistling that all her admirals can do to keep up her courage. The tone of her reply to the American protest against her naval methods betrays a subdued and chastened spirit in com parison with the reckless fury that sh« was displaying two or three weeks ago. She was then seeing red — very red ; and if in the accomplishment of her divine mission — which is merely to enforce peace upon a quarrelsome world — she was compelled to add the United States to the number of her foes, she wae prepared to welcome the addition as a very thinly disguised ' blessing. Now she is i not far from the mildest-mannered pirate \ that ever cut a throat or, scuttled a ship. Butter will hardly melt in her mouth. She is as anxious as President Wilson himself that " naval war should be waged according to the rulesj taking into consideration the interests of neutrals as well as the laws of humanity." Prior to the 18th February she had been a perfect model in this respect. Had we not her very own word for it? "Germany," said her message to the President, " has hitherto scrupulously observed all valid international rules." The wickedness of her enemies, however, compelled her to imitate their methods, but after trying the experiment for a fortnight she is forced to concede that it is a failure. She has been too long schooled in the ways of virtue to make a success of piracy, and conscience bids her to " tread again that ancient track." The result is something much better fitted to adorn a copybook than her previous despatch on the same subject. Germany is even willing to concede that " German submarines should only employ force against merchantmen for purposes of search if they* are of a hostile nationality." This is a notable concession surely— that Germany will only destroy the lives and property of those with whom she is at war ! But possibly even this oonccssion is conditional upon the acquisition of compensating ad- j vantages. The chiej of these is the innocent suggestion of the United States Government that Britain should agree not to hold up foodstuffs addressed to the agencies of Germany which distribute the foodstuffs exclusively to the civil population. It is easy to imagine that Germany would be willing to abandon tactics which expose her to the risk of war with the United States if Britain is willing to abandon the embargo on foodstuffs. But Britain will probably need some assurance that the foodstuffs will reach their supposed destination before letting them through, and she \yill be very silly if she accepts a German assurance as sufficient. The powerful weapon that German fury has put into British hands is not to be lightly abandoned, j