WHY AMERICA ENTERED THE WAR

Evening Star, Issue 16777, 4 July 1918, Page 7

WHY AMERICA ENTERED THE WAR

fOR TIE PIOTECTION OF WEAK NATIONS AND M DEFENCE @F RIGHT. TELLING INDICTMENT OF HUN TREACHERY MB FMGBTFULMSS. AN ARRESTING DOCUMENT.

JChe action of the United States Government in issuing an authoritative document in support of the President's policy in recommending Congress to declare wax against the Teutonic Empires has been universally endorsed. And no more fitting time—the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—could have been chosen for circulating in British-speaking conntries this illuminating, incontrovertible. and imposing arraignment of Hun perfidy. and for the exposnre of his manifold crimes against humanity. Let every lover of Right read, mark, and inwordly digest this historic document, together with the copious citations of fact that accompany it. These annotated texts are supplied by Mr Guy S. Ford, Director of the Division on Civic and Educational Co-operation, who in a foreword says, inter alia :

The War Message delivered by President Wilson before Congress on April 2, 1917, voices the best ideals and aspirations of the American people. It sots forth in language of dignity and moderation, but with tir.mistaknhh» indignation nnd emphasis, the grievous wronss which have made the Unite 1 Shies un arms against Oemmnv. It very plain, even to the hifiTerto unconvinced. whv at tho present cenenl crisis it is the dutv of all Americans to enter this war, "that the world may be made safe for Democracy." In nth.u- woids. Air Wilson's Mess-V is tlv best possible preparation for all loyal Americans, who are studvint: the c iu?o and justification for the present war. and who are trying to discover the pro'im- mental altitude they themselves should take towards the personal part" which, thev may be Called on to play in the struggle. . . . Mt Wilson speaks of a good nvauv things that need simplifying dehils ft they are to be entirely clear, and be draws a number of inierenres. very sound indeed, but again sometimes not selfexplanatory to" busy men and women. Here and there also lie contrasts the American and the "Pussian political philosophy and' methods of thin-i things in a way that would become even more convincing if he had been allowed time to enter "into specific d tills. Solemn official promises made onlv to be broken, conspiracies to bum and blow up American industries, to hamper our manufactures, and cripple our Government by strikes and riots, spies in every centre of political and_ industrial activity, plans made on American soil and financed by German funds to dynamite, canals, bridges, and munition factories in Canada, invitations to Mexira in time of peace to join with Germany in cfismemJering orir Union, had led people and president alike to see submarine warfare as but a more flagrant expression of a German State policy running amuck in absolute disregard of every sense of national, and international morals and decency, and callous to the claims of common humanity. A military anutocracy astride the ruins of Europe, and dominant on the seas by YErtne of an arm that both serves_ and repeals its ambition and irresponsibility, has forced America to accept its challenge. A new Monroe Doctrine must be defended on the pathways of the seas and on tho fields "of Flanders if the Western World is to ba preserved as the citadel of a free-developing, forwardlooking Democracy. Many of the facts [detailed hereafter] are very familiar to most Americans, but tho effort has been to bring together in one place the chief lines of evidence which made Mr Wilson say that he felt it Ma duty to urge Congress to declare that M the present course of the German Government to be in fact nothing less than war against the United States.' 5 Very many of the documents quoted in these notes have the highest official validity, and almost none of the facts mentioned are capable of dispute by any fair-minded persons. Taking it all in all, these facts supporting the Messajre, and many more that, of course, could be added, constitute something like " the case for America against Germany," and Americans, after examining this case, mav rest well assured that their cause will be justified by the calm, impartial verdict of later-day history.

Se-ntlemen of the Congress : I have called tho Congress into extraordinary session bocause there are serious, very serious, choices of policy (1) to be made, and made immediately, it i 3 neither right nor constitutionally permissible (2) that I should assume the responsibility of making. (1) Thar© had been only two other periods in the history of the United States eqnalh serious—l 776 and 1861. Nobody can pretend that there have been any other ca?cs in American history (barring tho 'Revolution and the Civil War), wren so much that the people of America count dear Ins been at stake. The war of 1812. !Mrx : can and Spanish wars, seern as child's p'ny beside the present exigency. Now. as this Messn.sre tuakee clear, the very liberties of the world Itnd the possibilities "of peaceful demeeraeir--*re at stake. If Germany should win I hi-? jrtur, and thus become supreme on land and )ea, the very existence of free democracies jrould be imperilled. (2) President "Wilson had the sworn duty fco lay the facts befo-e Congress, and recommend to it the needful action. The Constitution of the United States presrribos his duties in such emergencies. It is worthy of nets that the Constitution lay* this duty and power of declaring war directly on Congress, which performed it by voting on the •srar question, as requested. The vote of the (Senate was 82 to 6 for war, and of tho House 573 to 59. Such comparative unanimily upon B, question is almost unparalleled in the history of ti« nation. On the 3rd of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary anfconneement of the Imperial German Government, that on and after the let £ay of February it was its purpose to pnt HS&9 all restraints of law or of humanity Hud use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the firts of Great Britain and Ireland or a western coast 3 of Europe or any ol e porta controlled by the enemies of fiermany within the Mediterranen. (3) That had seemed to bo the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in. the var, but since April of last year the Imperial Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its undersea craft In conformity with its promise, then given to ns, (() that passenger boats Should not be sunk, and that dne warnintt would he given to all other vessels ■whack, its submarines might seek to _ destroy, when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews wot© given at least a, tor Slice to save their lives m their open ts. The" precautions taken were meager and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance in the progress of tho cruel and unmanly business, hut a certain degree of restraint was observed. (!>) CS) Tho Gerrrrara Chancellor, in announcing this repudiation of a-11 his solemn pledges in the Imperial Par-lament on Janrary 31. frankly admitted that the policy involved ** rutfcjeesneas" towards neutrals. "When the most ruthless methods are considered the best calculated to lead us to victory and to a swift victory. . . . they must be em ployed. . . ."The moment has now t arrived. Last August (when he was, as lie hfanself here admits, allowing the Americnn people to believe that, in response to its >u-nt<att Via. . V.a,l lair! «<iirln snob ruthless

day the moment has come when, with the greatest prospect, of success, we can undertake the enterprise."

(!,) The Broken Stwex Pledge—On May 14, 1915, tho German Government, in reply to the protest and watniin: of the United States, following on the sinking of the Sussex, gave this promi-e: That " merchant-ves-sels, "both within and ivitl-.ouc the area declared n rnvrtl zone, shall not bo sunk -without warning, and without saving- human lives, unless the ship shall attempt' to escape, or offer rc-i-tauee." Germany added, indeed, that if Great Britain continued her blockade P'-licv she would have to con-idor "a new wscation." On M.iv 3, 1016, tho TJiu'erl State* replied t!:at it could not admit that the plrilsrc of Germarv was "in tho slighter degree contingent upon the conduct of any other G wrnrnoni '' (i e., on any quest ion of tho Eiud'sh blockade). To this Germany nindo no icply a: all. nnd under r;oiiera! diplomatic u-'me. when one nation makes a ft:i"Cin:iu to menhir, tho ! idvt Maloinmt of the case 'i.tnd* a- final, unless there- is a protest ma!..-. T.;e pic:".*o made by Ucrunry thus b -came a binding pLdire, ard as such" wi-' tern up v.iih o her ''scraps ci pane;-" hv the German " ui.lir.dtcd stibniaiiiuwa'rfuro."—Note of January 31, ISI7.

(.'>} As to the t.iopcr Vagcs in tlci'iing with mcuhant in war. here a-o the ruks ir.al rhnvn '-'..me time ago for the America!!, navv (a fi-iittuir navy, surely), and •hj =o ni'-s hardly d>lY'r-d in other navies, icciudir-s the Riiii-ian and the Japanese: The peivonnc! of a niercliainman oaptuiid as a p'iz." . . ■ arc entitled to ttcir phonal (.n'cc'.s. . . ~ All pai.-eiit, f :ns co! in tno service ct the em.mv, and "all woinen and children on bond vcdi vessels, should be re'.ee.sfd, and Livled at a eouveir.cu: p:rt at the first epportiuii'y. Ai.\ peisju in the raval service of Ire Uninid Slates who pi'Lu*cs or p.ialticais in ar.v niannei- any pi.rs.i! tound on board a" !>i'e"'-'hi»-i. \c--scrcap.uied as a prize shall be severely p.uii-lud.

Tba now polh-v has swept every restriction aside. W-ssoU of every kind, whatever their ila,\ their ciiaracter. tha;c carr'o, their destination, their errand,, have been ruthlessly s-eut to the bottom without warnliic aiKl without thought of liein or mercy "for those on board, the vessels of filtndly neutrals alon-,' with t'u>.-., % of belliLferents. Liven hospital ships and .-'nips carrying relief to the soioiv bereaved and stricken people of Jlel- < >'<! thoutrh the latter were provi<le<l with safe (onduct through the pioscribcd areas by the Gorman Government itself and wero distinguished by unmistakabl 1 marks of id-ntity, have bci.-n sunk with the 'in, 1 rcidess lack of compassion or of principle.

i (G) Mr Wilson -was undoubtedly thinking |of the eases of the British hospital ships Asturias (sunk on March 20) ami the Gloucester Castle. These vessels had been sunk, although protected by the mcut solemn possible of international compacts. The Germans seem to have acknowledged the sinking of the Asturias. and to have regarded their feat with great complacency. Somewhat curlier in the war the great liner Brita'iviic had been sunk in service as a hospital ship. and the ev.denec seemis to be that she was torpedoed by a U boat, although the proof is not conclusive. Since the President's Message was written the Get mans have continued their policy of murdering more wounded soldiers and their nurses by sinking more hospital ships. The Belgian ships referred to were probably the Camilla.. Trevicr, and the Fcistein, but more particularly the largo Norwegian steamer Bton?tad, dunk with 10,000 tons of grain for the starving Belgians. Besides these sinkings, two other ships, the Tumsie and the Harlen, were attacked unsuccessfully. I *>vus for ii little while unable to believe that such things would in fact bo done by any Government that had hitherto subscribed to the humane practices of civilised nations? (7) International law had its origin in the attempt to set up some hw which would be respected and observed upon the seas, where no nation had right of dominion and where lay tho fraa highways of the world. By painful stage after stage has that law been built up with meagre enough results, indeed, after ell was accomplished that could bo accomplished, but always with a clear view, at least, of what the heart and conseienco of mankind demanded. (7) No nation assuredly has made prouder claims than Germany to a t'uperior kuliur, or made louder assertions of her desire to vindicate " the freclom of the seas." This minimum of right the German Government has swept "aside under the plea of retaliation and nocessitv, and because it had no weapons which it could use at sea except these, which it is impossible to employ, as it is employing them, without throwing- to the wind till scruples of humanity or'of respect for tho understandings that were supposed to underlie the intercourse of the world.

I am not now thinking 0 f the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of noncombatants, men, women, and children engaged in pursuits which have always' oven in the darkest periods of mod em history, (8) been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for • the lives of peaceful and innocent people '--in not be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind. (S) Mr Wilson could have gone further back than "modern histoiy." Even ; n the most troubled p-ricd of the Middlo V'es there was consistent effort to spare the live-' Of belligerents. Thus, in the eleventh c-n»- u -' not merely did the Church enjoin the '-truce of God," which ordered all waifnre to ca<c on four days of the week, but it o=p.-ciallv pronounced its curse urwn those who out raged or injured not merely clergymen aiu , monks, but all classes of women"' We a'=o have ordinances from this " clari.- peiiod " 7>f history forbidding the interference wii'h shep herds and their ileeks, the dama<dii"- of "■,?_ trees, and the carrying off or destfuctioi'" of farming implements. All this at a' pnrio when teudal barons are alleged to have hr.e," wagmg their- wars with unusual ferocity Contrast this with tho German usa-ce inlSi' one Annr.can instance: On Mav 12" 1898 4,1° imral Sampson with the Ara"i>an "pet an peared before San Juan (Porto Kieol conducted a reconnaissance in force to see if Cexveras squadron was in that port- but- 1,0 did not "subject tho eity to a rcjruia. bom bard meat," because that " would hive■ "e"quired due notice" for the removal of the women, children, and the sick, ila aiO this notwithstanding- the fact that a sudden «. jack well driven home, would have given h.m the city. tn ihe atta.-ks on the forts alone, which he actually made, his =]ii„ c .,„ tains were carefully charged to avoid hilthU the Spanish military hospital. No one has certainly accused the American navy of " hit tmg soft," or of being unwilling towage lh* most strenuous kind of honorable warfare *

It is a war against all nations. American ships havo boen sunk, (0) Ani'-icn lives taken, (W) hi ways which iV has stirred us very deeply to team of, but the snips and people of othor neutral and irietKdv nations (11) have been sunk and overwhelmed in tho waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. (9) The following American ships were sunk by submarines following on the German cieoreo of ruthlessnese (January 31, 1917) : _ February 3, 1917—Housatonic. February 13, 1917—Lyman M. law March 2, 1917—Algonquin. . Mm oh 16, 1917—Vi»i;ancia. March 17, 1917—Citv of Memphis. March 17, 1917—Illinois. March 21, 1917—Healdtc-n (claimed to have been sunk off the Dutch coast, and far from the so-called " prohibited 'zone "). April 1, 1917—Aztec. ; Furthermore, no American should forget the sinking of the William P. Frye on January 28, 1915. by a German raider. This act/ under normal circumstances, would be a casus belli. The raider, the Prince Mtel Friedrich, then inipudentlv took xsfusre in

(10) American lives have been lost during the sinking of at least 20 vessels, whereof four wero American, one- Dutch, and one Norwegian. In one or two cases tho vessels tried to escape, and rmde resistance, and the loss of life was possibly excusable for the Germans. Iu tho bulk of the cases the destruction was without fair warning, aud without reasonable effort to give tho passengers aid crews the chance- to escape. Among the more flagrant cases were: Lusi'.ania, May 7, 1915—114 Americans lost, . Arabic. August 10. 1915—3 Americans lost. Hesperian, September 4, 1915—1 American lot. • , L ' Marina, October 28, 1916—8 Americans lost. Russian, December 14, 1916—17 Americans ld.it. Laoonia, February 26, 1917—8 American? lost. Vi'dlancia, Ma.ch 16, 1917—5 Americans 'lest (U.S.). ' „ . . Healdton, March 21, 1917—7 Americans ici=t (U.S.). Aztec. Apiil 1, 1917—28 Americans lost (U.S.). Some on the Aztec were probably not American citizens, although she was a regalar Ameri(sin ship, lo all, ""up to the declaration of war by the United Slaies, 226 American oitizems, many of them wtm:n and chi.dren. bad lost their lives by the action of Grcmr.n submarines—in most iiiisJ.ancc.s without tho faintest, co or of international right.

(11) Tho, Notwegiati Legation at London liu.- tinirotii'iced th'nt during February end March, 1917, 105 Notwi-'dan vessels, of over 228.000 tons, were sunk, and 106 persons tbrrcon killed, nnd 222 were missing. On February 22. 1917, seven Dutch vessel- widen left an Knali.h port on pioiuUo of "relative security," from the Berlin authorities, were al! attacked by German 1! beats, and idx of them wrre-Mink. tie.mam han admitted that her boats did the deed, and has expressed "regrets'* to Holland, although lidding, blandly" "The incident proves how dangerous it is to navigate tho prohibited zone, and jjives expre-s.on- to our wish that ncutnil nav-ijatens remain in their ports." As a result of tliiu policy of teii-ori=zn, the ships o; Hollaud have been practically driven off tin- - a,. .Uaiiv of tin. m I acini; in ken rcfujie m harbors of the "United States. Spaniards have been exasperated by the desuuet on of their ve «e'.s. tho mo=t recent in-tance beiu'j that of a Snankdi ship, with a ypanuh carpo, Mink m t;r)anii li waters. Swedish oversea commerce is practically ruinrd by the teaof the owners ac the indiscriminate rullik-j-s----ness of tho submarine. The United States Governm-im made an official estimate that, by April 3, 1317, no lees than 686 neutral vessels (not including Amorh an.-) had been sunk by German submarines since the beginning of the war. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. (ti>) Tho choice wo make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and ouv motives as a Nation. We must put excited feelings away. Ouv motive will not be revence"or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation; but only t!u> indication of right (13) the human, of which we arc only u

(12) Piuctieally all the civilised noufni! countries of the. tarth have protested ajrainct tho German policy. Some. like Brazil. China. Bolivia, and Guatemala, have broken diplomatic relations with Germany. The neutrol StatAs of Eurape, fearful of being caught in the horrors of the great war, have protested just as far as they have dared. Holland and Denmark may, ot course, at any time see a German army over their borders. Norway and Sweden 'are hardly in a safe poution. but they have made vehement, protest 1 - aofaiiitst the German ouiraye.s. Spa'u, which had exercised a forbearance similar to that of the United States, has finally, after futile pr.vcst, been obliged (May 18, 1917) to send Germany a Note in the nature, of an ultimatum, demanding reparation for the past and guarantees for tho future. (Vi) Submarines are euch exceptional instruurtmts of warfare that, it is held by authority on international law that they ought never to itnbme.ee in neutral waters, otherwise it is impossible for a neutral to control them and be responsible for them as with ordinary v.sitmfr \vai.-i.:ps. (To be. continued.)