THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1916. SUBMARINE ACTIVITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16375, 1 November 1916, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1916. SUBMARINE ACTIVITY.

The sinking of the Marina is likely to reopen the controversy between the United States and Germany on the subject of submarine piracy. The State Department at Washington is credited with having expressed the hope that the Marina will prove to be a British transport. It is not surprising that the American Government should thus be searching for a loophole of escape. The Presidential election is to be held within a week and international controversies arc disturbing at election time. But apart from electioneering the issues are serious, for the Marina would seem to bring America back to the crisis of some six months ago, which threatened to end in a broach of her relations with Germany. The Marina was torpedoed and sunk without warning. Such incidents arc not rare. They generally escape the observation of the. United States Government, but the circumstance that there were, fifty citizens of the United States on board the Marina brings the matter forcibly to official attention. The American Consul at Queenstown has already reported the facts to "Washington. These facts recall the case of the Sussex, and it was over the sinking of the, Sussex in March of this year that the relations between Washington and Berlin were strained almost to breaking point. The dismissal of Von Tirpitz and the rise in Germany of a party opposed, or professing to be opposed, to " ruthless" submarining is generally attributed in the United States to the firm stand taken by Mr. Wilson just prior to and at the time of the sinking of the Sussex. There were other causes for this upheaval, but there is little doubt that the American Notes affected German opinion and German action in connection with the submarine campaign. Mr. Wilson had to face the initial difficulty of a denial by the German Government that any submarine of theirs had torpedoed the Sussex, but indisputable proof was collected, and with it the following ultimatum was sent to Germany:— " If the Imperial Government should not now, without delay, proclaim and make effective renunciation of its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and cargo ships, the. United States Government can have no other choice than to break off completely diplomatic relations with the German Government.'' The point for which Mr. Wilson stood was that the employment of submarines for the destruction of enemy trade was completely irreconcilable with the principles of humanity, the rights of neutrals and the privileges of non-combatants. He. however, accepted a compromise. Germany made what the Berlin Note termed a " concession," and gave the United States a pledge that for the future "no ship anywhere would b*. sunk without, warning and without saving the lives of those on board unless she attempted to escape or offered resistance." This undertaking was accompanied by a threat that unless America succeeded in restricting the activities of the British Navy to Germany's advantage, Germany reserved "complete liberty of decision." Mr. Wilson chose to ignore the threat, and his success in securing a specific promise from the German Governments was hailed throughout the United States as a diplomatic triumph. For a time Germany made some profession of living up to her promise. Whether it was. due to the scarcity of submarines and of trained crews, or to the fear of a breach with the United States, the activities of German submarines were restricted. The pause gave Mr. Wilson's friends time to proclaim his success, and he has since been anxious to avoid reopening the controversy, or he would noc have waited for the sinking of the Marina. During the past few months there has been evidence that Germany has again thrown pledges to the winds, and that her submarine commanders have once, more " complete liberty of action." Kecent cablegrams suggest that the submarine menace is now reaching' serious dimensions. Germany is operating with craft that is described as larger, swifter, more numerous and more powerful than anything hitherto sent from German harbours. Since submitting to the conditions laid down by America Germany has had time to build a new fleet and to train new crews. The risk of an open quarrel with America may no longer have any restraining influence. In any case the sea routes will not be kept open by American intervention, but by the activities of the British Navy and its auxiliary fleet. If Berlin has» decided to defy the United States all Germany will clamour for submarine "ruthlessness." The situation is one which the British Navy and the British mercantile marine have faced before. We may e> cect losses, but we may be confident, that the measures taken to meet the danger will ultimately be as effective as they have been in the paat.