The Project Gutenberg eBook, New York Times Current History; The European
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Title: New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915
April-September, 1915
Author: Various
Release Date: March 27, 2005 [eBook #15480]
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THE EUROPEAN WAR, VOL 2, NO. 3, JUNE, 1915***
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The New York Times
CURRENT HISTORY
A Monthly Magazine
THE EUROPEAN WAR, VOLUME II
April, 1915-September, 1915
With Index
Number III, June, 1915
[Illustration: (logo) THE N.Y. TIMES]
New York
The New York Times Company
1915
CONTENTS
NUMBER III. JUNE, 1915.
THE LUSITANIA CASE (With Map)
PRESIDENT WILSON'S SPEECHES AND NOTE TO GERMANY
History of a Series of Attacks on American Lives in the German War Zone
Page
AMERICAN NOTE TO GERMANY 409
GERMAN EMBASSY'S WARNING AND THE CONSEQUENCE 413
German Official Report 413
British Coroner's Verdict 414
German Note of Regret 415
England Answers Germany 415
Captain Turner Testifies 417
Lusitania's First Cabin List 418
DESCRIPTIONS BY SURVIVORS
Submarine Crew Observed 420
Ernest Cowper's Account 420
Charles Frohman's Death 422
Alfred Vanderbilt's Heroic End 423
Klein and Hubbard Lost 423
GERMANY JUSTIFIES THE DEED
German Official Report 424
Britain's Denial 424
Collector Malone's Denial 424
German Foreign Office Note on Neutrals 425
Dr. Dernburg's Defense 426
GERMAN PRESS OPINION
Comment in Germany and Austria 427
German-American Press Comment 430
FALABA, CUSHING, GULFLIGHT
Case of the Falaba 433
Case of the Cushing 434
Case of the Gulflight 435
AIM OF GERMAN SUBMARINE WARFARE 436
By Professor Flamm of Charlottenburg
THREE SPEECHES BY PRESIDENT WILSON
"AMERICA FIRST"--Address to the Associated Press 438
"HUMANITY FIRST"--Address at Philadelphia 441
"AMERICA FOR HUMANITY"--Address at the Fleet Review in New York 443
TWO EX-PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
Mr. Roosevelt Speaks 444
Mr. Taft Speaks 446
PRESIDENT WILSON'S NOTE 447
By Ex-President William H. Taft
ANOTHER VIEW (Poem) 447
By Beatrice Barry
IN THE SUBMARINE WAR ZONE 447
By The Associated Press
AMERICAN SHIPMENTS OF ARMS 448
By Count von Bernstorff
AMERICAN REPLY TO COUNT VON BERNSTORFF 449
MUNITIONS FROM NEUTRALS 451
Colloquy in the House of Commons
GERMANY AND THE LUSITANIA 452
By Dr. Charles W. Eliot
APPEALS FOR AMERICAN DEFENSE 455
THE DROWNED SAILOR (Poem) 457
By Maurice Hewlett
WAR WITH POISONOUS GASES (With Maps)
THE GAP AT YPRES MADE BY GERMAN CHLORINE VAPOR BOMBS
Reports by the Official "Eyewitness" and Dr. J.S. Haldane, F.R.S.
DR. HALDANE'S REPORT 458
THE "EYEWITNESS" STORY 459
WHAT THE GERMANS SAY 462
THE CANADIANS AT YPRES 463
VAPOR WARFARE RESUMED 471
TO CERTAIN GERMAN PROFESSORS OF CHEMICS (Poem) 478
By Sir Owen Seaman in Punch
SEVEN DAYS OF WAR EAST AND WEST (With Map) 479
By a Military Expert of The New York Times
AUSTRO-GERMAN SUCCESS 484
By Major E. Moraht
THE CAMPAIGN IN THE CARPATHIANS (With Map) 486
Russian Victory Succeeded by Reverses
ITALY IN THE WAR (With Maps)
HER MOVE AGAINST AUSTRO-HUNGARY
Last Phase of Italian Neutrality and Causes of the Struggle
DECLARATION OF WAR 490
FRANCIS JOSEPH'S DEFIANCE 490
ITALY'S CABINET EMPOWERED 491
ITALY'S JUSTIFICATION 494
By Foreign Minister Sonnino
GERMAN HATRED OF ITALY 497
ITALY'S NEUTRALITY--THE LAST PHASE 499
German, Serbian, and Italian Press Opinion
ANNUNCIATION (Poem) 503
By Ernst Lissauer
THE DARDANELLES (With Map) 504
ALLIES' SECOND CAMPAIGN WITH FLEETS AND LAND FORCES
"WAR BABIES" 516
From The Suffragette of London
THE EUROPEAN WAR AS SEEN BY CARTOONISTS 517
(With a Selection of American Cartoons on the Lusitania Case)
WHAT IS OUR DUTY? 533
By Emmeline Pankhurst
THE SOLDIER'S PASS (Poem) 536
By Maurice Hewlett
THE GREAT END 537
By Arnold Bennett
GERMAN WOMEN NOT YET FOR PEACE 540
By Gertrude Baumer
DIAGNOSIS OF THE ENGLISHMAN 541
By John Galsworthy
MY TERMS OF PEACE 545
By George Bernard Shaw
A POLICY OF MURDER 546
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
THE SOLDIER'S EPITAPH (Poem) 548
From Truth
THE WILL TO POWER 549
By Eden Phillpotts
ALLEGED GERMAN ATROCITIES
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT
And Presided Over by The Right Hon. Viscount Bryce
Formerly British Ambassador at Washington
WARRANT OF BRYCE COMMITTEE'S APPOINTMENT 551
PART I 555
PART II 580
SCRIABIN'S LAST WORDS 591
CHRONOLOGY OF THE WAR 592
THE DRINK QUESTION (Poem) 612
From _Truth_
[Illustration: H.M. QUEEN ELIZABETH
Queen of the Belgians. Though Born a Bavarian Duchess, She Has Equaled
Her Husband in Devotion to Belgium
(Photo from Bain News Service.)]
[Illustration: KRONPRINZ WILHELM AND HIS FAMILY
The Kronprinzessin Cecilie and the Little Princes Wilhelm, Ludwig
Ferdinand, Hubertus, and Friedrich
(Photo by American Press Assoc.)]
The New York Times
CURRENT HISTORY
A MONTHLY MAGAZINE
THE EUROPEAN WAR
JUNE, 1915
THE LUSITANIA CASE
President Wilson's Speeches and Note to Germany
History of a Series of Attacks on American Lives in the German War Zone
President Wilson's note to Germany, written consequent on the
torpedoing by a German submarine on May 7, 1915, of the
British passenger steamship Lusitania, off Kinsale Head,
Ireland, by which over 100 American citizens lost their lives,
is dated six days later, showing that time for careful
deliberation was duly taken. The President's Secretary, Joseph
P. Tumulty, on May 8 made this statement:
"Of course, the President feels the distress and the gravity
of the situation to the utmost, and is considering very
earnestly, but very calmly, the right course of action to
pursue. He knows that the people of the country wish and
expect him to act with deliberation as well as with firmness."
Although signed by Mr. Bryan, as Secretary of State, the note
was written originally by the President in shorthand--a
favorite method of Mr. Wilson in making memoranda--and
transcribed by him on his own typewriter. The document was
then presented to the members of the President's Cabinet, a
draft of it was sent to Counselor Lansing of the State
Department, and, after a few minor changes, it was transmitted
by cable to Ambassador Gerard in Berlin.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASHINGTON, May 13, 1915.
The Secretary of State to the American Ambassador at Berlin:
Please call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and after reading to him
this communication leave with him a copy.
In view of recent acts of the German authorities in violation of
American rights on the high seas, which culminated in the torpedoing and
sinking of the British steamship Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by which over
100 American citizens lost their lives, it is clearly wise and desirable
that the Government of the United States and the Imperial German
Government should come to a clear and full understanding as to the grave
situation which has resulted.
The sinking of the British passenger steamer Falaba by a German
submarine on March 28, through which Leon C. Thrasher, an American
citizen, was drowned; the attack on April 28 on the American vessel
Cushing by a German aeroplane; the torpedoing on May 1 of the American
vessel Gulflight by a German submarine, as a result of which two or more
American citizens met their death; and, finally, the torpedoing and
sinking of the steamship Lusitania, constitute a series of events which
the Government of the United States has observed with growing concern,
distress, and amazement.
Recalling the humane and enlightened attitude hitherto assumed by the
Imperial German Government in matters of international right, and
particularly with regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned to
recognize the German views and the German influence in the field of
international obligation as always engaged upon the side of justice and
humanity; and having understood the instructions of the Imperial German
Government to its naval commanders to be upon the same plane of humane
action prescribed by the naval codes of other nations, the Government of
the United States was loath to believe--it cannot now bring itself to
believe--that these acts, so absolutely contrary to the rules, the
practices, and the spirit of modern warfare, could have the countenance
or sanction of that great Government. It feels it to be its duty,
therefore, to address the Imperial German Government concerning them
with the utmost frankness and in the earnest hope that it is not
mistaken in expecting action on the part of the Imperial German
Government which will correct the unfortunate impressions which have
been created, and vindicate once more the position of that Government
with regard to the sacred freedom of the seas.
The Government of the United States has been apprised that the Imperial
German Government considered themselves to be obliged by the
extraordinary circumstances of the present war and the measures adopted
by their adversaries in seeking to cut Germany off from all commerce, to
adopt methods of retaliation which go much beyond the ordinary methods
of warfare at sea, in the proclamation of a war zone from which they
have warned neutral ships to keep away. This Government has already
taken occasion to inform the Imperial German Government that it cannot
admit the adoption of such measures or such a warning of danger to
operate as in any degree an abbreviation of the rights of American
shipmasters or of American citizens bound on lawful errands as
passengers on merchant ships of belligerent nationality, and that it
must hold the Imperial German Government to a strict accountability for
any infringement of those rights, intentional or incidental. It does not
understand the Imperial German Government to question those rights. It
assumes, on the contrary, that the Imperial Government accept, as of
course, the rule that the lives of noncombatants, whether they be of
neutral citizenship or citizens of one of the nations at war, cannot
lawfully or rightfully be put in jeopardy by the capture or destruction
of an unarmed merchantman, and recognize also, as all other nations do,
the obligation to take the usual precaution of visit and search to
ascertain whether a suspected merchantman is in fact of belligerent
nationality or is in fact carrying contraband of war under a neutral
flag.
The Government of the United States, therefore, desires to call the
attention of the Imperial German Government with the utmost earnestness
to the fact that the objection to their present method of attack against
the trade of their enemies lies in the practical impossibility of
employing submarines in the destruction of commerce without disregarding
those rules of fairness, reason, justice, and humanity which all modern
opinion regards as imperative. It is practically impossible for the
officers of a submarine to visit a merchantman at sea and examine her
papers and cargo. It is practically impossible for them to make a prize
of her; and, if they cannot put a prize crew on board of her, they
cannot sink her without leaving her crew and all on board of her to the
mercy of the sea in her small boats. These facts it is understood the
Imperial German Government frankly admit. We are informed that in the
instances of which we have spoken time enough for even that poor measure
of safety was not given, and in at least two of the cases cited not so
much as a warning was received. Manifestly, submarines cannot be used
against merchantmen, as the last few weeks have shown, without an
inevitable violation of many sacred principles of justice and humanity.
American citizens act within their indisputable rights in taking their
ships and in traveling wherever their legitimate business calls them
upon the high seas, and exercise those rights in what should be the
well-justified confidence that their lives will not be endangered by
acts done in clear violation of universally acknowledged international
obligations, and certainly in the confidence that their own Government
will sustain them in the exercise of their rights.
There was recently published in the newspapers of the United States, I
regret to inform the Imperial German Government, a formal warning,
purporting to come from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington,
addressed to the people of the United States, and stating, in effect,
that any citizen of the United States who exercised his right of free
travel upon the seas would do so at his peril if his journey should take
him within the zone of waters within which the Imperial German Navy was
using submarines against the commerce of Great Britain and France,
notwithstanding the respectful but very earnest protest of his
Government, the Government of the United States. I do not refer to this
for the purpose of calling the attention of the Imperial German
Government at this time to the surprising irregularity of a
communication from the Imperial German Embassy at Washington addressed
to the people of the United States through the newspapers, but only for
the purpose of pointing out that no warning that an unlawful and
inhumane act will be committed can possibly be accepted as an excuse or
palliation for that act or as an abatement of the responsibility for its
commission.
Long acquainted as this Government has been with the character of the
Imperial Government, and with the high principles of equity by which
they have in the past been actuated and guided, the Government of the
United States cannot believe that the commanders of the vessels which
committed these acts of lawlessness did so except under a
misapprehension of the orders issued by the Imperial German naval
authorities. It takes it for granted that, at least within the practical
possibilities of every such case, the commanders even of submarines were
expected to do nothing that would involve the lives of noncombatants or
the safety of neutral ships, even at the cost of failing of their object
of capture or destruction. It confidently expects, therefore, that the
Imperial German Government will disavow the acts of which the Government
of the United States complains; that they will make reparation so far as
reparation is possible for injuries which are without measure, and that
they will take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so
obviously subversive of the principles of warfare for which the Imperial
German Government have in the past so wisely and so firmly contended.
The Government and people of the United States look to the Imperial
German Government for just, prompt, and enlightened action in this vital
matter with the greater confidence, because the United States and
Germany are bound together not only by special ties of friendship, but
also by the explicit stipulations of the Treaty of 1828, between the
United States and the Kingdom of Prussia.
Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in case of the
destruction of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy
international obligations, if no loss of life results, cannot justify or
excuse a practice the natural and necessary effect of which is to
subject neutral nations and neutral persons to new and immeasurable
risks.
The Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of the
United States to omit any word or any act necessary to the performance
of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and
its citizens and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment.
BRYAN.
THE WARNING AND THE CONSEQUENCE--
THE GERMAN WARNING.
[On Saturday, May 1, the day that the Lusitania left New York on her
last voyage, the following advertisement bearing the authentication of
the German Embassy at Washington appeared in the chief newspapers of the
United States, placed next the advertisement of the Cunard Line:
NOTICE!
TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are
reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her
allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war
includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in
accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German
Government vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any
of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and
that travellers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great
Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.
IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 22, 1915.
Despite this warning, relying on President Wilson's note to Germany of
Feb. 10, 1915, which declared that the United States would "hold the
Imperial Government of Germany to a strict accountability" for such an
act within the submarine zone; relying, also, on the speed of the ship,
and hardly conceiving that the threat would be carried out, over two
thousand men, women, and children embarked. The total toll of the dead
was 1,150, of whom 114 were known to be American citizens.
The German Embassy's warning advertisement was repeated on May 8, the
day following the loss of the Lusitania. On May 12 the German Embassy
notified the newspapers to discontinue publication of the advertisement,
which had been scheduled to appear for the third time on the following
Saturday.]
GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORT.
[By The Associated Press.]
_BERLIN, May 14, (via Amsterdam to London, May 15.)--From the report
received from the submarine which sank the Cunard Line steamer Lusitania
last Friday the following official version of the incident is published
by the Admiralty Staff over the signature of Admiral Behncke:_
The submarine sighted the steamer, which showed no flag, May 7 at 2:20
o'clock, Central European time, afternoon, on the southeast coast of
Ireland, in fine, clear weather.
At 3:10 o'clock one torpedo was fired at the Lusitania, which hit her
starboard side below the Captain's bridge. The detonation of the torpedo
was followed immediately by a further explosion of extremely strong
effect. The ship quickly listed to starboard and began to sink.
The second explosion must be traced back to the ignition of quantities
of ammunition inside the ship.
_It appears from this report that the submarine sighted the Lusitania at
1:20 o'clock, London time, and fired the torpedo at 2:10 o'clock, London
time. The Lusitania, according to all reports, was traveling at the rate
of eighteen knots an hour. As fifty minutes elapsed between the sighting
and the torpedoing, the Lusitania when first seen from the submarine
must have been distant nearly fifteen knots, or about seventeen land
miles. The Lusitania must have been recognized at the first appearance
of the tops of her funnels above the horizon. To the Captain on the
bridge of the Lusitania the submarine would have been at that time
invisible, being below the horizon._
[Illustration: Map Showing Locations of Ships Attacked in Submarine War
Zone with American Citizens Aboard.]
BRITISH CORONER'S VERDICT.
[By The Associated Press.]
_KINSALE, Ireland, May 10.--The verdict, rendered here today by the
coroner's jury, which investigated five deaths resulting from the
torpedoing of the Lusitania, is as follows:_
We find that the deceased met death from prolonged immersion and
exhaustion in the sea eight miles south-southeast of Old Head of
Kinsale, Friday, May 7, 1915, owing to the sinking of the Lusitania by
torpedoes fired by a German, submarine.
We find that the appalling crime was committed contrary to international
law and the conventions of all civilized nations.
We also charge the officers of said submarine and the Emperor and the
Government of Germany, under whose orders they acted, with the crime of
wholesale murder before the tribunal of the civilized world.
We desire to express sincere condolences and sympathy with the relatives
of the deceased, the Cunard Company, and the United States, many of
whose citizens perished in this murderous attack on an unarmed liner.
GERMAN NOTE OF REGRET.
_BERLIN, (via London,) May 10.--The following dispatch has been sent by
the German Foreign Office to the German Embassy at Washington:_
Please communicate the following to the State Department: The German
Government desires to express its deepest sympathy at the loss of lives
on board the Lusitania. The responsibility rests, however, with the
British Government, which, through its plan of starving the civilian
population of Germany, has forced Germany to resort to retaliatory
measures.
In spite of the German offer to stop the submarine war in case the
starvation plan was given up, British merchant vessels are being
generally armed with guns and have repeatedly tried to ram submarines,
so that a previous search was impossible.
They cannot, therefore, be treated as ordinary merchant vessels. A
recent declaration made to the British Parliament by the Parliamentary
Secretary in answer to a question by Lord Charles Beresford said that at
the present practically all British merchant vessels were armed and
provided with hand grenades.
Besides, it has been openly admitted by the English press that the
Lusitania on previous voyages repeatedly carried large quantities of war
material. On the present voyage the Lusitania carried 5,400 cases of
ammunition, while the rest of her cargo also consisted chiefly of
contraband.
If England, after repeated official and unofficial warnings, considered
herself able to declare that that boat ran no risk and thus
light-heartedly assumed responsibility for the human life on board a
steamer which, owing to its armament and cargo, was liable to
destruction, the German Government, in spite of its heartfelt sympathy
for the loss of American lives, cannot but regret that Americans felt
more inclined to trust to English promises rather than to pay attention
to the warnings from the German side.
FOREIGN OFFICE.
ENGLAND ANSWERS GERMANY.[A]
[By The Associated Press.]
[Footnote A: In Germany's reply to the American protest against certain
features of the "war zone" order, which was received in Washington on
Feb. 14, occurred this expression:
If the United States ... should succeed at the last moment in
removing the grounds which make that procedure [submarine
warfare on merchant vessels] an obligatory duty for Germany
... and thereby make possible for Germany legitimate
importation of the necessaries of life and industrial raw
material, then the German Government ... would gladly draw
conclusions from the new situation.
In the German note to the American Government justifying the sinking of
the Lusitania presented above, appears this clause:
In spite of the German offer to stop the submarine war in case
the starvation plan was given up....
These two expressions are referred to in the British official statement,
published herewith, in these words:
It was not understood from the reply of the German Government
[of Feb. 14] that they were prepared to abandon the principle
of sinking British vessels by submarine.
Whether this may regarded as an opening for the renewal of the German
offer in explicit terms, with the implication that England might accept
it, is not explained.]
_LONDON, Wednesday, May 12.--Inquiry in official circles elicited last
night the following statement, representing the official British view of
Germany's justification for torpedoing the Lusitania which Berlin
transmitted to the State Department at Washington:_
The German Government states that responsibility for the loss of the
Lusitania rests with the British Government, which through their plan of
starving the civil population of Germany has forced Germany to resort to
retaliatory measures The reply to this is as follows:
As far back as last December Admiral von Tirpitz, (the German Marine
Minister,) in an interview, foreshadowed a submarine blockade of Great
Britain, and a merchant ship and a hospital ship were torpedoed Jan. 30
and Feb. 1, respectively.
The German Government on Feb. 4 declared their intention of instituting
a general submarine blockade of Great Britain and Ireland, with the
avowed purpose of cutting off supplies for these islands. This blockade
was put into effect Feb. 18.
As already stated, merchant vessels had, as a matter of fact, been sunk
by a German submarine at the end of January. Before Feb. 4 no vessel
carrying food supplies for Germany had been held up by his Majesty's
Government except on the ground that there was reason to believe the
foodstuffs were intended for use of the armed forces of the enemy or the
enemy Government.
His Majesty's Government had, however informed the State Department on
Jan. 29 that they felt bound to place in a prize court the foodstuffs of
the steamer Wilhelmina, which was going to a German port, in view of the
Government control of foodstuffs in Germany, as being destined for the
enemy Government and, therefore, liable to capture.
The decision of his Majesty's Government to carry out the measures laid
down by the Order in Council was due to the action of the German
Government in insisting on their submarine blockade.
This, added to other infractions of international law by Germany, led to
British reprisals, which differ from the German action in that his
Majesty's Government scrupulously respect the lives of noncombatants
traveling in merchant vessels, and do not even enforce the recognized
penalty of confiscation for a breach of the blockade, whereas the German
policy is to sink enemy or neutral vessels at sight, with total
disregard for the lives of noncombatants and the property of neutrals.
The Germans state that, in spite of their offer to stop their submarine
war in case the starvation plan was given up, Great Britain has taken
even more stringent blockade measures. The answer to this is as follows:
It was not understood from the reply of the German Government that they
were prepared to abandon the principle of sinking British vessels by
submarine.
They have refused to abandon the use of mines for offensive purposes on
the high seas on any condition. They have committed various other
infractions of international law, such as strewing the high seas and
trade routes with mines, and British and neutral vessels will continue
to run danger from this course, whether Germany abandons her submarine
blockade or not.
It should be noted that since the employment of submarines, contrary to
international law, the Germans also have been guilty of the use of
asphyxiating gas. They have even proceeded to the poisoning of water in
South Africa.
The Germans represent British merchant vessels generally as armed with
guns and say that they repeatedly ram submarines. The answer to this is
as follows:
It is not to be wondered at that merchant vessels, knowing they are
liable to be sunk without warning and without any chance being given
those on board to save their lives, should take measures for
self-defense.
With regard to the Lusitania: The vessel was not armed on her last
voyage, and had not been armed during the whole war.
The Germans attempt to justify the sinking of the Lusitania by the fact
that she had arms and ammunition on board. The presence of contraband on
board a neutral vessel does render her liable to capture, but certainly
not to destruction, with the loss of a large portion of her crew and
passengers. Every enemy vessel is a fair prize, but there is no legal
provision, not to speak of the principles of humanity, which would
justify what can only be described as murder because a vessel carries
contraband.
The Germans maintain that after repeated official and unofficial
warnings his Majesty's Government were responsible for the loss of life,
as they considered themselves able to declare that the boat ran no risk,
and thus "light-heartedly assume the responsibility for the human lives
on board a steamer which, owing to its armament and cargo, is liable to
destruction." The reply thereto is:
First--His Majesty's Government never declared the boat ran no risk.
Second--The fact that the Germans issued their warning shows that the
crime was premeditated. They had no more right to murder passengers
after warning them than before.
Third--In spite of their attempts to put the blame on Great Britain, it
will tax the ingenuity even of the Germans to explain away the fact that
it was a German torpedo, fired by a German seaman from a German
submarine, that sank the vessel and caused over 1,000 deaths.
CAPTAIN TURNER TESTIFIES.
[By The Associated Press.]
_KINSALE, Ireland, May 10.--The inquest which began here Saturday over
five victims of the Lusitania was concluded today. A vital feature of
the hearing was the testimony of Captain W.T. Turner of the lost
steamship. Coroner Horga questioned him:_
"You were aware threats had been made that the ship would be torpedoed?"
"We were," the Captain replied.
"Was she armed?"
"No, Sir."
"What precautions did you take?"
"We had all the boats swung when we came within the danger zone, between
the passing of Fastnet and the time of the accident."
The Coroner asked him whether he had received a message concerning the
sinking of a ship off Kinsale by a submarine. Captain Turner replied
that he had not.
"Did you receive any special instructions as to the voyage?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Are you at liberty to tell us what they were?"
"No, Sir."
"Did you carry them out?"
"Yes, to the best of my ability."
"Tell us in your own words what happened after passing Fastnet."
"The weather was clear," Captain Turner answered. "We were going at a
speed of eighteen knots. I was on the port side and heard Second
Officer Hefford call out:
"'Here's a torpedo.'
"I ran to the other side and saw clearly the wake of a torpedo. Smoke
and steam came up between the last two funnels. There was a slight
shock. Immediately after the first explosion there was another report,
but that may possibly have been internal.
"I at once gave the order to lower the boats down to the rails, and I
directed that women and children should get into them. I also had all
the bulkheads closed.
"Between the time of passing Fastnet, about 11 o'clock, and of the
torpedoing I saw no sign whatever of any submarines. There was some haze
along the Irish coast, and when we were near Fastnet I slowed down to
fifteen knots. I was in wireless communication with shore all the way
across."
Captain Turner was asked whether he had received any messages in regard
to the presence of submarines off the Irish coast. He replied in the
affirmative. Questioned regarding the nature of the message, he replied:
"I respectfully refer you to the Admiralty for an answer."
"I also gave orders to stop the ship," Captain Turner continued, "but we
could not stop. We found that the engines were out of commission. It was
not safe to lower boats until the speed was off the vessel. As a matter
of fact, there was a perceptible headway on her up to the time she went
down.
"When she was struck she listed to starboard. I stood on the bridge when
she sank, and the Lusitania went down under me. She floated about
eighteen minutes after the torpedo struck her. My watch stopped at 2:36.
I was picked up from among the wreckage and afterward was brought aboard
a trawler.
"No warship was convoying us. I saw no warship, and none was reported to
me as having been seen. At the time I was picked up I noticed bodies
floating on the surface, but saw no living persons."
"Eighteen knots was not the normal speed of the Lusitania, was it?"
"At ordinary times," answered Captain Turner, "she could make 25 knots,
but in war times her speed was reduced to 21 knots. My reason for going
18 knots was that I wanted to arrive at Liverpool bar without stopping,
and within two or three hours of high water."
"Was there a lookout kept for submarines having regard to previous
warnings?"
"Yes, we had double lookouts."
"Were you going a zigzag course at the moment the torpedoing took
place?"
"No. It was bright weather, and land was clearly visible."
"Was it possible for a submarine to approach without being seen?"
"Oh, yes; quite possible."
"Something has been said regarding the impossibility of launching the
boats on the port side?"
"Yes," said Captain Turner, "owing to the listing of the ship."
"How many boats were launched safely?"
"I cannot say."
"Were any launched safely?"
"Yes, and one or two on the port side."
"Were your orders promptly carried out?"
"Yes."
"Was there any panic on board?"
"No, there was no panic at all. It was all most calm."
"How many persons were on board?"
"There were 1,500 passengers and about 600 crew."
By the foreman of the jury--In the face of the warnings at New York that
the Lusitania would be torpedoed, did you make any application to the
Admiralty for an escort?
"No, I left that to them. It is their business, not mine. I simply had
to carry out my orders to go, and I would do it again."
Captain Turner uttered the last words of this reply with great emphasis.
By the Coroner--I am very glad to hear you say so, Captain.
By a juryman--Did you get a wireless to steer your vessel in a northern
direction?
"No," replied Captain Turner.
"Was the course of the vessel altered after the torpedoes struck her?"
"I headed straight for land, but it was useless. Previous to this the
watertight bulkheads were closed. I suppose the explosion forced them
open. I don't know the exact extent to which the Lusitania was damaged."
"There must have been serious damage done to the watertight bulkheads?"
"There certainly was, without doubt."
"Were the passengers supplied with lifebelts?"
"Yes."
"Were any special orders given that morning that lifebelts be put on?"
"No."
"Was any warning given before you were torpedoed?"
"None whatever. It was suddenly done and finished."
"If there had been a patrol boat about might it have been of
assistance?"
"It might, but it is one of those things one never knows."
With regard to the threats against his ship Captain Turner said he saw
nothing except what appeared in the New York papers the day before the
Lusitania sailed. He had never heard the passengers talking about the
threats, he said.
"Was a warning given to the lower decks after the ship had been struck?"
Captain Turner was asked.
"All the passengers must have heard the explosion," Captain Turner
replied.
Captain Turner, in answer to another question, said he received no
report from the lookout before the torpedo struck the Lusitania.
Ship's Bugler Livermore testified that the watertight compartments were
closed, but that the explosion and the force of the water must have
burst them open. He said that all the officers were at their posts and
that earlier arrivals of the rescue craft would not have saved the
situation.
After physicians had testified that the victims had met death through
prolonged immersion and exhaustion the Coroner summed up the case.
He said that the first torpedo fired by the German submarine did serious
damage to the Lusitania, but that, not satisfied with this, the
Germans had discharged another torpedo. The second torpedo, he said,
must have been more deadly, because it went right through the ship,
hastening the work of destruction.
[Illustration: "Lusitania's" First Cabin List
May 22, 1915.
List of
SALOON PASSENGERS
BY THE QUADRUPLE-SCREW TURBINE
R.M.S. "Lusitania"
Captain
* W.T. Turner, R.N.R.
Staff-Captain
@ J.C. ANDERSON
@ CHIEF ENGINEER--A. BRYCE
@ SURGEON--J.F. McDERMOTT
@ ASST SURGEON--J. GARRY
@ CHIEF OFFICER--J.T. PIPER
@ PURSER--J.A. McCUBBIN
* 2ND PURSER--P. DRAPER
* CHIEF STEWARD--J.V. JONES
From New York to Liverpool, May 1st 1915.
Mr. Henry Adams England.
Mrs. Adams England.
Mr. A.H. Adams London, Eng.
* Mr. William McM. Adams London, Eng.
* Lady Allan Montreal, Can.
* and maid (_Emily Davies_)
Miss Anna Allan Montreal, Can.
@ Miss Gwen Allan Montreal, Can.
* and maid (_Annie Walker_)
* Mr. N.N. Alles New York, N.Y.
* Mr. Julian de Ayala Liverpool, Eng.
(_Consul General for Cuba at Liverpool_)
* Mr. James Baker England.
Miss Margaret A. Baker New York, N.Y.
* Mr. Allan Barnes Toronto, Ont.
* Mr. G.W.B. Bartlett London, Eng.
Mrs. Bartlett London, Eng.
Mr. Lindon Bates Jr. New York, N.Y.
* Mr. J.J. Battersby Stockport, Eng.
* Mr. Oliver Bernard Boston, Mass.
* Mr. Charles P. Bernard New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. Albert C. Bilicke Los Angeles, Cal.
* Mrs. Bilicke Los Angeles, Cal.
Mr. Harry B. Baldwin New York, N.Y.
Mrs. Baldwin New York, N.Y.
Mr. Leonidas Bistis Greece.
Mr. James J. Black Liverpool, Eng.
Mr. Thomas Bloomfield New York, N.Y.
* Mr. James Bohan Toronto, Canada.
* Mr. Harold Boulton Jr. Chicago, Ill.
* Mr. Charles W. Bowring New York, N.Y.
Miss Dorothy Braithwaite Montreal, Can.
* Miss Josephine Brandell New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. C.T. Brodrick Boston, Mass.
* Mr. J.H. Brooks Bridgeport, Conn.
Mrs. Mary C. Brown New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. H.A. Bruno Montclair, N.J.
Mrs. Bruno Montclair, N.J.
* Mrs. J.S. Burnside Toronto, Ont.
* and maid (_Martha Waites_) Toronto, Ont.
Miss Iris Burnside Toronto, Ont.
* Mr. A.J. Byington London, Eng.
* Mr. Michael G. Byrne New York, N.Y.
* Mr. Peter Buswell England.
@ Mr. William H.H. Brown Buffalo, N.Y.
* Mr. Hy. G. Burgess England.
* Mr. Robert W. Cairns Booked on Board
Mr. Conway S. Campbell-Johnston Los Angeles, Cal.
@ Mrs. Campbell-Johnston Los Angeles, Cal.
Mr. Alexander Campbell London, Eng.
@ Mr. David L. Chabot Montreal, Can.
* Mrs. W. Chapman Toronto, Canada.
* Mr. John H. Charles Toronto, Canada.
* Miss Doris Charles Toronto, Canada.
* Rev. Cowley Clarke London, Eng.
* Mr. A.R. Clarke Toronto, Canada.
@ Mr. W. Broderick Cloete San Antonio, Tex.
* Mr. H.G. Colebrook Toronto, Canada.
* Miss Dorothy Conner New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. George R. Copping Toronto, Canada.
Mrs. Copping Toronto, Canada.
@ Mrs. William Crichton New York, N.Y.
Mr. Paul Crompton Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. Crompton Philadelphia, Pa.
Master Peter Crompton (_8 months_)
and nurse (_Dorothy D. Allen_)
@ Master Steven Crompton Philadelphia, Pa.
(_17 years_)
Master John David Crompton Philadelphia. Pa.
(_6 years_)
Master Paul Romelly Crompton Philadelphia, Pa.
(_9 years_)
Miss Alberta Crompton Philadelphia, Pa.
(_12 years_)
Miss Catherine Crompton Philadelphia, Pa.
(_10 Years_)
@ Mr. Robert W. Crooks Toronto, Canada.
* Mr. A.B. Cross F. Malay States.
* Mr. Harold M. Daly Ottawa, Ont.
@ Mr. Robert E. Dearbergh New York, N.Y.
@ Mrs. A. Depage Belgium.
Mr. C.A. Dingwall London, Eng.
Miss C. Dougall Guelph, Ont.
Mr. Audley Drake Detroit, Mich.
Mr. Alan Dredge British Honduras.
Mrs. Dredge British Honduras.
Mr. James Dunsmuir Toronto, Canada.
Mr. W.A. Emond Quebec, Can.
Mr. John Fenwick Switzerland
* Dr. Howard Fisher New York, N.Y.
Mr. Justin M. Forman New York, N.Y.
Mr. Chas. F. Fowles New York, N.Y.
@ Mrs. Fowles New York, N.Y.
Mr. Richard R. Freeman Jr. Boston, Mass.
Mr. J. Friedenstein London, Eng.
Mr. Edwin W. Friend Farmington, Ct.
@ Mr. Charles Frohman New York, N.Y.
@ and valet (_Wm. Stainton_)
* Mr. Fred. J. Gauntlett New York, N.Y.
Mr. Mathew Gibson Glasgow, Scot.
Mr. George A. Gilpin England.
Mr. Edgar Gorer London, Eng.
* Mr. Oscar F. Grab New York, N.Y.
Mr. Montagu T. Grant Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Grant Chicago, Ill.
Mr. Frederick S. Hammond Toronto, Canada.
* Mrs. F.S. Hammond Toronto, Canada.
* Mr. O.H. Hammond New York, N.Y.
Mrs. O.H. Hammond New York, N.Y.
* Mr. C.C. Hardwick New York, N.Y.
Mr. John H. Harper New York, N.Y.
* Mr. Dwight C. Harris New York, N.Y.
Mr. F.W. Hawkins Winnipeg, Man.
@ Miss Katheryn Hickson New York, N.Y.
* Mr. Charles T. Hill London, Eng.
Mr. William S. Hodges Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. Hodges Philadelphia, Pa.
@ Master W.S. Hodges Jr. Philadelphia, Pa.
Master Dean W. Hodges Philadelphia, Pa.
* Master W.R.G. Holt Montreal, Can.
* Mr. Thomas Home Toronto, Canada.
@ Mr. Albert L. Hopkins New York, N.Y.
* Dr. J.T. Houghton Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Mr. Elbert Hubbard E. Aurora, N.Y.
Mrs. Hubbard E. Aurora, N.Y.
Miss P. Hutchinson England.
* Mr. C.T. Jeffery Chicago, Ill.
* Mr. Francis B. Jenkins New York, N.Y.
* Miss Rita Jolivet Paris, France.
@ Miss Margaret D. Jones Honolulu, Hawaii.
* Mr. W. Keeble Toronto, Canada.
* Mrs. Keeble Toronto, Canada.
Mr. Francis C. Kellett Tuckahoe, N.Y.
* Mr. Maitland Kempson Toronto, Canada.
* Dr. Owen Kenan New York, N.Y.
Mrs. C. Hickson Kennedy New York, N.Y.
Mr. Harry J. Keser Philadelphia, Pa.
@ Mrs. Keser Philadelphia, Pa.
* Mr. Geo. A. Kessler New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. Thos. B. King New York, N.Y.
Mr. Charles Klein London, Eng.
Mr. C. Harwood Knight Baltimore, Md.
Miss Elaine H. Knight Baltimore, Md.
* Mr. S.M. Knox Philadelphia, Pa.
Sir Hugh Lane England.
* Mrs. H.H. Lassetter London, Eng.
* Mr. F. Lassetter London, Eng.
* Mr. Charles E. Lauriat Jr. Boston, Mass.
Mr. C.A. Learoyd Sidney, Aus.
* Mrs. Learoyd Sidney, Aus.
* and maid (_Marg't Hurley_)
* Mr. James Leary New York, N.Y.
Mr. Evan A. Leigh Liverpool, Eng.
* Mr. Isaac Lehmann New York, N.Y.
* Miss Dilane Lehmann Booked on Board
* Mr. Martin Lehmann Booked on Board
Mr. Joseph Levinson Jr. Canada.
Mr. Gerald A. Letts New York, N.Y.
Mr. F. Guy Lewin England.
* Mrs. Popham Lobb New York, N.Y.
* Mr. R.R. Lockhart Toronto, Canada.
Mr. Allen D. Loney New York, N.Y.
Mrs. Loney New York, N.Y.
and maid (_Elise Boutellier_)
* Miss Virginia Loney New York, N.Y.
Mrs. A.C. Luck Worcester, Mass.
Master Eldridge C. Luck Worcester, Mass.
Master Kenneth T. Luck Worcester, Mass.
* Mr. John W. McConnel Manchester, Eng.
Mr. William McLean France.
Mr. F.E. MacLennan Glasgow, Scot.
* Mr. Louis McMurray Toronto, Canada.
Mr. Fred. A. McMurtry New York, N.Y.
@ Mrs. Henry D. Macdona New York, N.Y.
* Lady Mackworth Cardiff, Wales.
Mr. Stewart S. Mason Boston, Mass.
@ Mrs. Mason Boston, Mass.
* Mr. Arthur T. Mathews Montreal, Can.
@ Rev. Basil W. Maturin Oxford, Eng.
Mr. George Maurice London, Eng.
Mr. Maurice B. Medbury New York, N.Y.
Capt. J.B. Miller Washington, D.C.
Mr. Charles V. Mills New York, N.Y.
Mr. James D. Mitchell England.
Mr. R.T. Moodie Gainesville, Tex.
* Mrs. M.S. Morell Toronto, Canada.
Mr. K.J. Morrison Canada.
* Mr. G.G. Mosley England.
Mrs. C. Munro Liverpool, Eng.
Mr. Herman A. Myers New York, N.Y.
* Mr. Joseph L. Myers New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. F.G. Naumann England.
@ Mr. Gustaf Adolf Nyblom Canada.
* Mr. F. Orr-Lewis Montreal, Can.
* and manservant (_Geo. Slingsby_)
* Mrs. A.B. Osborne Hamilton, Ont.
Mrs. T.O. Osbourne Glasgow, Scot.
* Mrs. F. Padley Liverpool, Eng.
@ Mr. Frederico G. Padila Liverpool, Eng.
(_Consul Gen'l for Mexico at Liverpool_)
Mr. J.H. Page New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. M.N. Pappadopoulo Greece.
* Mrs. Pappadopoulo Greece.
* Mr. Frank Partridge New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. Charles E. Paynter Liverpool, Eng.
* Miss Irene Paynter Liverpool, Eng.
Mr. F.A. Peardon Toronto, Can.
@ Dr. F.S. Pearson New York, N.Y.
@ Mrs. Pearson New York, N.Y.
* Major F. Warren Pearl New York, N.Y.
* Mrs. Pearl New York, N.Y.
* infant
and maid (_Greta Lorenson_)
Miss Amy W.W. Pearl New York, N.Y.
Miss Susan W. Pearl New York, N.Y.
* and maid (_Alice Lines_)
* Master Stuart Duncan D. Pearl New York, N.Y.
Mr. Edwin Perkins England.
* Mr. Frederick J. Perry Buffalo, N.Y.
@ Mr. Albert Norris Perry Buffalo, N.Y.
* Mr. Wallace B. Phillips New York, N.Y.
* Mr. Robinson Pirie Hamilton, Ont.
* Mr. William J. Pierpoint Liverpool, Eng.
@ Mr. Charles A. Plamondon Chicago, Ill.
@ Mrs. Plamondon Chicago, Ill.
Mr. Henry Pollard Washington, D.C.
* Miss Theodate Pope Farmington, Ct.
and maid (_Emily Robinson_) London, Eng.
* Mr. Eugene H. Posen New York, N.Y.
Mr. George A. Powell Toronto, Ont.
* Mr. Norman A. Ratcliff England.
* Mr. Robert Rankin New York, N.Y.
* Mr. A.L. Rhys-Evans Cardiff, Wales.
Mr. Chas. E. Robinson Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. Robinson Philadelphia, Pa.
Mr. Frank A. Rogers Toronto, Canada.
@ Mrs. Rogers Toronto, Canada.
* Mr. Percy W. Rogers Toronto, Can.
Mr. Thos. W. Rumble Toronto, Canada.
Mrs. G. Sterling Ryerson Toronto, Canada.
* Miss Laura Ryerson Toronto, Canada.
Mr. Leo M. Schwabacher Baltimore, Md.
* Mr. August W. Schwarte New York, N.Y.
Mr. Max M. Schwarcz New York, N.Y.
Mr. A.J. Scott Manila, P.I.
@ Mr Percy W. Seccombe Peterboro, N.H.
Miss Elizabeth Seccombe Peterboro, N.H.
Mr. Victor E. Shields Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mrs. Shields Cincinnati, Ohio.
@ Mrs. R.D. Shymer New York, N.Y.
Mr. Jacobus Sigurd Sweden.
Mr. Thomas J. Silva Temple, Texas.
* Mr. Thomas Slidell New York, N.Y.
* Mrs. Jessie Taft Smith Braceville, O.
Mr. Henry B. Sonneborn Baltimore, Md.
@ Comd'r. J. Foster Stackhouse London, Eng.
@ Mrs. George W. Stephens Montreal, Can.
and maid (_Elise Oberlin_)
Master John H.C. Stephens Montreal, Can.
and nurse (_Carolina Milten_)
Mr. Duncan Stewart Montreal, Can.
Mr. Herbert S. Stone New York, N.Y.
@ Mr. Martin van Straaten London, Eng.
Mr. Julius Strauss Hamilton, Ont.
Mr. Alex. Stuart Glasgow, Scot.
* Mr. Charles F. Sturdy Montreal, Can.
* Mr. R.L. Taylor Montreal, Can.
Mr. F.B. Tesson Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. Tesson Philadelphia, Pa.
* Mr. D.A. Thomas Cardiff, Wales.
Mr. E. Blish Thompson Seymour, Indiana.
* Mrs. Thompson Seymour, Indiana.
@ Mr. Georges Tiberghien France.
* Mr. R.J. Timmis Gainesville, Texas.
* Mr. F.E.O. Tootal London, Eng.
* Mr. Ernest Townley Toronto, Canada.
@ Mr. Isaac F. Trumbull Bridgeport, Conn.
* Mr. Scott Turner Lansing, Mich.
* Mr. G.H. Turton Melbourne, Australia.
Mr. Alfred G. Vanderbilt New York, N.Y.
and valet (_Ronald Denyer_)
* Mr. W.A.F. Vassar London, Eng.
@ Mr. G.L.P. Vernon London, Eng.
* Mrs A.T. Wakefield Honolulu, Hawaii.
Mr. David Walker New York, N.Y.
Mrs. Wallace Watson Montreal, Can.
Mrs. Anthony Watson England.
@ Mrs. Catherine E. Willey Lake Forest, Ill.
Mr. Thomas H. Williams Liverpool, Eng.
Mr. Charles F. Williamson New York, N.Y.
Mr. Winter Liverpool, Eng.
* Mrs. A.S. Witherbee New York, N.Y.
Master A.S. Witherbee Jr. (_3 yrs._) New York, N.Y.
Mr. Lothrop Withington Boston, Mass.
Mr. Walter Wright Scotland.
@ Mr. Arthur John Wood England.
* Mr. Robt. C. Wright Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. J.M. Young Hamilton, Ont.
Mrs. Young Hamilton, Ont.
* Mr. Philip J. Yung Antwerp, Belgium
Total number of Saloon Passengers 293
Survivors marked *
Identified Dead marked @
(This list, as corrected to May 22, 1915--the final revision--is a
facsimile of the broadside issued by the Cunard Company. It will be
noted that all of Paul Crompton's family perished, including himself,
his wife, and six children.)]
The characteristic courage of the Irish and British people was
manifested at the time of this terrible disaster, the Coroner continued,
and there was no panic. He charged that the responsibility "lay on the
German Government and the whole people of Germany, who collaborated in
the terrible crime."
"I propose to ask the jury," he continued, "to return the only verdict
possible for a self-respecting jury, that the men in charge of the
German submarine were guilty of willful murder."
The jury then retired and prepared their verdict.
Descriptions by Survivors
SUBMARINE CREW OBSERVED.
[By The Associated Press.]
LONDON, May 10.--The Fishguard correspondent of The Daily News quotes
the Rev. Mr. Guvier of the Church of England's Canadian Railway Mission,
a Lusitania survivor, as saying that when the ship sank a submarine rose
to the surface and came within 300 yards of the scene.
"The crew stood stolidly on the deck," he said, "and surveyed their
handiwork. I could distinguish the German flag, but it was impossible to
see the number of the submarine, which disappeared after a few minutes."
ERNEST COWPER'S ACCOUNT.
_QUEENSTOWN, Saturday, May 8, 3:18 A.M.--A sharp lookout for submarines
was kept aboard the Lusitania as she approached the Irish coast,
according to Ernest Cowper, a Toronto newspaper man, who was among the
survivors landed at Queenstown._
_He said that after the ship was torpedoed there was no panic among the
crew, but that they went about the work of getting passengers into the
boats in a prompt and efficient manner._
"As we neared the coast of Ireland," said Mr. Cowper, "we all joined in
the lookout, for a possible attack by a submarine was the sole topic of
conversation.
"I was chatting with a friend at the rail about 2 o'clock, when suddenly
I caught a glimpse of the conning tower of a submarine about a thousand
yards distant. I immediately called my friend's attention to it.
Immediately we both saw the track of a torpedo, followed almost
instantly by an explosion. Portions of splintered hull were sent flying
into the air, and then another torpedo struck. The ship began to list to
starboard.
"The crew at once proceeded to get the passengers into boats in an
orderly, prompt, and efficient manner. Miss Helen Smith appealed to me
to save her. I placed her in a boat and saw her safely away. I got into
one of the last boats to leave.
"Some of the boats could not be launched, as the vessel was sinking.
There was a large number of women and children in the second cabin.
Forty of the children were less than a year old."
From interviews with passengers it appears that when the torpedoes burst
they sent forth suffocating fumes, which had their effect on the
passengers, causing some of them to lose consciousness.
Two stokers, Byrne and Hussey of Liverpool, gave a few details. They
said the submarine gave no notice and fired two torpedoes, one hitting
No. 1 stoke hole and the second the engine room. The first torpedo was
discharged at 2 o'clock. In twenty-five minutes the great liner
disappeared.
The Cunard Line agent states that the total number of persons aboard the
Lusitania was 2,160.
MR. KESSLER'S DESCRIPTION.
[Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
_LONDON, Monday, May 10.--Survivors of the Lusitania arriving in London
yesterday from Queenstown told some of their tragic experiences to_ THE
NEW YORK TIMES _correspondent._
_They forcibly expressed the opinion that the Lusitania was badly
handled in being run into waters where it was known submarines were
waiting. Although not for a moment attempting to shift the blame from
the "murderous Germans" for the sinking of a ship full of innocent
passengers, they insisted that the officers of the steamship, knowing
that submarines were lurking off the Irish coast, ought to have taken a
different path to avoid all danger...._
_George A. Kessler of New York, in an interview, gave the following
description of the Lusitania sinking and of preliminary incidents
aboard:_
"On Wednesday I saw the crew taking tarpaulins from the boats, and I
went up to the Purser and said:
"'It's all right drilling your crew, but why don't you drill your
passengers?'
"The Purser said he thought it was a good idea, and added, 'Why not tell
Captain Turner, Sir?'
"The next day I had a conversation with the Captain, and to him
suggested that the passengers should receive tickets, each with a number
denoting the number of the boat he should make for in case anything
untoward happened. I added that this detail would minimize difficulties
in the event of trouble.
"The Captain replied that this suggestion was made after the disaster to
the Titanic. The Cunard people had thought it over and considered it
impracticable. He added that, of course, he could not act on the advice
given, because he should first have the authority of the Board of Trade.
"I talked with the Captain generally about the torpedo scare, which
neither of us regarded as of any moment. The Captain (you understand, of
course, that we were smoking and chatting) explained his plans to me. He
said that they were then slowing down, (in fact, we were going only
about eighteen knots,) and that the ship would be slowed down until they
got somewhere further on the voyage, and then they would go at all speed
and get over the war zone.
"I asked him what the war zone was, and he said 500 miles from
Liverpool.
"According to the next day's run, ending about two hours before the
mishap occurred, we were about 380 or 390 miles from Liverpool. So we
were in the war zone, and we were going only at a speed of eighteen
knots at the critical moment.
"For the two days previous, as well as I remember, the mileage was 506
and 501, and on Thursday the mileage was 488. On Friday I was playing
bridge when the pool was put up on the day's run and I heard twenty
numbers go from 480 to 499. I thought it would be a grand speculation to
buy the lowest number, as we were going so slow. I did buy it, and paid
$100. The amount in the pool was between $300 and $350, and when the
pool was declared, I was the winner.
"The steward offered to hand over the money if I would go to his cabin,
but I said that he could pay me later.
"Shortly after the steward had left me I was on the upper deck and
looking out to sea. I saw all at once the wash of a torpedo, indicated
by a snake-like churn of the surface of the water. It may have been
about thirty feet away. And then came a thud."
_Mr. Kessler told of the general rush for the deck and the second
explosion. Then he continued:_
"Mr. Berth and his wife, from New York, first-class passengers, were the
last ones I spoke to. I should say that all the passengers in the dining
saloon had come up on deck. The upper deck was crowded, and, of course,
the passengers were wondering what was the matter, few really believing
what it proved to be. Still they began to lower boats, and then things
began to happen very quickly.
"Mr. Berth was trying to persuade his wife to get into a boat. She said
she would not do so without him. He said, 'Oh, come along, my darling; I
will be all right,' and I added to his persuasions.
"I saw him help her into the boat with the ropes of the davits. I fell
into the same boat, and we were slipped down into the water over the
side of the liner, which was bulging out, the list being the other way.
The boat struck the water, and after some seconds (it may have been a
minute) I looked up and cried out, 'My God, the Lusitania is gone!'
"We saw the entire bulk, which had been almost upright just a few
seconds before, suddenly lurch over away from us. Then she seemed to
stand upright in the water, and the next instant the keel of the vessel
caught the keel of the boat in which we were floating, and we were
thrown into the water. There were only about thirty people in the boat,
and I should say that all were stokers or third-class passengers. There
may have been one or two first class; I cannot recall who they were.
"When the boat was overturned I sank fifteen or twenty feet. I thought I
was gone. However, I had my lifebelt around me, and managed to rise
again to the surface. There I floated for possibly ten or fifteen
minutes, when I saw and made a grab at a collapsible lifeboat at which
other passengers were also grabbing. We managed to get it shipshape and
clamber in. There were eight or nine in the boat, all stokers except one
or two third-class passengers.
"It was partly filled with water and in the scramble which occurred the
boat was overturned, and once more we were pitched into the water. This
occurred, I should say, eight times, the boat usually righting itself.
Before we were picked up by the Bluebell six of the party of eight or
nine were lying drowned in the bilge water which was in the bottom."
_When asked what he thought the effect of the sinking would be on the
United States, Mr. Kessler answered:_
"My God! what can America do? Nothing will bring back these people to
life.
"It was cold-blooded, deliberate murder, and nothing else--the greatest
murder the world has ever known. How will going to war mend that?"
_To the question whether the loss of the liner could have been avoided,
Mr. Kessler said slowly:_
"That is a very serious question, and I hesitate to give an opinion on
matters which are purely technical.
"Still, it seems to me as a landsman, and one who has crossed the ocean
a great many times, that the safety of the Lusitania lay in speed. We
were in the war zone by 140 or 150 miles, and every moment that we
dawdled at fifteen or eighteen knots was an increase of our risk of
being torpedoed.
"Again, (and of course I merely make the comment,) I cannot understand
why there were no destroyers or patrol boats about, as we certainly had
been led to expect there would be when we reached the war zone.
"The ship was torpedoed at 2:05 P.M. My watch stopped at 2:30. It was 5
o'clock when I was picked up by the Bluebell, and it was 10 o'clock
before we were landed in Queenstown."
CHARLES FROHMAN'S DEATH.
[Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
_LONDON, May 10.--A highly interesting story was told tonight by Rita
Jolivet, the actress, who stood calmly chatting with Charles Frohman and
Alfred G. Vanderbilt during the last tense moments before the Lusitania
sank. The three of them, together with G.L.S. Vernon, Miss Jolivet's
brother-in-law, and Mr. Scott, who had come all the way from Japan to
enlist, joined hands and stood waiting to face death together. Miss
Jolivet said:_
We stood talking about the Germans and the rumor which had gained
currency that a man, obviously of German origin, had been arrested for
tampering with the wireless. The story was that the man had been
discovered at 1 o'clock in the morning a day or two before doing
something to the wireless apparatus and had been immediately imprisoned.
I did not see the man arrested, so I am not sure about the story's
truth, but there were good grounds for believing it.
We determined not to enter the boats, and just a minute or two before
the end Mr. Frohman said with a smile: "Why fear death? It is the most
beautiful adventure that life gives us."
Mr. Scott fetched three lifebelts, one for Mr. Vanderbilt, one for Mr.
Frohman, and one for my brother-in-law. He said he was not going to wear
one himself, and my brother-in-law also refused to put his on. I hear
that Mr. Vanderbilt gave his to a lady, Mrs. Scott. I helped to put a
lifebelt on Mr. Frohman. My brother-in-law took hold of my hand and I
grasped the hand of Mr. Frohman, who, as you know, was lame. Mr. Scott
took hold of his other hand, and Mr. Vanderbilt joined the row, too. We
had made up our minds to die together.
Then Mr. Frohman, in a perfectly calm voice, said: "They've done for us;
we had better get out." He knew that his beautiful adventure was about
to begin. He had hardly spoken when, with a tremendous roar, a great
wave swept along the deck and we were all divided in a moment. I have
not seen any of those brave men alive since. Mr. Frohman, Mr.
Vanderbilt, and my brother-in-law were drowned. When Mr. Frohman's body
was recovered there was the most beautiful and peaceful smile upon his
lips.
VANDERBILT'S HEROIC END.
[Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
_LONDON, May 9.--Two survivors of the Lusitania disaster have given
testimony that Alfred G. Vanderbilt died heroically; that he went to
death to save the life of a woman._
_Thomas Slidell, a friend of Mr. Vanderbilt, who lives at the
Knickerbocker Club in New York, and was traveling with him, told of the
sacrifice first. Then tonight Norman Ratcliffe, who lives in Gillingham,
Kent, and was returning from Japan, offered verification. Mr. Ratcliffe
was rescued, after clinging to a box in the sea for three hours. With
him was a steward of the Lusitania. He said:_
This steward told me he had seen Mr. Vanderbilt on the Lusitania's deck,
shortly after the ship was struck, with a lifebelt about his body. When
the ship gave every indication that it would sink within a few minutes,
the steward said, Mr. Vanderbilt took off his lifebelt and gave it to a
woman who passed him on the deck, trembling with fear of the fate she
expected to meet. The steward said Mr. Vanderbilt turned back, as though
to look for another belt, and he saw him no more.
_Telling of his last moments on the ship and his last sight of Mr.
Vanderbilt, Mr. Slidell said:_
I saw Alfred G. Vanderbilt only a few minutes before I left the ship. He
was standing with a lifebelt in his hand. A woman came up to him, and I
saw him place the belt around the woman. He had none for himself, and I
know that he could not swim.
Only the day before we had been talking of a day and a dawn some years
ago when we went down the bay at New York in his yacht and waited to
welcome and dip our flag to the Lusitania on her maiden voyage. We saw
the first and last of her. Vanderbilt, who had given largely to the Red
Cross, was returning to England in order to offer a fleet of wagons and
himself as driver to the Red Cross Society, for he said he felt every
day that he was not doing enough.
KLEIN AND HUBBARD LOST.
_Oliver O. Bernard, scenic artist of Covent Garden, said:_
Only one or two of the shining marks which disasters at sea seem
invariably to involve have lived to tell the Lusitania's tale.
Vanderbilt, the sportsman, is gone. Genial Charles Klein, the
playwright, is gone. That erratic American literary genius, Elbert
Hubbard, is gone, and with him a wife to whom he seemed particularly
devoted. And Charles Frohman is gone.
Frohman's was the only body I could recognize in the Queenstown
mortuary, and perhaps it will interest his many friends in London and
New York to know that the famous manager's face in death gives
uncommonly convincing evidence that he died without a struggle. It wears
a serenely peaceful look.
Frohman must have found it more difficult for him to take his place in a
lifeboat than any other man on the ship. He was quite lame, and hobbled
about on deck laboriously with a heavy cane. He seldom came to the
general dining saloon, either out of sensitiveness or because of
distress caused by his leg.
I last saw Alfred G. Vanderbilt standing at the port entrance to the
grand saloon. He stood there the personification of sportsmanlike
coolness. In his right hand was grasped what looked to me like a large
purple leather jewel case. It may have belonged to Lady Mackworth, as
Mr. Vanderbilt had been much in company of the Thomas party during the
trip, and evidently had volunteered to do Lady Mackworth the service of
saving her gems for her. Mr. Vanderbilt was absolutely unperturbed. In
my eyes, he was the figure of a gentleman waiting unconcernedly for a
train. He had on a dark striped suit, and was without cap or other head
covering.
Germany Justifies the Deed
[It should be borne in mind that the subjoined official and
semi-official out-givings on behalf of Germany, announcing the
destruction of the Lusitania, justifying it, striving to implicate the
British Government, and to some extent modifying the original war zone
proclamation of Feb. 18, 1915, were published prior to the receipt by
the German Imperial Government of President Wilson's note of May 13.
British official rejoinders and a statement by the Collector of the Port
of New York are included under this head.--Editor.]
GERMAN OFFICIAL REPORT.
_BERLIN, May 8, (via wireless to London Sunday, May 9.)--The following
official communication was issued tonight:_
The Cunard liner Lusitania was yesterday torpedoed by a German submarine
and sank.
The Lusitania was naturally armed with guns, as were recently most of
the English mercantile steamers. Moreover, as is well known here, she
had large quantities of war material in her cargo.
Her owners, therefore, knew to what danger the passengers were exposed.
They alone bear all the responsibility for what has happened.
Germany, on her part, left nothing undone to repeatedly and strongly
warn them. The Imperial Ambassador in Washington even went so far as to
make a public warning, so as to draw attention to this danger. The
English press sneered at the warning and relied on the protection of the
British fleet to safeguard Atlantic traffic.
BRITAIN'S DENIAL.
_LONDON, May 8.--The British Government today made the following
announcement:_
The statement appearing in some newspapers that the Lusitania was armed
is wholly false.
COLLECTOR MALONE'S DENIAL.
_In_ THE NEW YORK TIMES _of May 9, 1915, the following report appeared:_
Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the Port, gave an official denial
yesterday to the German charge that the Lusitania had guns mounted when
the left this port on Saturday, May 1. He said:
"This report is not correct. The Lusitania was inspected before sailing,
as is customary.
"No guns were found, mounted or unmounted, and the vessel sailed without
any armament. No merchant ship would be allowed to arm in this port and
leave the harbor."
This statement was given out by the Collector yesterday morning at his
home, 270 Riverside Drive.
Herman Winter, Assistant Manager of the Cunard Line, 22 State Street,
who was on the Lusitania for three hours before she sailed for
Liverpool, denied the report that she ever carried any guns.
"It is true," Mr. Winter said, "that she had aboard 4,200 cases of
cartridges, but they were cartridges for small arms, packed in separate
cases, and could not have injured the vessel by exploding. They
certainly do not come under the classification of ammunition. The United
States authorities would not permit us to carry ammunition, classified
as such by the military authorities, on a passenger liner. For years we
have been sending small-arms cartridges abroad on the Lusitania."
[Illustration: SIR ROBERT BORDEN, K.C.M.G.
Prime Minister of Canada]
[Illustration: H.R.H. FIELD MARSHAL THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT
Uncle of George V. and Governor General of Canada
_(Photo from P.S. Rogers.)_]
"The Lusitania had 1,250 steel shrapnel cases, but they were empty.
There was no explosive of any sort aboard. As to the report that the
Lusitania had guns aboard, I cannot assert too strongly that it is
positively untrue. There were no guns whatever aboard. The Lusitania was
an unarmed passenger steamer. Furthermore she never has been armed, and
never carried an unmounted gun or rifle out of port in times of war or
peace."
"Then you unqualifiedly declare that the Lusitania was not armed against
submarines?" he was asked.
"The ship," Mr Winter replied, "was as defenseless against undersea and
underhanded attack as a Hoboken ferryboat in the North River would be
against one of the United States battleships."
Captain D.J. Roberts, Marine Superintendent of the Cunard Line, said
yesterday that he was prepared to testify under oath in any court and
from his personal knowledge that the Lusitania did not carry any guns
when she sailed from New York at 12:28 P.M. on May 1 for Liverpool.
"It is my invariable custom to go through the passenger ships every day
they are in port," he said, "and I made my last inspection of the
Lusitania on sailing day at 7 A.M. There were no guns or plates or
mountings where guns could be fitted on the Lusitania, nor have there
been since she has been in the service. The ship has never carried
troops or been chartered by the British Government for any purpose
whatsoever.
"In order that there should be no mistake about the ensigns flown by
British merchant vessels, the Admiralty ordered after war had been
declared that only the red ensign, a square red flag with the union jack
in the corner, should be shown at the stern of a merchantman, and the
white St. George's ensign by all war vessels, whether armored or
unarmored. These are the only two flags that are hoisted on British
ships today, with the exception of the company's house flag, when they
are entering port or passing at sea, and the mail flag on the foremast,
which every steamship flies coming in to denote that she has mails on
board.
"Before the war both the Lusitania and the Mauretania flew the blue
ensign of the Royal Naval Reserve, which any British merchant vessel is
allowed to do if her commander and officers and two-thirds of the crew
belong to the reserve."
NEUTRALS IN THE WAR ZONE.
[German Foreign Office Note.]
[Special to The New York Times.]
_WASHINGTON, May 11.--Secretary Bryan received from Ambassador Gerard at
Berlin today the text of an official declaration by the German
Government of its policy with respect to American and other neutral
ships meeting German submarines in the naval war zone around the British
Isles and in the North Sea. This declaration was handed to Mr. Gerard by
the German Foreign Office which explained that it was being issued as a
"circular statement" in regard to "mistaken attacks by German submarines
on commerce vessels of neutral nations."_
First--The Imperial German Government has naturally no intention of
causing to be attacked by submarines or aircraft such neutral ships of
commerce in the zone of naval warfare, more definitely described in the
notice of the German Admiralty staff of Feb. 4 last, as have been guilty
of no hostile act. On the contrary, the most definite instructions have
repeatedly been issued to German war vessels to avoid attacks on such
ships under all circumstances. Even when such ships have contraband of
war on board they are dealt with by submarines solely according to the
rules of international law applying to prize warfare.
Second--Should a neutral ship nevertheless come to harm through German
submarines or aircraft on account of an unfortunate (X) [mistake?] in
the above-mentioned zone of naval warfare, the German Government will
unreservedly recognize its responsibility therefor. In such a case it
will express its regrets and afford damages without first instituting a
prize court action.
Third--It is the custom of the German Government as soon as the sinking
of a neutral ship in the above-mentioned zone of naval warfare is
ascribed to German war vessels to institute an immediate investigation
into the cause. If grounds appear thereby to be given for association of
such a hypothesis the German Navy places itself in communication with
the interested neutral Government so that the latter may also institute
an investigation. If the German Government is thereby convinced that the
ship has been destroyed by Germany's war vessels, it will not delay in
carrying out the provisions of Paragraph 2 above. In case the German
Government, contrary to the viewpoint of the neutral Government is not
convinced by the result of the investigation, the German Government has
already on several occasions declared itself ready to allow the question
to be decided by an international investigation commission, according to
Chapter 3 of The Hague Convention of Oct. 18, 1907, for the peaceful
solution of international disputes.
_This circular is understood to have been rather reassuring to high
officials of the United States Government, although it does not cover
the attitude of the German Government toward the treatment to be
accorded to Americans and other neutral noncombatants, men, women, and
children, on board vessels flying the flag of England, France, or
Russia. The absence of any allusion to the principle involved in the
Lusitania case is believed here to mean that the statement was prepared
and was ready for promulgation before the destruction of the Lusitania
on Friday. Several days usually have been required for messages to come
to Washington from Ambassador Gerard, by roundabout cable relay route,
and it is believed that this dispatch is no exception in this respect._
DR. DERNBURG'S DEFENSE.
_The sinking of the Lusitania as a man-of-war was justified by Dr.
Bernhard Dernburg, late German Colonial Secretary and recognized as
quasi-official spokesman of the German Imperial Government in the United
States, in a statement issued in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 8, 1915. The
statement reads:_
Great Britain declared the North Sea a war zone in the Winter. No
protest was made by the United States or any neutral. Great Britain held
up all neutral ships carrying non-contraband goods, detaining them,
buying or confiscating their cargoes.
Great Britain constantly changed the contraband lists, so no foodstuffs
of any kind have actually reached Germany since the war began.
International law says foodstuffs destined for the civil population must
pass. It does not recognize any right to starve out a whole people.
As a consequence, and in retaliation, Germany declared the waters around
England a war zone, and started a submarine warfare. It became known in
February that British ships were flying the American flag as a
protection.
Great Britain replied by officially declaring its purpose to starve
120,000,000 Germans and Austrians. The United States very thoughtfully
tried to mediate, proposing that foodstuffs should be passed and
submarine warfare be stopped.
Germany agreed; England turned the proposal down. Then, in order to
protect American passengers, they were warned by public advertisement of
the danger of sailing under the flag of a belligerent.
Vessels carrying contraband of war are liable to destruction unless they
can be taken to a port of the country that captures them. The right of
search need not be exercised if it is certain such ships carry
contraband.
Oil is contraband, like war ammunition and all metals. The master of the
Gulflight (an American oil tank steamer sunk recently) swore before
customs officials to his cargo of oil for France.
The master of the Lusitania similarly swore to his manifest of cargo of
metals and ammunition. Both the Gulflight and the Lusitania carried
contraband when attacked, it is obvious.
The Lusitania's manifest showed she carried for Liverpool 260,000 pounds
of brass; 60,000 pounds of copper; 189 cases of military goods; 1,271
cases of ammunition, and for London, 4,200 cases of cartridges.
Vessels of that kind can be seized and be destroyed under The Hague
rules without any respect to a war zone. The Lusitania was a British
auxiliary cruiser, a man-of-war. On the same day she sailed the
Cameronia, another Cunarder, was commandeered in New York Harbor for
military service.
The fact is that the Lusitania was a British war vessel under orders of
the Admiralty to carry a cargo of contraband of war. The passengers had
had full warning, first by the German note to England in February,
second by advertisement.
Germany wants to do anything reasonable so as not to make the United
States or its citizens suffer in any way. But she cannot do so unless
Americans will take necessary precautions to protect themselves from
dangers of which they are cognizant.
What Germany has done, she has done by way of retaliation after her
offer through President Wilson, regarding submarine warfare, was turned
down and after Britain declared the war was directed toward the
120,000,000 innocent noncombatants, women and children.
Americans can do their own thinking when the facts are laid before them.
I have really no authority to speak. But my mission in the United
States is to inform your people of the German attitude. The German
Ambassador, Count von Bernstorff, can speak only in official phrases. I
talk straight out, bluntly.
_Dr. Dernburg put much stress on the fact that the Cunard Line officials
did not warn American passengers that the ship carried a large store of
ammunition and other contraband of war. He continued:_
Did they issue a warning? I would like an answer. If that warning was
not given, American passengers were being used as a cloak for England's
war shipments.
It is not reasonable that such a vessel could not be sunk because there
were American passengers on board. They had been warned by Germany of
the danger.
England could hire one American to travel to and fro on each of her
ships, carry on shipments of arms, and place her men-of-war anywhere, if
American passengers can be used as shields.
_Asked whether he expected action by the United States because of the
Lusitania's sinking, Dr. Dernburg said:_
That is a question I cannot discuss. I can only say that any ship flying
the American flag and not carrying contraband of war is and will be as
safe as a cradle. But any other ship, not so exempt, is as unsafe as a
volcano--or as was the Lusitania.
_When he was told that the Transylvania, another Cunard liner, sailed
from New York on May 7, to cover the same route as the Lusitania, Dr.
Dernburg said:_
I can only say that the German warnings will reappear henceforth by
advertisement. That is significant.
German Press Opinion
_Contrasting with the attitude of the German-American press since the
issuance of President Wilson's note of May 13 to the German Imperial
Government, the comment of the press in Germany has been in accordance
with the German official statements put forth prior to the receipt of
the American note. Under date of May 9, 1915, the following dispatch by
The Associated Press was received from Berlin:_
_Commenting on the destruction Lusitania, the Berliner Tageblatt says:_
With deep emotion we learn of the destruction of the Lusitania, in
which countless men lost their lives. We lament with sincere hearts
their hard fate, but we know we are completely devoid of blame.
We may be sure that through the English telegrams communicated to the
world indignation will again be raised against Germany, but we must hope
that calm reflection will later pronounce the verdict of condemnation
against the British Admiralty.
The many who are now sorrowing may raise complaint against Winston
Spencer Churchill, First Lord of the British Admiralty, who, by
conscienceless instructions which must bring him the curse of mankind,
conjured up this cruel warfare....
The Lusitania was a warship on the list of English auxiliary cruisers
and carried armament of twelve strongly mounted guns. She was more
strongly mounted with guns than any German armored cruiser. As an
auxiliary cruiser she must have been prepared for attack.
_Count von Reventlow, the naval expert, says, in the Tages Zeitung:_
The American Government probably will make the case the basis for
diplomatic action, but it could have prevented the loss of American
lives by appropriate instructions. It is the American Government's
fault, therefore, if it did not take Germany's war zone declarations
seriously enough.
_The writer declares, further, that Germany had full and trustworthy
information that the Lusitania carried a cargo of war material, as she
had on previous trips._
_The Lokal Anzeiger also assumes that the steamship was carrying
munitions of war, and maintains that this and "the fact that she was a
fully armed cruiser completely justifies her destruction under the laws
of warfare."_
_The Kreuz Zeitung, after referring to the warning issued by Ambassador
von Bernstorff, adds:_
If citizens of neutral States were lost with the sunken ship they must
bear the full blame.
_Some papers further testify the sinking of the steamer because on a
previous occasion she had resorted to the expedient of flying the
American flag. Germania, the clerical organ, deprecates probable
attempts by Germany's antagonists to make moral capital against her out
of the sinking of the Lusitania and the loss of life. The paper says:_
We can look forward to such efforts with a clear conscience, for we have
proceeded correctly. We can only answer to those who place their
sympathies above justice, that war is war.
_An editorial article in the Frankfurter Zeitung was quoted in an
Amsterdam dispatch to The London Times of May 10, as follows:_
The Lusitania has been sent to the bottom. That is the announcement
which must arouse measureless horror among many thousands.
A giant ship of the British merchant fleet, a vessel of over 31,000
tons, one of the most famous of the fast steamers of the
British-American passenger service, a ship full of people, who had
little or nothing to do with the war, has been attacked and sunk by a
German torpedo. This is the announcement which in a few words indicates
a mighty catastrophe to a ship with 2,000 people aboard.
We always feel that it is tragic and all too hard when war inflicts
wounds on those who do not carry its weapons.
We lament similarly the fate of the unfortunate villages and towns where
war rages and the innocent victims of bombs who, far behind the
trenches, and often without our being able to estimate the meaning of
this murder, are snatched from the ranks of the unarmed.
Much more terrible is the fate of those who on the high sea, many
hundreds in number, suddenly see death before their eyes.
A German war vessel has sunk the ship. It has done its duty.
For the German Navy the sinking of the Lusitania means an extraordinary
success. Its destruction demolished the last fable with which the people
of England consoled themselves; on which hostile shipping relied when it
dared to defy the German warnings.
We do not need to seek grounds to justify the destruction of a British
ship. She belonged to the enemy and brought us harm. She has fallen to
our shots.
The enemy and the whole world were warned that he who ventured to trust
himself within her staked his life.
_The London Daily Mail of May 16 quotes from Der Tag the following
article by Herr von Rath, who is described as a favorite spokesman in
the Wilhelmstrasse:_
President Wilson is very much troubled by the drowning of so many
American citizens, and we Germans sincerely share his feelings, but we
see in the Lusitania affair one of the many cruel necessities which the
struggle for existence brings with it.
If, as English reports try to make us believe, Mr. Wilson is now
meditating revenge, we will not disturb him in this occupation, but
would only hope that his demands will be addressed to the right and not
the wrong quarters.
The right address is England. On the German side, everything was done to
warn American travelers from the impending peril, while British
irresponsibility and arrogance nullified the effect of the German
admonition.
Mr. Wilson is certainly in a precarious position. After showing himself
so weak in the face of the long and ruthless British provocations, he
has to play the strong man with Germany. Otherwise he will lose what
prestige he has left, and he knows that in the background the pretender
to the throne, Mr. Roosevelt, is lurking.
But what are the gallant shouters in the United States thinking about?
Should the United States send troops to take part in the fighting in
Flanders? The gigantic losses of their Canadian neighbors should not
exactly encourage them, from a military standpoint. Moreover the United
States are so weak that they have never even been able to impose their
will on Mexico or to do anything to the still more unpleasant Japanese
than to clench their fists in their pockets.
Should their superdreadnoughts cross the Atlantic Ocean? England has
not even useful work for her own ironclads in this war. What would
American warships do?
How about our Germanic brethren in the United States--the half million
German and Austro-Hungarian reservists who are not permitted to take
part in the defense of their home lands? Will they stand with folded
arms and see their fatherlands attacked?
What the United States has already done to support our enemies is, apart
from interference with private property, the worst which she could do to
us. We have nothing more to expect or to fear. Therefore, the threats of
our erstwhile friend Roosevelt leave us quite cold.
Let the United States also preserve up from warmed-up humanitarian
platitudes, for her craven submission to England's will is promoting an
outrageous scheme to deliver Germany's women and children to death by
starvation.
_A wireless dispatch from Berlin to Sayville, L.I., on May 16 reported
this outgiving by the Overseas News Agency:_
The whole German press, particularly the Cologne Gazette, the Frankfort
Gazette and the Berliner Tageblatt, deeply regret the loss of American
lives caused by the sinking of the Lusitania.
The Tages Zeitung and other newspapers state that the responsibility
rests with the British Government, which, attempting to starve the
peaceful civilian population of a big country, forced Germany in
self-defense to declare British waters a war zone; with shipowners, who
allowed passengers to embark on an armed steamer carrying war material,
and neglected German warnings against entering the war zone, and,
finally, with the English press.
Heartfelt sympathy is expressed by the German press and public for the
victims of the catastrophe and their relatives.
_From The Hague, via London, on May 19 a special cable to_ THE NEW YORK
TIMES _reported that, acting apparently under official instructions,
several leading German newspapers had on that day joined in a fierce
attack on the United States, making a concerted demand that Germany
refuse to yield to the American protest._
_Practically all these newspapers repeat the same arguments, declaring
that neutrals entering the war zone do so at their own risk, and that
the Americans aboard the Lusitania "were shielding contraband goods with
their persons." The Berliner Tageblatt said:_
The demand of the Washington Government must be rejected. Indeed, the
whole note hardly merits serious consideration. Its "firm tone" is only
a cloak to hide America's consciousness of her own culpability. If
American citizens, in spite of the warnings of the German Admiralty,
intrusted themselves on the Lusitania, the blame for the consequences
falls on themselves and their Government.
Can the United States affirm that there were no munitions aboard? If
not, it has not the shadow of a right to protest.
GERMAN-AMERICAN PRESS COMMENTS.
_Under the heading "The President's Note," Herman Ridder, editor of the
New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, one of the leading German-American
newspapers, said in that publication on May 15:_
The attitude assumed by the President, in the note delivered yesterday
to the German Government, toward the infringement of our rights on the
seas is diplomatically correct and must compel the support of the entire
American people.
We have suffered grievously at the hands of more than one of the
belligerent nations, but for the moment we are dealing only with
Germany. The note recites a series of events which the Government of the
United States could not silently pass by, and demands reparation for
American lives lost and American property already destroyed and a
guarantee that the rights of the United States and its citizens shall be
observed in the future. All this the German Government may well grant,
frankly and unreservedly and without loss of honor or prestige. It
would be incomprehensible if it did not do so.
The note admits, as most diplomatic documents do, of two
interpretations. They will be applied to it variously, as the reader is
inclined to pessimism or to optimism. It is a document in which lies the
choice of war or peace evenly balanced. I prefer to read into it all the
optimism which can be derived from the knowledge that two nations,
historically like-minded and bound to one another by strong ties of
friendship, seldom go to war over matters which can be settled without
resort to the arbitrament of arms. There is no question outstanding
today between the United States and Germany which cannot be settled
through diplomatic channels. I am inclined all the more to this optimism
by the temperament and character of the President of the United for the
time being.
I see in the note great possibilities for good. The undersea activities
of the German Navy in their effect upon the rights of the United States
and its citizens form, properly, the burden of its argument. We are
addressing Germany, and it is only over her submarine policy that our
interests have clashed with hers. The note takes cognizance, however, of
the inter-relation of Germany's submarine policy and the British policy
of "starving out Germany." The President has opened an avenue to the
full discussion of the rights and obligations of submarines in naval
warfare, and when Germany has stated her case it is not only not
impossible but it is highly probable that he will be asked to suggest a
modus vivendi by which the objectionable features of both these policies
may be removed.
The situation is basically triangular and it is difficult to see how the
settlement of our difficulties with Germany can escape involving at the
same time the rectification of Great Britain's methods of dealing with
the trade between neutral countries and her adversaries. It is but a
step from the position of mediator in a question of this sort to that of
mediator in the larger questions which make for war or peace. I believe
that the note contains the hopeful sign that these things may come to
pass.
The possibilities are there and the President, I am confident, will
overlook no possibility of advancing the cause of an early return of
peace to Europe nor leave any unturned stone to free this country of the
dangers and inconveniences which have become the concomitants of the
European struggle. Out of the troubled waters of our present relations
with Germany may thus come a great and, we may hope, a lasting good.
Should this happily be the case, the wisdom of the President will have
been confirmed and the thankfulness of the nation secured to him. On the
other hand, should his pacific hand be forced by those who wax fat and
wealthy on strife and the end should be disaster untold to the country,
he will still have the consolation of having fought a good battle and of
knowing that he was worsted only by the irresistible force of demagogy
in this country or abroad.
The subject with which the note deals is one of the same paramount
importance to Germany as it is to this country, and we must wait in
patience for Germany's reply; and I, for one, shall wait in the
confidence that when it is received it will be found to offer a basis
for a friendly solution of the questions which exist between Germany and
the United States and, not unlikely, for those further steps which I
have intimated.
_Under the caption "A Word of Earnest Advice," the evening edition of
the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung on May 14 issued the following warning to
Germans and German-Americans:_
The times are grave--even very grave.... A conflict between America and
the old Fatherland is threatening. Such a conflict must rend the heart
of every German-American who has acquired the rights of citizenship
here, who has founded a new career for himself and brought up his
children.
It is probably unnecessary to give any advice to the American citizens
among our readers in regard to their conduct in this grave time. A
series of years must pass before an immigrant can obtain his
citizenship papers; nobody is forced to become a citizen. Of the man who
has voluntarily become a citizen of the United States we may therefore
expect that he knows the conditions here obtaining the institutions of
the country of his adoption, as well as his rights and duties. But there
are thousands upon thousands of our readers who are not citizens, and to
them a serious word of advice shall now be addressed. In the grave time
of the conflict let efforts be made to avoid every personal conflict. It
is not necessarily cowardly to deny one's descent, but it is not
necessary, either, to make demonstrations.
Where there is life there is hope. The hope still is entertained that
the conflict will be eliminated, that the bond of friendship between
Germany and America will not be torn. Through thoughtless Hotspurs, who
allow themselves to be carried away by excitement and do not dam up the
flood of their eloquence, much mischief can be done. Keeping away from
the public places where the excited groups congregate and discuss the
burning questions of the day must be urgently recommended. It was for
many a sport to participate in these discussions, and with more or less
skill, but always energetically to champion the German cause.
The American is in general very liberal in regard to expression of
opinion. He likes to hear also the "other side," but it must not be
forgotten that in times of conflict the "other side" may be regarded as
the "enemy side." What has heretofore sounded harmless may now be
interpreted as a criticism made against the United States. But the
American as a rule repels a criticism made by strangers against the
affairs of his own country. Through heated discussions and unwise
demonstrations nothing is at present to be achieved but much can be
spoiled.
Grave times!
Calmness is now the first duty of citizenship--for all non-citizens.
But whoever is a citizen--he would be doing well in any event to stay
away from the streets and squares where the noisy ones congregate.
There are very many Germans whose motto here, too, is: "We Germans fear
God and nothing else in the world." But whoever bellows that into the
ears of hundreds of persons of hostile mind in the public market place
is either a fool or--weary of life.
In submarine warfare the Germans may be superior to the British, but in
undermining the latter are superior to the former. They have now
succeeded in undermining the friendship between Uncle Sam and the
Deutsche Michel. Let us hope that the fuse can be extinguished before
the explosion follows.
_Charles Neumeyer, editor of The Louisville (Ky.) Anzeiger, in a
dispatch on May 14 to_ THE NEW YORK TIMES, _said of President Wilson's
note:_
The American note to Berlin evidences the desire of the President to
hold Germany to strict accountability for the loss of American lives in
the Lusitania disaster. This proceeding on the part of the American
Government is eminently just and proper. If the President had failed to
hold Germany to strict accountability he would have failed of his
official duty. The President's forceful action cannot be but of salutary
effect in this country also. It gives the American people the assurance
that the Government at Washington is prepared and ready for the
protection of American citizens wherever they may chance to be.
There was a time when the Government did not resort to very vigorous
measures in this respect. American citizens while traveling abroad were
frequently subject to insult and violence, and the authorities at
Washington seemingly paid little heed to complaints. The result was that
the American citizen abroad was not held in that respect which emanates
from the knowledge that his home Government is prepared to go to the
length of its ability, if necessary, to accord him protection.
One or two of the demands formulated against Germany do not meet with
our approval. The President demands a cessation of German submarine
warfare on merchant vessels, but while the interruption of the
starvation plan adopted by England against the civil population is urged
upon the latter it will continue. The starvation plan is primarily being
waged against the weak and helpless, and is, therefore, responsible. It
is also in violation of the spirit if not the letter of international
law. If the President can force a demand for the cessation of the
submarine warfare, he ought also to have the right to demand the lifting
of the starvation blockade. The tragedy was chiefly due to either
stupidity or design on the part of the British Admiralty in failing to
afford proper protection to the ship. While we do not agree with the
President on some points in his note, we repose the fullest confidence
in his patriotism as well as his deliberate judgment as giving assurance
that, whatever the outcome, the case of the American people rests in
trustworthy hands.
The people should by their action spare him unnecessary embarrassment
and rely for a satisfactory solution of the grave questions confronting
us on his patriotism and honesty.
_A dispatch on May 14 to_ THE NEW YORK TIMES _from Max Burgheim, editor
of the Freie Presse of Cincinnati, Ohio, reads:_
The part of the note referring to the Lusitania catastrophe had better
been directed to London. England, not Germany, is responsible for the
destruction of the Lusitania. England, through the violation of the
rights of nations and the brutal threat to starve 70,000,000 Germans,
has forced Germany to a policy against English commerce of which the
Lusitania was a victim. Germany declared to our President her
willingness to stop submarine warfare if England would allow the
importation of food for the German civil population. England
contemptuously cast aside the President's mediation.
It has not yet been proved that submarine warfare is not in keeping with
international law. Distinguished authorities on international law have
declared that Germany was not only justified but bound to adopt this
method in the hour of need, because it is the only effective defense
against England's warfare. Germany cannot cease this warfare unless she
wishes to surrender with tied hands to a ruthless enemy. All we can
justly ask of Germany is that neutral ships be not attacked, and that
damages be paid in case of loss through mistakes. Germany has already
agreed to this.
Falaba, Cushing, Gulflight
CASE OF THE FALABA.
_A Washington dispatch to_ THE NEW YORK TIMES _on March 31, 1915,
reported that the records of the State Department's Passport Bureau show
that a passport was issued on June 1, 1911, to Leon Chester Thrasher, a
passenger aboard the British African steamship Falaba, which was
torpedoed by a German submarine in the "zone of naval warfare" on March
28. The American citizenship of Thrasher, who was drowned, has been
established._
[Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
LONDON, Wednesday, March 31.--An American citizen, Leon Chester
Thrasher, an engineer, was among the victims of the German submarine
that sank the British steamer Falaba in St. George's Channel last Sunday
with a loss of 111 lives. Mr. Thrasher's name is included in the
official list of the missing. For the last year he had been employed on
the Gold Coast, British West Africa, and it is presumed he was returning
to his post when he met his death at the hands of the German sea
raiders.
The Daily Mail says Mr. Thrasher was bound for Secondee, West Africa.
Reference to the form which has to be filled out to satisfy the Board of
Trade and customs requirements by every passenger embarking at a British
port before tickets will be issued shows that Mr. Thrasher was a citizen
of the United States. Here are the particulars:
Name, Leon Chester Thrasher; age, last birthday, 31; single; sex, male;
profession, engineer; country of residence for last twelve months, Gold
Coast Colony, West Africa; country of intended residence for next twelve
months, the same; country of which citizen or subject, United States of
America; present address, 29 Cartwright Gardens, St. Pancras, W.C.
When Mr. Thrasher went on board the Falaba he produced an American
passport.
_The British Official Press Bureau on April 8 issued the following
report on the destruction of the Falaba:_
It is not true that sufficient time was given the passengers and the
crew of this vessel to escape. The German submarine closed in on the
Falaba, ascertained her name, signaled her to stop, and gave those on
board five minutes to take to the boats. It would have been nothing
short of a miracle if all the passengers and crew of a big liner had
been able to take to their boats within the time allotted.
While some of the boats were still on their davits the submarine fired a
torpedo at short range. This action made it absolutely certain that
there must be great loss of life and it must have been committed
knowingly with the intention of producing that result.
The conduct of all on board the Falaba appears to have been excellent.
There was no avoidable delay in getting out the boats. To accuse the
Falaba's crew of negligence under the circumstances could not easily be
paralleled.
THE GERMAN DEFENSE.
[By The Associated Press.]
_BERLIN, April 13, (via Amsterdam to London, April 14.)--A semi-official
account of the sinking of the British steamer Falaba by a German
submarine on March 28 was made public here today. It follows:_
On receiving the signal "Stop, or I fire," the Falaba steamed off and
sent up rocket signals to summon help, and was only brought to a
standstill after a chase of a quarter of an hour.
Despite the danger of an attack from the steamer or from other vessels
hurrying up, the submarine did not immediately fire, but signaled that
the steamer must be abandoned within ten minutes. The men of the Falaba
quickly entered the boats, although the launching took place in an
unseamanlike manner. They failed to give assistance, which was possible,
to passengers struggling in the water.
From the time of the order to leave the ship until the torpedo was
discharged not ten but twenty-three minutes elapsed, prior to which
occurred the chase of the steamer, during which period time might have
been used to get the boats ready.
The torpedo was fired only when the approach of suspicious-looking
vessels, from which an attack was to be expected, compelled the
commander of the submarine to take quick action. When the torpedo was
discharged nobody was seen on board the ship except the Captain, who
bravely stuck to his post.
Afterward some persons became visible who were busy about a boat.
Of the crew of the submarine, the only ones on deck were those serving
the cannon or those necessary for signaling. It was impossible for them
to engage in rescue work, because the submarine could not take on
passengers.
Every word is superfluous in defending our men against malignant
accusations. At the judicial proceedings in England no witness dared
raise accusations. It is untrue that at any time the submarine displayed
the English flag. The submarine throughout the affair showed as much
consideration for the Falaba as was compatible with safety.
COMMANDER SCHMITZ'S STORY.
[From The New York Times, May 6, 1915.]
_J.J. Ryan, the American cotton broker who went to Germany on March 30
and sold 28,000 bales of cotton he had shipped to Bremen and Hamburg,
returned yesterday on the Cunard liner Carpathia very well satisfied
with the results of his trip. He said:_
While I was in Bremen I met Commander Schmitz of the German submarine
U-28, which sank the British African liner Falaba off the English coast
on March 28. He told me that he regretted having been compelled to
torpedo the vessel, as she had passengers on board. In explanation, he
said:
"I warned the Captain of the Falaba to dismantle his wireless apparatus
and gave him ten minutes in which to do it and get his passengers off.
Instead of acting upon my demand he continued to send messages out to
torpedo destroyers that were less than twenty miles away, to come as
quickly as possible to his assistance.
"At the expiration of the ten minutes I gave him a second warning about
dismantling his wireless apparatus and waited twenty minutes, and then I
torpedoed the ship, as the destroyers were getting close up and I knew
they would go to the rescue of the passengers and crew."
I mentioned the fact to the commander that it had been reported by some
of the survivors of the liner that while the men and women were
struggling for their lives in the icy water his crew were standing on
the deck of the submarine laughing. He looked very gravely at me and
replied, "That is not true, and is most cruelly unjust to my men. They
were crying, not laughing, when the boats were capsized and threw the
people into the water."
CASE OF THE CUSHING.
[Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
_WASHINGTON, May 1.--Secretary Bryan today received from American
Minister Henry van Dyke at The Hague a report on the attack by German
aviators on the American steamship Cushing and said tonight that this
report would be immediately cabled to Ambassador Gerard at Berlin for
his information. Ambassador Gerard will bring the matter to the
attention of the German Government. The report from Minister van Dyke
was very brief, and read as follows:_
The American Consul at Rotterdam reports that the American steamship
Cushing, Captain Herland, with petroleum from New York to Rotterdam,
flying the American flag, was attacked by German aeroplanes near the
North Hinder Lightship, afternoon April 29. Three bombs dropped, one
struck ship, causing damage, but no life lost.
_The report of Captain Lars Larsen Herland, master of the American tank
steamer Cushing, made upon his arrival in Philadelphia, Penn., on May
19, 1915, is as follows:_
The airmen swept in narrow circles over the tanker, trying to get
directly over the funnel, with the idea, apparently, of dropping a bomb
into it and wrecking the engine room.
When attacked the Cushing was about twenty-five miles from Antwerp and
eight miles from the North Hinder Lightship. It was near 7 o'clock in
the evening, but the sun had barely touched the horizon, and there was
ample light for the pilot of the biplane to see the words, "Cushing, New
York, United States of America," painted on each side of the vessel in
letters eight feet high, and to note the Stars and Stripes at the
masthead and the taffrail.
When the airship was first noted it was several thousand feet in the
air, but dropped as it approached the ship, and soon was only about 500
feet up. Suddenly it swooped down to about 300 feet above the Cushing.
Then there was a tremendous explosion, and a wave flooded the stern
deck. A second bomb missed the port quarter by a foot or so, and sent
another wave over the lower deck.
The biplane swung up into the wind, hung motionless for a second or so,
then came the third bomb, which just grazed the starboard rail and shot
into the sea.
The airship hung around for a few minutes, then headed toward the Dutch
coast. She was flying a white flag, with a black cross in the centre,
the pennant of the German air fleet.
CASE OF THE GULFLIGHT.
_Official confirmation of the attack on May 1, 1915, by a German
submarine on the American oil tank steamer Gulflight off the Scilly
Islands came to the State Department at Washington on May 3 in
dispatches from Joseph G. Stephens, the United States Consul at
Plymouth, England. Two members of the crew were drowned, the Captain
died of heart failure, and thirty-four members of the crew were saved.
Following is the sworn statement of Ralph E. Smith, late chief officer
and now master of the Gulflight, received from Ambassador Page and
published by the State Department at Washington on May 11:_
I am Ralph E. Smith, now master of the steamship Gulflight. At the
commencement of the voyage I was chief officer. The ship left port at
Port Arthur on the 10th day of April, 1915, about 4 P.M., laden with a
tank cargo of gasoline and wooden barrels of lubricating oil. The voyage
was uneventful.
When about half way across the Atlantic the wireless operator told me
there was a British cruiser in our vicinity and that he had heard
messages from this ship the whole time since leaving Port Arthur, but
she made no direct communication with or to our ship. From the sound of
the wireless messages given out by the British ship, she seemed to
maintain the same distance from us until about three days before we
reached the mouth of the English Channel.
On the first day of May, about 11 o'clock in the forenoon, we spoke two
British patrol vessels named Iago and Filey. We were then about
twenty-two miles west of the Bishop Lighthouse. The patrol vessels asked
where we were bound. After informing them we were bound for Rouen, they
ordered us to follow them to the Bishop. The Filey took up a position a
half mile distant on our port bow, the Iago off our starboard quarter
close to us. We steered as directed, and at about 12:22, the second
officer, being on watch, sighted a submarine on our port bow--slightly
on the port bow--steaming at right angles to our course. The submarine
was in sight for about five minutes, when she submerged about right
ahead of us. I saw her, but could not distinguish or see any flag flying
on her.
The Gulflight was then steering about true east, steaming about eight
miles an hour, flying a large American ensign, six feet by ten feet.
The wind was about south, about eight miles an hour in force. I
personally observed our flag was standing out well to the breeze.
Immediately after seeing the submarine I went aft and notified the crew
and came back and went on the bridge and heard the Captain make the
remark that that must be a British submarine, as the patrol boats took
no notice of it.
About 12:50 an explosion took place in the Gulflight on the bluff of the
starboard bow, sending vast quantities of water high in the air, coming
down on the bridge and shutting everything off from our view. After the
water cleared away our ship had sunk by the head so that the sea was
washing over the foredeck, and the ship appeared to be sinking.
Immediately after I went aft to see to the boats. On my way I saw one
man overboard on the starboard side. The water at that time was black
with oil. The boats were lowered and the crew got into them without
delay or damage. After ascertaining there was no one left on board the
ship I got in my boat and we were picked up by the patrol vessel Iago
and were advised by her crew to leave the scene. We proceeded toward St.
Mary's, but the dense fog which then came on prevented us getting into
the harbor that night.
About 2:30 in the morning following I saw Captain Gunter, master of the
Gulflight, who had been sleeping in the room of the skipper of the Iago,
standing in the room with a queer look in his face. I asked him what his
trouble was, and he made no reply. Then he reached for the side of the
berth with his hands, but did not take hold. I went in the room, but he
fell before I reached him.
He was taken on deck, as the cabin was small and hot. After reaching the
deck he seemed to revive and said: "I am cold." After that he had
apparently two fainting attacks and then expired in a third one--this
being about 3:40.
We arrived at St. Mary's, Scilly, about 10 o'clock on the morning of May
2. The Gulflight was towed to Crow Sound, Scilly, on May 2 by British
patrol vessels, and Commander Oliver, senior naval officer of the Port
of Scilly, sent for some one to come on board the Gulflight, and I went,
and the ship was anchored about 6 P.M.
I again left the ship that evening--she being then in charge of the
Admiralty. I visited the ship on Monday. I went out again on Tuesday,
but it was too rough to get on board. To the best of my knowledge there
was no examination of the vessel made by divers until Wednesday about 3
P.M., when members from the American Embassy were present. The divers at
this time made an external examination only of the ship's bottom and
left the ship with me at 5:40 P.M.
Aim of Submarine Warfare
[From The London Times, April 30, 1915.]
Dr. Flamm, Professor of Ship Construction at the Technical High School
at Charlottenburg, publishes in the Vossische Zeitung an extraordinary
article on the impending destruction of the British Empire by German
submarines. Whatever Professor Flamm's professional opinion may be
worth, he is evidently attacking his task with a passionate hatred of
England that leaves nothing to be desired.
Professor Flamm begins by explaining how England has been protected for
centuries by her insularity. He writes:
This country, whose dishonorable Government produced this
terrible world war by the most contemptible means, and solely
in selfish greed of gain, has always been able to enjoy the
fruits of its unscrupulousness because it was reckoned as
unassailable. But everything is subject to change, and that
applies today to the security of England's position. Thank
God, the time has now come when precisely its complete
encirclement by the sea has become the greatest danger for the
existence of the British Nation.
The writer explains that England cannot be self-supporting, and,
strangely enough, admits that recognition of this fact justifies British
naval policy. He proceeds:
The time, however, has passed in which even the strongest
squadron of battleships or cruisers can protect England's
frontiers and secure imports from oversea. Technical progress,
in the shape of submarines, has put into the hands of all
England's enemies the means at last to sever the vital nerve
of the much-hated enemy, and to pull him down from his
position of ruler of the world, which he has occupied for
centuries with ever-increasing ruthlessness and selfishness.
What science has once begun she continues, and for every
shipbuilder in the whole world there is now no sphere which
offers a stronger stimulus to progressive activity than the
sphere of the submarines. Here an endless amount of work is
being, and will be, done, because the reward which beckons on
the horizon is an extraordinarily high one, an extraordinarily
profitable one, a reward containing the most ideal blessings
for humanity--the destruction of English world supremacy, the
liberation of the seas. This exalted and noble aim has today
come within reach, and it is German intellect and German work
that have paved the way.
It will be noted that Professor Flamm, as other contemporary German
writers, believes that submarines, like Shakespeare, are a German
invention. He is also, notwithstanding the experience of two and a half
months, confident that the German "submarine blockade" will both be
successful and become popular with neutrals. Building upon the German
myth that Captain Weddigen's submarine, U-29, was destroyed while saving
life, Professor Flamm "expects" that the neutrals will stop all traffic
with England, "in view of the cowardly and cunning method of fighting of
the English."
Professor Flamm then discusses Germany's prospects, as follows:
Anybody who wants to fight England must not attempt it by
striving to bring against England larger and more numerous
battleships and cruisers. That would be not only unwise but
also very costly. He must try another method, which makes
England's great sea power completely illusory, and gives it
practically no opportunity for activity. This method is the
cutting-off of imports by submarine fleets. Let it not be
said that the attainment of this end requires a very great
deal of material. England, as can easily be seen from the map,
possesses a fairly limited number of river mouths and ports
for rapid development of her great oversea trade. Beginning in
the northeast, those on the east coast are mainly the Firth of
Forth, the mouths of the Tyne and Humber, and then the Thames;
in the south, Portsmouth, Southampton, and Plymouth, with some
neighboring harbors; in the west, the Bristol Channel, the
Mersey, the Solway, and the Clyde. These are the entries that
have to be blocked in order to cut off imports in a way that
will produce the full impression. For this purpose 150 of the
submarines of today fully suffice, so that the goal is within
reach. Moreover, the development of this arm will enormously
increase its value, and so, come what may, England must reckon
with the fact that her world supremacy cannot much longer
exist, and that the strongest navy can make no difference.
When once the invisible necktie is round John Bull's neck, his
breathing will soon cease, and the task of successfully
putting this necktie on him is solely a question of technical
progress and of time, which now moves so fast.
Professor Flamm ends with a passage about German submarine bases. It
would be more intelligible if he had made up his mind whether Germany is
going to take Calais or whether, according to another popular German
theory, England is going to annex the north coast of France. He writes:
"The eyes of France also will one day be opened when, having been
sufficiently weakened, she is compelled to leave the north coast of
France, including Calais, to her friend of today. Precisely this coast
which England has seized may be expected now to remain in English
possession for the purpose of better and surer control of the Channel,
for there can be no doubt that this control renders, and will render,
difficult for the German submarines effective activity in the Irish
Sea--an activity which will become all the easier as soon as Calais has
been freed of the enemy, or is even in German possession.
"Thus before very long a world fate should befall England. The trees do
not grow up to heaven. England, through her criminal Government, has
stretched the bow too tight, and so it will snap."
THREE SPEECHES BY PRESIDENT WILSON
In New York at the annual luncheon of The Associated Press on
April 20, 1915; at Philadelphia in Convention Hall on May 10,
in an address to 4,000 newly naturalized citizens, and again
at New York in his speech on the navy, May 17, delivered at
the luncheon given for the President by the Mayor's Committee
formed for the naval review, Mr. Wilson set forth the
principles on which he would meet the crises of the European
war as they affect the United States. The texts of the three
speeches appear below.
I.
"AMERICA FIRST."
[_President Wilson's address on April 20, 1915, to the members of The
Associated Press at their annual luncheon in New York:_]
I am deeply gratified by the generous reception you have accorded me. It
makes me look back with a touch of regret to former occasions when I
have stood in this place and enjoyed a greater liberty than is granted
me today. There have been times when I stood in this spot and said what
I really thought, and I pray God that those days of indulgence may be
accorded me again. But I have come here today, of course, somewhat
restrained by a sense of responsibility that I cannot escape.
For I take The Associated Press very seriously. I know the enormous part
that you play in the affairs not only of this country, but the world.
You deal in the raw material of opinion and, if my convictions have any
validity, opinion ultimately governs the world.
It is, therefore, of very serious things that I think as I face this
body of men. I do not think of you, however, as members of The
Associated Press. I do not think of you as men of different parties or
of different racial derivations or of different religious denominations,
I want to talk to you as to my fellow-citizens of the United States. For
there are serious things which as fellow-citizens we ought to consider.
The times behind us, gentlemen, have been difficult enough, the times
before us are likely to be more difficult because, whatever may be said
about the present condition of the world's affairs, it is clear that
they are drawing rapidly to a climax, and at the climax the test will
come, not only of the nations engaged in the present colossal struggle,
it will come for them of course, but the test will come to us
particularly.
Do you realize that, roughly speaking, we are the only great nation at
present disengaged? I am not speaking, of course, with disparagement of
the greater of those nations in Europe which are not parties to the
present war, but I am thinking of their close neighborhood to it. I am
thinking how their lives much more than ours touch the very heart and
stuff of the business; whereas, we have rolling between us and those
bitter days across the water three thousand miles of cool and silent
ocean.
Our atmosphere is not yet charged with those disturbing elements which
must be felt and must permeate every nation of Europe. Therefore, is it
not likely that the nations of the world will some day turn to us for
the cooler assessment of the elements engaged?
I am not now thinking so preposterous a thought as that we should sit in
judgment upon them. No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other
nation, but that we shall some day have to assist in reconstructing the
processes of peace. Our resources are untouched; we are more and more
becoming by the force of circumstances the mediating nation of the world
in respect to its finances. We must make up our minds what are the best
things to do and what are the best ways to do them.
We must put our money, our energy, our enthusiasm, our sympathy into
these things; and we must have our judgments prepared and our spirits
chastened against the coming of that day. So that I am not speaking in a
selfish spirit when I say that our whole duty for the present, at any
rate, is summed up in this motto, "America first." Let us think of
America before we think of Europe, in order that America may be fit to
be Europe's friend when the day of tested friendship comes. The test of
friendship is not now sympathy with the one side or the other, but
getting ready to help both sides when the struggle is over.
The basis of neutrality, gentlemen, is not indifference; it is not
self-interest. The basis of neutrality is sympathy for mankind. It is
fairness, it is good-will at bottom. It is impartiality of spirit and of
judgment. I wish that all of our fellow-citizens could realize that.
There is in some quarters a disposition to create distempers in this
body politic. Men are even uttering slanders against the United States
as if to excite her. Men are saying that if we should go to war upon
either side there will be a divided America--an abominable libel of
ignorance. America is not all of it vocal just now. It is vocal in
spots.
But I for one have a complete and abiding faith in that great silent
body of Americans who are not standing up and shouting and expressing
their opinions just now, but are waiting to find out and support the
duty of America. I am just as sure of their solidity and of their
loyalty and of their unanimity, if we act justly, as I am that the
history of this country has at every crisis and turning point
illustrated this great lesson.
We are the mediating nation of the world. I do not mean that we
undertake not to mind our own business and to mediate where other people
are quarreling. I mean the word in a broader sense. We are compounded of
the nations of the world. We mediate their blood, we mediate their
traditions, we mediate their sentiments, their tastes, their passions;
we are ourselves compounded of those things.
We are, therefore, able to understand all nations; we are able to
understand them in the compound, not separately, as partisans, but
unitedly, as knowing and comprehending and embodying them all. It is in
that sense that I mean that America is a mediating nation. The opinion
of America, the action of America, is ready to turn and free to turn in
any direction.
Did you ever reflect upon how almost all other nations, almost every
other nation has through long centuries been headed in one direction?
That is not true of the United States. The United States has no racial
momentum. It has no history back of it which makes it run all its
energies and all its ambitions in one particular direction; and America
is particularly free in this, that she has no hampering ambitions as a
world power.
If we have been obliged by circumstances or have considered ourselves to
be obliged by circumstances, in the past to take territory which we
otherwise would not have thought of taking, I believe I am right in
saying that we have considered it our duty to administer that territory,
not for ourselves, but for the people living in it, and to put this
burden upon our consciences not to think that this thing is ours for our
use, but to regard ourselves as trustees of the great business for those
to whom it does really belong, trustees ready to hand over the cosmic
trust at any time when the business seems to make that possible and
feasible. That is what I mean by saying we have no hampering ambitions.
We do not want anything that does not belong to us. Isn't a nation in
that position free to serve other nations, and isn't a nation like that
ready to form some part of the assessing opinion of the world?
My interest in the neutrality of the United States is not the petty
desire to keep out of trouble. To judge by my experience I have never
been able to keep out of trouble. I have never looked for it, but I have
always found it. I do not want to walk around trouble. If any man wants
a scrap--that is, an interesting scrap and worth while--I am his man. I
warn him that he is not going to draw me into the scrap for his
advertisement, but if he is looking for trouble--that is, the trouble of
men in general--and I can help a little, why, then, I am in for it. But
I am interested in neutrality because there is something so much
greater to do than fight, because there is something, there is a
distinction waiting for this nation that no nation has ever yet got.
That is the distinction of absolute self-control and self-mastery.
Whom do you admire most among your friends? The irritable man? The man
out of whom you can get a "rise" without trying? The man who will fight
at the drop of the hat, whether he knows what the hat is dropped for or
not?
Don't you admire and don't you fear, if you have to contest with him,
the self-mastered man who watches you with calm eye and comes in only
when you have carried the thing so far that you must be disposed of?
That is the man you respect. That is the man who you know has at bottom
a much more fundamental and terrible courage than the irritable,
fighting man.
Now, I covet for America this splendid courage of reserve moral force,
and I wanted to point out to you gentlemen simply this: There is news
and news. There is what is called news from Turtle Bay, that turns out
to be falsehood, at any rate in what it is said to signify, and which if
you could get the nation to believe it true might disturb our
equilibrium and our self-possession. We ought not to deal in stuff of
that kind. We ought not to permit things of that sort to use up the
electrical energy of the wires, because its energy is malign, its energy
is not of the truth, its energy is of mischief.
It is possible to sift truth. I have known some things to go out on the
wires as true when there was only one man or one group of men who could
have told the originators of the report whether it was true or not, and
they were not asked whether it was true or not for fear it might not be
true. That sort of report ought not to go out over the wires.
There is generally, if not always, somebody who knows whether that thing
is so or not, and in these days above all other days we ought to take
particular pains to resort to the one small group of men or to the one
man, if there be but one, who knows whether those things are true or
not.
The world ought to know the truth, but the world ought not at this
period of unstable equilibrium to be disturbed by rumor, ought not to be
disturbed by imaginative combinations of circumstances or, rather, by
circumstances stated in combination which do not belong in combination.
For we are holding--not I, but you and gentlemen engaged like you--the
balances in your hand. This unstable equilibrium rests upon scales that
are in your hands. For the food of opinion, as I began by saying, is the
news of the day. I have known many a man go off at a tangent on
information that was not reliable. Indeed, that describes the majority
of men. The world is held stable by the man who waits for the next day
to find out whether the report was true or not.
We cannot afford, therefore, to let the rumors of irresponsible persons
and origins get into the atmosphere of the United States. We are
trustees for what I venture to say is the greatest heritage that any
nation ever had, the love of justice and righteousness and human
liberty. For fundamentally those are the things to which America is
addicted and to which she is devoted.
There are groups of selfish men in the United States, there are coteries
where sinister things are purposed, but the great heart of the American
people is just as sound and true as it ever was. And it is a single
heart; it is the heart of America. It is not a heart made up of sections
selected out of other countries.
So that what I try to remind myself of every day when I am almost
overcome by perplexities, what I try to remember, is what the people at
home are thinking about. I try to put myself in the place of the man who
does not know all the things that I know and ask myself what he would
like the policy of this country to be. Not the talkative man, not the
partisan man, not the man that remembers first that he is a Republican
or Democrat, or that his parents were Germans or English, but who
remembers first that the whole destiny of modern affairs centres largely
upon his being an American first of all.
If I permitted myself to be a partisan in this present struggle I would
be unworthy to represent you. If I permitted myself to forget the
people who are not partisans I would be unworthy to represent you. I am
not saying that I am worthy to represent you, but I do claim this degree
of worthiness--that before everything else I love America.
[Illustration: THE LATE ARCHDUKE FERDINAND
Whose Assassination at Serajevo Precipitated the European War]
[Illustration: H.M. NICHOLAS I.
King of Montenegro, the Smallest of the Allied Powers
_(Photo (C) American Press Assn.)_]
II.
"HUMANITY FIRST."
[_President Wilson's speech in Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Penn., May
10, 1915, before 4,000 newly naturalized citizens:_]
It warms my heart that you should give me such a reception, but it is
not of myself that I wish to think tonight, but of those who have just
become citizens of the United States. This is the only country in the
world which experiences this constant and repeated rebirth. Other
countries depend upon the multiplication of their own native people.
This country is constantly drinking strength out of new sources by the
voluntary association with it of great bodies of strong men and
forward-looking women. And so by the gift of the free will of
independent people it is constantly being renewed from generation to
generation by the same process by which it was originally created. It is
as if humanity had determined to see to it that this great nation,
founded for the benefit of humanity, should not lack for the allegiance
of the people of the world.
You have just taken an oath of allegiance to the United States. Of
allegiance to whom? Of allegiance to no one, unless it be God. Certainly
not of allegiance to those who temporarily represent this great
Government. You have taken an oath of allegiance to a great ideal, to a
great body of principles, to a great hope of the human race. You have
said, "We are going to America," not only to earn a living, not only to
seek the things which it was more difficult to obtain where you were
born, but to help forward the great enterprises of the human spirit--to
let men know that everywhere in the world there are men who will cross
strange oceans and go where a speech is spoken which is alien to them,
knowing that, whatever the speech, there is but one longing and
utterance of the human heart, and that is for liberty and justice.
And while you bring all countries with you, you come with a purpose of
leaving all other countries behind you--bringing what is best of their
spirit, but not looking over your shoulders and seeking to perpetuate
what you intended to leave in them. I certainly would not be one even to
suggest that a man cease to love the home of his birth and the nation of
his origin--these things are very sacred and ought not to be put out of
our hearts--but it is one thing to love the place where you were born
and it is another thing to dedicate yourself to the place to which you
go. You cannot dedicate yourself to America unless you become in every
respect and with every purpose of your will thorough Americans. You
cannot become thorough Americans if you think of yourselves in groups.
American does not consist of groups. A man who thinks himself as
belonging to a particular national group in America has not yet become
an American, and the man who goes among you to trade upon your
nationality is no worthy son to live under the Stars and Stripes.
My urgent advice to you would be not only always to think first of
America, but always, also, to think first of humanity. You do not love
humanity if you seek to divide humanity into jealous camps. Humanity can
be welded together only by love, by sympathy, by justice, not by
jealousy and hatred. I am sorry for the man who seeks to make personal
capital out of the passions of his fellow-men. He has lost the touch and
ideal of America, for America was created to unite mankind by those
passions which lift and not by the passions which separate and debase.
We came to America, either ourselves or in persons of our ancestors, to
better the ideals of men, to make them see finer things than they had
seen before, to get rid of things that divide, and to make sure of the
things that unite. It was but a historical accident no doubt that this
great country was called the "United States," and yet I am very
thankful that it has the word "united" in its title; and the man who
seeks to divide man from man, group from group, interest from interest,
in the United States is striking at its very heart.
It is a very interesting circumstance to me, in thinking of those of you
who have just sworn allegiance to this great Government, that you were
drawn across the ocean by some beckoning finger of hope, by some belief,
by some vision of a new kind of justice, by some expectation of a better
kind of life.
No doubt you have been disappointed in some of us; some of us are very
disappointing. No doubt you have found that justice in the United States
goes only with a pure heart and a right purpose as it does everywhere
else in the world. No doubt what you found here didn't seem touched for
you, after all, with the complete beauty of the ideal which you had
conceived beforehand.
But remember this, if we had grown at all poor in the ideal, you brought
some of it with you. A man does not go out to seek the thing that is not
in him. A man does not hope for the thing that he does not believe in,
and if some of us have forgotten what America believed in, you, at any
rate, imported in your own hearts a renewal of the belief. That is the
reason that I, for one, make you welcome.
If I have in any degree forgotten what America was intended for, I will
thank God if you will remind me.
I was born in America. You dreamed dreams of what America was to be, and
I hope you brought the dreams with you. No man that does not see visions
will ever realize any high hope or undertake any high enterprise.
Just because you brought dreams with you, America is more likely to
realize the dreams such as you brought. You are enriching us if you came
expecting us to be better than we are.
See, my friends, what that means. It means that Americans must have a
consciousness different from the consciousness of every other nation in
the world. I am not saying this with even the slightest thought of
criticism of other nations. You know how it is with a family. A family
gets centred on itself if it is not careful and is less interested in
the neighbors than it is in its own members.
So a nation that is not constantly renewed out of new sources is apt to
have the narrowness and prejudice of a family. Whereas, America must
have this consciousness, that on all sides it touches elbows and touches
hearts with all the nations of mankind.
The example of America must be a special example. The example of America
must be the example not merely of peace because it will not fight, but
of peace because peace is the healing and elevating influence of the
world and strife is not.
There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such a
thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince
others by force that it is right.
So, if you come into this great nation as you have come, voluntarily
seeking something that we have to give, all that we have to give is
this: We cannot exempt you from work. No man is exempt from work
anywhere in the world. I sometimes think he is fortunate if he has to
work only with his hands and not with his head. It is very easy to do
what other people give you to do, but it is very difficult to give other
people things to do. We cannot exempt you from work; we cannot exempt
you from the strife and the heart-breaking burden of the struggle of the
day--that is common to mankind everywhere. We cannot exempt you from the
loads that you must carry; we can only make them light by the spirit in
which they are carried. That is the spirit of hope, it is the spirit of
liberty, it is the spirit of justice.
When I was asked, therefore, by the Mayor and the committee that
accompanied him to come up from Washington to meet this great company of
newly admitted citizens I could not decline the invitation. I ought not
to be away from Washington, and yet I feel that it has renewed my spirit
as an American.
In Washington men tell you so many things every day that are not so,
and I like to come and stand in the presence of a great body of my
fellow-citizens, whether they have been my fellow-citizens a long time
or a short time, and drink, as it were, out of the common fountains with
them and go back feeling that you have so generously given me the sense
of your support and of the living vitality in your hearts, of its great
ideals which made America the hope of the world.
III.
AMERICA FOR HUMANITY.
[_President Wilson's address to the Mayor's Committee in New York, May
17, 1915, on the occasion of the naval parade and review in the
Hudson:_]
Mr. Mayor, Mr. Secretary, Admiral Fletcher, and Gentlemen of the Fleet:
This is not an occasion upon which it seems to me that it would be wise
for me to make many remarks, but I would deprive myself of a great
gratification if I did not express my pleasure in being here, my
gratitude for the splendid reception which has been accorded me as the
representative of the nation, and my profound interest in the navy of
the United States. That is an interest with which I was apparently born,
for it began when I was a youngster and has ripened with my knowledge of
the affairs and policies of the United States.
I think it is a natural, instinctive judgment of the people of the
United States that they express their power appropriately in an
efficient navy, and their interest is partly, I believe, because that
navy somehow is expected to express their character, not within our own
borders where that character is understood, but outside our borders,
where it is hoped we may occasionally touch others with some slight
vision of what America stands for.
But before I speak of the navy of the United States I want to take
advantage of the first public opportunity I have had to speak of the
Secretary of the Navy, to express my confidence and my admiration, and
to say that he has my unqualified support, for I have counseled with
him in intimate fashion. I know how sincerely he has it at heart that
everything that the navy does and handles should be done and handled as
the people of the United States wish them handled--because efficiency is
something more than organization. Efficiency runs into every
well-considered detail of personnel and method. Efficiency runs to the
extent of lifting the ideals of a service above every personal interest.
So that when I speak my support of the Secretary of the Navy I am merely
speaking my support of what I know every true lover of the navy to
desire and to purpose, for the navy of the United States is a body
specially trusted with the ideal of America.
I like to image in my thought this ideal. These quiet ships lying in the
river have no suggestion of bluster about them--no intimation of
aggression. They are commanded by men thoughtful of the duty of citizens
as well as the duty of officers--men acquainted with the traditions of
the great service to which they belong--men who know by touch with the
people of the United States what sort of purposes they ought to
entertain and what sort of discretion they ought to exercise in order to
use those engines of force as engines to promote the interests of
humanity.
For the interesting and inspiring thing about America, gentlemen, is
that she asks nothing for herself except what she has a right to ask for
humanity itself. We want no nation's property; we wish to question no
nation's honor; we wish to stand selfishly in the way of the development
of no nation; we want nothing that we cannot get by our own legitimate
enterprise and by the inspiration of our own example, and, standing for
these things, it is not pretention on our part to say that we are
privileged to stand for what every nation would wish to stand for, and
speak for those things which all humanity must desire.
When I think of the flag that those ships carry, the only touch of color
about them, the only thing that moves as if it had a settled spirit in
it, in their solid structure, it seems to me I see alternate strips of
parchment upon which are written the rights of liberty and justice and
strips of blood spilt to vindicate those rights, and then, in the
corner, a prediction of the blue serene into which every nation may swim
which stands for these great things.
The mission of America is the only thing that a sailor or soldier should
think about; he has nothing to do with the formulation of her policy; he
is to support her policy, whatever it is--but he is to support her
policy in the spirit of herself, and the strength of our policy is that
we, who for the time being administer the affairs of this nation, do not
originate her spirit; we attempt to embody it; we attempt to realize it
in action we are dominated by it, we do not dictate it.
And so with every man in arms who serves the nation--he stands and waits
to do the thing which the nation desires. America sometimes seems
perhaps to forget her programs, or, rather, I would say that sometimes
those who represent her seem to forget her programs, but the people
never forget them. It is as startling as it is touching to see how
whenever you touch a principle you touch the hearts of the people of the
United States. They listen to your debates of policy, they determine
which party they will prefer to power, they choose and prefer as
ordinary men; but their real affection, their real force, their real
irresistible momentum, is for the ideas which men embody.
I never go on the streets of a great city without feeling that somehow I
do not confer elsewhere than on the streets with the great spirit of the
people themselves, going about their business, attending to the things
which concern them, and yet carrying a treasure at their hearts all the
while, ready to be stirred not only as individuals, but as members of a
great union of hearts that constitutes a patriotic people.
And so this sight in the river touches me merely as a symbol of that,
and it quickens the pulse of every man who realizes these things to have
anything to do with them. When a crisis occurs in this country,
gentlemen, it is as if you put your hand on the pulse of a dynamo, it is
as if the things which you were in connection with were spiritually
bred. You had nothing to do with them except, if you listen truly, to
speak the things that you hear. These things now brood over the river,
this spirit now moves with the men who represent the nation in the navy,
these things will move upon the waters in the manoeuvres; no threat
lifted against any man, against any nation, against any interest, but
just a great, solemn evidence that the force of America is the force of
moral principle, that there is not anything else that she loves and that
there is not anything else for which she will contend.
Two Ex-Presidents' Views
MR. ROOSEVELT SPEAKS.
[Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
_SYRACUSE, N.Y., May 7.--Ex-President Roosevelt, after learning details
of the sinking of the Lusitania, made this statement late tonight:_
This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of
murder than old-time pirates ever practiced. This is the warfare which
destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of men, women, and children in
Belgium. It is a warfare against innocent men, women, and children
traveling on the ocean, and our own fellow-countrymen and countrywomen,
who are among the sufferers.
It seems inconceivable that we can refrain from taking action in this
matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to our own national
self-respect.
_On May 9 a Syracuse dispatch to_ THE NEW YORK TIMES _conveyed this
statement from Mr. Roosevelt:_
On the night of the day that the disaster occurred I called the
attention of our people to the fact that the sinking of the Lusitania
was not only an act of simple piracy, but that it represented piracy
accompanied by murder on a vaster scale than any old-time pirate had
ever practiced before being hanged for his misdeeds.
I called attention to the fact that this was merely the application on
the high seas, and at our expense, of the principles which when applied
on land had produced the innumerable hideous tragedies that have
occurred in Belgium and in Northern France.
I said that not only our duty to humanity at large but our duty to
preserve our own national self-respect demanded instant action on our
part and forbade all delay.
I can do little more than reiterate what I then said.
When the German decree establishing the war zone was issued, and of
course plainly threatened exactly the type of tragedy which has
occurred, our Government notified Germany that in the event of any such
wrongdoing at the expense of our citizens we would hold the German
Government to "a strict accountability."
The use of this phrase, "strict accountability," of course, must mean,
and can only mean, that action will be taken by us without an hour's
unnecessary delay. It was eminently proper to use the exact phrase that
was used, and, having used it, our own self-respect demands that we
forthwith abide by it.
_On May 11, following the report of President Wilson's speech at
Philadelphia, Mr. Roosevelt stated the course which he considered that
this country should adopt, reported as follows in a Syracuse dispatch
to_ THE NEW YORK TIMES:
Colonel Roosevelt announced today what action, in his opinion, this
country should take toward Germany because of the sinking of the
Lusitania. Colonel Roosevelt earnestly said that the time for
deliberation was past and that within twenty-four hours this country
could, and should, take effective action by declaring that all commerce
with Germany forthwith be forbidden and that all commerce of every kind
permitted and encouraged with France, England, and "the rest of the
civilized world."
Colonel Roosevelt said that for America to take this step would not mean
war, as the firm assertion of our rights could not be so construed, but
he added that we would do well to remember that there were things worse
than war.
The Colonel has been reading President Wilson's speech carefully, and
what seemed to impress him more than anything else was this passage from
it:
"There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight. There is such
a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince
others by force that it is right."
Asked if he cared to make any comment upon the speech of the President,
Mr. Roosevelt said:
"I think that China is entitled to draw all the comfort she can from
this statement and it would be well for the United States to ponder
seriously what the effect upon China has been of managing her foreign
affairs during the last fifteen years on the theory thus enunciated.
"If the United States is satisfied with occupying some time in the
future the precise international position that China now occupies, then
the United States can afford to act on this theory. But it cannot act on
this theory if it desires to retain or regain the position won for it by
the men who fought under Washington and by the men who, in the days of
Abraham Lincoln, wore the blue under Grant and the gray under Lee.
"I very earnestly hope that we will act promptly. The proper time for
deliberation was prior to sending the message that our Government would
hold Germany to a strict accountability if it did the things it has now
actually done. The 150 babies drowned on the Lusitania the hundreds of
women drowned with them, scores of these women and children being
Americans, and the American ship, the Gulflight, which was torpedoed,
offer an eloquent commentary on the actual working of the theory that
force is not necessary to assert, and that a policy of blood and iron
can with efficacy be met by a policy of milk and water.
"I see it stated in the press dispatches from Washington that Germany
now offers to stop the practice on the high seas, committed in violation
of the neutral rights that she is pledged to observe, if we will abandon
further neutral rights, which by her treaty she has solemnly pledged
herself to see that we exercise without molestation. Such a proposal is
not even entitled to an answer. The manufacturing and shipment of arms
and ammunition to any belligerent is moral or immoral according to the
use to which the arms and munitions are to be put. If they are to be
used to prevent the redress of the hideous wrongs inflicted on Belgium,
then it is immoral to ship them. If they are to be used for the redress
of those wrongs and the restoration of Belgium to her deeply wronged and
unoffending people, then it is eminently moral to send them.
"Without twenty-four hours' delay this country could, and should, take
effective action by declaring that in view of Germany's murderous
offenses against the rights of neutrals, all commerce with Germany shall
be forthwith forbidden, and all commerce of every kind permitted and
encouraged with France, England, and the rest of the civilized world.
This would not be a declaration of war. It would merely prevent
munitions of war being sent to a power which by its conduct has shown
willingness to use munitions to slaughter American men and women and
children. I do not believe the assertion of our rights means war, but we
will do well to remember there are things worse than war.
"Let us, as a nation, understand that peace is worthy only when it is
the handmaiden of international righteousness and of national
self-respect."
MR. TAFT SPEAKS.
[By The Associated Press.]
MILWAUKEE, May 8.--"The news of the sinking of the Lusitania as it comes
this morning is most distressing," said former President Taft on his
arrival from Madison today. "It presents a situation of the most
difficult character, properly awakening great national concern.
"I do not wish to embarrass the President of the Administration by a
discussion of the subject at this stage of the information, except to
express confidence that the President will follow a wise and patriotic
course."
_That it is possible for the United States to hold Germany "strictly
accountable" for the destruction of American lives on the Lusitania
without resort to war is Mr. Taft's opinion, reported in the following
dispatch from Philadelphia to_ THE NEW YORK TIMES _on May 11:_
"We must bear in mind that if we have a war it is the people, the men
and women, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, who must pay with
lives and money the cost of it, and therefore they should not be hurried
into the sacrifices until it is made clear that they wish it and know
what they are doing when they wish it."
This was the keynote of a speech by ex-President Taft at the celebration
of the fiftieth anniversary of the Union League's occupancy of the
historic home which it occupies in this city.
"Is war the only method of making a nation accountable? Let us look into
our own history. England connived at the fitting out of armed vessels,
to prey on our commerce, to attack our navy, and to kill our sailors. We
protested, and what did we do then? We held her strictly accountable in
the Geneva Conference. Was not our honor as much preserved by this
method as it would have been had we declared war?
"I agree that the inhumanity of the circumstances in the case now
presses us on, but in the heat of even just indignation is this the best
time to act, when action involves such momentous consequences and means
untold loss of life and treasure? There are things worse than war, but
delay, due to calm deliberation, cannot change the situation or minimize
the effect of what we finally conclude to do.
"With the present condition of the war in Europe, our action, if it is
to be extreme, will not lose efficiency by giving time to the people,
whose war it will be, to know what they are facing.
"A demand for war that cannot survive the passion of the first days of
public indignation and will not endure the test of delay and
deliberation by all the people is not one that should be yielded to."
President Wilson's Note
By Ex-President William H. Taft.
_At the dinner of Methodist laymen in New York on May 14, 1915,
following the publication of President Wilson's note to Germany,
ex-President Taft said:_
"Admirable in tone, moderate in the judicial spirit that runs through
the entire communication, dignified in the level that the writer takes
with respect to international obligations, accurate in its statement of
international law, he puts the case of the United States in a way that
may well call for our earnest concurrence and confirmation."
Another View
By Beatrice Barry.
"When the torch is near the powder"--when a boat, f'r instance, sinks,
And the "hyphens" raise a loud hurrah and blow themselves to drinks;
When 'bout a hundred neutral lives are snuffed out like a torch,
An' "hyphens" read the news an' smoke, a-settin' on the porch--
Well, it's then the native's kind o' apt to see a little red,
An' it's hardly fair to criticise the burning things he sed.
For since the eagle's not a bird that thrives within a cage,
One kind o' hears with sympathy his screams of baffled rage.
There's something sort o' horrible, that catches at the breath,
To visualize some two score babes most foully done to death;
To see their fright, their struggles--to watch their lips turn blue--
There ain't no use denyin', it will raise the deuce with you.
O yes, God bless the President--he's an awful row to hoe,
An' God grant, too, that peace with honor hand in hand may go,
But let's not call men "rotters," 'cause, while we are standing pat,
They lose their calm serenity, an' can't see things like that!
In the Submarine War Zone
[By The Associated Press.]
LIVERPOOL, May 16.--The passengers on board the American Line steamer
Philadelphia, which arrived here today from New York, the steamer
docking at 1 P.M., experienced during the voyage much anxiety. On Friday
afternoon, out in the Atlantic off the west coast of Ireland, a cruiser
appeared and approached the liner. The chief topic of conversation
during the voyage had been about the German submarine activities, and
the sight of the warship caused some alarm. The cruiser approached near
enough to the steamer to exchange signals with her.
A number of passengers spent last night on deck in their chairs with
lifebelts beside them in case of danger. The boats of the Philadelphia
were ready for use. The steamer kept a course much further out from the
Irish coast than the Lusitania was traversing when she was torpedoed.
The port officials subjected the passengers of the Philadelphia to a
careful examination to discover if there were any spies on board, but
nobody was detained. By reason of this precaution it was more than an
hour after the steamer arrived before her passengers began to debark.
American Shipments of Arms
By Count von Bernstorff, German Ambassador at Washington
Count von Bernstorff, the German Ambassador, made public on
April 11, 1915, a memorandum addressed to the United States
Government on April 4, complaining of its attitude toward the
shipment of war munitions to the Allies and the non-shipment
of foodstuffs to Germany. After picturing the foreign policy
of the United States Government as one of futility, Count von
Bernstorff's memorandum says it must be "assumed that the
United States Government has accepted England's violations of
international law." Its full text appears below, followed by
that of the American State Department's reply.
The different British Orders in Council have altered the universally
recognized rules of international law in such a one-sided manner that
they arbitrarily suppress the trade of neutral countries with Germany.
Already, prior to the last Order in Council, the shipment of conditional
contraband, especially foodstuffs, to Germany was practically
impossible. In fact, prior to the protest which the American Government
made in London on Dec. 28, 1914, not a single shipment of such goods for
Germany has been effected from the United States.
Also, after the lodging of the protest, and as far as is known to the
German Embassy, only one such shipment has been attempted by an American
skipper. Ship and cargo were immediately seized by the British, and are
still detained at a British port. As a pretext for this unwarranted
action the British Government referred to a decree of the German Federal
Council concerning the wheat trade, although this decree only covered
wheat and flour and no other foodstuffs, although imported foodstuffs
were especially exempt from this decree, and although the German
Government had given all necessary guarantees to the United States
Government, and had even proposed a special organization in order to
secure these foodstuffs for the exclusive consumption of the civilian
population.
The seizure of an American ship under these circumstances was in
contradiction with the recognized principles of international law.
Nevertheless the United States Government has not yet obtained the
release of the ship, nor has it after eight months of war succeeded in
safeguarding the legitimate American trade with Germany. Such a delay,
especially when the supply of foodstuffs is concerned, seems equivalent
to complete failure. It is therefore to be assumed that the United
States Government has accepted England's violations of international
law.
Furthermore has to be considered the attitude of the Government of the
United States concerning the question of the exportation of war
material. The Imperial Embassy hopes to agree with the Government of the
United States in assuming that, with regard to the question of
neutrality, there is not only the formal side to be considered, but also
the spirit in which neutrality is enforced.
Conditions in the present war are different from those in any former
wars. For this reason it is not justified to point at the fact that
perhaps in former wars Germany furnished belligerents with war material,
because in those former cases the question was not whether any war
material was to be furnished to the belligerents but merely which one of
the competing countries would furnish it. In the present war, with the
exception of the United States, all the countries capable of a
noteworthy production of war material are either at war themselves or
completing their armaments, and have accordingly prohibited the
exportation of war material. Therefore the United States of America is
the only country in a position to export war material. This fact ought
to give a new meaning to the idea of neutrality, independent of the
formal law.
Instead of that, and in contradiction with the real spirit of
neutrality, an enormous new industry of war materials of every kind is
being built up in the United States, inasmuch as not only the existing
plants are kept busy and enlarged, but also new ones are continually
founded.
The international agreements for the protection of the right of neutrals
originate in the necessity of protecting the existing industries of the
neutral countries. They were never intended to encourage the creation of
entirely new industries in neutral States, as, for instance, the new war
industry in the United States, which supplies only one party of the
belligerents.
In reality the American industry is supplying only Germany's enemies. A
fact which is in no way modified by the purely theoretical willingness
to furnish Germany as well, if it were possible.
If the American people desire to observe true neutrality, they will find
means to stop the exclusive exportation of arms to one side, or at
least to use this export trade as a means to uphold the legitimate trade
with Germany, especially the trade in foodstuffs. This spirit of
neutrality should appear the more justified to the United States as it
has been maintained toward Mexico.
According to the declaration of a Congressman, made in the House
Committee for Foreign Relations Dec. 30, 1914, President Wilson is
quoted as having said on Feb. 4, 1914, when the embargo on arms for
Mexico was lifted:
"We should stand for genuine neutrality, considering the
surrounding facts of the case." He then held in that case,
because Carranza had no ports, while Huerta had them and was
able to import these materials, that "it was our duty as a
nation to treat them (Carranza and Huerta) upon an equality if
we wished to observe the true spirit of neutrality as compared
with a mere paper neutrality."
This conception of "the true spirit of neutrality," if applied to the
present case, would lead to an embargo on arms.
The American Reply
_The following note, which contains a vigorous rebuke to the German
Ambassador for the freedom of his remarks on the course taken by the
United States toward the belligerent powers, was made public at
Washington on April 21, 1916. It was then reported that the note was
finally drafted by President Wilson himself and written by him on his
own typewriter at the White House, although it is signed by Mr. Bryan as
Secretary of State:_
I have given thoughtful consideration to your Excellency's note of the
4th of April, 1915, inclosing a memorandum of the same date, in which
your Excellency discusses the action of this Government with regard to
trade between the United States and Germany, and the attitude of this
Government with regard to the exportation of arms from the United States
to the nations now at war with Germany.
I must admit that I am somewhat at a loss how to interpret your
Excellency's treatment of these matters. There are many circumstances
connected with these important subjects to which I would have expected
your Excellency to advert but of which you make no mention, and there
are other circumstances to which you do refer which I would have
supposed to be hardly appropriate for discussion between the Government
of the United States and the Government of Germany.
I shall take the liberty, therefore, of regarding your Excellency's
references to the course, pursued by the Government of the United
States, with regard to interferences with trade from this country such
as the Government of Great Britain have attempted, as intended merely to
illustrate more fully the situation to which you desire to call our
attention, and not as an invitation to discuss that course.
Your Excellency's long experience in international affairs will have
suggested to you that these relations of the two Governments with one
another cannot wisely be made a subject of discussion with a third
Government, which cannot be fully informed as to the facts, and which
cannot be fully cognizant of the reasons for the course pursued.
I believe, however, that I am justified in assuming that what you desire
to call forth is a frank statement of the position of this Government in
regard to its obligations as a neutral power.
The general attitude and course of policy of this Government in the
maintenance of its neutrality I am particularly anxious that your
Excellency should see in their true light. I had hoped that this
Government's position in these respects had been made abundantly clear,
but I am, of course, perfectly willing to state it again.
This seems to me the more necessary and desirable because, I regret to
say, the language, which your Excellency employs in your memorandum, is
susceptible of being construed as impugning the good faith of the United
States in the performance of its duties as a neutral.
I take it for granted that no such implication was intended, but it is
so evident that your Excellency is laboring under certain false
impressions that I cannot be too explicit in setting forth the facts as
they are, when fully reviewed and comprehended.
In the first place, this Government has at no time and in no manner
yielded any one of its rights as a neutral to any one of the present
belligerents.
It has acknowledged, as a matter of course, the right of visit and
search and the right to apply the rules of contraband of war to articles
of commerce. It has, indeed, insisted upon the use of visit and search
as an absolutely necessary safeguard against mistaking neutral vessels
for vessels owned by any enemy and against mistaking legal cargoes for
illegal. It has admitted also the right of blockade if actually
exercised and effectively maintained.
These are merely the well-known limitations which war places upon
neutral commerce on the high seas. But nothing beyond these has it
conceded.
I call your Excellency's attention to this, notwithstanding it is
already known to all the world as a consequence of the publication of
our correspondence in regard to these matters with several of the
belligerent nations, because I cannot assume that you have official
cognizance of it.
In the second place, this Government attempted to secure from the German
and British Governments mutual concessions with regard to the measures
those Governments respectively adopted for the interruption of trade on
the high seas. This it did, not of right, but merely as exercising the
privileges of a sincere friend of both parties and as indicating its
impartial good-will.
The attempt was unsuccessful, but I regret that your Excellency did not
deem it worthy of mention in modification of the impressions you
expressed. We had hoped that this act on our part had shown our spirit
in these times of distressing war, as our diplomatic correspondence had
shown our steadfast refusal to acknowledge the right of any belligerent
to alter the accepted rules of war at sea in so far as they affect the
rights and interests of neutrals.
In the third place, I note with sincere regret that in discussing the
sale and exportation of arms by citizens of the United States to the
enemies of Germany, your Excellency seems to be under the impression
that it was within the choice of the Government of the United States,
notwithstanding its professed neutrality and its diligent efforts to
maintain it in other particulars, to inhibit this trade, and that its
failure to do so manifested an unfair attitude toward Germany.
This Government holds, as I believe your Excellency is aware and as it
is constrained to hold in view of the present indisputable doctrines of
accepted international law, that any change in its own laws of
neutrality during the progress of a war, which would affect unequally
the relations of the United States with the nations at war, would be an
unjustifiable departure from the principle of strict neutrality, by
which it has consistently sought to direct its actions, and I
respectfully submit that none of the circumstances, urged in your
Excellency's memorandum, alters the principle involved.
The placing of an embargo on the trade in arms at the present time would
constitute such a change and be a direct violation of the neutrality of
the United States. It will, I feel assured, be clear to your Excellency
that holding this view and considering itself in honor bound by it, it
is out of the question for this Government to consider such a course.
I hope that your Excellency will realize the spirit in which I am
drafting this reply. The friendship between the people of the United
States and the people of Germany is so warm and of such long standing,
the ties which bind them to one another in amity are so many and so
strong, that this Government feels under a special compulsion to speak
with perfect frankness, when any occasion arises which seems likely to
create any misunderstanding, however slight or temporary, between those
who represent the Governments of the two countries.
It will be a matter of gratification to me if I have removed from your
Excellency's mind any misapprehension you may have been under regarding
either the policy or the spirit and purposes of the Government of the
United States.
Its neutrality is founded upon the firm basis of conscience and
good-will.
Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.
W.J. BRYAN.
Munitions From Neutrals
[Colloquy in the House of Commons, May 4, 1915.]
Sir E. Grey, in reply to Sir A. Markham, (L., Mansfield,) said: The
United States Government have not at any time during the present war
supplied any war material of any kind to his Majesty's Government, and I
do not suppose that they have supplied any of the belligerents. It has
always been a recognized legitimate practice, and wholly consistent with
international law, for manufacturers in a neutral country to sell
munitions of war to belligerents. They were supplied in this way from
Germany to Russia during the Russo-Japanese war, and from Germany to
Great Britain during the Boer war, and are no doubt being supplied in
the same way from manufacturers in neutral countries to belligerents
now.
Mr. MacNeill (N., South Donegal)--Has not the rule always been, before
The Hague Conferences at all, that subjects of neutral nations are
allowed to supply munitions of war at their own risk?
Sir E. Grey--It is wholly consistent with international law that that
practice should go forward, and if there be any question of departure
from neutrality I think it will be, not in permitting that practice, but
in interfering with it. [Cheers.]
Germany and the Lusitania
By Charles W. Eliot
_President Emeritus of Harvard University._
That the sinking of the Lusitania was an act which outraged
not only the existing conventions of the civilized world but
the moral feelings of present civilized society is the view
put forth in his letter to THE NEW YORK TIMES, appearing May
15, 1915, by one of the most distinguished commentators on the
war. Dr. Eliot counsels that America's part is to resist such
a no-faith policy while keeping its neutral status.
Cambridge, Mass., May 13, 1915.
_To the Editor of The New York Times:_
The sinking of a great merchant vessel, carrying 2,500 noncombatant men,
women, and children, without giving them any chance to save their lives,
was in violation of long-standing conventions among civilized nations,
concerning the conduct of naval warfare. The pre-existing conventions
gave to a German vessel of war the right to destroy the Lusitania and
her cargo, if it were impossible to carry her into port as a prize; but
not to drown her passengers and crew. The pre-existing conventions or
agreements were, however, entered into by the civilized nations when
captures at sea were made by war vessels competent to take a prize into
some port, or to take off the passengers and crew of the captured
vessel.
The German Government now alleges that submarines are today the only
vessels it can employ effectively for attack on British commerce in the
declared war zone about the British Isles, since the rest of the German
Navy cannot keep the seas in face of the superior British Navy. Germany
further alleges that the present British blockade of German ports is
conducted in a new way--that is, by vessels which patrol the German
coast at a greater distance from the actual harbors than was formerly
the international practice; and hence, that Germany is justified in
conducting her attack on British commerce in a novel way also. In short,
Germany argues that her military necessities compel her to sink enemy
commercial vessels without regard to the lives of passengers and crews,
in spite of the fact that she was party to international agreements that
no such act should be committed.
The lesson which the sinking of the Lusitania teaches is, therefore,
this: Germany thinks it right to disregard on grounds of military
necessity existing international conventions with regard to naval
warfare, precisely as she disregarded the agreed-upon neutrality of
Belgium on the ground of military necessity. As in the case of Belgium
she had decided many years beforehand to violate the international
neutrality agreement, and had made all her plans for reaching Paris in a
few weeks by passing through Belgium, so on the sea she had decided
months ago that the necessity of interfering as much as possible with
British commerce and industries warrants her total disregard of the
existing rules of naval warfare, and has deliberately contrived the
sinking of merchant vessels without regard to the lives of the people on
board.
Again, when Germany thought it necessary on her quick march toward Paris
not only to crush the Belgian Army but to terrify the noncombatant
population of Belgium into complete submission by bombarding and burning
cities, towns, and villages, by plundering and shooting noncombatants,
by imposing heavy fines and ransoms, and by holding noncombatants as
hostages for the peaceable behavior of all Belgian citizens, she
disregarded all the conventions made by the civilized nations within
seventy years for mitigating the horrors of war, and justified her
action on the ground that it was a military necessity, since in no other
way could she immediately secure the safety of her communications as
she rushed on Paris. The civilized world had supposed that each nation
would make war only on the public forces and resources of its
antagonist; but last August Germany made ferocious war on noncombatants
and private property.
The sinking of the Lusitania is another demonstration that the present
German Government will not abide by any international contracts,
treaties, or agreements, if they, at a given moment, would interfere
with any military or naval course of action which the Government deems
necessary.
These demonstrated policies and purposes of the German Empire raise the
fundamental question--how is the civilization of the white race to be
carried forward? How are the real welfare of that race and the happiness
of the individuals that compose it to be hereafter furthered? Since the
revolutions in England, America, and France, it has been supposed that
civilization was to be advanced by international agreements or treaties,
by the co-operation of the civilized nations in the gradual improvement
of these agreements, and by the increasing practical effect given to
them by nations acting in co-operation; but now comes the German Empire
with its military force, immense in numbers and efficient beyond all
former experience through the intelligent use for destructive purposes
of the new powers attained by applied science, saying not only in words,
but in terrible acts: "We shall not abide by any international contracts
or agreements into which we may have previously entered, if at the
passing moment they interfere or conflict with the most advantageous
immediate use of our military and naval force." If this doctrine shall
now prevail in Europe, the foundations of modern civilization and of all
friendly and beneficial commerce the world over will be undermined.
The sinking of the Lusitania, therefore, makes perfectly clear the
nature of the problem with which the three Allies in Europe are now
struggling. They are resisting with all the weapons of war a nation
which declares that its promises are good only till it is, in its own
judgment, under the military necessity of breaking them.
The neutral nations are looking on at this tremendous conflict between
good-faith nations and no-faith nations with intense anxiety and sorrow,
but no longer in any doubt as to the nature of the issue. The sinking of
the Lusitania has removed every doubt; because that was a deliberate act
in full sight of the world, and of a nature not to be obscured or
confused by conflicting testimonies or questions about possible
exaggeration of outrages or about official responsibility for them. The
sinking of the Lusitania was an act which outraged not only the existing
conventions of the civilized world in regard to naval warfare, but the
moral feelings of present civilized society.
The neutral nations and some of the belligerent nations feel another
strong objection to the present German way of conducting war on land and
sea, namely that it brutalizes the soldier and the sailor to an
unprecedented degree. English French, and Russian soldiers on the one
side can contend with German, Austrian and Turkish soldiers on the other
with the utmost fierceness from trenches or in the open, use new and old
weapons of destruction, and kill and wound each other with equal ardor
and resolution, and yet not be brutalized or degraded in their moral
nature, if they fight from love of country or with self-sacrificing
loyalty to its spiritual ideals; but neither soldiers nor sailors can
attack defenseless noncombatants, systematically destroy towns and
villages, and put to death captured men, women, and children without
falling in their moral nature before the brutes. That he obeyed orders
will not save from moral ruin the soldier or sailor who does such deeds.
He should have refused to obey such orders and taken the consequences.
This is true even of the privates, but more emphatically of the
officers. The white race has often been proud of the way in which its
soldiers and sailors have fought in many causes--good, bad, and
indifferent; because they fought bravely took defeat resolutely, and
showed humanity after victory. The German method of conducting war
omits chivalry, mercy, and humanity, and thereby degrades the German
Nation and any other nation which sympathizes with it or supports its
methods. It is no answer to the world's objection to the sinking of the
Lusitania that Great Britain uses its navy to cut off from Germany food
and needed supplies for its industries, for that is a recognized and
effective method of warfare; whereas the sinking of an occasional
merchant ship with its passengers and crew is a method of warfare
nowhere effective, and almost universally condemned. If war, with its
inevitable stratagems, ambuscades, and lies must continue to be the
arbiter in international disputes, it is certainly desirable that such
magnanimity in war as the conventions of the last century made possible
should not be lost because of Germany's behavior in the present European
convulsion. It is also desirable to reaffirm with all possible emphasis
that fidelity to international agreements is the taproot of human
progress.
On the supposition that the people of the United States have learned the
lesson of the Lusitania, so far as an understanding of the issues at
stake in this gigantic war is concerned, can they also get from it any
guidance in regard to their own relation to the fateful struggle?
Apparently, not yet. With practical unanimity the American people will
henceforth heartily desire the success of the Allies, and the decisive
defeat of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey. With practical unanimity
they will support whatever action the Administration at Washington shall
decide to take in the immediate emergency; but at present they do not
feel that they know whether they can best promote the defeat of the
Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey by remaining
neutral or by taking active part in the conflict. Unless a dismemberment
of Austria-Hungary is brought about by Italy and Rumania or some other
Balkan State entering the war on the side of the Allies, it now seems as
if neither party would acknowledge defeat until exhausted or brought to
a sudden moral collapse. Exhaustion in war can best be prevented by
maintaining in activity the domestic industries and general
productiveness of the nation involved in war and those of the neutral
nations which are in position to feed it, and manufacture for it
munitions, clothing, and the other supplies that war demands. While
remaining strictly neutral, North and South America can be of great
service to the Allies. To be sure, as a neutral the United States will
be obliged to give some aid to Germany and her allies, such, for
example, as harboring the interned commercial fleet of Germany; but this
aid will be comparatively insignificant. The services which the American
republics can thus render to the cause of liberty and civilization are
probably more considerable than any they could render by direct
contributions of military or naval force. Kept free from the drain of
war, the republics will be better able to supply food, clothing,
munitions, and money to the Allies both during the war and after the
conclusion of peace.
On the whole, the wisest thing the neutral nations can do, which are
remote from the theatres of war, and have no territorial advantages to
seek at the coming of peace, is probably to defend vigorously and with
the utmost sincerity and frankness all the existing rights of neutrals.
By acting thus in the present case they will promote national
righteousness and hinder national depravity, discourage, for the future,
domination by any single great power in any part of the world, and help
the cause of civilization by strengthening the just liberty and
independence of many nations--large and small, and of different
capacities and experiences--which may reasonably hope, if the Prussian
terror can be abolished, to live together in peaceful co-operation for
the common good.
Appeals for American Defense
Need of Further Protecting Neutral Rights Set Forth.
By GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM.
_Formerly United States Attorney General._
_To the Editor of The New York Times:_
The destruction of the Lusitania by the Germans, and the wanton killing
of American men, women, and children, without warning, brings sharply
before the American people the question of how long the present sexless
policy of the conduct of our affairs is to be continued. Germany has
apparently decided to run amuck with civilization. It is now for the
American people to decide whether this nation has any virility left, or
if it is content to sink to the level of China.
A very clear course, it seems to me, is open for us to pursue: We should
cancel all diplomatic relations with a country which has declared war
upon civilization, recall our Ambassador from Berlin, and hand Count
Bernstorff his passports. Congress should be summoned in extra session,
and an appropriation of at least $250,000,000 asked to put us in a
condition to protect our rights as a neutral civilized power. At the
same time we should invite all neutral nations of the world to join us
in a council of civilization to agree upon the steps to be taken to
protect the interests of all neutral powers and their citizens from such
wanton acts of destruction of life and property as those which Germany
has been committing and which have culminated in the destruction of the
Lusitania and of so many of her passengers.
Until now the National Administration has been proceeding not only on
the basis of "safety first," but of safety first, last, and all the
time. The time has arrived when we must remember the truth of what
Lowell so well expressed, that
'Tis man's perdition to be safe, when for the truth he ought
to die.
GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM.
BY THE NATIONAL SECURITY LEAGUE.
[From THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 11, 1915.]
_The army, navy, and coast defenses of the United States are declared to
be inadequate in an open letter signed by Joseph H. Choate, Alton B.
Parker, Henry L. Stimson, and S. Stanwood Menken, which was given out
yesterday in support of the plans of the National Security League. This
organization, which maintains offices at 31 Pine Street, has embarked on
a national campaign for better war defenses, and its appeal for members
and supporters is expressed by the catch-phrase, "a first defense army
of 1,000,000 workers."_
_The letter of Messrs. Choate, Parker, Stimson, and Menken contains most
of the arguments put forth by the league in asking public support and
enrollment. Its text follows:_
Careful investigation by our committees who have looked into the
question of national defense brings to light the following conditions of
affairs:
According to official Government reports, there are barely 30,000 mobile
troops in continental United States. These are distributed among
fifty-two widely scattered posts, which would make it impossible to
mobilize quickly at any given point. Even this small force is short of
officers, ammunition, and equipment. Furthermore, it has no organized
reserve.
Our National Guard, with negligible exceptions, is far below its paper
strength in men, equipment, and efficiency.
Our coast defenses are inadequate, our fortifications insufficiently
manned and without adequate organized reserves.
Our navy is neither adequate nor prepared for war. This, our first line
of defense, is inadequately manned, short of ammunition, and has no
organized reserve of trained men. Our submarine flotilla exists chiefly
upon paper. Fast scout cruisers, battle cruisers, aeroplanes, mine
layers, supply ships, and transports are lacking. Target practice has
been neglected or altogether omitted.
In view of this condition of affairs, and since there is no assurance
that the United States will not again become involved in war, "and since
a peaceful policy even when supported by treaties, is not a sufficient
guarantee against war, of which the subjugation of Belgium and the
present coercion of China by a foreign power are noteworthy examples;
and the United States cannot safely intrust the maintenance of its
institutions and nationality to the mere negations of peace, and since
we are not adequately prepared to maintain our national policies, and
since the present defenseless condition of the nation is due to the
failure of Congress not only to follow the carefully considered plans of
our naval and military advisers, but also to provide any reasonable
measure for gradually putting such plans into practice, it is manifest
that until a workable plan for a world alliance has been evolved and
agreed to by the principal nations, with proper guarantee of good faith,
the United States must undertake adequate military preparations for its
defense."
In the meantime the National Security League feels impelled to call
public attention to our deplorable condition of unpreparedness. At the
same time the league issues an appeal for public support in behalf of
the following program for better national defense:
1. Legislation correcting present wasteful methods of military
appropriations and disbursement.
2. Adoption of a definite military policy.
3. A stronger, better balanced navy.
4. An effective mobile army.
5. Larger and better equipped National Guard.
6. The creation of an organized reserve for each branch of our military
service.
All those interested in the work of the league are invited to send their
names and contributions to the National Security League, 31 Pine
Street, New York City.
[The letter is addressed to "present and former members of the Cabinet,
to members of Congress, to Governors of our States and Territories, to
Mayors of all American cities, to Chambers of Commerce and Boards of
Trade, to merchants' associations, to colleges and universities, to
university clubs and alumni associations, to all patriotic
organizations, to all women's clubs, and to all American citizens."
"Until a satisfactory plan of disarmament has been worked out and agreed
upon by the nations of the world," says a statement, "the United States
must be adequately prepared to defend itself against invasion. A
military equipment sufficient for this purpose can be had without
recourse to militarism. The league was formed as a preparation not for
war, but against war."]
BY THE NAVY LEAGUE.
[From THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 12, 1915.]
The Navy League of the United States, of which General Horace Porter is
President and which includes in its membership Herbert L. Satterlee,
George von L. Meyer, Beekman Winthrop, J. Pierpont Morgan, Governor
Emmet O'Neal of Alabama, Senator James D. Phelan of California, Cardinal
Gibbons, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Root, Edward T. Stotesbury, Benjamin
Ide Wheeler, Joseph H. Choate, George B. Cortelyou, C. Oliver Iselin,
Seth Low, Myron T. Herrick, Alton B. Parker, and scores of other men
prominent in the public and business life of the country, through its
Executive Committee adopted a resolution yesterday calling upon
President Wilson to call Congress in extra session to authorize a bond
issue of $500,000,000, which sum, it is stated, is "needed to provide
this country with adequate means of naval defense."
[Illustration: RAYMOND POINCARE
President of the French Republic Since Feb. 18, 1913
_(Photo from P.S. Rogers.)_]
[Illustration: THE RIGHT HON. H.H. ASQUITH
Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland
_(Photo from Brown Bros.)_]
The resolution, which was adopted at a session at which members of the
Executive Committee consulted by long-distance telephone, some of them
being in Washington and others in New York at the Union League Club,
read:
"In view of the crisis in our foreign relations, we, as
representatives of the Navy League of the United States, express our
emphatic belief that Congress should be immediately assembled and that
measures should be taken at once to strengthen our national defense. Our
most pacific country should, because of its supreme love of peace,
possess preponderant naval strength and adequate military strength. A
large bond issue of, if necessary, $500,000,000 should be authorized at
once. These bonds would be rapidly absorbed by the American people for
such a purpose. Equipped with a mighty fleet, American life and
American rights would be scrupulously respected by all belligerents. In
such case there would be no thought of our entering into war.
"GENERAL HORACE PORTER,
President;
"ROBERT M. THOMPSON,
Chairman Executive Committee;
"CHARLES A. FOWLER,
"PERRY BELMONT,
"JOHN C. O'LAUGHLIN,
"FRANK J. SYMES."
The Drowned Sailor
By MAURICE HEWLETT.
[From "Sing Songs of the War."]
Last night I saw my true love stand
All shadowy by my bed.
He had my locket in his hand;
I knew that he was dead.
"Sweetheart, why stand you there so fast,
Why stand you there so grave?"
"I think," said he, "this hour's the last
That you and I can have.
"You gave me this from your fair breast,
It's never left me yet;
And now it dares not seek the nest
Because it is so wet.
"The cold gray sea has covered it,
Deep in the sand it lies;
While over me the long weeds flit
And veil my staring eyes.
"And there are German sailors laid
Beside me in the deep;
We have no need of gun nor blade,
United in our sleep."
"Dear heart, dear heart, come to my bed,
My arms are warm and sweet!"
"Alack for you, my love," he said,
"My limbs would wet the sheet.
"Cold is the bed that I lie on
And deep beneath the swell;
No voice is left to make my moan
And bid my love farewell."
Now I am widow that was wife--
Would God that they could prove
What law should rule, without the strife
That's robbed me of my love!
War With Poisonous Gases
The Gap at Ypres Made by German Chlorine Vapor Bombs
Reports by the Official "Eyewitness"
and
Dr. J.S. Haldane, F.R.S.
_Dr. John Scott Haldane, F.R.S., who has conducted the investigation for
the British War Office, is a brother of Lord Haldane. He is a graduate
in medicine of Edinburgh University and an M.A. of Oxford and an LL.D.
of Birmingham. For many years he has been engaged in scientific
investigation, and has contributed largely to the elucidation of the
causes of death in colliery and mine explosions He is the author of a
work on the physiology of respiration and air analysis._
_Professor Baker, F.R.S., who is carrying out chemical investigations
into the nature of the gases, is Professor of Chemistry in the Imperial
College of Science and Technology, London. He was a Scholar in Natural
Science at Balliol. He has conducted important experiments into the
nature of gases._
_Sir Wilmot Herringham, M.D. Oxon., is a physician to St. Bartholomew's
Hospital and Vice Chancellor of the London University._
_Lieutenant McNee, M.B., M. Ch. Glasgow, a Carnegie Research Fellow, is
assistant to the Professor of Pathology in Glasgow University and has
conducted many investigations of an important character in pathology and
chemical pathology._
General Headquarters,
British Expeditionary Force,
April 27, 1915.
To Earl Kitchener, Secretary of State for War.
My Lord: I have the honor to report that, as requested by you yesterday
morning, I proceeded to France to investigate the nature and effects of
the asphyxiating gas employed in the recent fighting by the German
troops. After reporting myself at General Headquarters I proceeded to
Bailleul with Sir Wilmot Herringham, Consulting Physician to the British
Force, and examined with him several men from Canadian battalions who
were at the No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station suffering from the effects
of the gas.
These men were lying struggling for breath and blue in the face. On
examining the blood with the spectroscope and by other means, I
ascertained that the blueness was not due to the presence of any
abnormal pigment. There was nothing to account for the blueness
(cyanosis) and struggle for air but the one fact that they were
suffering from acute bronchitis, such as is caused by inhalation of an
irritant gas. Their statements were that when in the trenches they had
been overwhelmed by an irritant gas produced in front of the German
trenches and carried toward them by a gentle breeze.
One of them died shortly after our arrival. A post-mortem examination
was conducted in our presence by Lieutenant McNee, a pathologist by
profession, of Glasgow University. The examination showed that death was
due to acute bronchitis and its secondary effects. There was no doubt
that the bronchitis and accompanying slow asphyxiation were due to the
irritant gas.
Lieutenant McNee had also examined yesterday the body of a Canadian
Sergeant who had died in the clearing station from the effects of the
gas. In this case, also, very acute bronchitis and oedema of the lungs
caused death by asphyxiation.
A deposition by Captain Bertram, Eighth Canadian Battalion, was
carefully taken down by Lieutenant McNee. Captain Bertram was then in
the clearing station, suffering from the effects of the gas and from a
wound. From a support trench, about 600 yards from the German lines, he
had observed the gas. He saw, first of all, a white smoke arising from
the German trenches to a height of about three feet. Then in front of
the white smoke appeared a greenish cloud, which drifted along the
ground to our trenches, not rising more than about seven feet from the
ground when it reached our first trenches. Men in these trenches were
obliged to leave, and a number of them were killed by the effects of the
gas. We made a counter-attack about fifteen minutes after the gas came
over, and saw twenty-four men lying dead from the effects of the gas on
a small stretch of road leading from the advanced trenches to the
supports. He was himself much affected by the gas still present, and
felt as if he could not breathe.
The symptoms and the other facts so far ascertained point to the use by
the German troops of chlorine or bromine for purposes of asphyxiation.
There are also facts pointing to the use in German shells of other
irritant substances, though in some cases at least these agents are not
of the same brutally barbarous character as the gas used in the attack
on the Canadians. The effects are not those of any of the ordinary
products of combustion of explosives. On this point the symptoms
described left not the slightest doubt in my mind.
Professor H.B. Baker, F.R.S., who accompanied me, is making further
inquiries from the chemical side.
I am, my Lord, your obedient servant,
J.S. HALDANE.
_The following announcement was issued by the British War Office on
April 29, 1915:_
Thanks to the magnificent response already made to the appeal in the
press for respirators for the troops, the War Office is in a position to
announce that no further respirators need be made.
THE "EYEWITNESS" STORY.
_The following descriptive account was communicated by the British
Official Eyewitness present with General Headquarters, supplementing his
continuous narrative of the movements of the British force and the
French armies in immediate touch with it:_
April 27, 1915.
Since the last summary there has been a sudden development in the
situation on our front, and very heavy fighting has taken place to the
north and northeast of Ypres, which can be said to have assumed the
importance of a second battle for that town. With the aid of a method of
warfare up to now never employed by nations sufficiently civilized to
consider themselves bound by international agreements solemnly ratified
by themselves, and favored by the atmospheric conditions, the Germans
have put into effect an attack which they had evidently contemplated and
prepared for some time.
Before the battle began our line in this quarter ran from the
cross-roads at Broodseinde, east of Zonnebeke on the Ypres-Moorslede
Road to the cross-roads half a mile north of St. Julien, on the
Ypres-Poelcapelle Road, roughly following the crest of what is known as
the Grafenstafel Ridge. The French prolonged the line west of the
Ypres-Poelcapelle Road, whence their trenches ran around the north of
Langemarck to Steenstraate on the Yperlee Canal. The area covered by the
initial attack is that between the canal and the Ypres-Poelcapelle Road,
though it was afterward extended to the west of the canal and to the
east of the road.
An effort on the part of the Germans in this direction was not
unexpected, since movements of troops and transport behind their front
line had been detected for some days. Its peculiar and novel nature,
however, was a surprise which was largely responsible for the measure of
success achieved. Taking advantage of the fact that at this season of
the year the wind not infrequently blows from the north, they secretly
brought up apparatus for emitting asphyxiating vapor or gas, and
distributed it along the section of their front line opposite that of
our allies, west of Langemarck, which faced almost due north. Their plan
was to make a sudden onslaught southwestward, which, if successful,
might enable them to gain the crossings on the canal south of Bixschoote
and place them well behind the British left in a position to threaten
Ypres.
The attack was originally fixed for Tuesday, the 20th, but since all
chances of success depended on the action of the asphyxiating vapor it
was postponed, the weather being unfavorable. On Thursday, the 22d, the
wind blew steadily from the north, and that afternoon, all being ready,
the Germans put their plan into execution. Since then events have moved
so rapidly and the situation has moved so frequently that it is
difficult to give a consecutive and clear story of what happened, but
the following account represents as nearly as can be the general course
of events. The details of the gas apparatus employed by them are given
separately, as also those of the asphyxiating grenades, bombs, and
shells of which they have been throwing hundreds.
At some time between 4 and 5 P.M. the Germans started operations by
releasing gases with the result that a cloud of poisonous vapor rolled
swiftly before the wind from their trenches toward those of the French
west of Langemarck, held by a portion of the French Colonial Division.
Allowing sufficient time for the fumes to take full effect on the troops
facing them, the Germans charged forward over the practically
unresisting enemy in their immediate front, and, penetrating through the
gap thus created, pressed on silently and swiftly to the south and west.
By their sudden irruption they were able to overrun and surprise a large
proportion of the French troops billeted behind the front line in this
area and to bring some of the French guns as well as our own under a hot
rifle fire at close range.
The first intimation that all was not well to the north was conveyed to
our troops holding the left of the British line between 5 and 6 P.M. by
the withdrawal of some of the French Colonials and the sight of the wall
of vapor following them. Our flank being thus exposed the troops were
ordered to retire on St. Julien, with their left parallel to but to the
west of the highroad. The splendid resistance of these troops, who saved
the situation, has already been mentioned by the Commander in Chief.
Meanwhile, apparently waiting till their infantry had penetrated well
behind the Allies' line, the Germans had opened a hot artillery fire
upon the various tactical points to the north of Ypres, the bombardment
being carried out with ordinary high-explosive shell and shrapnel of
various calibres and also with projectiles containing asphyxiating gas.
About this period our men in reserve near Ypres, seeing the shells
bursting, had gathered in groups, discussing the situation and
questioning some scattered bodies of Turcos who had appeared; suddenly a
staff officer rode up shouting "Stand to your arms," and in a few
minutes the troops had fallen in and were marching northward to the
scene of the fight.
Nothing more impressive can be imagined than the sight of our men
falling in quietly in perfect order on their alarm posts amid the scene
of wild confusion caused by the panic-stricken refugees who swarmed
along the roads.
In the meantime, to the north and northeast of the town, a confused
fight was taking place, which gave proof not only of great gallantry and
steadiness on the part of the troops referred to above, but of
remarkable presence of mind on the part of their leaders. Behind the
wall of vapor, which had swept across fields, through woods, and over
hedgerows, came the German firing line, the men's mouths and noses, it
is stated, protected by pads soaked in a solution of bicarbonate of
soda. Closely following them again came the supports. These troops,
hurrying forward with their formation somewhat broken up by the
obstacles encountered in their path, looked like a huge mob bearing down
upon the town. A battery of 4.7-inch guns a little beyond the left of
our line was surprised and overwhelmed by them in a moment. Further to
the rear and in a more easterly direction were several field batteries,
and before they could come into action the Germans were within a few
hundred yards. Not a gun, however, was lost.
One battery, taken in flank, swung around, fired on the enemy at
point-blank range, and checked the rush. Another opened fire with the
guns pointing in almost opposite directions, the enemy being on three
sides of them. It was under the very heavy cannonade opened about this
time by the Germans, and threatened by the advance of vastly superior
numbers, that our infantry on our left steadily, and without any sign of
confusion, slowly retired to St. Julien, fighting every step.
Help was not long in arriving, for some of our reserves near Ypres had
stood to arms as soon as they were aware of the fact that the French
line had been forced, and the officers on their own initiative, without
waiting for orders, led them forward to meet the advancing enemy, who,
by this time, were barely two miles from the town. These battalions
attacked the Germans with the bayonet, and then ensued a melee, in which
our men more than held their own, both sides losing very heavily.
One German battalion seems to have been especially severely handled, the
Colonel being captured among several other prisoners. Other
reinforcements were thrown in as they came up, and, when night fell, the
fighting continued by moonlight, our troops driving back the enemy by
repeated bayonet charges, in the course of which our heavy guns were
recaptured.
By then the situation was somewhat restored in the area immediately
north of Ypres. Further to the west, however, the enemy had forced their
way over the canal, occupying Steenstraate and the crossing at Het
Sast, about three-quarters of a mile south of the former place, and had
established themselves at various points on the west bank. All night
long the shelling continued, and about 1:30 A.M. two heavy attacks were
made on our line in the neighborhood of Broodseinde, east of Zonnebeke.
These were both repulsed. The bombardment of Ypres itself and its
neighborhood had by now redoubled in intensity and a part of the town
was in flames.
In the early morning of Friday, the 23d, we delivered a strong
counter-attack northward in co-operation with the French. Our advance
progressed for some little distance, reaching the edge of the wood about
half a mile west of St. Julien and penetrating it. Here our men got into
the Germans with the bayonet, and the latter suffered heavily. The
losses were also severe on our side, for the advance had to be carried
out across the open. But in spite of this nothing could exceed the dash
with which it was conducted. One man--and his case is typical of the
spirit shown by the troops--who had had his rifle smashed by a bullet,
continued to fight with an intrenching tool. Even many of the wounded
made their way out of the fight with some article of German equipment as
a memento.
About 11 A.M., not being able to progress further, our troops dug
themselves in, the line then running from St. Julien practically due
west for about a mile, whence it curved southwestward before turning
north to the canal near Boesinghe. Broadly speaking, on the section of
the front then occupied by us the result of the operations had been to
remove to some extent the wedge which the Germans had driven into the
allied line, and the immediate danger was over. During the afternoon our
counter-attack made further progress south of Pilkem, thus straightening
the line still more. Along the canal the fighting raged fiercely, our
allies making some progress here and there. During the night, however,
the Germans captured Lizerne, a village on the main road from Ypres to
Steenstraate.
When the morning of the 24th came the situation remained much the same,
but the enemy, who had thrown several bridges across the canal,
continued to gain ground to the west. On our front the Germans, under
cover of their gas, made a further attack between 3 and 4 A.M. to the
east of St. Julien and forced back a portion of our line. Nothing else
in particular occurred until about mid-day, when large bodies of the
enemy were seen advancing down the Ypres-Poelcapelle road toward St.
Julien. Soon after a very strong attack developed against that village
and the section of the line east of it. Under the pressure of these
fresh masses our troops were compelled to fall back, contesting every
inch of ground and making repeated counter-attacks; but until late at
night a gallant handful, some 200 to 300 strong, held out in St. Julien.
During the night the line was re-established north of the hamlet of
Fortuin, about 700 yards further to the rear. All this time the fighting
along the canal continued, the enemy forcing their way across near
Boesinghe, and holding Het Sast, Steenstraate, and Lizerne strongly. The
French counter-attacked in the afternoon, captured fifty prisoners, and
made some further progress toward Pilkem. The Germans, however, were
still holding the west bank firmly, although the Belgian artillery had
broken the bridge behind them at Steenstraate.
On the morning of Sunday, the fourth day of the battle, we made a strong
counter-attack on St. Julien, which gained some ground but was checked
in front of the village. To the west of it we reached a point a few
hundred yards south of the wood which had been the objective on the 23d
and which we had had to relinquish subsequently. In the afternoon the
Germans made repeated assaults in great strength on our line near
Broodseinde. These were backed up by a tremendous artillery bombardment
and the throwing of asphyxiating bombs; but all were beaten off with
great slaughter to the enemy, and forty-five prisoners fell into our
hands. When night came the situation remained unchanged.
This determined offensive on the part of the enemy, although it has
menaced Ypres itself, has not so far the appearance of a great effort to
break through the line and capture the Channel ports, such as that made
in October. Its initial success was gained by the surprise rendered
possible by the use of a device which Germany pledged herself not to
employ. The only result upon our troops has been to fill them with an
even greater determination to punish the enemy and to make him pay
tenfold for every act of "frightfulness" he has perpetrated.
Along the rest of the British front nothing of special importance has
occurred.
WHAT THE GERMANS SAY.
_The comments of the German newspapers on the advance of the imperial
army north of Ypres readily admitted and justified the use of
asphyxiating gases. The leading Prussian military organ, the Kreuz
Zeitung, said:_
The moral success of our victory is quite upon a level with its
strategic value. It has again been proved that in the west also we are
at any time in a position to take the offensive, and that,
notwithstanding their most violent efforts, it is impossible for the
English and the French to throw back or to break through our battle
line.
_In another article the Kreuz Zeitung said:_
When the French report says that we used a large number of asphyxiating
bombs, our enemies may infer from this that they always are making a
mistake when by their behavior they cause us to have recourse to new
technical weapons.
_Dealing with the same subject in a leading article, the Frankfurter
Zeitung declared:_
It is quite possible that our bombs and shells made it impossible for
the enemy to remain in his trenches and artillery positions, and it is
even probable that missiles which emit poisonous gases have actually
been used by us, since the German leaders have made it plain that, as
an answer to the treacherous missiles which have been used by the
English and the French for many weeks past, we, too, shall employ gas
bombs or whatever they are called. The German leaders pointed out that
considerably more effective materials were to be expected from German
chemistry, and they were right.
But, however destructive these bombs and shells may have been, do the
English and the other people think that it makes a serious difference
whether hundreds of guns and howitzers throw hundreds of thousands of
shells on a single tiny spot in order to destroy and break to atoms
everything living there, and to make the German trenches into a terrible
hell as was the case at Neuve Chapelle, or whether we throw a few shells
which spread death in the air? These shells are not more deadly than the
poison of English explosives, but they take effect over a wider area,
produce a rapid end, and spare the torn bodies the tortures and pains of
death.
_The Frankfurter Zeitung then compared the results achieved as
follows:_
The shells of Neuve Chapelle cost the Germans a trench and a village,
but on the edge of the ruin the German ring remained firm and strong.
How was it at Ypres? The enemy was thrown back on a front of more than
five and a half miles. Along this whole front we gained two miles. These
figures would signify little in comparison with the distance to the sea,
but our next goal is Ypres, and on the north we are now only a few
kilometers from this stronghold.
_The Cologne Gazette referred to Sir John French's reports as follows:_
It is delightful to read the complaints about the use of shells
containing asphyxiating gases. This sounds particularly well out of the
mouth of the Commander in Chief of a nation which for centuries past has
trodden every provision of international law under foot.
The Canadians at Ypres
[From the Canadian Record Officer.]
_The full narrative of the part played by the Canadians at Ypres is
given in a communication from the Record Officer now serving with the
Canadian Division at the front and published in the British press on May
1, 1915. The division was commanded by a distinguished English General,
but these "amateur soldiers of Canada," as the narrator describes them,
were officered largely by lawyers, college professors, and business men
who before the war were neither disciplined nor trained. Many striking
deeds of heroism and self-sacrifice were performed in the course of
their brilliant charge and dogged resistance, which, in the words of Sir
John French, "saved the situation" in the face of overwhelming odds._
On April 22 the Canadian Division held a line of, roughly, 5,000 yards,
extending in a northwesterly direction from the Ypres-Roulers Railway to
the Ypres-Poelcapelle road, and connecting at its terminus with the
French troops. The division consisted of three infantry brigades in
addition to the artillery brigades. Of the infantry brigades the First
was in reserve, the Second was on the right, and the Third established
contact with the Allies at the point indicated above.
The day was a peaceful one, warm and sunny, and except that the previous
day had witnessed a further bombardment of the stricken town of Ypres,
everything seemed quiet in front of the Canadian line. At 5 o'clock in
the afternoon a plan, carefully prepared, was put into execution against
our French allies on the left. Asphyxiating gas of great intensity was
projected into their trenches, probably by means of force pumps and
pipes laid out under the parapets. The fumes, aided by a favorable wind,
floated backward, poisoning and disabling over an extended area those
who fell under their effect.
The result was that the French were compelled to give ground for a
considerable distance. The glory which the French Army has won in this
war would make it impertinent to labor the compelling nature of the
poisonous discharges under which the trenches were lost. The French did,
as every one knew they would do, all that stout soldiers could do, and
the Canadian Division, officers and men, look forward to many occasions
in the future in which they will stand side by side with the brave
armies of France.
[Illustration: POSITION BEFORE DISCHARGE OF GAS
Contrast this with:
POSITION AFTER DISCHARGE OF GAS]
The immediate consequences of this enforced withdrawal were, of course,
extremely grave. The Third Brigade of the Canadian Division was without
any left, or, in other words, its left was in the air. Rough diagrams
may make the position clear.
It became imperatively necessary greatly to extend the Canadian lines to
the left rear. It was not, of course, practicable to move the First
Brigade from reserve at a moment's notice, and the line, extending from
5,000 to 9,000 yards, was naturally not the line that had been held by
the Allies at 5 o'clock, and a gap still existed on its left. The new
line, of which our recent point of contact with the French formed the
apex, ran quite roughly as follows:
[Illustration: POSITION ON FRIDAY MORNING]
As shown above, it became necessary for Brig. Gen. Turner, commanding
the Third Brigade, to throw back his left flank southward to protect his
rear. In the course of the confusion which followed upon the
readjustments of position, the enemy, who had advanced rapidly after his
initial successes, took four British 4.7 guns in a small wood to the
west of the village of St. Julien, two miles in the rear of the original
French trenches.
The story of the second battle of Ypres is the story of how the Canadian
Division, enormously outnumbered--for they had in front of them at least
four divisions supported by immensely heavy artillery--with a gap still
existing, though reduced, in their lines, and with dispositions made
hurriedly under the stimulus of critical danger, fought through the day
and through the night, and then through another day and night; fought
under their officers until, as happened to so many, those perished
gloriously, and then fought from the impulsion of sheer valor because
they came from fighting stock.
The enemy, of course, was aware--whether fully or not may perhaps be
doubted--of the advantage his breach in the line had given him, and
immediately began to push a formidable series of attacks upon the whole
of the newly-formed Canadian salient. If it is possible to distinguish
when the attack was everywhere so fierce, it developed with particular
intensity at this moment upon the apex of the newly formed line, running
in the direction of St. Julien.
It has already been stated that four British guns were taken in a wood
comparatively early in the evening of the 22d. In the course of that
night, and under the heaviest machine-gun fire, this wood was assaulted
by the Canadian Scottish, Sixteenth Battalion of the Third Brigade, and
the Tenth Battalion of the Second Brigade, which was intercepted for
this purpose on its way to a reserve trench. The battalions were
respectively commanded by Lieut. Col. Leckie and Lieut. Col. Boyle, and
after a most fierce struggle in the light of a misty moon they took the
position at the point of the bayonet. At midnight the Second Battalion,
under Colonel Watson, and the Toronto Regiment, Queen's Own, Third
Battalion, under Lieut. Col. Rennie, both of the First Brigade, brought
up much-needed reinforcement, and though not actually engaged in the
assault were in reserve.
All through the following days and nights these battalions shared the
fortunes and misfortunes of the Third Brigade. An officer who took part
in the attack describes how the men about him fell under the fire of the
machine guns, which, in his phrase, played upon them "like a watering
pot." He added quite simply, "I wrote my own life off." But the line
never wavered. When one man fell another took his place, and with a
final shout the survivors of the two battalions flung themselves into
the wood. The German garrison was completely demoralized, and the
impetuous advance of the Canadians did not cease until they reached the
far side of the wood and intrenched themselves there in the position so
dearly gained. They had, however, the disappointment of finding that the
guns had been blown up by the enemy, and later on in the same night a
most formidable concentration of artillery fire, sweeping the wood as a
tropical storm sweeps the leaves from a forest, made it impossible for
them to hold the position for which they had sacrificed so much.
The fighting continued without intermission all through the night, and,
to those who observed the indications that the attack was being pushed
with ever-growing strength, it hardly seemed possible that the
Canadians, fighting in positions so difficult to defend and so little
the subject of deliberate choice, could maintain their resistance for
any long period. At 6 A.M. on Friday it became apparent that the left
was becoming more and more involved, and a powerful German attempt to
outflank it developed rapidly. The consequences, if it had been broken
or outflanked, need not be insisted upon. They were not merely local.
It was therefore decided, formidable as the attempt undoubtedly was, to
try and give relief by a counter-attack upon the first line of German
trenches, now far, far advanced from those originally occupied by the
French. This was carried out by the Ontario First and Fourth Battalions
of the First Brigade, under Brig. Gen. Mercer, acting in combination
with a British brigade.
It is safe to say that the youngest private in the rank, as he set his
teeth for the advance, knew the task in front of him, and the youngest
subaltern knew all that rested upon its success. It did not seem that
any human being could live in the shower of shot and shell which began
to play upon the advancing troops. They suffered terrible casualties.
For a short time every other man seemed to fall, but the attack was
pressed ever closer and closer.
The Fourth Canadian Battalion at one moment came under a particularly
withering fire. For a moment--not more--it wavered. Its most gallant
commanding officer, Lieut. Col. Burchill, carrying, after an old
fashion, a light cane, coolly and cheerfully rallied his men and, at the
very moment when his example had infected them, fell dead at the head of
his battalion. With a hoarse cry of anger they sprang forward, (for,
indeed, they loved him,) as if to avenge his death. The astonishing
attack which followed--pushed home in the face of direct frontal fire
made in broad daylight by battalions whose names should live for ever in
the memories of soldiers--was carried to the first line of German
trenches. After a hand-to-hand struggle the last German who resisted was
bayoneted, and the trench was won.
The measure of this success may be taken when it is pointed out that
this trench represented in the German advance the apex in the breach
which the enemy had made in the original line of the Allies, and that it
was two and a half miles south of that line. This charge, made by men
who looked death indifferently in the face, (for no man who took part in
it could think that he was likely to live,) saved, and that was much,
the Canadian left. But it did more. Up to the point where the assailants
conquered, or died, it secured and maintained during the most critical
moment of all the integrity of the allied line. For the trench was not
only taken, it was held thereafter against all comers, and in the teeth
of every conceivable projectile, until the night of Sunday, the 25th,
when all that remained of the war-broken but victorious battalions was
relieved by fresh troops.
It is necessary now to return to the fortunes of the Third Brigade,
commanded by Brig. Gen. Turner, which, as we have seen, at 5 o'clock on
Thursday was holding the Canadian left, and after the first attack
assumed the defense of the new Canadian salient, at the same time
sparing all the men it could to form an extemporized line between the
wood and St. Julien. This brigade also was at the first moment of the
German offensive, made the object of an attack by the discharge of
poisonous gas. The discharge was followed by two enemy assaults.
Although the fumes were extremely poisonous, they were not, perhaps
having regard to the wind, so disabling as on the French lines, (which
ran almost east to west,) and the brigade, though affected by the fumes,
stoutly beat back the two German assaults.
Encouraged by this success, it rose to the supreme effort required by
the assault on the wood, which has already been described. At 4 o'clock
on the morning of Friday, the 23d, a fresh emission of gas was made both
upon the Second Brigade, which held the line running northeast, and upon
the Third Brigade, which, as has been fully explained, had continued the
line up to the pivotal point, as defined above, and had then spread down
in a southeasterly direction. It is, perhaps, worth mentioning that two
privates of the Forty-eighth Highlanders who found their way into the
trenches commanded by Colonel Lipsett, Ninetieth Winnipeg Rifles, Eighth
Battalion, perished in the fumes, and it was noticed that their faces
became blue immediately after dissolution.
The Royal Highlanders of Montreal, Thirteenth Battalion, and the
Forty-eighth Highlanders, Fifteenth Battalion, were more especially
affected by the discharge. The Royal Highlanders, though considerably
shaken, remained immovable upon their ground. The Forty-eighth
Highlanders, which, no doubt, received a more poisonous discharge, was
for the moment dismayed, and, indeed, their trench, according to the
testimony of very hardened soldiers, became intolerable. The battalion
retired from the trench, but for a very short distance, and for an
equally short time. In a few moments they were again their own men. They
advanced upon and occupied the trenches which they had momentarily
abandoned.
In the course of the same night the Third Brigade, which had already
displayed a resource, a gallantry, and a tenacity for which no eulogy
could be excessive, was exposed (and with it the whole allied case) to a
peril still more formidable.
[Illustration: The German rush across the Yser-Ypres Canal was checked
at Lizerne and opposite Boesinghe. The shaded area on the map marks the
scene of the battle. Within this area are Steenstraate, Het Sast,
Pilkem, St. Julien, and Langemarck, all of which the Germans claimed to
have captured.]
It has been explained, and, indeed, the fundamental situation made the
peril clear, that several German divisions were attempting to crush or
drive back this devoted brigade, and in any event to use their enormous
numerical superiority to sweep around and overwhelm its left wing. At
some point in the line which cannot be precisely determined the last
attempt partially succeeded, and in the course of this critical struggle
German troops in considerable though not in overwhelming numbers swung
past the unsupported left of the brigade, and, slipping in between the
wood and St. Julien, added to the torturing anxieties of the long-drawn
struggle by the appearance, and indeed for the moment the reality, of
isolation from the brigade base.
In the exertions made by the Third Brigade during this supreme crisis it
is almost impossible to single out one battalion without injustice to
others, but though the efforts of the Royal Highlanders of Montreal,
Thirteenth Battalion, were only equal to those of the other battalions
who did such heroic service, it so happened by chance that the fate of
some of its officers attracted special attention.
Major Norsworth, already almost disabled by a bullet wound, was
bayoneted and killed while he was rallying his men with easy
cheerfulness. The case of Captain McCuaig, of the same battalion, was
not less glorious, although his death can claim no witness. This most
gallant officer was seriously wounded, in a hurriedly constructed
trench, at a moment when it would have been possible to remove him to
safety. He absolutely refused to move and continued in the discharge of
his duty.
But the situation grew constantly worse, and peremptory orders were
received for an immediate withdrawal. Those who were compelled to obey
them were most insistent to carry with them, at whatever risk to their
own mobility and safety, an officer to whom they were devotedly
attached. But he, knowing, it may be, better than they, the exertions
which still lay in front of them, and unwilling to inflict upon them the
disabilities of a maimed man, very resolutely refused, and asked of them
one thing only, that there should be given to him, as he lay alone in
the trench, two loaded Colt revolvers to add to his own, which lay in
his right hand as he made his last request. And so, with three revolvers
ready to his hand for use, a very brave officer waited to sell his life,
wounded and racked with pain, in an abandoned trench.
On Friday afternoon the left of the Canadian line was strengthened by
important reinforcements of British troops amounting to seven
battalions. From this time forward the Canadians also continued to
receive further assistance on the left from a series of French
counter-attacks pushed in a northeasterly direction from the canal bank.
But the artillery fire of the enemy continually grew in intensity, and
it became more and more evident that the Canadian salient could no
longer be maintained against the overwhelming superiority of numbers by
which it was assailed. Slowly, stubbornly, and contesting every yard,
the defenders gave ground until the salient gradually receded from the
apex, near the point where it had originally aligned with the French,
and fell back upon St. Julien.
Soon it became evident that even St. Julien, exposed to fire from right
and left, was no longer tenable in the face of overwhelming numerical
superiority. The Third Brigade was therefore ordered to retreat further
south, selling every yard of ground as dearly as it had done since 5
o'clock on Thursday. But it was found impossible, without hazarding far
larger forces, to disentangle the detachment of the Royal Highlanders of
Montreal, Thirteenth Battalion, and of the Royal Montreal Regiment,
Fourteenth Battalion. The brigade was ordered, and not a moment too
soon, to move back. It left these units with hearts as heavy as those
with which his comrades had said farewell to Captain McCuaig. The
German tide rolled, indeed, over the deserted village, but for several
hours after the enemy had become master of the village the sullen and
persistent rifle fire which survived showed that they were not yet
master of the Canadian rearguard. If they died, they died worthily of
Canada.
The enforced retirement of the Third Brigade (and to have stayed longer
would have been madness) reproduced for the Second Brigade, commanded by
Brig. Gen. Curry, in a singularly exact fashion, the position of the
Third Brigade itself at the moment of the withdrawal of the French. The
Second Brigade, it must be remembered, had retained the whole line of
trenches, roughly 2,500 yards, which it was holding at 5 o'clock on
Thursday afternoon, supported by the incomparable exertions of the Third
Brigade, and by the highly hazardous deployment in which necessity had
involved that brigade. The Second Brigade had maintained its lines.
It now devolved upon General Curry, commanding this brigade, to
reproduce the tactical maneuvres with which, earlier in the fight, the
Third Brigade had adapted itself to the flank movement of overwhelming
numerical superiority. He flung his left flank around south, and his
record is, that in the very crisis of this immense struggle he held his
line of trenches from Thursday at 5 o'clock till Sunday afternoon. And
on Sunday afternoon he had not abandoned his trenches. There were none
left. They had been obliterated by artillery. He withdrew his undefeated
troops from the fragments of his field fortifications, and the hearts of
his men were as completely unbroken as the parapets of his trenches were
completely broken. In such a brigade it is invidious to single out any
battalion for special praise, but it is, perhaps, necessary to the story
to point out that Lieut. Col. Lipsett, commanding the Ninetieth Winnipeg
Rifles, Eighth Battalion of the Second Brigade, held the extreme left of
the brigade position at the most critical moment.
The battalion was expelled from the trenches early on Friday morning by
an emission of poisonous gas, but, recovering in three-quarters of an
hour, it counter-attacked, retook the trenches it had abandoned, and
bayoneted the enemy. And after the Third Brigade had been forced to
retire Lieut. Col. Lipsett held his position, though his left was in the
air, until two British regiments filled up the gap on Saturday night.
The individual fortunes of these two brigades have brought us to the
events of Sunday afternoon, but it is necessary, to make the story
complete, to recur for a moment to the events of the morning. After a
very formidable attack the enemy succeeded in capturing the village of
St. Julien, which has so often been referred to in describing the
fortunes of the Canadian left. This success opened up a new and
formidable line of advance, but by this time further reinforcements had
arrived. Here, again, it became evident that the tactical necessities of
the situation dictated an offensive movement as the surest method of
arresting further progress.
General Alderson, who was in command of the reinforcements, accordingly
directed that an advance should be made by a British brigade which had
been brought up in support. The attack was thrust through the Canadian
left and centre, and as the troops making it swept on, many of them
going to certain death, they paused an instant, and, with deep-throated
cheers for Canada, gave the first indication to the division of the warm
admiration which their exertions had excited in the British Army.
The advance was indeed costly, but it could not be gainsaid. The story
is one of which the brigade may be proud, but it does not belong to the
special account of the fortunes of the Canadian contingent. It is
sufficient for our purpose to notice that the attack succeeded in its
object, and the German advance along the line, momentarily threatened,
was arrested.
We had reached, in describing the events of the afternoon, the points at
which the trenches of the Second Brigade had been completely destroyed.
This brigade, the Third Brigade, and the considerable reinforcements
which this time filled the gap between the two brigades, were gradually
driven fighting every yard upon a line running, roughly, from Fortuin,
south of St. Julien, in a northeasterly direction toward Passchendaele.
Here the two brigades were relieved by two British brigades, after
exertions as glorious, as fruitful, and, alas! as costly as soldiers
have ever been called upon to make.
Monday morning broke bright and clear and found the Canadians behind the
firing line. This day, too, was to bring its anxieties. The attack was
still pressed, and it became necessary to ask Brig. Gen. Curry whether
he could once more call upon his shrunken brigade. "The men are tired,"
this indomitable soldier replied, "but they are ready and glad to go
again to the trenches." And so once more, a hero leading heroes, the
General marched back the men of the Second Brigade, reduced to a quarter
of its original strength, to the very apex of the line as it existed at
that moment.
This position he held all day Monday; on Tuesday he was still occupying
the reserve trenches, and on Wednesday was relieved and retired to
billets in the rear.
Such, in the most general outline, is the story of a great and glorious
feat of arms. A story told so soon after the event, while rendering bare
justice to units whose doings fell under the eyes of particular
observers, must do less than justice to others who played their
part--and all did--as gloriously as those whose special activities it is
possible, even at this stage, to describe. But the friends of men who
fought in other battalions may be content in the knowledge that they,
too, shall learn, when time allows the complete correlation of diaries,
the exact part which each unit played in these unforgettable days. It is
rather accident than special distinction which had made it possible to
select individual battalions for mention.
It would not be right to close even this account without a word of
tribute to the auxiliary services. The signalers were always cool and
resourceful. The telegraph and telephone wires being constantly cut,
many belonging to this service rendered up their lives in the discharge
of their duty, carrying out repairs with the most complete calmness in
exposed positions. The dispatch carriers, as usual, behaved with the
greatest bravery. Theirs is a lonely life, and very often a lonely
death. One cycle messenger lay upon the ground, badly wounded. He
stopped a passing officer and delivered his message, together with some
verbal instructions. These were coherently given, but he swooned almost
before the words were out of his mouth.
The artillery never flagged in the sleepless struggle in which so much
depended upon its exertions. Not a Canadian gun was lost in the long
battle of retreat. And the nature of the position renders such a record
very remarkable. One battery of four guns found itself in such a
situation that it was compelled to turn two of its guns directly about
and fire upon the enemy in positions almost diametrically opposite.
It is not possible in this account to attempt a description of the
services rendered by the Canadian Engineers or the Medical Corps. Their
members rivaled in coolness, endurance, and valor the Canadian infantry,
whose comrades they were, and it is hoped in separate communications to
do justice to both these brilliant services.
No attempt has been made in this description to explain the recent
operations except in so far as they spring from, or are connected with,
the fortunes of the Canadian Division. It is certain that the exertions
of the troops who reinforced and later relieved the Canadians were not
less glorious, but the long, drawn-out struggle is a lesson to the whole
empire. "Arise, O Israel!" The empire is engaged in a struggle, without
quarter and without compromise, against an enemy still superbly
organized, still immensely powerful, still confident that its strength
is the mate of its necessities. To arms, then, and still to arms! In
Great Britain, in Canada, in Australia there is need, and there is need
now, of a community organized alike in military and industrial
co-operation.
That our countrymen in Canada, even while their hearts are still
bleeding, will answer every call which is made upon them, we well know.
The graveyard of Canada in Flanders is large; it is very large. Those
who lie there have left their mortal remains on alien soil. To Canada
they have bequeathed their memories and their glory.
On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.
Vapor Warfare Resumed
SIR JOHN FRENCH'S REPORT.
_The British Press Bureau authorized the publication of the following
report, dated May 3, by Field Marshal Sir John French on the employment
by the Germans of poisonous gases as weapons of warfare:_
The gases employed have been ejected from pipes laid into the trenches,
and also produced by the explosion of shells specially manufactured for
the purpose. The German troops who attacked under cover of these gases
were provided with specially designed respirators which were issued in
sealed patent covers.
This all points to long and methodical preparation on a large scale. A
week before the Germans first used this method they announced in their
official _communique_ that we were making use of asphyxiating gases. At
the time there appeared to be no reason for this astounding falsehood,
but now, of course, it is obvious that it was part of the scheme. It is
a further proof of the deliberate nature of the introduction by the
Germans of a new and illegal weapon, and shows that they recognized its
illegality, and were anxious to forestall neutral and possibly domestic
criticism.
Since the enemy has made use of this method of covering his advance with
a cloud of poisoned air, he has repeated it both in offense and defense
whenever the wind has been favorable. The effect of this poison is not
merely disabling or even painlessly fatal as suggested in the German
press. Those of its victims who do not succumb on the field and who can
be brought into hospital suffer acutely, and in a large proportion of
cases die a painful and lingering death. Those who survive are in little
better case, as the injury to their lungs appears to be of a permanent
character, and reduces them to a condition which points to their being
invalids for life.
These facts must be well known to the German scientists who devised this
new weapon and to the military authorities who have sanctioned its use.
I am of opinion that the enemy has definitely decided to use these gases
as a normal procedure, and that protests will be useless.
THE "EYEWITNESS" STORY.
_The following descriptive account, communicated by the British
Eyewitness present with General Headquarters, continues and supplements
the narrative published on April 29 of the movements of the British
force and the French armies in immediate touch with it:_
April 30, 1915.
As will have been gathered from the last summary, assaults accompanied
with gas were not made on every position of the front held by the
British to the north of Ypres at the same time. At one point it was not
until the early morning of Saturday, April 24, that the Germans brought
this method into operation against a section of our line not far from
our left flank.
Late on Thursday afternoon the men here saw portions of the French
retiring some distance to the west, and observed the cloud of vapor
rolling along the ground southward behind them. Our position was then
shelled with high explosives until 8 P.M. On Friday also it was
bombarded for some hours, the Germans firing poison shells for one hour.
Their infantry, who were intrenched about 120 yards away, evidently
expected some result from their use of the latter, for they put their
heads above the parapets, as if to see what the effect had been on our
men, and at intervals opened rapid rifle fire. The wind, however, was
strong and dissipated the fumes quickly, our troops did not suffer
seriously from their noxious effect, and the enemy did not attempt any
advance.
On Saturday morning, just about dawn, an airship appeared in the sky to
the east of our line at this point, and dropped four red stars, which
floated downward slowly for some distance before they died out. When our
men, whose eyes had not unnaturally been fixed on this display of
pyrotechnics, again turned to their front it was to find the German
trenches rendered invisible by a wall of greenish-yellow vapor, similar
to that observed on the Thursday afternoon, which was bearing down on
them on the breeze. Through this the Germans started shooting. During
Saturday they employed stupefying gas on several occasions in this
quarter, but did not press on very quickly. One reason for this, given
by a German prisoner, is that many of the enemy's infantry were so
affected by the fumes that they could not advance.
To continue the narrative from the night of Sunday, April 25. At 12:30
A.M., in face of repeated attacks, our infantry fell back from a part of
the Grafenstafel Ridge, northwest of Zonnebeke, and the line then ran
for some distance along the south bank of the little Haanebeek stream.
The situation along the Yperlee Canal remained practically unchanged.
When the morning of the 26th dawned the Germans, who had been seen
massing in St. Julien, and to the east of the village on the previous
evening, made several assaults, which grew more and more fierce as the
hours passed, but reinforcements were sent up and the position was
secured. Further east, however, our line was pierced near Broodseinde,
and a small body of the enemy established themselves in a portion of our
trenches. In the afternoon a strong, combined counter-attack was
delivered by the French and British along the whole front from
Steenstraate to the east of St. Julien, accompanied by a violent
bombardment. This moment, so far as can be judged at present, marked the
turning point of the battle, for, although it effected no great change
in the situation, it caused a definite check to the enemy's offensive,
relieved the pressure, and gained a certain amount of ground.
During this counter-attack the guns concentrated by both sides on this
comparatively narrow front poured in a great volume of fire. From the
right came the roar of the British batteries, from the left the rolling
thunder of the _soixante-quinze_, and every now and then above the
turmoil rose a dull boom as a huge howitzer shell burst in the vicinity
of Ypres. On the right our infantry stormed the German trenches close to
St. Julien, and in the evening gained the southern outskirts of the
village. In the centre they captured the trenches a little to the south
of the Bois des Cuisinirs, west of St. Julien, and still further west
more trenches were taken. This represented an advance of some 600 or 700
yards, but the gain in ground could not at all points be maintained.
Opposite St. Julien we fell back from the village to a position just
south of the place, and in front of the Bois des Cuisinirs and on the
left of the line a similar retirement took place, the enemy making
extensive use of his gas cylinders and of machine guns placed in farms
at or other points of vantage. None the less, the situation at nightfall
was more satisfactory than it had been. We were holding our own well all
along the line and had made progress at some points. On the right the
enemy's attacks on the front of the Grafenstafel Ridge had all been
repulsed.
In the meantime the French had achieved some success, having retaken
Lizerne and also the trenches round Het Sast, captured some 250
prisoners, and made progress all along the west bank of the canal. Heavy
as our losses were during the day, there is little doubt that the enemy
suffered terribly. Both sides were attacking at different points, the
fighting was conducted very largely in the open, and the close
formations of the Germans on several occasions presented excellent
targets to our artillery, which did not fail to seize its opportunities.
[Illustration: GENERAL SIR IAN HAMILTON
Commanding the Allied Expeditionary Forces Operating Against the
Dardanelles
_(Photo from P.S. Rogers.)_]
[Illustration: ANDREW BONAR LAW
The Canadian-born Leader of the Opposition in the British House of
Commons
_(Photo by Bassano.)_]
Nothing in particular occurred during the night.
The morning of the 27th found our troops occupying the following
positions: North of Zonnebeke the right of the line still held the
eastern end of the Grafenstafel Ridge, but from here it bent
southwestward behind the Haanebeek stream, which it followed to a point
about half a mile east of St. Julien. Thence it curved back again to the
Vamheule Farm, on the Ypres-Poelcappelle road, running from here in a
slight southerly curve to a point a little west of the Ypres-Langemarck
road, where it joined the French. In the last mentioned quarter of the
field it followed generally the line of a low ridge running from west to
east. On the French front the Germans had been cleared from the west
bank of the canal, except at one point, Steenstraate, where they
continued to hold the bridgehead.
About 1 P.M. a counter-attack was made by us all along the line between
the canal and the Ypres-Poelcappelle road, and for about an hour we
continued to make progress. Then the right and centre were checked. A
little later the left was also held up, and the situation remained very
much as it had been on the previous day. The Germans were doubtless much
encouraged by their initial success, and their previous boldness in
attack was now matched by the stubborn manner in which they clung on to
their positions. In the evening the French stormed some trenches east of
the canal, but were again checked by the enemy's gas cylinders.
The night passed quietly, and was spent by us in reorganizing and
consolidating our positions. The enemy did not interfere. This is not
surprising, in view of the fact that by Tuesday evening they had been
fighting for over five days. Their state of exhaustion is confirmed by
the statements of the prisoners captured by the French, who also
reported that the German losses had been very heavy.
On Wednesday, the 28th, there was a complete lull on this sector of our
line, and the shelling was less severe. Some fighting, however, occurred
along the canal, the French taking over 100 prisoners.
Nothing of any importance has occurred on other parts of the front. On
the 27th, at the Railway Triangle opposite Guinchy, the south side of
the embankment held by the Germans was blown up by our miners. On the
28th a hostile aeroplane was forced to descend by our anti-aircraft
guns. On coming down in rear of the German lines, it was at once fired
upon and destroyed by our field artillery. Another hostile machine was
brought down by rifle fire near Zonnebeke.
Splendid work has been done during the past few days by our airmen, who
have kept all the area behind the hostile lines under close observation.
On the 26th they bombed the stations of Staden, Thielt, Courtrai,
Roubaix, and other places, and located an armored train near Langemarck,
which was subsequently shelled and forced to retire. There have been
several successful conflicts in the air, on one occasion a pilot in a
single seater chasing a German machine to Roulers, and forcing it to
land.
The raid on Courtrai unfortunately cost the nation a very gallant life,
but it will live as one of the most heroic episodes of the war. The
airman started on the enterprise alone in a biplane. On arrival at
Courtrai he glided down to a height of 300 feet and dropped a large bomb
on the railway junction. While he did this he was the target of hundreds
of rifles, of machine guns, and of anti-aircraft armament, and was
severely wounded in the thigh. Though he might have saved his life by at
once coming down in the enemy's lines, he decided to save his machine at
all costs, and made for the British lines. Descending to a height of
only 100 feet in order to increase his speed, he continued to fly and
was again wounded, this time mortally. He still flew on, however, and
without coming down at the nearest of our aerodromes went all the way
back to his own base, where he executed a perfect landing and made his
report. He died in hospital not long afterward.[A]
[Footnote A: The obituary columns of The Times of April 30 contained the
following notice under "Died of Wounds":
RHODES-MOORHOUSE.--On Tuesday, the 27th April, of wounds
received while dropping bombs on Courtrai the day before,
WILLIAM BARNARD RHODES RHODES-MOORHOUSE, Second Lieutenant,
Royal Flying Corps, aged 27, dear elder son of Mr. and Mrs.
Edward Moorhouse of Parnham House, Dorset, and most loved
husband of Linda Rhodes-Moorhouse.]
The outstanding feature of the action of the past week has been the
steadiness of our troops on the extreme left; but of the deeds of
individual gallantry and devotion which have been performed it would be
impossible to narrate one-hundredth part. At one place in this quarter a
machine gun was stationed in the angle of a trench when the German rush
took place. One man after another of the detachment was shot, but the
gun still continued in action, though five bodies lay around it. When
the sixth man took the place of his fallen comrades, of whom one was his
brother, the Germans were still pressing on. He waited until they were
only a few yards away, and then poured a stream of bullets on to the
advancing ranks, which broke and fell back, leaving rows of dead. He was
then wounded himself.
Under the hot fire to which our batteries were subjected in the early
part of the engagement telephone wires were repeatedly cut. The wire
connecting one battery with its observing officer was severed on nine
separate occasions, and on each occasion repaired by a Sergeant, who did
the work out in the open under a perfect hail of shells.
_On May 5 the following account of the British Official Eyewitness,
continuing the report of April 30, was published:_
About 5 P.M. a dense cloud of suffocating vapors was launched from their
trenches along the whole front held by the French right and by our left
from the Ypres-Langemarck road to a considerable distance east of St.
Julien. The fumes did not carry much beyond our front trenches. But
these were to a great extent rendered untenable, and a retirement from
them was ordered.
No sooner had this started than the enemy opened a violent bombardment
with asphyxiating shells and shrapnel on our trenches and on our
infantry as they were withdrawing. Meanwhile our guns had not been idle.
From a distance, perhaps owing to some peculiarity of the light, the gas
on this occasion looked like a great reddish cloud, and the moment it
was seen our batteries poured a concentrated fire on the German
trenches.
Curious situations then arose between us and the enemy. The poison belt,
the upper part shredding into thick wreaths of vapor as it was shaken by
the wind, and the lower and denser part sinking into all inequalities of
the ground, rolled slowly down the trenches. Shells would rend it for a
moment, but it only settled down again as thickly as before.
Nevertheless, the German infantry faced it, and they faced a hail of
shrapnel as well. In some cases where the gas had not reached our lines
our troops held firm and shot through the cloud at the advancing
Germans. In other cases the men holding the front line managed to move
to the flank, where they were more or less beyond the affected area.
Here they waited until the enemy came on and then bayoneted them when
they reached our trenches.
On the extreme left our supports waited until the wall of vapor reached
our trenches, when they charged through it and met the advancing Germans
with the bayonet as they swarmed over the parapets.
South of St. Julien the denseness of the vapor compelled us to evacuate
trenches, but reinforcements arrived who charged the enemy before they
could establish themselves in position. In every case the assaults
failed completely. Large numbers were mown down by our artillery. Men
were seen falling and others scattering and running back to their own
lines. Many who reached the gas cloud could not make their way through
it, and in all probability a great number of the wounded perished from
the fumes.
It is to that extent, from a military standpoint, a sign of weakness.
Another sign of weakness is the adoption of illegal methods of fighting,
such as spreading poisonous gas. It is a confession by the Germans that
they have lost their former great superiority in artillery and are, in
any cost, seeking another technical advantage over their enemy as a
substitute.
Nevertheless, this spirit, this determination on the part of our enemies
to stick at nothing must not be underestimated. Though it may not pay
the Germans in the long run, it renders it all the more obvious that
they are a foe that can be overcome only by the force of overwhelming
numbers of men and guns.
Further to the east a similar attack was made about 7 P.M. which seems
to have been attended with even less success, and the assaulting
infantry was at once beaten back by our artillery fire.
It was not long before all our trenches were reoccupied and the whole
line re-established in its original position. The attack on the French
met with the same result.
_The Eyewitness then relates incidents showing the steadiness of the
Indian troops, who, he says, "advanced under a murderous fire, their war
cry swelling louder and louder above the din."_
Prisoners captured in the recent fighting, the narrative continues,
stated that one German corps lost 80 per cent. of its men in the first
week; that the losses from our artillery fire, even during days when no
attacks were taking place, had been very heavy and that many of their
own men had suffered from the effects of the gas.
_The writer concludes as follows:_
In regard to the recent fighting on our left, the German offensive,
effected in the first instance by surprise, resulted in a considerable
gain of ground for the enemy. Between all the earlier German efforts,
the only difference was that on this latest occasion the attempt was
carried out with the aid of poisonous gases.
There is no reason why we should not expect similar tactics in the
future. They do not mean that the Allies have lost the initiative in the
Western theatre, nor that they are likely to lose it. They do mean,
however, and the fact has been repeatedly pointed out, that the enemy's
defensive is an active one, that his confidence is still unshaken and
that he still is able to strike in some strength where he sees the
chance or where mere local advantage can be secured.
The true idea of the meaning of the operations of the Allies can be
gained only by bearing in mind that it is their primary object to bring
about the exhaustion of the enemy's resources in men.
In the form now assumed by this struggle--a war of attrition--the
Germans are bound ultimately to lose, and it is the consciousness of
this fact that inspires their present policy. This is to achieve as
early as possible some success of sufficient magnitude to influence the
neutrals, to discourage the Allies, to make them weary of the struggle
and to induce the belief among the people ignorant of war that nothing
has been gained by the past efforts of the Allies because the Germans
have not yet been driven back. It is being undertaken with a political
rather than a strategical object.
_The official British Eyewitness, under date of May 11, 1915, gives an
account of the German attempts on the previous Saturday and Sunday to
break the British lines around Ypres, and of the beginning of the
Anglo-French offensive north of Arras. He said:_
The calm that prevailed Thursday and Friday proved to be only the lull
before the storm. Early Saturday morning it became apparent that the
Germans were preparing an attack in strength against our line running
east and northeast from Ypres, for they were concentrating under cover
of a violent artillery fire, and at about 10 o'clock the battle began in
earnest.
At that hour the Germans attacked our line from the Ypres-Poelcappelle
road to within a short distance of the Menin highroad, it being
evidently their intention while engaging us closely on the whole of this
sector to break our front in the vicinity of the Ypres-Roulers Railway,
to the north and to the south of which their strongest and most
determined assaults were delivered.
Under this pressure our front was penetrated at some points around
Frezenberg, and at 4:30 o'clock in the afternoon we made a
counter-attack between the Zonnebeke road and the railway in order to
recover the lost ground. Our offensive was conducted most gallantly, but
was checked before long by the fire of machine guns.
Meanwhile, the enemy launched another attack through the woods south of
the Menin road, and at the same time threatened our left to the north of
Ypres with fresh masses. Most desperate fighting ensued, the German
infantry coming on again and again and gradually forcing our troops
back, though only for a short distance, in spite of repeated
counter-attacks.
During the night the fighting continued to rage with ever-increasing
fury. It is impossible to say at exactly what hour our line was broken
at different points, but it is certain that at one time the enemy's
infantry poured through along the Poelcappelle road, and even got as far
as Wieltje at 9 P.M.
There was also a considerable gap in our front about Frezenberg, where
hostile detachments had penetrated. At both points counter-attacks were
organized without delay. To the east of the salient the Germans first
were driven back to Frezenberg, but there they made a firm stand, and
under pressure of fresh reinforcements we fell back again toward
Verlorenhoek.
Northeast of the salient a counter-attack carried out by us about 1 A.M.
was more successful. Our troops swept the enemy out of Wieltje at the
bayonet's point, leaving the village strewn with German dead and,
pushing on, regained most of the ground to the north of that point. And
so the fight surged to and fro throughout the night. All around the
scene of the conflict the sky was lit up by the flashes of the guns and
the light of blazing villages and farms, while against this background
of smoke and flame, looking out in the murky light over the crumbling
ruins of the old town, rose the battered wreck of the cathedral town
and the spires of Cloth Hall.
When Sunday dawned there came a short respite, and the firing for a time
died down. The comparative lull enabled us to reorganize and consolidate
our position on the new line we had taken up and to obtain some rest
after the fatigue and strain of the night. It did not last long,
however, and in the afternoon the climax of the battle was reached, for,
under the cover of intense artillery fire, the Germans launched no less
than five separate assaults against the east of the salient.
To the north and northeast their attacks were not at first pressed so
hard as on the south of the Menin road, where the fighting was
especially fierce. In the latter direction masses of infantry were
hurled on with absolute desperation and were beaten off with
corresponding slaughter.
At one point, north of the town, 500 of the enemy advanced from the
wood, and it is affirmed by those present that not a single man of them
escaped.
On the eastern face, at 6:30 P.M., an endeavor was made to storm the
grounds of the Chateau Hooge, a little north of the Menin road, but the
force attempting it broke and fell back under the hail of shrapnel
poured upon them by our guns. It was on this side, where they had to
face the concentrated fire of guns, Maxims and rifles again and again in
their efforts to break their way through, that the Germans incurred
their heaviest losses, and the ground was literally heaped with dead.
They evidently, for the time being at least, were unable to renew their
efforts, and as night came on the fury of their offensive gradually
slackened, the hours of darkness passing in quietness.
During the day our troops saw some of the enemy busily employed in
stripping the British dead in our abandoned trenches, east of the Hooge
Chateau, and several Germans afterward were noticed dressed in khaki.
So far as the Ypres region is concerned, this for us was a most
successful day. Our line, which on the northeast of the salient had,
after the previous day's fighting, been reconstituted a short distance
behind the original front, remained intact. Our losses were
comparatively slight, and, owing to the targets presented by the enemy,
the action resolved itself on our part into pure killing.
The reason for this very determined effort to crush our left on the part
of the Germans is not far to seek. It is probable that for some days
previously they had been in possession of information which led them to
suppose that we intended to apply pressure on the right of our line, and
that their great attack upon Ypres on the 7th, 8th, and 9th was
undertaken with a view to diverting us from our purpose.
In this the Germans were true to their principles, for they rightly hold
that the best manner of meeting an expected hostile offensive is to
forestall it by attacking in some other quarter. In this instance their
leaders acted with the utmost determination and energy and their
soldiers fought with the greatest courage.
The failure of their effort was due to the splendid endurance of our
troops, who held the line around the salient under a fire which again
and again blotted out whole lengths of the defenses and killed the
defenders by scores. Time after time along those parts of the front
selected for assault were parapets destroyed, and time after time did
the thinning band of survivors build them up again and await the next
onset as steadily as before.
Here, in May, in defense of the same historic town, have our
incomparable infantry repeated the great deeds their comrades performed
half a year ago and beaten back most desperate onslaughts of hostile
hordes backed by terrific artillery support.
The services rendered by our troops in this quarter cannot at present be
estimated, for their full significance will only be realized in the
light of future events. But so far their devotion has indirectly
contributed in no small measure to the striking success already achieved
by our allies.
Further south, in the meantime, on Sunday another struggle had been in
progress on that portion of the front covered by the right of our line
and the left of the French, for when the firing around Ypres was
temporarily subsiding during the early hours of the morning another and
even more tremendous cannonade was suddenly started by the artillery of
the Allies some twenty miles to the south.
The morning was calm, bright, and clear, and opposite our right, as the
sun rose, the scene in front of our line was the most peaceful
imaginable. Away to the right were Guinchy, with its brickfields and the
ruins of Givenchy. To the north of them lay low ground, where, hidden by
trees and hedgerows, ran the opposing lines that were about to become
the scene of the conflict, and beyond, in the distance, rose the long
ridge of Aubers, the villages crowning it standing out clear cut against
the sky.
At 5 o'clock the bombardment began, slowly at first and then growing in
volume until the whole air quivered with the rush of the larger shells
and the earth shook with the concussion of guns. In a few minutes the
whole distant landscape disappeared in smoke and dust, which hung for a
while in the still air and then drifted slowly across the line of
battle.
Shortly before 6 o'clock our infantry advanced along our front between
the Bois Grenier and Festubert. On the left, north of Fromelles, we
stormed the German first line trenches. Hand-to-hand fighting went on
for some time with bayonet, rifle, and hand grenade, but we continued to
hold on to this position throughout the day and caused the enemy very
heavy loss, for not only were many Germans killed in the bombardment,
but their repeated efforts to drive us from the captured positions
proved most costly.
On the right, to the north of Festubert, our advance met with
considerable opposition and was not pressed.
Meanwhile, the French, after a prolonged bombardment, had taken the
German positions north of Arras on a front of nearly five miles, and had
pushed forward from two to three miles, capturing 2,000 prisoners and
six guns. This remarkable success was gained by our allies in the course
of a few hours.
As may be supposed from the nature of the fighting which has been in
progress, our losses have been heavy. On other parts of the front our
action was confined to that of the artillery, but this proved most
effective later, all the communications of the enemy being subjected to
so heavy and accurate a fire that in some quarters all movement by
daylight within range of our lines was rendered impracticable. At one
place opposite our centre a convoy of ammunition was hit by a shell,
which knocked out six motor lorries and caused two to blow up. Opposite
our centre we fired two mines, which did considerable damage to the
enemy's defenses.
During the day also our aeroplanes attacked several points of
importance. One of our airmen, who was sent to bomb the canal bridge
near Don, was wounded on his way there, but continued and fulfilled his
mission. Near Wytschaete, one of our aviators pursued a German aeroplane
and fired a whole belt from his machine gun at it. The Taube suddenly
swerved, righted itself for a second, and then descended from a height
of several thousand feet straight to the ground.
On the other hand, a British machine unfortunately was brought down over
Lille by the enemy's anti-aircraft guns, but it is hoped that the
aviator escaped.
_In regard to the German allegation, that the British used gas in their
attacks on Hill 60, the Eyewitness says:_
No asphyxiating gases have been employed by us at any time, nor have
they yet been brought into play by us.
To Certain German Professors of Chemics
[From Punch, May 5, 1915.]
When you observed how brightly other tutors
Inspired the yearning heart of Youth;
How from their lips, like Pilsen's foaming pewters,
It sucked the fount of German Truth;
There, in your Kaiserlich laboratory,
"We, too," you said, "will find a task to do,
And so contribute something to the glory
Of God and William Two.
"Bring forth the stink-pots. Such a foul aroma
By arts divine shall be evoked
As will to leeward cause a state of coma
And leave the enemy blind and choked;
By gifts of culture we will work such ravages
With our superbly patriotic smells
As would confound with shame those half-baked savages,
The poisoners of wells."
Good! You have more than matched the rival pastors
That tute a credulous Fatherland;
And we admit that you are proved our masters
When there is dirty work in hand;
But in your lore I notice one hiatus:
Your Kaiser's scutcheon with its hideous blot--
You've no corrosive in your apparatus
Can out that damned spot!
O.S.
Seven Days of War East and West
Fighting of the Second Week in May on French and Russian Fronts.
[By a Military Expert of THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
The sinking of the Lusitania has, for the week ended May 15, so
completely absorbed the attention of the press and the interest of the
public that the military operations themselves have not received the
notice that otherwise would have been awarded them. The sinking of this
ship, with the delicate diplomatic situation between Germany and the
United States which the act brought about, is not a military or naval
operation as such, and comments on it have no place in this column. At
the same time there is an indirect effect of the drowning of hundreds of
British citizens which will have a very direct bearing on Britain's
military strength and policy.
The British public is notably hard to stir, are slow to act, and almost
always underrate their adversary. In almost every war, from 1775 down to
and including the South African war, England, with a self-assurance that
could only be based on ignorance of true conditions, has started with
only a small force, and it has been only when this force has been
defeated and used up that the realization of the true needs of the
situation has dawned. Then, and then only, has recruiting been possible
at a pace commensurate with the necessity.
In the Boer war, for example, every one in England, official and
civilian, believed that 30,000 men would be more than enough to defeat
the South African burghers. Yet ten times 30,000 British soldiers were
operating in the Transvaal and Orange Free State before the war ended.
In the present conflict Lord Kitchener himself admits that there are
many times the number of British soldiers in France than was thought
would be necessary when war was declared. And even up to May 6 the
British public was not thoroughly aroused. Many of the peasants in the
back counties hardly believed the war was a reality. Recruiting was
slow, there was but little enthusiasm, and Lord Haldane's thinly veiled
hint that a draft might soon become necessary was almost unnoticed.
But the sinking of the Lusitania has brought the war home to England as
nothing else has or could have done, and all England is aflame with a
bitterness against Germany which is already increasing the flow of
recruits and cannot but add to the fighting efficiency of the men now at
the front. The effect will be far-reaching throughout the British
Empire, and will do much to solve the problem which faced the organizers
of Great Britain's forces of how to get sufficient volunteers to swell
the volume of the French expeditionary force and to replace the
casualties.
To turn to the direct military operations in the various theatres of
war, no week since last Fall has witnessed more important activities or
offensive movements conducted on such a scale. On both western and
eastern fronts truly momentous actions involving great numbers of men
have been under way, and though not yet concluded, have advanced so far
as to give a reasonable basis for estimating the results.
ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
On the western front the principal scenes of action have been the front
from Nieuport to Arras, the Champagne district, and the southern side of
the German wedge from its apex at St. Mihiel to Pont-a-Mousson. On the
northern part of the Allies' line from Ypres to Nieuport the Germans
have been the aggressors. They have selected as the principal points of
attack the Belgian line back of the Yser just south of Nieuport and the
point of juncture of the British with the Belgian lines.
Both attacks have the same general object--the bending back of the line
between these two points with a vision, for the future, of Dunkirk and
Calais. The attack along the Yser has not been pushed to any extent, and
what advantage there is rests with the Belgians. In fact, the Belgians
have advanced somewhat and have been able to throw a bridge across the
Yser near St. George, just east of Nieuport, on the Nieuport-Bruges
road.
Around Ypres the fighting has been more than usually fierce and
desperate. Blow after blow has been struck, first by one side, then by
the other. Both German and British have admittedly suffered enormous
losses, but the positions of their respective lines are almost unchanged
from those occupied a week ago. The German gains of last week in the
vicinity of Steenstraate produced in the British lines around Ypres a
sharp salient, and it is against the sides of this salient that the
Germans have been hurling their forces.
The town of Ypres is now in complete ruins, and, although it would
normally be of importance because of the fact that it is the point of
crossing of a number of roads, this importance is destroyed by the fact
that it is entirely dominated by the German artillery. As long as this
state of affairs exists the town has practically no strategic value. All
that the Germans can accomplish if they take Ypres will have been a
flattening out of the British salient.
Germany cannot be content with occasional bending of the Allies' line.
The process is too slow and too costly. Germany has almost, if not
quite, reached her maximum strength, and the losses she now suffers will
be difficult to replace. Viewing the situation entirely from the German
standpoint, success can only mean breaking through and attacking the two
exposed flanks at the point pierced. This would force a retreat as in
the case of the Russian lines along the Dunajec, which will be taken up
later on. No other form of action can be decisive, though it might
permit a little more of Belgian or French territory to change hands.
This would, of course, in case the war were declared a draw, give
Germany an additional advantage in the discussion of terms of peace,
especially if the rule of uti posseditis were applied as a basis from
which to begin negotiations. But this contingency is too remote for
present consideration.
As to the probability of German success around Ypres, it seems to grow
less as time passes. After the first rush was over and the British lines
had time to re-form Germany has accomplished nothing. Moreover, it is
certain that in back of the short twenty-five miles of line held by the
British troops there is a reserve of almost a half million men. No other
portion of the battle line in either theatre has such great latent
strength ready to be thrown in when the critical moment comes. Just why
it has not been used so far is a mystery, the solution of which can be
found only in the brain of Sir John French. But it is known to be in
France and is there for a purpose.
From Loos to Arras the French have undertaken the most ambitious and the
most successful offensive movement made in the west since Winter set in.
The entire French line along this front of twenty-five miles, taking the
Germans by surprise, has gone forward a distance varying from one-half
to two and a half miles. The attack was launched at an extremely
opportune moment. The Germans were, in the first place, extremely busy
in the north at Ypres, and were making every effort to drive that attack
home. The probabilities were, therefore, that the line in front of the
Arras-Loos position was none too strong, and that such reserves as could
be spared had been sent north. Then, again, it would tend to divert
attention from the Ypres line, and so relieve somewhat the pressure on
the British lines at that point.
The objective of the French attack seems to have been the town of Lens,
which is the centre of the coal district of France. Loos, which is
about three miles north of Lens, has been one of the centres of
fighting. This indicates how close the French are to their objective.
Lens is an important railroad centre, and is the point of junction of
many roads which radiate in all directions. As yet the French advance is
not sufficient to denote anything, but another step in the "nibbling"
process by means of which the French have kept the Germans occupied for
some months.
In the German angle, from Etain to St. Mihiel to Pont-a-Mousson, the
French achieved what will probably prove to be the greatest local
success of the past week. That is, the complete occupation of the Le
Pretre woods. Sooner or later the continual French encroachments on the
German area of occupation must cause the straightening out of this line
and the retirement of the Germans to the supporting forts of Metz. The
object of all the French moves against this angle has been the town of
Thiancourt, on the German supply line from Metz. The capture of the last
German line of trenches in the Pretre Forest brings the French within
six miles of this town. When the French reach the northern edge of this
forest, and they must be very close to it now, it will be a simple
matter to drop shells into Thiancourt and seriously endanger every train
that comes in.
On the rest of the western front there have been a number of isolated
actions, notably in the Champagne district, in the Argonne Forest and
north of Flirey, between St. Mihiel and Pont-a-Mousson. They have been
of no particular advantage however, and seem to have had no definite
purpose beyond making additions to the casualty lists.
Considering the results of the week's operations in the west, therefore,
it is safe to say that the advantage lies with the Allies. That part of
the line which has been thrown on the defensive has more than held its
own, while the French offense has resulted in a considerable advance
over a wide front. If we may draw any comparison at all from this, it
must be that the German line is not nearly so impenetrable as the
British, and that when the Allies think the attempt will justify the
losses that will be inevitably sustained, the German line can be broken
even though the rupture may be quickly healed.
IN THE EASTERN THEATRE.
In the eastern theatre interest still centres in the battles in Galicia.
In Western Galicia, between the Dunajec and the San, the Russian forces
are steadily giving way before the attacks of the Germanic allies. Their
retreat, which, during the past week, has been rapid, has been well
protected by heavy rear guard actions, which have temporarily delayed
the pursuing Austrians at various points. At the same time, however, but
little respite was given to the Russians.
German and Austrian reports as to the number of prisoners and amount of
booty will bear scrutiny, and, taken into consideration with recent
disturbances in Italy, may safely be discounted. The surrender of such
large bodies of troops, even in the Russian Army, cannot be forced when
the lines of retreat are open or when sufficient notice is given that
such lines are dangerously menaced. It is only when troops are
surrounded or when a large hostile force is thrust in between units, as
happened some months ago with the Tenth Russian Army in the Masurian
Lakes district, that such surrenders occur.
This does not apply, of course, to the wounded, and in the present case
the Russians, through the enforced rapidity of their retreat, must
necessarily in many instances have left their wounded on the field of
battle to fall into the hands of the pursuing enemy. Certainly the
Russian losses were heavy. Equally certain is it that the battle for the
Carpathian passes is now history.
This is evident from a brief review of the Russian position on the
Carpathian front, with particular reference to the necessary lines of
communications and an outline of the present Russian position as
accurately as it can at present be determined. It must be stated at this
point, however, that this position is a matter of doubt, as reports
from Vienna and from Petrograd are greatly at variance as to what has
been accomplished.
It was noted last week that the Russian line formed a huge crescent, the
longer arc of which (and this was the Carpathian front) extended from
Bartfeld north, then east along the Carpathian crests, north of Uzsok to
a point on the Stryi River. This line is over 100 miles long. It was
dependent for supplies on five roads, three of which were fairly good
dirt roads, the other two railroads; of the latter one runs through
Uzsok, and is so far east that only a small section of the line was
reached by it.
The main line, however, has been supplied from the remaining four, all
of which turn off either from the one lateral railroad from Przemysl to
Jaslo or from the dirt road between Jaslo and Sanok, and run south to
the various passes. As this latter road simply loops the railroad
between these two points, the entire Russian Carpathian line may be
considered to have been supplied by the lateral railroad from Sanok to
Jaslo. In proportion to the number of troops that had to be fed and
supplied, these lines were only too few, and the marvel is that Russia
was able to keep up the necessary flow of food and ammunition throughout
her effort against the Carpathian passes. The possession of all of these
roads was the sine qua non of Russian success. The loss of any one of
them would affect so many miles of her line that the whole line would
have felt the influence.
The Austrian troops are said to have reached the lower San, but no
particular point is mentioned. Nothing is said about the upper San or
the stretch of Galicia between the two. It may, therefore, be assumed
that the Russian left is on the Vistula, near the confluence of the San,
and that the general line runs from there south, probably through
Rzeszow along the valley of the Wistok River, occupying the wooded hills
east of that river, and bending eastward slightly toward the upper San.
This means that all of the lines of communication that supplied the
Carpathian front except the line through Uzsok Pass are now in Austrian
hands.
Russia still clings tenaciously to Uzsok, however, doubtless having
under consideration the possibility that Italy may enter the war, and
that another advance against the Carpathians may then be made. In such a
contingency the Russian losses in the various engagements around Uzsok
would not have been in vain.
Russia has answered the Austrian drive from the west by a vigorous
offense against the defenses of Bukowina Province. The Austrian forces
east of the San River are divided--one part which has been extremely
active against the Russians being on the east bank of the Stryi, and the
other, which has been quiescently defensive, along the Bistritza, the
latter line running almost due east and west. This latter force the
Russians struck, using large bodies of Cossack cavalry in a flanking
movement from the north. The Austrian retreat has been more precipitate,
and the losses greater in proportion than in the Russian retreat from
the Dunajec.
If in addition the Rumanians came across Transylvania and caught the
Austrians in the rear the defeat would almost offset that of the
Russians in the west. Rumania's advent into the war is, however, still a
matter of doubt, and any conclusions predicated on that assumption are
entirely speculative.
The two known facts in regard to the Galician situation are that in
Western Galicia the Russian Dunajec line is retreating, uncovering and
therefore involving in its retreat the troops in the Carpathians, and in
Eastern Galicia the Russians seem to have the greater measure of
success. Of the two, however, the operations in Western Galicia are of
infinitely greater importance. Eventually the Russian retreat will
probably reach the general line of the San River north of Jaroslau,
where there will be an opportunity to re-form on a much shorter line,
and after recuperation of men and supplies preparations for a new
offense may be begun.
[Illustration: Operation on the Russian Front
This map records the action for the week ended May 15. In the extreme
north, in the Russian Baltic Province of Courland, the Germans still
held the port of Libau, (1,) and a fierce battle was in progress south
of Shavli, (2,) where the Russians stopped the raid toward Mitau.
In South Poland and West Galicia the changes brought about by the great
Austro-German drive of 1,500,000 men from Cracow are shown by the heavy
dotted and solid lines. The dotted line shows the approximate position
of the German battle front when the drive began and the solid line its
approximate position according to latest advices from Berlin and Vienna,
Jaroslau (3) being the latest important position reported captured.
In extreme Eastern Galicia the situation was reversed, the dotted line
showing roughly the position of the Russian line when the counter-drive
by the Czar's forces was launched and the solid line its position, so
far as was ascertainable, on May 15.]
Their defeat, however, has been a severe blow, and has cost Russia a
terrible price in men and in guns, the latter of which she could less
afford to lose. On the other hand, they have inflicted terrible
punishment on the victors, so that the victory partakes of a Pyrrhian
character.
In the meantime operations in the Dardanelles are being pressed, but are
not reported with sufficient definiteness to give an idea as to the
probable result.
Austro-German Success
By Major E. Moraht.
_Major E. Moraht, the military expert of the Berliner Tageblatt,
discussed the operations on the eastern war front as follows in the
Tageblatt of April 30:_
Austria-Hungary, through its latest decision to create a supplementary
Landsturm service law, has given notice that it desires under any
circumstances to be able to wage the war for a longer time, if
conditions should compel it to do so. Thus are contradicted all the
reports spread by ill-informed correspondents of foreign newspapers, who
sought to create the impression that Austria-Hungary was tired and had
not the energy to face the situation such as it is. Furthermore, the
acceptance of the supplementary Landsturm service gave testimony, in the
Hungarian Parliament, of the unanimity in which the Hungarian Nation
unites as soon as it is a question of furthering the armed preparedness
of the army.
The Landsturm law heretofore had two defects--it included in its scope
only the once-trained men liable to Landsturm service up to the age of
42 years, and restricted the use of certain Landsturm troops to certain
areas. Hereafter it will be possible to use the men capable of bearing
arms up to the fiftieth year, though, to be sure, only in case the
younger classes have in general already been exhausted. It will also be
possible to draw Hungarian formations and Austrian Landsturm troops in
such a manner that the area available will offer no more difficulties.
Even though the new law will presumably hold good only during the
present war, the impression created by the decision of the
Austro-Hungarian Government on the enemy and on neutrals cannot be a
slight one. We in Germany can only congratulate the peoples of our ally,
so willing to make sacrifices, upon this resolve, and no one among us
will be able to deny recognition thereof, the less because we ourselves,
according to human calculations will not have to adopt such an extension
of Landsturm service.
Our northeastern army has again been heard of. After a considerable time
the situation has again changed, and that, too, in our favor. The
battles northeast and east of Suwalki have again revived and have given
into our hands the Russian trenches along a front of twenty kilometers.
Between Kovno and Grodno, both situated on the Niemen, we must note in
our battle line the towns of Mariampol, Kalwarya, and the territory east
of Suwalki. This front has opposed to it the two Russian fortresses
mentioned and between them the bridgeheads at Olita and Sereje. Owing to
the brevity of the latest report, it cannot be told whether our attack
found an end in the Russian positions. It may be that the attack went
further and won territory at least twenty kilometers wide toward the
Niemen. Moreover, we have learned that the Russians still held on north
of Prasznysz, where on April 27 they lost prisoners and machine guns.
No answer is given by the sparse reports from the eastern army to the
question of the entire foreign press: "Where has Hindenburg been keeping
himself?" Wishes and speculations may thus busy themselves as much as
they like with the answering of that question. In the Russian version
of the war situation there is reference to advance guard skirmishes in
the territory of Memel, a brief interruption of the quiet southeast of
Augustowa and before Ossowicz. The Russians are clearly worried by the
possibility of an undertaking of the navy against the Russian Baltic
coast.
The territory of the fighting in the Carpathians still claims the chief
interest--especially because everywhere where the general position and
the weather conditions and topographical conditions permitted the
Austro-Hungarian-German offensive has begun. As has been emphasized on
previous occasions, the eagerness for undertaking actions on the part of
our allies had never subsided at any point, in spite of the strenuous
rigors of a stationary warfare. As early as April 14 an advance
enlivened the territory northwest of the Uzsok Pass. The position on the
heights of Tucholka has been won. The heights west and east of the
Laborez valley are in the hands of the Austro-German allies, and each
day furnishes new proofs of the forward pressure. Of especial importance
is the capture of Russian points of support southeast of Koziouwa, east
of the Orawa valley. The advance takes its course against the Galician
town of Stryi. The progress which the Austro-German southern army made
has so far been moving in the same direction, and one can understand why
the Russians instituted the fiercest counter-attacks in order to force
the allied troops to halt in this territory. The counter-attacks,
however, ended with a collapse of the Russians, and the resultant
pursuit was so vigorous that twenty-six more trenches were wrested from
the foe. Daily our front is being advanced in a northeasterly direction,
and there is little prospect for the Russians of being able to oppose
successful resistance to our pressure. For it is not a matter of the
success of a single fighting group that has been shoving forward like a
wedge from the great line of attack, but of a strategic offensive led as
a unit, and everywhere winning territory, the time for which seems to
have arrived.
It is an important fact that the eastern group of the Austro-Hungarian
army will clearly not be shattered. At Zaleszcyki a stand is being
maintained, and at Boyan on the Pruth the Austrian mortars have driven
the Russians out of their next-to-the-last positions before the
Bessarabian frontier.
The speech of the Hungarian Minister of Defense of the Realm, Baron
Hazai, who a few days ago discussed the military situation of the recent
past in exhaustive fashion, is very interesting in many respects. It
doubtless aimed to set in the right light the bravery of the
Austro-Hungarian Army, for there have been persons who took little or no
note of the achievements of that army. The Minister selected examples
from the warfare of the eighteenth century, the time of the lukewarm
campaigns, and the warfare of the nineteenth century, the era of logical
and energetical battles. From this period of mobile wars, that were
carried on under the principle of energy, he came to the preparations
for the present war and estimated the number of soldiers which the
belligerent parties had drawn to the colors at between 25,000,000 and
26,000,000 men. More than half of these are to be regarded as warriors,
while the rest are doing service as reserves for the army or in the
lines of support and communication outside the fighting zone. The
highest number of fighters on a single theatre of the war included from
six to seven million fighters on both sides. The long trench warfare,
the Minister rightly pointed out, demands greater energy than was ever
demanded at any time of the troops, and a loss of from 10 per cent. to
15 per cent. of the fighting force today no longer keeps back the
leaders from executing far-going decisions. Today the fronts clash, not
in one-day or several day battles, but for weeks and months at a time,
so that many of the fighters even now have already taken part in 100
battles. These instructive and appreciative words from an authoritative
station throw a bright light upon the strength of the nations which are
sacrificing their forces in a sense of duty to their fatherland. But
the lesson which the homeland should draw from such unprecedented
self-sacrifice consists of this--always to stand as a firm protective
wall behind the army, never to deny it recognition and encouraging
approval, and to dissipate its cares for the present and for the future.
The Campaign in the Carpathians
Russian Victory Succeeded by Reverses and Defeat.
THE VICTORY IN APRIL.
[By the Correspondent of The London Times.]
Petrograd, April 18.
_A dispatch from the Headquarters Staff of the Commander in Chief says:_
At the beginning of March, (Old Style,) in the principal chain of the
Carpathians, we only held the region of the Dukla Pass, where our lines
formed an exterior angle. All the other passes--Lupkow and further
east--were in the hands of the enemy.
In view of this situation, our armies were assigned the further task of
developing, before the season of bad roads due to melting snows began,
our positions in the Carpathians which dominated the outlets into the
Hungarian plain. About the period indicated great Austrian forces, which
had been concentrated for the purpose of relieving Przemysl, were in
position between the Lupkow and Uzsok Passes.
It was for this sector that our grand attack was planned. Our troops had
to carry out a frontal attack under very difficult conditions of
terrain. To facilitate their attack, therefore, an auxiliary attack was
decided upon on a front in the direction of Bartfeld as far as the
Lupkow. This secondary attack was opened on March 19 and was completely
developed.
On the 23rd and 28th of March our troops had already begun their
principal attack in the direction of Baligrod, enveloping the enemy
positions from the west of the Lupkow Pass and on the east near the
source of the San.
The enemy opposed the most desperate resistance to the offensive of our
troops. They had brought up every available man on the front from the
direction of Bartfeld as far as the Uzsok Pass, including even German
troops and numerous cavalrymen fighting on foot. His effectives on this
front exceeded 300 battalions. Moreover, our troops had to overcome
great natural difficulties at every step.
Nevertheless, from April 5--that is, eighteen days after the beginning
of our offensive--the valor of our troops enabled us to accomplish the
task that had been set, and we captured the principal chain of the
Carpathians on the front Reghetoff-Volosate, 110 versts (about 70 miles)
long. The fighting latterly was in the nature of actions in detail with
the object of consolidating the successes we had won.
To sum up: On the whole Carpathian front, between March 19 and April 12,
the enemy, having suffered enormous losses, left in our hands, in
prisoners only, at least 70,000 men, including about 900 officers.
Further, we captured more than thirty guns and 200 machine guns.
On April 16 the actions in the Carpathians were concentrated in the
direction of Rostoki. The enemy, notwithstanding the enormous losses he
had suffered, delivered, in the course of that day, no fewer than
sixteen attacks in great strength. These attacks, all of which were
absolutely barren of result, were made against the heights which we had
occupied further to the east of Telepovce.
Our troops, during the night of the 16th-17th, after a desperate fight,
stormed and captured a height to the southeast of the village of Polen,
where we took many prisoners. Three enemy counter-attacks on this
height were repulsed.
[Illustration: [map]]
In other sectors all along our front there is no change.
THE GRAND DUKE'S STRATEGY.
Petrograd, April 19.
Today's record of the brilliant feats of the Russian Army in the
Carpathians during the past month, contained in the survey of the Grand
Duke, presents only one aspect--the discomfiture of the Austro-German
forces. The Neue Freie Presse gives some indication of the other aspect.
In a recent issue it stated that "the fortnight's battle around the
Lupkow and Uzsok Passes has been one of the most obstinate in history.
The Russians succeeded in forcing the Austrians out of their positions.
The difficulties of the Austro-Hungarian Army are complicated by the
weather and the lack of ammunition and food." The question naturally
suggests itself, why did these difficulties not equally disturb the
Russian operations? On our side the difficulties of transport were, if
anything, greater. The enemy was backed by numerous railways, with
supplies close at hand, and was fighting on his native soil, and these
advantages undoubtedly compensated for the greater difficulties of
commissariat for the larger numbers of Austro-Germans. But from the
avowal of the Neue Freie Presse it is suggested here that the Austrians
were disorganized. The causes of this disorganization are attributed by
military observers to the mixing up of German with Austrian units,
rendering the task of command and supply very difficult.
The Grand Duke is fully prepared to take the field as soon as the allied
commanders decide that the time for a general action has come. Never has
the spirit of the Russian Army been firmer.
The critics this morning comment on the official communique detailing a
gigantic task brilliantly fulfilled by the Carpathian army during March.
Our position in the region of the Dukla Pass early last month exposed us
to pressure from two sides, and might have involved the necessity of
evacuating the main range. Our army thus required to extend its
positions commanding the outlets to the Hungarian plain, before the
Spring thaws, in face of a large hostile concentration between Lupkow
and Uzsok. The chief attack was directed against the latter section, and
an auxiliary attack against the Bartfeld-Lupkow section. The auxiliary
attack began on March 19 against the Austro-German left flank and
reached its full development four days later. Mistaking the auxiliary
for the principal attack, the enemy began an advance from the Bukowina,
hoping to divert us from Uzsok, but, instead, the larger portion of our
army assailed the enemy's flanks while a smaller body advanced against
Rostoki, surmounting the immense difficulties of mountain warfare in
Springtime.
By means of the envelopment of both his flanks the enemy was, by April
5, dislodged from the main range on the entire seventy-mile front from
Regetow to Wolosate. Convinced that we were directing our chief efforts
against his flanks, the enemy now strove to break our resistance in the
Rostoki direction, but, after sixteen futile attacks, he was obliged to
cede the commanding height of Telepovce, our occupation of which will
probably compel him to evacuate his positions at Polen and Smolnik and
withdraw to the valley of the Cziroka, a tributary of the Laborez.
DEFEAT IN EARLY MAY.
[By The Associated Press.]
_VIENNA, May 13, (via Amsterdam to London, May 14.)--An official
statement issued here tonight after recalling that in November and
December at Lodz and Limanowa the Austro-Germans compelled the Russians
to draw back on a front to the extent of 400 kilometers, (about 249
miles,) thereby stopping the Russian advance into Germany, continues:_
From January to the middle of April the Russians vainly exerted
themselves to break through to Hungary, but they completely failed with
heavy losses. Thereupon the time had come to crush the enemy in a common
attack with a full force of the combined troops of both empires.
[Illustration: VICE ADMIRAL JOHN M. DE ROBECK
Commanding the Allied Fleet Operating Against the Dardanelles
_(Photo (C) American Press Assn.)_]
[Illustration: FIELD MARSHAL BARON VON DER GOLTZ
Commander of the First Turkish Army, Formerly Military Governor of
Belgium
_(Photo from Paul Thompson.)_]
A victory at Tarnow and Gorlice freed West Galicia from the enemy and
caused the Russian fronts on the Nida and in the Carpathians to give
way. In a ten days' battle the victorious troops beat the Russian Third
and Eighth Armies to annihilation, and quickly covered the ground from
the Dunajec and Beskids to the San River--130 kilometers (nearly 81
miles) of territory.
From May 2 to 12 the prisoners taken numbered 143,500, while 100 guns
and 350 machine guns were captured, besides the booty already mentioned.
We suppressed small detachments of the enemy scattered in the woods in
the Carpathians.
Near Odvzechowa the entire staff of the Russian Forty-eighth Division of
Infantry including General Korniloff, surrendered. The best indication
of the confusion of the Russian Army is the fact that our Ninth Corps
captured in the last few days Russians of fifty-one various regiments.
The quantity of captured Russian war material is piled up and has not
yet been enumerated.
North of the Vistula the Austro-Hungarian troops are advancing across
Stopnica. The German troops have captured Kielce.
East of Uzsok Pass the German and Hungarian troops took several Russian
positions on the heights and advanced to the south of Turka, capturing
4,000 prisoners. An attack is proceeding here and in the direction of
Skole.
In Southeast Galicia strong hostile troops are attacking across
Horodenka.
_BERLIN, (via London,) May 13.--The German War Office announced today
that in the recent fighting in Galicia and Russian Poland 143,500
Russians had been captured. It also stated that 69 cannon and 255
machine guns had been taken from the Russians, and that the victorious
Austrian and German forces, continuing their advance eastward in
Galicia, were approaching the fortress of Przemysl. The statement
follows:_
The army under General von Mackensen in the course of its pursuit of the
Russians reached yesterday the neighborhood of Subiecko, on the lower
Wisloka, and Kolbuezowa, northeast of Debica. Under the pressure of this
advance the Russians also retreated from their positions north of the
Vistula. In this section the troops under General von Woyrech, closely
following the enemy, penetrated as far as the region northwest of
Kielce.
In the Carpathians Austro-Hungarian and German troops under General von
Linsingen conquered the hills east of the upper Stryi and took 3,650 men
prisoners, as well as capturing six machine guns.
At the present moment, while the armies under General von Mackensen are
approaching the Przemysl fortress and the lower San, it is possible to
form an approximate idea of the booty taken. In the battles of Tarnow
and Gorlice, and in the battles during the pursuit of these armies, we
have so far taken 103,500 Russian prisoners, 69 cannon, and 255 machine
guns. In these figures the booty taken by the allied troops fighting in
the Carpathians and north of the Vistula is not included. This amounts
to a further 40,000 prisoners.
Mr. Rockefeller and Serbia
[Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
LONDON, Thursday, May 13.--A Paris dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph
Company, quoting the Cri de Paris, says:
"John D. Rockefeller has just sent 35,000,000 francs ($5,000,000) to
Prince Alexis of Serbia, President of the Serbian Red Cross Society.
"Prince Alexis married last year an American woman, Mrs. Hugo Pratt,
whose father loaned years ago L2,000 to Rockefeller when the oil king
started in business."
Italy in the War
Her Move Against Austro-Hungary
Last Phase of Italian Neutrality and Causes of the Struggle
DECLARATION OF WAR.
[By The Associated Press.]
_VIENNA, May 23, (via Amsterdam and London, May 24.)--The Duke of
Avarna, Italian Ambassador to Austria, presented this afternoon to Baron
von Burian, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, the following
declaration of war:_
Vienna, May 23, 1915.
Conformably with the order of his Majesty the King, his august
sovereign, the undersigned Ambassador of Italy has the honor to deliver
to his Excellency, the Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, the
following communication:
"Declaration has been made, as from the fourth of this month, to the
Imperial and Royal Government of the grave motives for which Italy,
confident in her good right, proclaimed annulled and henceforth without
effect her treaty of alliance with Austria-Hungary, which was violated
by the Imperial and Royal Government, and resumed her liberty of action
in this respect.
"The Government of the King, firmly resolved to provide by all means at
its disposal for safeguarding Italian rights and interests, cannot fail
in its duty to take against every existing and future menace measures
which events impose upon it for the fulfillment of national aspirations.
"His Majesty the King declares that he considers himself from tomorrow
in a state of war with Austria-Hungary."
The undersigned has the honor to make known at the same time to his
Excellency the Foreign Minister, that passports will be placed this very
day at the disposal of the Imperial and Royal Ambassador at Rome, and he
will be obliged to his Excellency if he will kindly have his passports
handed to him.
Avarna.
FRANCIS JOSEPH'S DEFIANCE.
[By The Associated Press.]
_LONDON, May 24, 5:45 A.M.--A Reuter dispatch from Amsterdam says the
Vienna Zeitung publishes the following autograph letter from Emperor
Francis Joseph to Count Karl Stuergkh:_
Dear Count Stuergkh: I request you to make public the attached manifesto
to my troops:
"VIENNA, May 23.--Francis Joseph to his troops:
"The King of Italy has declared war on me. Perfidy whose like history
does not know was committed by the Kingdom of Italy against both allies.
After an alliance of more than thirty years' duration, during which it
was able to increase its territorial possessions and develop itself to
an unthought of flourishing condition, Italy abandoned us in our hour of
danger and went over with flying colors into the camp of our enemies.
"We did not menace Italy; did not curtail her authority; did not attack
her honor or interests. We always responded loyally to the duties of our
alliance and afforded her our protection when she took the field. We
have done more. When Italy directed covetous glances across our frontier
we, in order to maintain peace and our alliance relation, were resolved
on great and painful sacrifices which particularly grieved our paternal
heart. But the covetousness of Italy, which believed the moment should
be used, was not to be appeased, so fate must be accommodated.
"My armies have victoriously withstood mighty armies in the north in
ten months of this gigantic conflict in most loyal comradeship of arms
with our illustrious ally. A new and treacherous enemy in the south is
to you no new enemy. Great memories of Novara, Mortaro, and Lissa, which
constituted the pride of my youth; the spirit of Radetzky, Archduke
Albrecht, and Tegetthoff, which continues to live in my land and sea
forces, guarantee that in the south also we shall successfully defend
the frontiers of the monarchy.
"I salute my battle-tried troops, who are inured to victory. I rely on
them and their leaders. I rely on my people for whose unexampled spirit
of sacrifice my most paternal thanks are due. I pray the Almighty to
bless our colors and take under His gracious protection our just cause."
ITALY'S CABINET EMPOWERED.
[By The Associated Press.]
Rome, May 20.--Amid tremendous enthusiasm the Chamber of Deputies late
today adopted, by a vote of 407 to 74, the bill conferring upon the
Government full power to make war.
The bill is composed of a single article and reads as follows:
The Government is authorized in case of war and during the
duration of war to make decisions with due authority of law,
in every respect required, for the defense of the State, the
guarantee of public order, and urgent economic national
necessities. The provisions contained in Articles 243 to 251
of the Military Code continue in force. The Government is
authorized also to have recourse until Dec. 31, 1915, to
monthly provisional appropriations for balancing the budget.
This law shall come into force the day it is passed.
All members of the Cabinet maintain absolute silence regarding what step
will follow the action of the Chamber. Former Ministers and other men
prominent in public affairs declare, however, that the action of
Parliament virtually was a declaration of war.
When the Chamber reassembled this afternoon after its long recess there
were present 482 Deputies out of 500, the absentees remaining away on
account of illness. The Deputies especially applauded were those who
wore military uniforms and who had asked permission for leave from their
military duties to be present at the sitting.
All the tribunes were filled to overflowing. No representatives of
Germany, Austria, or Turkey were to be seen in the diplomatic tribune.
The first envoy to arrive was Thomas Nelson Page, the American
Ambassador, who was accompanied by his staff. M. Barrere, Sir J. Bennell
Rodd, and Michel de Giers, the French, British, and Russian Ambassadors,
respectively, appeared a few minutes later and all were greeted with
applause, which was shared by the Belgian, Greek, and Rumanian
Ministers. George B. McClellan, former Mayor of New York, occupied a
seat in the President's tribune.
A few minutes before the session began the poet, Gabriele d'Annunzio,
one of the strongest advocates of war, appeared in the rear of the
public tribune, which was so crowded that it seemed impossible to
squeeze in anybody else. But the moment the people saw him they lifted
him shoulder high and passed him over their heads to the first row. The
entire Chamber and all those occupying the other tribunes rose and
applauded for five minutes, crying, "Viva d'Annunzio!" Later thousands
sent him their cards, and in return received his autograph, bearing the
date of this eventful day.
Signor Marcora, President of the Chamber, took his place at 3 o'clock.
All the members of the House and everybody in the galleries stood up to
acclaim the old follower of Garibaldi.
Premier Salandra, followed by all the members of the Cabinet, entered
shortly afterward. It was a solemn moment. Then a delirium of cries
broke out. "Viva Salandra!" roared the Deputies, and the cheering lasted
for five minutes. Premier Salandra appeared to be much moved by the
demonstration.
After the formalities of the opening Premier Salandra arose and said:
"Gentlemen: I have the honor to present to you a bill to meet the
eventual expenditures of a national war"--an announcement that was
greeted by further prolonged applause.
The Premier began an exposition of the situation of Italy before the
opening of hostilities in Europe. He declared that Italy had submitted
to every humiliation from Austria-Hungary for the love of peace. By her
ultimatum to Serbia Austria had annulled the equilibrium of the Balkans
and prejudiced Italian interests there.
Notwithstanding this evident violation of the treaty of the Triple
Alliance, Italy endeavored during long months to avoid a conflict, but
these efforts were bound to have a limit in time and dignity. "This is
why the Government felt itself forced to present its denunciation of the
Triple Alliance on May 4," said Premier Salandra, who had difficulty in
quieting the wild cheering that ensued. When he had succeeded in so
doing he continued, amid frequent enthusiastic interruptions:
Italy must be united at this moment, when her destinies are
being decided. We have confidence in our august chief, who is
preparing to lead the army toward a glorious future. Let us
gather around this well-beloved sovereign.
Since Italy's resurrection as a State she has asserted herself
in the world of nations as a factor of moderation, concord,
and peace, and she can proudly proclaim that she has
accomplished this mission with a firmness which has not
wavered before even the most painful sacrifices.
In the last period, extending over thirty years, she
maintained her system of alliances and friendships chiefly
with the object of thus assuring the European equilibrium,
and, at the same time, peace. In view of the nobility of this
aim Italy not only subordinated her most sacred aspiration,
but has also been forced to look on, with sorrow, at the
methodical attempts to suppress specifically the Italian
characteristics which nature and history imprinted on those
regions.
The ultimatum which the Austro-Hungarian Empire addressed last
July to Serbia annulled at one blow the effects of a
long-sustained effort by violating the pact which bound us to
that State, violated the pact, in form, for it omitted to
conclude a preliminary agreement with us or even give us
notification, and violated it also in substance, for it sought
to disturb, to our detriment, the delicate system of
territorial possessions and spheres of influence which had
been set up in the Balkan Peninsula.
But, more than any particular point, it was the whole spirit
of the treaty which was wronged, and even suppressed, for by
unloosing in the world a most terrible war, in direct
contravention of our interests and sentiments, the balance
which the Triple Alliance should have helped to assure was
destroyed and the problem of Italy's national integrity was
virtually and irresistibly revived.
Nevertheless, for long months, the Government has patiently
striven to find a compromise, with the object of restoring to
the agreement the reason for being which it had lost. These
negotiations were, however, limited not only by time, but by
our national dignity. Beyond these limits the interests both
of our honor and of our country would have been compromised.
Signor Salandra was interrupted time and time again by rounds of
applause from all sides, and the climax was reached when he made a
reference to the army and navy. Then the cries seemed interminable, and
those on the floor of the House and in the galleries turned to the
Military Tribune, from which the officers answered by waving their hands
and handkerchiefs. At the end of the Premier's speech there were
deafening "vivas" for the King, war, and Italy.
Only thirty-four Intransigent Socialists refused to join in the cheers,
even in the cry "Viva Italia!" and they were hooted and hissed.
After the presentation of the bill conferring full powers upon the
Government the President of the Chamber submitted the question whether a
committee of eighteen members should be elected. Out of the 421 Deputies
who voted 367 cast their ballot in the affirmative. The other 54 were
against. The opposition was composed of Socialists and some adherents of
ex-Premier Giolitti.
Foreign Minister Sonnino then rose, and, taking a copy of the "Green
Book" from his pocket, said: "I have the honor to present to the Chamber
a book containing an account of all the pourparlers with Austria from
the 9th of September to the 4th of May." He handed the book to Signor
Marcora.
The Chamber then adjourned until 5 o'clock, when the committee reported
in favor of the bill, and it was adopted.
[Illustration: Italy and the Austrian Frontier
The shaded portions on the Austrian frontier represent the provinces of
"Italia Irredenta," which Italy would win back.]
ITALY'S JUSTIFICATION.
_The first complete official statement of the difficulties between Italy
and Austria-Hungary, which forced the Italian declaration of war against
the Dual Monarchy, was made public in Washington on May 25 by Count V.
Macchi di Cellere, the Italian Ambassador. It took the form of a
carefully prepared telegraphic statement to the Ambassador from Signor
Sonnino, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, with instructions that
it be delivered in the form of a note to the Government of the United
States. After presenting the communication to Secretary Bryan, Count
Cellere made public the following translation of its full text:_
The Triple Alliance was essentially defensive and designed solely to
preserve the status quo, or, in other words, the equilibrium, in Europe.
That these were its only objects and purposes is established by the
letter and spirit of the treaty as well as by the intentions clearly
described and set forth in official acts of the Ministers who created
the alliance and confirmed and renewed it in the interest of peace,
which always has inspired Italian policy.
The treaty, as long as its intents and purposes had been loyally
interpreted and regarded and as long as it had not been used as a
pretext for aggression against others, greatly contributed to the
elimination and settlement of causes of conflict, and for many years
assured to Europe the inestimable benefits of peace.
But Austria-Hungary severed the treaty by her own hands. She rejected
the response of Serbia, which gave to her all the satisfaction she could
legitimately claim. She refused to listen to the conciliatory proposals
presented by Italy in conjunction with other powers in the effort to
spare Europe from a vast conflict certain to drench the Continent with
blood and to reduce it to ruin beyond the conception of human
imagination, and finally she provoked that conflict.
Article I. of the treaty embodied the usual and necessary obligation of
such pacts--the pledge to exchange views upon any fact and economic
questions of a general nature that might arise pursuant to its terms.
None of the contracting parties had the right to undertake, without a
previous agreement, any step the consequence of which might impose a
duty upon the other signatories arising out of the Alliance, or which
would in any way whatsoever encroach upon their vital interests. This
article was violated by Austria-Hungary when she sent to Serbia her note
dated July 23, 1914, an action taken without the previous assent of
Italy.
Thus, Austria-Hungary violated beyond doubt one of the fundamental
provisions of the treaty. The obligation of Austria-Hungary to come to a
previous understanding with Italy was the greater because her obstinate
policy against Serbia gave rise to a situation which directly tended to
the provocation of a European war.
As far back as the beginning of July, 1914, the Italian Government,
preoccupied by the prevailing feeling in Vienna, caused to be laid
before the Austro-Hungarian Government a number of suggestions advising
moderation, and warning it of the impending danger of a European
outbreak. The course adopted by Austria-Hungary against Serbia
constituted, moreover, a direct encroachment upon the general interests
of Italy, both political and economical, in the Balkan Peninsula.
Austria-Hungary could not for a moment imagine that Italy could remain
indifferent while Serbian independence was being trodden upon.
On a number of occasions theretofore Italy gave Austria to understand,
in friendly but clear terms, that the independence of Serbia was
considered by Italy as essential to Balkan equilibrium. Austria-Hungary
was further advised that Italy could never permit that equilibrium to be
disturbed to her prejudice. This warning had been conveyed not only by
her diplomats in private conversations with responsible Austro-Hungarian
officials but was proclaimed publicly by Italian statesmen on the floors
of Parliament.
Therefore when Austria-Hungary ignored the usual practices and menaced
Serbia by sending her an ultimatum without in any way notifying the
Italian Government of what she proposed to do, indeed leaving that
Government to learn of her action through the press rather than through
the usual channels of diplomacy, when Austria-Hungary took this
unprecedented course she not only severed her alliance with Italy but
committed an act inimical to Italy's interests.
The Italian Government had obtained trustworthy information that the
complete program laid down by Austria-Hungary with reference to the
Balkans was prompted by a desire to decrease Italy's economical and
political influence in that section, and tended directly and indirectly
to the subservience of Serbia to Austria-Hungary, the political and
territorial isolation of Montenegro, and the isolation and political
decadence of Rumania.
This attempted diminution of the influence of Italy in the Balkans would
have been brought about by the Austro-Hungarian program, even though
Austria-Hungary had no intention of making further territorial
acquisitions. Furthermore attention should be called to the fact that
the Austro-Hungarian Government had assumed the solemn obligation of
prior consultation of Italy as required by the special provisions of
Article VII. of the treaty of the Triple Alliance, which, in addition to
the obligation of previous agreements, recognized the right of
compensation to the other contracting parties in case one should occupy
temporarily or permanently any section of the Balkans.
To this end, the Italian Government approached the Austro-Hungarian
Government immediately upon the inauguration of Austro-Hungarian
hostilities against Serbia, and succeeded in obtaining reluctant
acquiescence in the Italian representations. Conversations were
initiated immediately after July 23, for the purpose of giving a new
lease of life to the treaty which had been violated and thereby annulled
by the act of Austria-Hungary.
This object could be attained only by the conclusion of new agreements.
The conversations were renewed, with additional propositions as the
basis, in December 1914. The Italian Ambassador at Vienna at that time
received instructions to inform Count Berchtold, the Austro-Hungarian
Minister for Foreign Affairs, that the Italian Government considered it
necessary to proceed without delay to an exchange of views and
consequently to concrete negotiations with the Austro-Hungarian
Government concerning the complex situation arising out of the conflict
which that Government had provoked.
Count Berchtold at first refused. He declared that the time had not
arrived for negotiations. Subsequently, upon our rejoinder, in which the
German Government united, Count Berchtold agreed to exchange views as
suggested. We promptly declared, as one of our fundamental objects, that
the compensation on which the agreement should be based should relate to
territories at the time under the dominion of Austria-Hungary.
The discussion continued for months, from the first days of December to
March, and it was not until the end of March that Baron Burian offered a
zone of territory comprised within a line extending from the existing
boundary to a point just north of the City of Trent.
In exchange for this proposed cession the Austro-Hungarian Government
demanded a number of pledges, including among them an assurance of
entire liberty of action in the Balkans. Note should be made of the fact
that the cession of the territory around Trent was not intended to be
immediately effective as we demanded, but was to be made only upon the
termination of the European war. We replied that the offer was not
acceptable, and then presented the minimum concessions which could meet
in part our national aspirations and strengthen in an equitable manner
our strategic position in the Adriatic.
These demands comprised: The extension of the boundary in Trentino, a
new boundary on the Isonzo, special provision for Trieste, the cession
of certain islands of the Curzolari Archipelago, the abandonment of
Austrian claims in Albania, and the recognition of our possession of
Avlona and the islands of the Aegean Sea, which we occupied during our
war with Turkey.
At first our demands were categorically rejected. It was not until
another month of conversation that Austria-Hungary was induced to
increase the zone of territory she was prepared to cede in the Trentino
and then only as far as Mezzo Lombardo, thereby excluding the territory
inhabited by people of the Italian race, such as the Valle del Noce, Val
di Fasso, and Val di Ampezzo. Such a proposal would have given to Italy
a boundary of no strategical value. In addition the Austro-Hungarian
Government maintained its determination not to make the cession
effective before the end of the war.
The repeated refusals of Austria-Hungary were expressly confirmed in a
conversation between Baron Burian and the Italian Ambassador at Vienna
on April 29. While admitting the possibility of recognizing some of our
interests in Avlona and granting the above-mentioned territorial cession
in the Trentino, the Austro-Hungarian Government persisted in its
opposition to all our other demands, especially those regarding the
boundary of the Isonzo, Trieste, and the islands.
The attitude assumed by Austria-Hungary from the beginning of December
until the end of April made it evident that she was attempting to
temporize without coming to a conclusion. Under such circumstances Italy
was confronted by the danger of losing forever the opportunity of
realizing her aspirations based upon tradition, nationality, and her
desire for a safe position in the Adriatic, while other contingencies in
the European conflict menaced her principal interests in other seas.
Hence Italy faced the necessity and duty of recovering that liberty of
action to which she was entitled and of seeking protection for her
interests, apart from the negotiations which had been dragging uselessly
along for five months and without reference to the Treaty of Alliance
which had virtually failed as a result of its annullment by the action
of Austria-Hungary in July, 1914.
It would not be out of place to observe that the alliance having
terminated and there existing no longer any reason for the Italian
people to be bound by it, though they had loyally stood by it for so
many years because of their desire for peace, there naturally revived in
the public mind the grievances against Austria-Hungary which for so many
years had been voluntarily repressed.
While the Treaty of Alliance contained no formal agreement for the use
of the Italian language or the maintenance of Italian tradition and
Italian civilization in the Italian provinces of Austria, nevertheless
if the alliance was to be effective in preserving peace and harmony it
was indisputably clear that Austria-Hungary, as our ally, should have
taken into account the moral obligation of respecting what constituted
some of the most vital interests of Italy.
Instead, the constant policy of the Austro-Hungarian Government was to
destroy Italian nationality and Italian civilization all along the coast
of the Adriatic. A brief statement of the facts and of the tendencies
well known to all will suffice.
Substitution of officials of the Italian race by officials of other
nationalities; artificial immigration of hundreds of families of a
different nationality; replacement of Italian by other labor; exclusion
from Trieste by the decree of Prince Hohenlohe of employes who were
subjects of Italy; denationalization of the judicial administration;
refusal of Austria to permit an Italian university in Trieste, which
formed the subject of diplomatic negotiations; denationalization of
navigation companies; encouragement of other nationalities to the
detriment of the Italian, and, finally, the methodical and unjustifiable
expulsion of Italians in ever-increasing numbers.
This deliberate and persistent policy of the Austro-Hungarian Government
with reference to the Italian population was not only due to internal
conditions brought about by the competition of the different
nationalities within its territory, but was inspired in great part by a
deep sentiment of hostility and aversion toward Italy, which prevailed
particularly in the quarters closest to the Austro-Hungarian Government
and influenced decisively its course of action.
Of the many instances which could be cited it is enough to say that in
1911, while Italy was engaged in war with Turkey, the Austro-Hungarian
General Staff prepared a campaign against us, and the military party
prosecuted energetically a political intrigue designed to drag in other
responsible elements of Austria. The mobilization of an army upon our
frontier left us in no doubt of our neighbor's sentiment and intentions.
The crisis was settled pacifically through the influence, so far as
known, of outside factors; but since that time we have been constantly
under apprehension of a sudden attack whenever the party opposed to us
should get the upper hand in Vienna. All of this was known in Italy, and
it was only the sincere desire for peace prevailing among the Italian
people which prevented a rupture.
After the European war broke out, Italy sought to come to an
understanding with Austria-Hungary with a view to a settlement
satisfactory to both parties which might avert existing and future
trouble. Her efforts were in vain, notwithstanding the efforts of
Germany, which for months endeavored to induce Austria-Hungary to comply
with Italy's suggestions, thereby recognizing the propriety and
legitimacy of the Italian attitude. Therefore Italy found herself
compelled by the force of events to seek other solutions.
Inasmuch as the Treaty of Alliance with Austria-Hungary had ceased
virtually to exist and served only to prolong a state of continual
friction and mutual suspicion, the Italian Ambassador at Vienna was
instructed to declare to the Austro-Hungarian Government that the
Italian Government considered itself free from the ties arising out of
the Treaty of the Triple Alliance in so far as Austria-Hungary was
concerned. This communication was delivered in Vienna on May 4.
Subsequently to this declaration, and after we had been obliged to take
steps for the protection of our interests, the Austro-Hungarian
Government submitted new concessions, which, however, were deemed
insufficient and by no means met our minimum demands. These offers could
not be considered under the circumstances.
The Italian Government, taking into consideration what has been stated
above, and supported by the vote of Parliament and the solemn
manifestation of the country, came to the decision that any further
delay would be inadvisable. Therefore, on this day (May 23) it was
declared in the name of the King to the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at
Rome that, beginning tomorrow, May 24, it will consider itself in a
state of war with Austria-Hungary. Orders to this effect were also
telegraphed yesterday to the Italian Ambassador at Vienna.
German Hatred of Italy
[By The Associated Press.]
AMSTERDAM, May 23.--The Frankfurter Zeitung today prints a telegram
received from Vienna saying:
"The exasperation and contempt which Italy's treacherous surprise attack
and her hypocritical justification arouse here (Vienna) are quite
indescribable.
"Neither Serbia nor Russia, despite a long and costly war, is hated.
Italy, however, or rather those Italian would-be politicians and
business men who offer violence to the majority of peaceful Italian
people, are so unutterably hated with the most profound honesty that
this war can be terrible."
[Illustration: Detail map of the frontier between Italy and Austria.
The shaded portion shows territory demanded by Italy.]
ITALY'S NEUTRALITY--THE LAST PHASE
The attitude of the Italian press since the character of its
papers were defined in the May number of THE CURRENT HISTORY
is here recorded. Since May 17, when the King, on account of
the heated pro-intervention demonstrations held all over
Italy, declined to accept the resignation of the Salandra
Ministry, the Giolittian organ, the Stampa, of Turin, has
dropped something of its feverish neutralistic propaganda, the
Giolittian color has gradually faded from the Giornale
d'Italia and the Tribuna, while ex-Premier Giolitti himself
has left Rome, declaring that he had been misunderstood in
having his declaration that Italy could obtain what she
desired without fighting construed into meaning that he
desired peace at all costs.
It is understood that in the middle of April Austria-Hungary
became convinced that neutralistic sentiments might prevail in
the peninsula, and consequently became less active in her
negotiations with the Salandra Government. Thereupon Italy
resumed negotiations with the Entente powers, and on April 14
acknowledged that Serbia should have an opening on the
Adriatic Sea. This caused the Austro-Italian negotiations to
be heatedly resumed, and on May 18 the German Imperial
Chancellor read to the Reichstag the eleven Austro-Hungarian
proposals. The text of these proposals, together with the
Italian counter-proposals and the Italian exchange of claims
in the Adriatic with the Entente powers, will be found
outlined in the Italian official statement cabled by Minister
Sonnino to the Italian Ambassador at Washington, presented on
Page 494.
It must be borne in mind that the press comments are based
upon an imperfect knowledge of the ultimate proposals and
claims, and that the Italian attitude for rejecting the
Austro-Hungarian proposals obviously rests on these grounds:
1. They are inadequate and might be rendered nought in case of
the victory of the Entente powers.
2. They do not give Italy a defensive frontier in the north
and east.
3. They do not materially improve Italy's commercial and
military condition in the Adriatic.
4. They make no mention of Dalmatia and the Dalmatian
Archipelago, with their deep harbors and natural
fortifications--a curious contrast to the lowland harbors of
the Italian coast opposite.
The Italian demands take into account the possible victory of
the Entente powers.
In the circumstances, it is best to begin with an extract from
a German paper, as there seems to be an impression abroad that
Germany has not appreciated Italy's reasons for not joining
with her allies at the beginning of the war and has conducted
a propaganda discrediting her willingness to remain neutral
provided the Austro-Hungarian concessions proved sufficient
and were sufficiently guaranteed.
THE GERMAN VIEW.
_From the Frankfurter Zeitung of March 3._
Article VII. of the Austro-German-Italian Treaty, the terms of which
have never before been made public, not only provides for the right of
compensation in case one party to the contract enriches itself
territorially in the Balkans, but also forbids either Austria or Italy
to undertake anything in the Balkans without the consent of the
other....
In the Tripoli war, when the energetic Duca degli Abruzzi made his
advance in the Adriatic against Prevesa and wished to force the Porte to
yield through a serious action in the Dardanelles, and when Italy
wished to extend her occupation of the Aegean Islands, which lie as
advance posts before the Dardanelles, she was obliged to forego her
aims, and did loyally forego them, because Austria at that time did not
yet desire a movement on the then still quiescent Balkan Peninsula.
According to the Italian view, Austria, in determining to liquidate her
matured account with Serbia without coming to an agreement in the matter
with Italy, canceled the treaty in an important and essential part,
irrespective of the assurance that she contemplated merely punishment of
Serbia and not the acquisition of territory in the Balkans. The Italian
policy considered itself from that moment free from every obligation,
even if the speech of Premier Salandra in December could not be
interpreted as a formal denunciation of the Dreibund....
We have today good grounds for assuming that much as we must reckon with
the fact that the country is determined to go to war if nothing is
granted to it, just so little would it support a Government bent on
making war because it does not receive anything.
It will be as impossible to solve the Trentino question from the point
of view of abstract right as to solve any other iridescent question in
that way. The Trentino question, which was long a question of national,
historical, and ethnological idealism, has now become a real question of
power. The European war and its developments have placed Italy in a
position to use her power in order to expand. This is not unusual in
history....
But it should be carefully noted that only to an Italy remaining within
the Triple Alliance can compensation be given, and, of course, only on
the basis of complete reciprocity--(zug um zugleistung gegen leistung).
To demand anything whatsoever Italy has no right. On the other hand, the
ignoble exploitation of the needs of an ally fighting for her existence
would correspond neither with the generosity of the Italian nature nor
with her real interests.
The honest path for Italy, who finds herself unable to enter the war on
the side of her allies in accordance with the spirit of the Alliance, is
to preserve unconditional neutrality. A simple discussion between the
leading statesmen of all the three powers will banish every shade of
misunderstanding and clear the situation. Italy will spare her strength
for the great task on the other side of the Mediterranean and for her
correct and sensible attitude will receive, under the guarantee of her
friend, (Germany,) the promise of the fulfillment of her comprehensible
desire. Any other policy would be foolish and criminal.
ITALY AND ENGLAND.
_From the Giornale d'Italia, March 26._
It is known in London, we believe, that Italy is firmly resolved to
assure her own future in whatever manner seems best. A seafaring,
agricultural, industrial, mercantile, emigrant people like the Italian
must for its very existence conquer its own place in the sun, cannot
endure hegemonies of any kind, cannot suggest exclusions, oppressions,
or prohibitions of any kind, but must defend at any cost its own
liberty, not only political, but economic and maritime. Italy is
resolved to defend a outrance that sum total of her rights in which the
whole future is inclosed. A people does not spend for nothing in a few
months $300,000,000 to complete its military preparations and does not
intrust for nothing, with a great example of concord, the most ample
powers to the Government.
_From the Messaggero, April 1._
As Prince von Buelow's negotiations have apparently failed, Italy
naturally addresses herself to England. There is, however, this
difficulty: England has already made arrangements with France and Russia
for the solution of the questions of the Dardanelles and Asia Minor,
whereas Italy wishes to have her say in these questions before giving
her assistance to the Triple Entente. Moreover, there are Greek
aspirations in the Levant and Serbian in the Adriatic to be reconciled
with those of Italy. Consequently the situation is not easy.
_From the Stampa, April 11._
Not only must Italy have her natural frontiers on the east restored, not
only must she have her legitimate supremacy in the Adriatic assured, not
only must she safeguard her interests in the Eastern Mediterranean and
in the eventual partition of the Turkish Empire, but she must also see
assured in the Western Mediterranean a greater guarantee for the safety
of herself and her possessions and wider liberty of action than that of
which she has recently had painful experience. These things must be
guaranteed by an alliance with either Russia or with England....
Before having solved this difficulty any decision in favor of war would
be a leap in the dark, an act of inconceivable political blindness. It
would be, to adopt a rough, but inevitable, term, a veritable betrayal.
_From the Giornale d'Italia of April 12, in criticising the foregoing._
We absolutely fail to understand the motive which induced the
Piedmontese journal to print matter so calculated to confuse public
opinion. Indeed, the care with which our contemporary seeks to embarrass
Italian diplomatic action seems somewhat strange and cannot escape the
blame of all those who think it necessary not to hamper the liberty of
action conceded to the Government almost unanimously by Parliament and
by the people....
It seems almost as though the Piedmontese journal had no thought but to
put insoluble problems to the Government, in the face of public opinion,
so as to try to prejudice its action in advance. The Stampa's program
practically means that to the diplomatic rupture with the Central
Empires would be added another diplomatic rupture with the Triple
Entente, thus insuring the isolation which the Stampa professes to fear
so much.
_From the Corriere della Sera, April 12._
The article in the Stampa, which appears ultra-nationalist, is in
reality purely neutralist. Italian aspirations must be kept within
reasonable bounds. What would happen to Italy if demands were put
forward which the Entente could not entertain? Quite apart from
questions of direct interest and gain, other factors must be taken into
account. There is the danger to Italy in case of the success of her late
allies, which would mean the prostration of France, the annexation of
Belgium to Germany, the arrival of Austria at Saloniki, British naval
hegemony replaced by German, the revival of Turkey, and the consequent
ambition to resume possession of lost territories.
ADRIATIC PROBLEM.
_From the Politika of Belgrade, March 30._
Italy is claiming not only Italian territories which are under
Austro-Hungarian domination, but also a very considerable part of the
most purely southern Slav regions. Italy will have to realize one simple
fact. Until this war Serbia was closed in on all sides by
Austria-Hungary. She therefore asked that Europe should secure for her
from Austria-Hungary at least a free outlet to the Adriatic, the price
of which she had already paid in blood.
The two Balkan wars were waged primarily for the same thing, since they
were wars of liberation. Today it is no longer a question of the
economic independence of Serbia, since Austria-Hungary is passing from
the scene, but it is a matter of the liberation and of the union into a
single State of our race as a whole. This is the idea which at this
moment governs the masses of our people, and the numberless graves of
our fallen heroes testify to the sacrifice which we have made for the
sake of this idea. Whoever, therefore, opposes our national union is an
enemy of our race.
Deeply as it would pain Serbia to uproot out of her heart the sympathy
which she feels for Italy, she will none the less do so without fail if
ever it should become manifest that Italy's present policy signifies
that she desires not only to consolidate her legitimate interests, but
also to encroach upon the Balkans by attacking Serbia.
_From the Giornale d'Italia, April 4._
No one in Italy has ever said or thought that in the event of a
bouleversement in the Adriatic and the Balkans there should be denied to
Serbia or any Slav State which might arise from the ruins of
Austria-Hungary a wide outlet to the Adriatic. But, on the other hand,
no one in Italy could ever permit that the reversion of Austria's
strategic maritime position should fall into any hands but ours.
There are political and military considerations which are above any
question of nationality whatever. It should be enough to cite the
example of an England which holds a Spanish Gibraltar and an Italian
Malta, besides a Greek Cyprus and the Egyptian Suez Canal. It should be
enough to recall the claim made by all the press of Petrograd to
establish Russia at Constantinople and on the banks of the Bosporus and
the Dardanelles, in spite of all the principles of nationality, Balkan
or Turk.
Let the Serbians, in case of an Adriatic and Balkan upset, have an ample
outlet to the Adriatic, but do not let them aspire to conquer a
predominance in that sea. The Italian people is not, and can not be at
this moment, either phil or phobe regarding any other people. The
existence, or at least the future, of all the nations is at stake today,
and whoever desires the friendship of Italy must begin by loyally
recognizing her rights and interests.
_From the Giornale d'Italia of April 19._
We reject altogether the idea that Italy would be satisfied with the
western portion of Istria, leaving the rest of the Eastern Adriatic
shore to the Croatians and Serbians. While Italy would certainly gain by
the possession of Trieste and Pola, the strategic position in the
Adriatic would still be exceedingly disadvantageous, especially as the
Slav claim advanced by certain Russian newspapers, (that Croatia become
an autonomous State and divide Dalmatia with Serbia,) includes the right
to maintain fortified naval bases on the eastern shore.
This would merely mean exchanging Austrian strategical predominance for
Slavonic, and, consequently, Russian predominance nearly as threatening
to Italian interests.
The principal objective of Italy in the Adriatic is the solution once
for all of the politico-strategic question of a sea which is commanded
in the military sense from the eastern shore, and such a problem can be
solved only by one method--by eliminating from the Adriatic every other
war fleet. Otherwise the existing most difficult situation in the
Adriatic will be perpetuated and in time inevitably aggravated.
_From the Messaggero of April 21._
We understand that an Italian-Russian accord has been practically
concluded. This accord refers both to the war, on which Italy will
shortly embark, as well as to the peace which will be finally signed.
The French and British Governments have taken an active part in
facilitating this accord, as it deals with other questions besides that
of the Adriatic.
_From Idea Nazionale, May 10._
Italy desires war:
1. In order to obtain Trent, Trieste, and Dalmatia. The country desires
it. A nation which has the opportunity to free its land should do so as
a matter of imperative necessity. If the Government and the institutions
will not make war, they render themselves guilty of high treason toward
the country.
2. We desire war in order to conquer for ourselves a good strategic
frontier in the north and east in place of the treacherous one which we
now have. When a nation can assure the protection of its domain it ought
to do so, otherwise its future will have less. It is a necessary duty.
There is no other alternative but this--either complete the work or
betray what has already been done.
3. We desire war because today in the Adriatic, the Balkan Peninsula,
the Mediterranean, and Asia Italy should have all the advantages it is
possible for her to have and without which her political, economic, and
moral power would diminish in proportion as that of others augmented. To
this has the Hon. Salandra borne witness. If we should avoid war we
desire less than his words most sacredly proclaimed to the nation in
Parliament. If we would be a great power we must accept certain
obligations; one of them is war in order to keep us a great power. If we
do not want to be a great power any longer, we deliberately and vilely
betray ourselves.
The foregoing are the three reasons for entering the war--reasons which
are tangible, material, and comprehensive.
_From the Giornale d'Italia, May 12._
Italy is determined to realize her national aspirations, cost what it
may. For this reason the Government has hastened its preparations for
war which, when completed, caused Austria to offer compensations, thus
tacitly acknowledging the claims of Italy.
When the Austro-Italian negotiations were begun Signor Giolitti most
unfortunately obstructed their successful issue by his inopportune
letter declaring that war was unnecessary. Nevertheless, owing to the
firmness of the Government and the determination to resort to war, the
conversations were resumed. However, Austria, aside from offering
insufficient concessions, assumed a waiting policy and sought secretly
to conclude a secret peace with Russia. Thereupon the Italian
Government opened negotiations with the Allies, which had the effect of
increasing the offers of Austria.
During the ultimate, delicate phase of the conversations, when those who
advocate neutrality are causing great injury to the interests of the
country and also helping its enemies, the Government, reposing in the
support of the people, is determined to expose the intrigues and
conspiracies intended to favor the Austrians and Germans.
Hence the Government will, if necessary, make an appeal to Parliament.
Meanwhile, it will conserve its power and righteously defend the
interests of the country.
ANNUNCIATION
By Ernst Lissauer.
_Ernst Lissauer, the author of the famous "Song of Hate Against England"
has written a second poem entitled "Bread," and directed against the
British policy of cutting off Germany's food supply. The poem was
published in the Bonner Zeitung and reprinted in the Frankfurter Zeitung
of March 26, 1915. Following is a translation:_
With arms they cannot overpower us,
With hunger they would fain devour us;
Foe beside foe in an iron ring.
Has want crossed our borders, or hunger, or dearth?
Listen: I chant the tidings of Spring:
Our soil is our ally in this great thing;
Already new bread is growing in the earth.
ADMONITION:
Save the food and guard and hoard!
Bread is a sword.
PRAYER:
The peasants have sown the seed again.
Now gather and pray the prayer of the grain:
Earth of our land,
With arms they cannot overpower us,
With hunger they would fain devour us,
Arise thou in thy harvest wrath!
Thick grow thy grass, rich the reaper's path!
Dearest soil of earth
Our prayer hear:
Show them of little worth,
Shame them with blade and ear.
[Illustration: [map of the Dardanelles]]
THE DARDANELLES
ALLIES' SECOND CAMPAIGN WITH FLEETS AND LAND FORCES.
The first campaign to force the passage of the Dardanelles by
fleet operations alone was suddenly halted on March 19, 1915,
when floating mines carried by the swift currents destroyed
and sank three battleships. An appraisal of the real
difficulties attendant upon reducing the forts and batteries
lining the European and Asiatic shores, which determined the
Allies upon their present joint operations by land and sea, is
found in the subjoined dispatch, presented in part from E.
Ashmead-Bartlett, appearing in The London Daily Telegraph of
April 26. It is followed by full press reports from the
Dardanelles describing the difficult landing and establishment
of the Allied troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Eastern Mediterranean, April 12.
The days of the Turk in Europe are numbered, but no one will deny that
he is dying hard and game. It came as a disagreeable shock to many to
read on the morning of March 19 that two British battleships and one
French had been sunk in the Dardanelles, while several others had been
hit and damaged.
We were told that the outer forts had been completely destroyed and that
the work of mine sweeping had made excellent progress. This news was
given in perfect good faith and was also quite true, but we built up on
it too great a structure of hope, but few realizing the immense
difficulties the fleet has had to face--obstacles which do not really
commence until the Narrows are approached. The combined advance of the
allied fleet up the Dardanelles on March 18 was not an attempt to pass
the Narrows. It was merely intended as a great demonstration against the
forts, in order that the destroyers and sweepers might clear the
minefield under cover of the guns of the ships.
This work was carried out in the most gallant manner and was perfectly
successful, but unfortunately the further advance had to be abandoned,
owing to the sudden and unexpected disasters to three vessels inflicted
by drifting mines. But the price paid cannot be considered too high when
one remembers the issues at stake and the vast bearing they may have on
the future of the war. The Turks have always believed the Dardanelles to
be impregnable, and this belief has been accepted as the truth by most
lay minds until the navy started to put the issue to the test. Then, for
some unknown reason, here came a quite unjustifiable wave of optimism,
which swept over the country until the eyes of the public were opened by
the events of March 18.
In the old days of sailing ships the Dardanelles were a most formidable
obstacle which no Admiral would have faced with confidence.
It was almost impossible to overcome the obstacles in the early days of
the nineteenth century. The difficulties and dangers of the passage have
been increased tenfold now by long-range weapons, torpedoes, and mines.
Nevertheless, the navy is of opinion that the Narrows can be forced, in
spite of these obstacles, and this opinion has been strengthened and
confirmed by the great trial of March 18. It might mean the loss of
ships, but if the occasion justified the sacrifice the fleet would not
hesitate to make the attempt.
But, unless there is a powerful army ready to occupy the Gallipoli
Peninsula the moment the fleet passed into the Sea of Marmora or made
its way to Constantinople, the strait would immediately be closed behind
it, and, supposing the Turks, backed up by German officers and German
intrigues, decided to continue the war, it would have to fight its way
out and again clear the minefield. It has long been an accepted axiom of
naval warfare that ships are of no use against forts, or that they fight
at such a disadvantage that it is not worth while employing them for
such a purpose.
This axiom must now be modified, after the experience which the fleet
has gained in the present operations against the Dardanelles. Any fort
built of stone or concrete, however strong, can be put out of action by
direct fire from guns, if only a clear view of it can be obtained, or
provided aeroplanes are available to "spot" for the gunners, to signal
back results, and correct the fire.
The Landing at Gallipoli
_The following series of dispatches sent by a special correspondent of
The London Times at the Dardanelles describes the first phase of the
operations resulting in the landing of the allied troops on the
Gallipoli Peninsula:_
Dardanelles, April 24.
The great venture has at last been launched, and the entire fleet of
warships and transports is now steaming toward the shores of Gallipoli.
Yesterday the weather showed signs of moderating, and about 5 o'clock in
the afternoon the first of the transports slowly made its way through
the maze of shipping toward the entrance of Mudros Bay. Immediately the
patent apathy which has gradually overwhelmed every one changed to the
utmost enthusiasm, and as the huge liners steamed through the fleet,
their decks yellow with khaki, the crews of the warships cheered them on
to victory, while the bands played them out with an unending variety of
popular airs. The soldiers in the transports answered this last
salutation from the navy with deafening cheers, and no more inspiring
spectacle has ever been seen than this great expedition setting forth
for better or for worse.
It required splendid organization and skilled leadership to get this
huge fleet clear of the bay without confusion or accidents, but not one
has occurred, and the majority are now safely on the high seas steaming
toward their respective destinations.
The whole of the fleet and the transports have been divided up into five
divisions and there will be three main landings. The Twenty-ninth
Division will disembark off the point of the Gallipoli Peninsula near
Sedd-el-Bahr, where its operations can be covered both from the Gulf of
Saros and from the Dardanelles by the fire of the covering warships. The
Australian and New Zealand contingent will disembark north of Gaba Tepe.
Further north the Naval Division will make a demonstration.
The difficulties and dangers of the enterprise are enormous and are
recognized by all.
Never before has the attempt been made to land so large a force in the
face of an enemy who has innumerable guns, many thousands of trained
infantry, and who has had months of warning in which to prepare his
positions. Nevertheless, there is a great feeling of confidence
throughout all ranks, and the men are delighted that at length the
delays are over and the real work is about to begin.
Last night the transports were merely taking up their positions, and the
real exit of the armada from Mudros commenced this afternoon at about 2
o'clock. The weather, which was threatening at an early hour, has now
become perfectly calm, and if it only lasts the conditions will be ideal
for a rapid disembarkation.
Throughout the morning transports steamed out to take up their
respective positions in the open sea. The same enthusiastic scenes were
witnessed as yesterday. The covering forces will be put ashore from
certain battleships, while others will sweep the enemy's positions with
their guns and endeavor to prevent them from shelling the troops while
disembarking. It is generally considered that the critical period of
the operations will be the first twenty-four hours, and the success or
failure of the whole enterprise will depend on whether these covering
parties are able to obtain a firm foothold and seize the positions which
have been assigned to them. Every detail has been worked out and
rehearsed, and every officer and man should now know the peculiar role
which has been assigned to him.
The navy will have entire charge of the landing of these thousands of
men. Beach parties will go ashore with the first of the troops, and
officers from the ships will direct the movements of all the boats as
they bring the troops ashore.
This battleship belongs to a division which will consist of the
Australians, who are to land near Gaba Tepe. We are one of the landing
ships, and this afternoon received on board 500 officers and men of the
Australian contingent who are to form part of the covering force. They
are a magnificent body of men, and full of enthusiasm for the honorable
and dangerous role given to them.
At 2 o'clock the flagship of this division took up her position at the
head of the line. We passed down through the long line of slowly moving
transports amid tremendous cheering, and were played out of the bay by
the French warships. No sight could have been finer than this spectacle
of long lines of warships and transports, each making for its special
rendezvous without any delay or confusion.
At 4 o'clock this afternoon the ship's company and the troops were
assembled on the quarterdeck to hear the Captain read out Admiral de
Robeck's proclamation to the combined forces. This was followed by a
last service before battle, in which the chaplain uttered a prayer for
victory and called for the Divine blessing on the expedition, while the
whole of the ship's company and troops on board stood with uncovered and
bowed heads. We are steaming slowly through this momentous night toward
the coast and are due at our rendezvous at 3 A.M. tomorrow, (Sunday,) a
day which has so often brought victory to the British flag.
THE SECOND DISPATCH.
Dardanelles, April 25.
Slowly through the night of April 24 our squadron, which was to land the
covering force of the Australian contingent just north of Gaba Tepe,
steamed toward its destination. The troops on board were the guests of
the crews, and our generous sailors entertained them royally. At dusk
all lights were extinguished, and very shortly afterward the troops
retired for a last rest before their ordeal at dawn.
At 1 A.M. the ships arrived off their appointed rendezvous, five miles
from the landing place, and stopped. The soldiers were aroused from
their slumbers and were served with a last hot meal. A visit to the mess
decks showed these Australians, the majority of whom were about to go
into action for the first time under the most trying circumstances,
possessed at 1 o'clock in the morning courage to be cheerful, quiet, and
confident. There was no sign of nerves or undue excitement such as one
might very reasonably have expected.
At 1:20 A.M. the signal was given from the flagship to lower the boats,
which had been left swinging from the davits throughout the night. Our
steam pinnaces were also lowered to take them in tow. The troops fell in
in their assigned places on the quarterdeck, and the last rays of the
waning moon lit up a scene which will ever be memorable in our history.
On the quarterdeck, backed by the great 12-inch guns, this splendid body
of colonial troops were drawn up in serried ranks, fully equipped, and
receiving their last instructions from their officers who, six months
ago, like their men, were leading a peaceful civilian life in Australia
and New Zealand 5,000 miles away. Now at the call of the empire they
were about to disembark on a strange unknown shore, in a strange land,
and attack an enemy of a different race. By the side of the soldiers the
beach parties of our splendid bluejackets and marines were marshaled,
arrayed in old white uniforms dyed khaki color and carrying the old
rifle and old equipment.
These men were to take charge of the boats, steer them ashore, and row
them to the beach when they were finally cast off by the towing
pinnaces. Each boat was in charge of a young midshipman, many of whom
have come straight from Dartmouth after a couple of terms and now found
themselves called upon to play a most difficult and dangerous role like
men. Commanders, Lieutenants, and special beach officers had charge of
the whole of the towing parties and went ashore with the troops.
At 2:05 A.M. the signal was given for the troops to embark in the boats
which were lying alongside, and this was carried out with great
rapidity, in absolute silence, and without a hitch or an accident of any
kind. Each one of the three ships which had embarked troops transferred
them to four small boats apiece towed by a steam pinnace, and in this
manner the men of the covering force were conveyed to the shore. More of
the Australian Brigade were carried in destroyers, which were to go
close in shore and land them from boats as soon as those towed by the
pinnaces had reached the beach.
At 3 A.M. it was quite dark and all was ready for the start. The tows
were cast off by the battleships and the ladders taken in and the decks
cleared for action, the crews going to general quarters. Then we steamed
slowly toward the shore, each of the battleships being closely followed
by her tows, which looked exactly like huge snakes gliding relentlessly
after their prey. I do not suppose the suppressed excitement of this
last half hour will ever be forgotten by those who were present. No one
could tell at the last minute what would happen. Would the enemy be
surprised or would he be ready on the alert to pour a terrible fire on
the boats as they approached the beach?
The whole operation had been timed to allow the pinnaces and boats to
reach the beach just before daybreak so that the Turks, if they had been
forewarned, would not be able to see to fire before the Australians had
obtained a firm footing and, it was hoped, good cover on the foreshore.
Exactly at 4:10 A.M. the three battleships in line abreast four cables
apart arrived about 2,500 yards from the shore, which was just
discernible in the gloom. The engines were stopped, guns were manned,
and the powerful searchlights made ready for use if required. The tows,
which up to this time had followed astern, were ordered to advance to
the shore. The battleships took up positions somewhat further out on
either flank, for to them was assigned the duty of supporting the attack
with their guns as soon as light allowed.
Very slowly the snakes of boats steamed past the battleships, the
gunwales almost flush with the water, so crowded were they with khaki
figures. Then each lot edged in toward one another so as to reach the
beach four cables apart. So anxious were we on board the battleships
that it seemed as if the loads were too heavy for the pinnaces, or that
some mysterious power was holding them back, and that they would never
reach the shore before daybreak and thus lose the chance of a surprise.
The distance between the battleships and the boats did not seem to
diminish, but only for the reason that we steamed very slowly in after
them until the water gradually shallowed. Every eye and every glass was
fixed on that grim-looking line of hills in our front, so shapeless, yet
so menacing, in the gloom.
At 4:50 A.M. the enemy suddenly showed an alarm light, which flashed for
ten minutes and then disappeared. The next three minutes after its first
appearance passed in breathless anxiety. We could just discern the dull
outline of the boats which appeared to be almost on the beach. Just
previously to this seven destroyers conveying the other men of the
brigade glided noiselessly through the intervals between the battleships
and followed the boats in shore.
At 4:53 A.M. there suddenly came a very sharp burst of rifle fire from
the beach, and we knew our men were at last at grips with the enemy.
This fire lasted only for a few minutes and then was drowned by a faint
British cheer wafted to us over the waters. How comforting and inspiring
was the sound at such a moment! It seemed like a message sent to tell us
that the first position had been won and a firm hold obtained on the
beach.
At 5:03 A.M. the fire intensified, and we could tell from the sound that
our men were firing. It lasted until 5:28 and then died down somewhat.
No one on board knew what was happening, although dawn was gradually
breaking, because we were looking due east into the sun slowly rising
behind the hills, which are almost flush with the foreshore, and there
was also a haze. Astern at 5:26 we saw the outline of some of the
transports, gradually growing bigger and bigger as they approached the
coast. They were bringing up the remainder of the Austrians and New
Zealanders.
The first authentic news we received came with the return of our boats.
A steam pinnace came alongside with two recumbent forms on her deck and
a small figure, pale but cheerful, and waving his hand astern. They were
one of our midshipmen, just 16 years of age, shot through the stomach,
but regarding his injury more as a fitting consummation to a glorious
holiday ashore than a wound, and a chief stoker and petty officer, all
three wounded by that first burst of musketry which caused many
casualties in the boats just as they reached the beach.
From them we learned what had happened in those first wild moments. All
the tows had almost reached the beach, when a party of Turks intrenched
almost on the shore opened up a terrible fusillade from rifles and also
from a Maxim. Fortunately most of the bullets went high, but,
nevertheless, many men were hit as they sat huddled together 40 or 50 in
a boat.
It was a trying moment, but the Australian volunteers rose as a man to
the occasion. They waited neither for orders nor for the boats to reach
the beach, but, springing out into the sea, they waded ashore and,
forming some sort of a rough line, rushed straight on the flashes of
the enemy's rifles. Their magazines were not even charged. So they just
went in with cold steel, and I believe I am right in saying that the
first Ottoman Turk since the last Crusade received an Anglo-Saxon
bayonet in him at five minutes after 5 A.M. on April 25. It was over in
a minute. The Turks in this first trench were bayoneted or ran away, and
a Maxim gun was captured.
Then the Australians found themselves facing an almost perpendicular
cliff of loose sandstone, covered with thick shrubbery, and somewhere
half way up the enemy had a second trench strongly held, from which they
poured a terrible fire on the troops below and the boats pulling back to
the destroyers for the second landing party.
Here was a tough proposition to tackle in the darkness, but these
colonials are practical above all else, and they went about it in a
practical way. They stopped a few moments to pull themselves together
and to get rid of their packs, which no troops should carry in an
attack, and then charged their magazines. Then this race of athletes
proceeded to scale the cliffs without responding to the enemy's fire.
They lost some men, but did not worry, and in less than a quarter of an
hour the Turks were out of their second position, either bayoneted or in
full flight.
THE THIRD DISPATCH.
Dardanelles, April 26.
After the events I have previously described, the light gradually became
better and we could see from the London what was happening on the beach.
It was then discovered that the boats had landed rather further north of
Gaba Tepe than was originally intended, at a point where the sandstone
cliffs rise very sharply from the water's edge. As a matter of fact,
this error probably turned out a blessing in disguise, because there was
no glacis down which the enemy's infantry could fire, and the numerous
bluffs, ridges, and broken ground afford good cover to troops once they
have passed the forty or fifty yards of flat, sandy beach.
This ridge, under which the landing was made, stretches due north from
Gaba Tepe and culminates in the height of Coja Chemen, which rises 950
feet above the sea level. The whole forms part of a confused triangle of
hills, valleys, ridges, and bluffs which stretches right across the
Gallipoli Peninsula to the Bay of Bassi Liman above the Narrows. The
triangle is cut in two by the valley through which flows the stream
known as Bokali Deresi.
It is indeed a formidable and forbidding land. To the sea it presents a
steep front, broken up into innumerable ridges, bluffs, valleys, and
sand pits, which rise to a height of several hundred feet. The surface
is either a kind of bare and very soft yellow sandstone, which crumbles
when you tread on it, or else it is covered with very thick shrubbery
about six feet in height.
It is, in fact, an ideal country for irregular warfare, such as the
Australians and New Zealanders were soon to find to their cost. You
cannot see a yard in front of you, and so broken is the ground that the
enemy's snipers were able to lie concealed within a few yards of the
lines of infantry without it being possible to locate them. On the other
hand, the Australians and New Zealanders have proved themselves adepts
at this form of warfare, which requires the display of great endurance
in climbing over the cliffs and offers scope for a display of that
individuality which you find highly developed in these colonial
volunteers. To organize anything like a regular attack on such ground is
almost impossible, as the officers cannot see their men, who, the moment
they move forward in open order, are lost among the thick scrub.
In the early part of the day very heavy casualties were suffered in the
boats which conveyed the troops from the destroyers, tugs, and
transports to the beach. As soon as it became light, the enemy's
sharpshooters, hidden everywhere, simply concentrated their fire on the
boats. Then they got close in. At least three boats, having broken away
from their tows, drifted down the coast, under no control, and were
sniped at the whole way, steadily losing men.
All praise is due to the splendid conduct of the officers, midshipmen,
and men who formed the beach parties and whose duty it was to pass
backward and forward under a terrible fusillade which it was impossible
to check in the early part of the day.
The work of disembarking went on mechanically under this fire at almost
point-blank range. You saw the crowded boats cast off from the pinnaces,
tugs, and destroyers, and laboriously pulled ashore by six or eight
seamen. The moment it reached the beach the troops jumped out and
doubled for cover to the foot of the bluffs, over some forty yards of
beach. But the gallant crews of the boats had then to pull them out
under a dropping fire from a hundred points where the enemy's marksmen
lay hidden amid the sand and shrubs.
Throughout the whole of April 25 the landing of troops, stores, and
munitions had to be carried out under these conditions, but the gallant
sailors never failed their equally gallant comrades ashore. Every one,
from the youngest midshipman, straight from Dartmouth and under fire for
the first time, to the senior officers in charge, did their duty nobly.
When it became light the covering warships endeavored to support the
troops on shore by a heavy fire from their secondary armament, but at
this time, the positions of the enemy being unknown, the support was
necessarily more moral than real. When the sun was fully risen and the
haze had disappeared we could see that the Australians had actually
established themselves on the top of the ridge and were evidently trying
to work their way northward along it. At 8:45 the fire from the hills
became intense and lasted for about half an hour, when it gradually died
down, but only for a short time. Then it reopened and lasted without
cessation throughout the remainder of the day. The fighting was so
confused and took place among such broken ground that it is extremely
difficult to follow exactly what did happen throughout the morning and
afternoon of April 25. The role assigned to the covering force was
splendidly carried out up to a certain point, and a firm footing was
obtained on the crest of the ridge which allowed the disembarkation of
the remainder of the force to go on uninterruptedly, except for the
never-ceasing sniping.
But then the Australians, whose blood was up, instead of intrenching
themselves and waiting developments, pushed northward and eastward
inland in search of fresh enemies to tackle with the bayonet. The ground
is so broken and ill-defined that it was very difficult to select a
position to intrench, especially as, after the troops imagined they had
cleared a section, they were continually being sniped from all sides.
Therefore, they preferred to continue the advance.
It is impossible for any army to defend a long beach in any force,
especially when you do not know exactly where an attack will be made,
and when your troops will come under the fire of the guns of warships.
The Turks, therefore, only had a comparatively weak force actually
holding the beach, and they seemed to have relied on the difficult
nature of the ground and their scattered snipers to delay the advance
until they would bring up reinforcements from the interior. Some of the
Australians who had pushed inland were counter-attacked and almost
outflanked by these on-coming reserves and had to fall back after
suffering very heavy casualties.
It was then the turn of the Turks to counter-attack, and this they
continued to do throughout the afternoon, but the Australians never
yielded a foot of ground on the main ridge, and reinforcements were
continually poured up from the beach as fresh troops were disembarked
from the transports. The enemy's artillery fire, however, presented a
very difficult problem. As soon as the light became good the Turks
enfiladed the beach with two field guns from Gaba Tepe and with two
others from the north. This shrapnel fire was incessant and deadly. In
vain did the warships endeavor to put them out of action with their
secondary armament. For some hours they could not be accurately
located, or else were so well protected that our shells failed to do
them any harm. The majority of the heavy casualties suffered during the
day were from shrapnel, which swept the beach and the ridge on which the
Australians and New Zealanders had established themselves.
Later in the day the two guns to the north were silenced or forced to
withdraw to a fresh position, from which they could no longer enfilade
the beach, and a cruiser, moving in close to the shore, so plastered
Gaba Tepe with a hail of shell that the guns there were also silenced
and have not attempted to reply since.
As the enemy brought up reinforcements toward dusk his attacks became
more and more vigorous, and he was supported by a powerful artillery
inland which the ships' guns were powerless to deal with. The pressure
on the Australians and New Zealanders became heavier, and the line they
were occupying had to be contracted for the night. General Birwood and
his staff went ashore in the afternoon and devoted all their energies to
securing the position, so as to hold firmly to it until the following
morning, when it was hoped to get some field guns in position to deal
with the enemy's artillery.
Some idea of the difficulty to be faced may be gathered when it is
remembered that every round of ammunition, all water, and all supplies
had to be landed on a narrow beach and then carried up pathless hills,
valleys, and bluffs, several hundred feet high, to the firing line. The
whole of this mass of troops, concentrated on a very small area, and
unable to reply, were exposed to a relentless and incessant shrapnel
fire, which swept every yard of the ground, although fortunately a great
deal of it was badly aimed or burst too high. The reserves were engaged
in road making and carrying supplies to the crests and in answering the
calls for more ammunition.
A serious problem was getting away the wounded from the shore, where it
was impossible to keep them. All those who were unable to hobble to the
beach had to be carried down from the hills on stretchers, then hastily
dressed, and carried to the boats. The boat and beach parties never
stopped working throughout the entire day and night.
The courage displayed by these wounded Australians will never be
forgotten. Hastily dressed and placed in trawlers, lighters, and ships'
boats, they were towed to the ships. I saw some lighters full of bad
cases. As they passed the battleship, some of those on board recognized
her as the ship they had left that morning, whereupon, in spite of their
sufferings and discomforts, they set up a cheer, which was answered by a
deafening shout of encouragement from our crew.
I have, in fact, never seen the like of these wounded Australians in war
before, for as they were towed among the ships, while accommodation was
being found for them, although many were shot to bits and without hope
of recovery, their cheers resounded through the night, and you could
just see, amid a mass of suffering humanity, arms being waved in
greeting to the crews of the warships. They were happy, because they
knew they had been tried for the first time in the war and had not been
found wanting. They had been told to occupy the heights and hold on, and
this they had done for fifteen mortal hours under an incessant shell
fire, without the moral and material support of a single gun ashore, and
subjected the whole time to the violent counter-attacks of a brave
enemy, led by skilled leaders, while his snipers, hidden in caves and
thickets and among the dense scrub, made a deliberate practice of
picking off every officer who endeavored to give a word of command or to
lead his men forward.
No finer feat of arms has been performed during the war than this sudden
landing in the dark, this storming of the heights, and, above all, the
holding on to the position thus won while reinforcements were being
poured from the transports. These raw colonial troops, in those
desperate hours, proved themselves worthy to fight side by side with
the heroes of Mons and the Aisne, Ypres, and Neuve Chapelle.
THE FOURTH DISPATCH.
Dardanelles, April 27.
Throughout the night of the 25th and the early morning of the 26th there
was continual fighting, as the Turks made repeated attacks to endeavor
to drive the Australians and New Zealanders from their positions. On
several occasions parties of the colonials made local counter-attacks
and drove the enemy off with the bayonet, which the Turks will never
face.
On the morning of the 26th it became known that the enemy had been very
largely reinforced during the night and was preparing for a big assault
from the northeast. This movement began about 9:30 A.M. From the ships
we could see large numbers of the enemy creeping along the top of the
hills endeavoring to approach our positions under cover and then to
annoy our troops with their incessant sniping. He had also brought up
more guns during the night, and plastered the whole position once again
with shrapnel.
The rifle and machine-gun fire became heavy and unceasing. But the enemy
were not going to be allowed to have matters all their own way with
their artillery. Seven warships had moved in close to the shore, while
the Queen Elizabeth, further out, acted as a kind of chaperone to the
lot. Each covered a section of the line, and when the signal was given
opened up a bombardment of the heights and valleys beyond which can only
be described as terrific.
Turkish infantry moved forward to the attack. They were met by every
kind of shell which our warships carry, from 15-inch shrapnel from the
Queen Elizabeth, each one of which contains 20,000 bullets, to 12-inch,
6-inch, and 12-pounders.
The noise, smoke, and concussion produced was unlike anything you can
even imagine until you have seen it. The hills in front looked as if
they had suddenly been transformed into smoking volcanoes, the common
shell throwing up great chunks of ground and masses of black smoke,
while the shrapnel formed a white canopy above. Sections of ground were
covered by each ship all around our front trenches, and, the ranges
being known, the shooting was excellent. Nevertheless, a great deal of
the fire was, of necessity, indirect, and the ground affords such
splendid cover that the Turks continued their advance in a most gallant
manner, while their artillery not only plastered our positions on shore
with shrapnel, but actually tried to drive the ships off the coast by
firing at them, and their desperate snipers, in place of a better
target, tried to pick off officers and men on the decks and bridges. We
picked up many bullets on the deck afterward.
Some Turkish warship started to fire over the peninsula. The Triumph
dropped two 10-inch shells within a few yards of her, whereupon she
retired up the strait to a safer position, from which she occasionally
dropped a few shells into space, but so far has done no damage.
The scene at the height of this engagement was sombre, magnificent, and
unique. The day was perfectly clear, and you could see right down the
coast as far as Sedd-ul-Bahr. There the warships of the first division
were blazing away at Aki Baba and the hills around it, covering their
summits with a great white cloud of bursting shells. Further out the
giant forms of the transports which accompanied that division loomed up
through the slight mist. Almost opposite Gaba Tepe a cruiser close in
shore was covering the low ground with her guns and occasionally
dropping shells right over into the straight on the far side. Opposite
the hills in possession of the Australian and New Zealand troops an
incessant fire was kept up from the ships. Beyond lay our transports
which had moved further out to avoid the Turkish warships' shells and
those of some battery which fires persistently.
Beyond all, the Queen Elizabeth, with her eight huge, monstrous 15-inch
guns, all pointed shoreward, seemed to threaten immediate annihilation
to any enemy who dared even to aim at the squadron under her charge.
On shore the rifle and machine-gun fire was incessant, and at times rose
into a perfect storm as the Turks pressed forward their attack. The
hills were ablaze with shells from the ships and the enemy's shrapnel,
while on the beach masses of troops were waiting to take their places in
the trenches, and the beach parties worked incessantly at landing
stores, material, and ammunition.
This great attack lasted some two hours, and during this time we
received encouraging messages from the beach. "Thanks for your
assistance. Your guns are inflicting awful losses on the enemy." The
Turks must, in fact, have suffered terribly from this concentrated fire
from so many guns and from the infantry in the trenches.
The end came amid a flash of bayonets and a sudden charge of the
colonials, before which the Turks broke and fled amid a perfect tornado
of shells from the ships. They fell back sullen and checked, but not yet
defeated, but for the remainder of the day no big attack was pressed
home, and the colonials gained some ground by local counter-attacks,
which enlarged and consolidated the position they were holding.
The Turks kept up their incessant shrapnel fire throughout the day, but
the colonials were now dug in and could not be shaken by it in their
trenches, while the reserves had also prepared shelter trenches and
dug-outs on the slopes.
Some prisoners were captured, including an officer, who said that the
Turks were becoming demoralized by the fire of the guns, and that the
Germans now had difficulty in getting them forward to the attack. We are
well intrenched and they will probably do likewise, and we shall see a
repetition of the siege warfare out here.
THE FIFTH DISPATCH.
Dardanelles, April 30.
While Australians and New Zealanders were fighting so gallantly against
heavy odds north of Gaba Tepe, British troops crowned themselves with
equal laurels at the southern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula. A firm
footing now has been obtained. The line stretches across the southern
end of the entire peninsula, with both flanks secured by the fire of
warships. The army holds many convenient landing places immune from the
enemy's guns.
The problems British landing parties faced differed from those the
Australians solved further north. Here the cliffs are not high and
irregular, but rise about fifty feet from the water's edge, with
stretches of beach at intervals. Five of these beaches were selected for
disembarkation under the cover of warships. It was hoped the Turkish
trenches would be rendered untenable and the barbed wire entanglements
cut by the fire of the ships, but these expectations were not realized.
For example, the landing place between Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles was the
scene of a desperate struggle which raged all day. The Turks held barbed
wire protected trenches in force and their snipers covered the
foreshore. After hours of bombardment the troops were taken ashore at
daybreak. Part of the force scaled the cliffs and obtained a precarious
footing on the edge of the cliffs, but boats which landed along the
beach were confronted with a solid hedge of barbed wire and exposed to a
terrible cross-fire. Every effort was made to cut the wire, but almost
all those who landed here were shot down. Later the troops on the cliffs
succeeded in driving back the Turks and clearing the beach.
The most terrible of all landings, however, was on the beach between
Cape Helles and the Seddul Bahr. Here the broken valley runs inland
enfiladed by hills on either flank, on which were built strong forts,
which defended the entrance to the strait until they were knocked out by
our guns. Although the guns and emplacements were shattered the
bombproofs and ammunition chambers remained intact, and, running back,
formed a perfect network of trenches and entanglements right around the
semicircular valley. The Turks had mounted pompoms on the Cape Helles
side and had the usual snipers concealed everywhere. The foreshore and
valley also were protected by trenches and wire, rendering the position
most formidable.
One novel expedient was running a liner full of troops deliberately
ashore, thus allowing them to approach close in under cover without
being exposed in open boats. Great doors had been cut in her sides to
permit rapid disembarkation, and she was well provided with Maxims to
sweep the shore while the troops were landing. Owing to her going ashore
further east than was intended, however, it became necessary to bring up
a lighter to facilitate the landing. The Turks directed a perfect
tornado of rifle, Maxim, and pompom fire on 200 men who made a dash down
the gangway. Only a few survived to gain shelter. All the others were
killed on the gangway. Disembarkation, therefore, which meant almost
certain death, was postponed until later in the morning, when another
attempt also failed.
Then, while the liner, carrying 2,000 men, packed in like sardines, with
the officers huddled on the protected bridge, lay all day on shore, with
a hail of bullets rattling against her protected sides, the battleships
Albion, Cornwallis, and Queen Elizabeth furiously bombarded Seddul Bahr
and the encircling hills. Meanwhile the Turks on the Asiatic side tried
to destroy the liner by howitzer fire, which was kept under only by the
bombardment from covering ships in the strait. In spite of this covering
fire, the vessel was pierced by four big shells, and it was decided to
postpone any further movement until night, when the troops got ashore
almost without the Turks firing a shot, as a result, perhaps, of troops
landed on other beaches having pushed along and destroyed some Turkish
positions.
END OF THE THIRD WEEK.
[Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]
IMBROS, (via Dedeaghatch, Turkey,) May 15, (Dispatch to The London Daily
Chronicle.)--Operations in the Dardanelles have now been in full swing
for just three weeks, and a glance from the mountaintop here at the
far-spread region over which the war has been and is being waged shows
instantly the material progress which has been made in that time.
When I first looked down on the fascinating and unique vision presented
to my eyes from this point of vantage it was a sight truly marvelous. A
fleet of transports stood at the entrance to the strait, and to the
north of Gaba Tepe the warships were hammering away at the mouth of the
Dardanelles, and at several points along the western coast of the
peninsula one could see at different points on the land that severe
battles were being fought. The heavy clouds of war hung over all, lit up
grimly by the vivid flashes of the guns. At times the din was tremendous
and went on night and day without cessation. Column after column of
dense smoke betokened the falling of forts, and gradually the white
puffs from our guns like long rollers on a broken coast advanced up the
peninsula from the south and inland from the Gaba Tepe region.
Aeroplanes and dirigibles were always busy. Destroyers and huge
transports churned up foam, and submarines left their faint trace on the
wide extent of bluest ocean. The scene was one of war in all its
picturesqueness and horror, for one could easily imagine awful scenes
taking place under the far cloud of smoke and dust. It was war in all
its force seen so for the first time.
Today the scene is strangely altered. Nearly all the transports have
gone up the western coast of the peninsula, but a few battleships stand
on sentry-go, as it were. All resistance in the region directly opposite
has been fought down. The smoke coming from over the ridge in front
shows that our warships have advanced far up to Kilid Bahr, while
comparatively few ships stand at the entrance of the strait. From the
inside the Asiatic coast is being bombarded, but the picturesque
features of the scene have gone. It is a change which marks triumphant
progress. The Turk is being slowly but surely pushed back, dying gamely.
Two days of thick mist were followed by a forty-eight hours' armistice
granted to the Turks on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was impossible to see
anything of the operations. Behind the veil of mist the fighting went
sternly on and the big guns boomed incessantly. Wednesday night they
were particularly active. Seldom in the past three weeks has the night
sky been so brilliantly illuminated by the flashes of cannon. Serious
work is evidently being done or completed. It was not until Thursday
afternoon that the weather conditions made it possible to see the result
of the warfare behind the screen of mist, and, as I have said, the whole
aspect of the now familiar scene appears greatly changed when the coast
of the peninsula is deserted by vessels, save for the few transports
standing further out to sea than usual and half a dozen ships of war.
The peninsula beyond Gaba Tepe had apparently been cleared of the enemy.
The tide of the struggle had passed away. On Thursday, too, I could see
our guns flashing from a hill, firing probably at points northward or
across the strait. Further north our artillery also appeared to be
placed on a high ridge this side of Maidos. What a magic sight the
southern part of the peninsula must present, where even at this distance
the evidence of the havoc of three weeks' daily shell and lead is not
hidden!
The point of the peninsula has become brown under the trampling of men
and guns. Krithia lies a complete and pathetic ruin, and Tree Hill is
scarred with trench and shell holes as far as I can see.
On Thursday the point of greatest activity was in the strait opposite
the conquered portion of the peninsula. It stood out somewhat dim in the
haze of battle, but the smoke and flash of the Allies' guns and the
Turks' answering could be picked out without great difficulty. Added to
this the air was still; the dull thud of the field guns at work there
was different from the resounding boom of the naval guns, and the whirr
of the machine guns could be plainly heard.
Hard work by land and water is going on along the front stretching away
to the left from Erenkeui on the Asiatic side, and the difficulties of
obtaining a substantial footing in that mountainous region had evidently
been overcome. It was apparent that the enemy was putting up a stiff
fight, and at times he must have run his batteries close to the water's
edge.
Early in the afternoon the Turkish gunners managed to explode several
shells on the land near Morto Bay on the European side. A little later
they made the earth and stones of Tree Hill fly up in the air by a few
well-placed shells, but such advances on the part of the enemy were
brief. The warships in the strait instantly turned their guns on the
daring batteries, and such diversions by the enemy were only of brief
duration. Toward sunset a battleship was seen to send two shells against
the cliff edge south of Suvla Bay.
Yesterday the thick smoke of battle still hung over all activities on
the Asiatic side of the waterway. Nearly all the transports had gone,
and most of the warships were engaged in the entrance and further up to
near Kilid Bahr. Only one battleship that I could see was firing from
off the western coast of the peninsula, standing well out off shore near
Krithia. It was evidently firing long-range shells against the foe on
the further side of the Dardanelles.
The land actions had another point of interest yesterday. In the
afternoon very heavy fighting could be noticed far along the Sari Bair,
(about sixteen miles north of the tip of the peninsula,) where the
Australians are. Every now and again waves of smoke blotted out that
part of the landscape. It would clear occasionally to show the hillsides
dotted over with puffs of white. Often against the gray background
spurts of flame would herald the thunder of heavily engaged artillery.
Rifle fire at times, too, could be heard.
The supposition is that our forces in that region, who are forcing their
way across the peninsula, must be near the completion of their task.
From what I have said it will be gathered, I think, that very
substantial progress has been made since operations began three weeks
ago. As one looks at the mountainous and rugged nature of the country
beyond the strait it is evident that the enemy has there favorable
ground for defensive fighting. That region now appears to be the main
point of his struggle.
I learn that the Turkish losses amount to over 80,000 and that 50,000
wounded have been sent to Constantinople.
"War Babies"
[From The Suffragette of London, edited by Christabel Pankhurst, in its
issue of May 7, 1915.]
"The children who are coming into the world must be welcomed
and must be provided with greater, not smaller, advantages,
because they are legally fatherless.
"Why should not these children be brought up under model
conditions, so that they may be the equal in knowledge and
general cultivation of any in the land?
"Every one of them must become a valuable asset to the nation.
But that can only be if they are reared in a generous way.
They are everybody's children, and have a claim on the
community as a whole. The problem of the illegitimate child
has been shirked since the beginning of time. Now it has to be
faced!"
_--From The Suffragette of April 23._
The Women's Social and Political Union, in order to help in solving this
problem, has in view the adoption of a number of "war babies," who will
be reared under model conditions, and provided with a good general
education followed by a training adapted to the natural ability and
special gifts of each individual child.
The children will be brought up together in a home in which they will
receive that loving care which is necessary for their happiness and full
development.
Fuller details of the scheme will be given at a meeting to be addressed
by Mrs. Pankhurst on Thursday afternoon, June 3, at the London
Palladium. In the meantime those wishing to give their financial or
other support are asked to write to Mrs. Pankhurst at Lincoln's Inn
House, Kingsway, London, W.C.
THE EUROPEAN WAR AS SEEN BY CARTOONISTS
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: Another Scrap of Paper
_--From The Post, Boston._]
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: The Challenge
_--From The Evening Sun, New York._
UNCLE SAM: "You'll have to start it, William!"]
[American Cartoon]
The Flight of the Eagle
[_--From The World, New York._
Personally Conducted.]
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: All Flags Look Alike to Him
_--From The Evening Sun, New York._
Strictly Neutral--In Destruction.]
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: Nearing the Brink
_--From The Republic, St. Louis._
Hold Fast!]
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: The Announcer
_--From The Herald, New York._
(The Notice on the Bulletin Board is the German Embassy's advertisement
giving warning that travellers who sailed on ships of Great Britain or
her Allies entering the War Zone did so at their own risk.)]
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: The Sacrifice of Cain
_--From The Sun, New York._
What have you done with your brother Abel?]
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: Removing the Hyphen
_--From The Times, New York._
Now it must be either one or the other.]
[American Cartoon]
[Illustration: A Misunderstanding
_--From The Evening Sun, New York._
THE ALLIES: "Ouch! Don't you know we've taken the offensive?"]
[English Cartoon]
[Illustration: The Elixir of Hate
_--From Punch, London._
KAISER: "'Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air.'"]
[German Cartoon]
[Illustration: It's a Long Way to Constantinople
_--From Simplicissimus, Munich._
The English soldiers have a war song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary."
This has been changed; they now sing "It's a Long Way to
Constantinople."]
[English Cartoon]
[Illustration: Canada!
_--From Punch, London._
Ypres: April 22-24, 1915.]
[French Cartoon]
[Illustration: Our Colors Advance!
_--From La Vie Parisienne, Paris._
War is teaching geography to the women of France. Alas! it is _by heart_
they are learning their lessons.]
[German Cartoon]
[Illustration: The English Chameleon
_--From Lustige Blaetter, Berlin._
When the Beast sees the enemy coming it changes its British colors and
appears in neutral hues.
The Merchant Flag of Norway
The Merchant Flag of Great Britain
(Although this cartoon depends on color for its full value, the effect
of the blending of the two flags is preserved in the black and white
reproduction.)]
[English Cartoon]
[Illustration: A Great Naval Triumph
_--From Punch, London._
GERMAN SUBMARINE OFFICER: "This ought to make them jealous in the sister
service. Belgium saw nothing better than this."
(Although Punch did not disclose the artist's allusion to Revelations,
xiii., 18, contained in the number of the submarine "U-666," it may not
be amiss to quote the passage: "Let him that hath understanding count
the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number
is six hundred three score and six.")]
[German Cartoon]
[Illustration: Opening of the Bathing Season--Feb. 18
_--From Kladderadatsch, Berlin._
The German stickle-backs worry the "Ruler of the Seas."]
What Is Our Duty?
By Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst
The position of the British suffragettes, who suspended their
militant program and are zealously supporting the cause of the
Allies, is stated in this speech by Mrs. Pankhurst, delivered
in the Sun Hall, Liverpool, and reported in The Suffragette of
April 23, 1915.
I think that throughout our agitation for the franchise for political
emancipation, on platforms and on other places--even in prisons--we have
talked about rights, and fought for rights; at the same time we have
always coupled with the claim for rights clear statements as to duty. We
have never lost sight of the fact that to possess rights puts upon human
beings grave responsibilities and serious duties. We have fought for
rights because, in order to perform your duty and fulfill your
responsibilities properly, in time of peace, you must have certain
citizen rights. When the State is in danger, when the very liberties in
your possession are imperiled, is, above all, the time to think of duty.
And so, when the war broke out, some of us who, convalescing after our
fights, decided that one of the duties of the Women's Social and
Political Union in war time was to talk to men about their duty to the
nation--the duty of fighting to preserve the independence of our
country, to preserve what our forefathers had won for us, and to protect
the nation from foreign invasion.
There are people who say, "What right have women to talk to men about
fighting for their country, since women are not, according to the custom
of civilization, called upon to fight?" That used to be said to us in
times of peace. Certainly women have the right to say to men, "Are you
going to fight to defend your country and redeem your promise to women?"
Men have said to women, not only that they fight to defend their
country, but that they protect women from all the dangers and
difficulties of life, and they are proud to be in the position to do it.
Why, then, we say to those men, "You are indeed now put to the test.
The men of Belgium, the men of France, the men of Serbia, however
willing they were to protect women from the things that are most
horrible--and more horrible to women than death itself--have not been
able to do it."
It is only by an accident, or a series of accidents, for which no man
here has the right to take credit, that British women on British soil
are not now enduring the horrors endured by the women of France, the
women of Belgium, and the women of Serbia. The least that men can do is
that every man of fighting age should prepare himself to redeem his word
to women, and to make ready to do his best, to save the mothers, the
wives, and the daughters of Great Britain from outrage too horrible even
to think of.
We have the right to say to the men, "Fight for your country, defend the
shores of this land of ours. Fight for your homes, for the women, and
for the children." We have the right if that was the only reason, but in
these days, when women are taking larger views of their duty to the
State, we go further than that; we claim the right to hold recruiting
meetings and ask men to fight for bigger reasons than are advanced
ordinarily. We say to men, "In this war there are issues at stake bigger
even than the safety of your homes and your own country. Your honor as a
nation is at stake."
We have our duties in this war. First of all, this duty begins at
home--this duty to our home, because I always feel that if we are not
ready to do our duty to those nearest to us we are not fit to do our
duty far away. And so the first duty is to ourselves and to our homes.
Then there is the duty to protect those who, having made a gallant
fight for self-defense--and by that I mean the country of Belgium--what
we owe to Belgium we can never repay, because now the whole German plan
of campaign is perfectly plain to all those who are not prejudiced, and
who are not affected by pan-Germanism; and, unfortunately, in their
methods of warfare--and their methods of warfare are many--they not only
fight physically, but they fight mentally and morally as well, and in
this country and in France, and in every country in Europe, long before
the war broke out, in fact, ever since the year 1870, they have been
preparing by subtle means to take possession of Europe, and I believe
their ambitions are not limited by that, they want to rule the whole
world. The whole thing is clear to any unprejudiced observer.
It is very difficult for your attacking bully to imagine that a small
State--I mean small numerically, and weak physically--will ever have
the courage to stand up and resist the bully when he prepares to attack.
The Germans did not expect Belgium to keep them at bay while the other
countries involved prepared, but there is absolutely no doubt that the
plan was to press through Belgium, to take possession of Paris, and
then, having humiliated and crippled France, to cross the Channel and
defeat us. There is no doubt that was the plan; it is perfectly clear.
And that being so, we owe--civilization owes--to Belgium a debt which it
can never repay.
Then we have our duty to our ally, France. How much democracy owes to
France! France is the mother of European democracy. There is no doubt
about her claim to that. If there had been nothing else worth fighting
for in this war, in my opinion that alone would have been worth fighting
for, to preserve that spirit and that democracy--which France has given
to the world, and which would perish if France were destroyed. The
people of France are a people who never have been, and I believe never
will be, corrupted in the sense of thinking that material things are of
more value than spiritual things. The people of France have always been
ready to sacrifice themselves for ideals. They have been ready to
sacrifice life, they have been ready to sacrifice money, they have been
ready to sacrifice everything for an ideal.
You know the old saying, that men should work and women should weep?
That is not true, for it is for all of us to work and for all of us to
weep when there is occasion to do so. Therefore, it is because in the
French Nation you have splendid qualities combined in both sexes,
because the history of the French Nation is so magnificent, because the
French Nation has contributed so much to civilization, and so much in
art, beauty, and in great qualities, it is our duty to stand by France,
and to prevent her being crushed by the oversexed, that is to say,
overmasculine, country of Germany.
It is our duty as women to do what we can to help our country in this
war, because if the unthinkable thing happened, and Germany were to win,
the women's movement, as we know it in Europe, would be put back fifty
years at least; there is no doubt about it. Whether it ever could rise
again is to my mind extremely doubtful. The ideal of women in Germany is
the lowest in Europe. Infantile mortality is very high, immorality is
widespread, and, in consequence, venereal disease is rampant. Notice,
too, the miserable and niggardly pittance that is being paid to the
wives and families of German soldiers, while nothing whatever is being
paid to unmarried wives and their children. True security for women and
children is for women to have control over their own destiny. And so it
is a duty, a supreme duty, of women, first of all as human beings and as
lovers of their country, to co-operate with men in this terrible crisis
in which we find ourselves.
If all were trained to contribute something to the community, both in
time of peace and in time of war, how much better it would be.
What bitterness there was in the hearts of many women when they saw work
and business going on as usual, carried on by men who ought to be in the
fighting line. There were thousands upon thousands of women willing,
even if they were not trained, to do that work and release men, and we
have urged the authorities to take into account the great reserve force
of the nation, the women who are or might be quite capable to step into
the shoes of the men when they were called up to fight.
The Board of Trade issued its appeal to women just before Easter to
register their names as willing to do national service in any capacity
during the course of the war. I want to tell you tonight that I am very
proud of the women of the country. When the first recruiting appeals
were made to men, the hoardings were covered with placards and appeals
and they were making efforts by recruiting bands, in places of
pleasure--everywhere in the columns of the newspapers there were
recruiting appeals to men. Then the time came when the Board of Trade
wished to know to what extent it could depend upon the services of the
women of the country, and what was done in the case of women? There were
no posters for us; there were no recruiting meetings for us; there were
no appeals from great names to us; no attractive pictures, "Your King
and Country Want You"--nothing of that kind. And yet, in spite of that,
in one week 34,000 women sent in their names as volunteers for a
national service. [Loud applause.]
And now, something about this talk of peace, and the terms of peace.
Well, I consider it very sinister and very dangerous. Very dangerous,
indeed, because nothing heartens the Kaiser and his advisers so much as
weakness in any of the allied nations. It is no use expecting Germany to
understand that the people who are talking about peace are animated by a
genuine love for peace. I go further as regards peace movements. I think
that in this country, and in America, and in all the neutral countries,
there are a great many very well-meaning people who are genuine lovers
of peace. What woman does not dread the effects of war? Germans are
encouraging the call for peace. The Kaiser knows he is going to be
beaten, and he wants to get out of it on as easy terms as possible, and
so it is worth while for German-Americans to run a peace movement in
America. They want America, which is a great neutral country, to
intervene to try to force peace and to let the Germans down easily
without having to pay for all that they have done in Belgium and in
France. Similar tactics are being pursued in this country.
Only those who have been in close touch with people who know what goes
on, and what has gone on, since the year 1870, after the Franco-German
war, can realize how insidious this German influence is, and so I say to
you who love peace (and who does not love peace?) if you take part in
any of these peace movements you are playing the German game and helping
Germany. [Loud applause.] They talk of peace, but consider the position
of our allies. The Germans in possession of the North of France,
devastating the country, even today driving thousands of innocent,
helpless people at the point of the bayonet, outraging women, and
burning homes! And people in this country--an allied nation--allowing
themselves to talk about terms of peace.
It is for Germany to talk of peace, not for us. [Loud applause.] It is
for us to show a strong and determined front, because if we do anything
else we are misunderstood, and advantage is taken of the situation.
Since some women have responded to an invitation to take part in a peace
conference at The Hague, I feel bound to say that they do not represent
the mass of Englishwomen. [Loud applause.] The mass of Englishwomen are
whole-hearted in our support of our own Government in this matter and in
the support of our allies--[loud applause]--and we are prepared to face
all the necessary sacrifices to bring this war to a successful issue
from our point of view, because we know, because we feel, that this
terrible business, forced upon us, has to be properly finished to save
us from the danger of another war perhaps in ten years' time.
[Applause.]
We have clear consciences on this matter. We did not want this war.
France did not want this war. Belgium did not want this war. I do not
believe that Russia wanted this war. It has been forced upon us, and
since Germany took up the sword, the sword must be held in the hands of
the Allies until Germany has had enough of war and does not want any
more of it. [Loud applause.] For us to talk about peace now, for us to
weaken our side now, is to make the condition of those men who are
laying down their lives for us in France more terrible than it already
is. We have to support them, and to stand loyally by them, and to make
our sacrifices and show our patriotism to them.
And, speaking of sacrifices, let us consider this drink question. What
is our duty in that matter? Well, I think our duty is this, that, if the
Government of this country seriously think it is necessary for our
success in this war to stop drink altogether until the war is ended, it
is our duty loyally to support and accept that decision. [Loud
applause.]
At any rate, in time of war we should be ready to say, "Let us
sacrifice a personal pleasure in order to get a great national good."
Would not that be a something to lift up a nation and make it a
wonderful and a great nation?
I believe that in this war we are fighting for things undying and great;
we are fighting for liberty; we are fighting for honor; we are fighting
to preserve the great inheritance won for us by our forefathers, and it
is worth while to fight for those things, and it is worth while to die
for them--to die a glorious death in defense of all that makes life
worth having is better than to live unending years of inglorious life.
And so, out of this great trial that has come upon us, I believe a
wonderful transformation will come to the people of this country and we
shall emerge from it stronger and better and nobler and more worthy of
our great traditions than ever we should perhaps have been without it.
[Loud and continued applause.]
The Soldiers Pass
By MAURICE HEWLETT.
[From "Sing Songs of the War."]
The soldiers pass at nightfall,
A girl within each arm,
And kisses quick and light fall
On lips that take no harm.
Lip language serves them better
Who have no parts of speech:
No syntax there to fetter
The lore they love to teach.
What waist would shun th' indenture
Of such a gallant squeeze?
What girl's heart not dare venture
The hot-and-cold disease?
Nay, let them do their service
Before the lads depart!
That hand goes where the curve is
That billows o'er the heart.
Who deems not how 'tis given,
What knows he of its worth?
'Tis either fire of heaven
Or earthiness of earth.
And if the lips are fickle
That kiss, they'll never know
If tears begin to trickle
Where they saw roses blow.
"The girl I left behind me,"
He'll sing, nor hear her moan,
"The tears they come to blind me
As I sit here alone."
What else had you to offer,
Poor spendthrift of the town?
Lay out your unlockt coffer--
The Lord will know His own.
The Great End
By Arnold Bennett.
Fear that the British Government in its discussion of peace
terms with Germany might defer to the policy of France and
Russia of keeping important negotiations secret inspired the
writing of this article, which appeared in The London Daily
News of April 1, 1915, and is here published by the author's
permission. Mr. Bennett points out that despite her alliance
Great Britain is essentially a democracy subject to the
mandates of her people.
The well-meant but ingenuous efforts of the Government to produce
pessimism among the citizens have failed. The object of these efforts
was clear; it has, I think, been attained by more direct and wiser
means. Munitions of war are now being more satisfactorily manufactured,
though the country still refuses to be gloomy. "Eyewitness" pretended to
quake, but Przemysl fell. He tried again, but Sir John French announced
that he did not believe in a protracted war. Since Sir John French said
also that he believed in victory, it follows that he believes in a
victory not long delayed. The incomparable and candid reports of the
French War Office about the first stages of the war increased our
confidence, and at the same time showed to us the inferiority of our own
reports. Only victors could publish such revelations, and Britain, with
her passion for forgetting mistakes and her hatred of the confessional,
could never bring herself to publish them. These reports were confirmed
and capped by the remarkable communications of General Joffre to a
journalistic friend. The New York Stock Exchange began to gamble about
the date of victory. The London Stock Exchange took on a new firmness.
Not even the sinister losses at Neuve Chapelle, nor the rumors
concerning the same, could disturb our confidence. Peace, therefore, in
the general view, and certainty in the view of those who knew most, is
decidedly nearer than when I wrote last about peace.
A short while ago Mr. Asquith referred with sarcasm and reproof to those
who talk of peace. But, for once, his meaning was not clear. If he meant
that to suggest peace to the enemy at this stage is both dangerous and
ridiculous, he will be approved by the nation. But if he meant that
terms of peace must not even be mentioned among ourselves, he will find
people ready to disagree with him, and to support the weight of his
sarcasm and his reproof. I am one of those people. Bellicose by
disposition, I nevertheless like to know what I am fighting for. This is
perhaps an idiosyncrasy, but many persons share it, and they are not to
be ignored. It may be argued that Mr. Asquith has defined what we are
fighting for. He has not. He has only defined part of what we are
fighting for. His reference to the overthrow of Prussian militarism is
futile, because it gives no indication of the method to be employed. The
method of liberating and compensating Belgium and other small
communities is clear; but how are you to overthrow an ideal? Prussian
militarism will not be destroyed by a defeat in the field. Militarism
cannot overthrow militarism; it can only breed militarism. The point is
of the highest importance.
I do not assume that Mr. Asquith's notions about the right way to
overthrow militarism are not sound notions. I assume that they are
sound. I think that his common sense is massive. Though it is evident
that he lets his Ministerial colleagues do practically what they choose
in their own spheres, and though there are militarists in the Cabinet, I
do not, like The Morning Post, consider that the Prime Minister exists
in a stupor of negligence. On the contrary, I assume that at the end of
the war, as at the beginning, Mr. Asquith will control the foolish, and
that common sense will prevail in the Cabinet when a treaty is the
subject of converse. Still further, I will assume that, contrary to
nearly all precedent, the collective sagacity of the Ministry has not
been impaired, and its self-conceit perilously tickled, by the long
exercise of absolute power in face of a Parliament of poltroons. And,
lastly, I will abandon my old argument that the discussion of peace
terms might shorten the war, without any risk of prolonging it. And
still I very strongly hold that peace terms ought to be discussed.
It appears to me that there is a desire--I will not say a conspiracy--on
the part of the Government to bring this war to an end in the same
manner as it will be brought to an end in Germany--that is to say,
autocratically, without either the knowledge or the consent of the
nation. The projected scheme, I imagine, is to sit tight and quiet, and
in due course inform the nation of a fact accomplished. It can be done,
and I think it will be done, unless the House of Commons administers to
itself a tonic and acquires courage. Already colonial statesmen have
been politely but firmly informed that they are not wanted in England
this year! The specious excuse for keeping the nation in the dark is
that we are allied to Russia, where the people are never under any
circumstances consulted, and to France, where for the duration of the
war the Government is as absolute in spirit and in conduct, as that of
Russia; and that we must not pain those allied Governments by any
exhibition of democracy in being. Secrecy and a complete autocratic
control of the people are the watchwords of the allied Governments, and
therefore they must be the watchwords of our Government.
This is very convenient for British autocrats, but the argument is not
convincing. The surrender of ideals ought not to be so one-sided. We do
not dream of suggesting to the Russian and the French Governments how
they ought to conduct themselves toward their peoples; and similarly we
should not allow them to influence the relations between our Government
and ourselves.
The basis of peace negotiations must necessarily be settled in advance
by representatives of all the allied Governments in conclave. The
mandate of each Government in regard to the conclave is the affair of
that Government, and it is the affair of no other Government. The
mandate of our Government is, therefore, the affair of our Government,
and the allied Governments are just as much entitled to criticise or
object to it as we, for example, are entitled to suggest to the Czar how
he ought to behave in Finland. Our Government, being a democratic
Government, has no right to go into conclave without a mandate from the
people who elected it. It possesses no mandate of the kind. It has a
mandate, and a mighty one, to prosecute the war, and it is prosecuting
the war to the satisfaction of the majority of the electorate. But a
peace treaty is a different and an incomparably more important thing. Up
to the present the mind of the nation has found no expression, and it
probably will not find any expression unless the Government recognizes
fairly that it is a representative Government and behaves with the
deference which is due from a representative Government. As matters
stand, the mandate of the British Government will come, not from
Britain, but from Russia and France.
The great argument drawn from the Government's alleged duty to the
allied Governments is, no doubt, reinforced, in the minds of Ministers
and at Cabinet meetings, by two subsidiary arguments. The first of these
rests in the traditional assumption that all international politics must
be committed, perpetrated, and accomplished in secret. This strange
traditional notion will die hard, but some time it will have to die, and
at the moment of its death excellent and sincere persons will be
convinced that the knell of the British Empire has sounded. The knell of
the British Empire has frequently sounded. It sounded when capital
punishment was abolished for sheep-stealing, when the great reform bill
was passed, when purchase was abolished in the army, when the deceased
wife's sister bill was passed, when the Parliament act became law; and
it will positively sound again when the mediaeval Chinese traditions of
the Diplomatic Service are cast aside. There are many important people
alive today who are so obsessed by those traditions as to believe
religiously that if the British people, and by consequence the German
Government, were made aware of the peace terms, the German Army would in
some mysterious way be strengthened and encouraged, and our own ultimate
success imperiled. Such is the power of the dead hand, and against this
power the new conviction that in a democratic and candid foreign policy
lies the future safety of the world will have to fight hard.
The other subsidiary argument for ignoring the nation is that Ministers
are wiser than the nation, and therefore that Ministers must save the
nation from itself by making it impotent and acting over its head. This
has always been the argument of autocrats, and even of tyrants. It is a
ridiculous argument, and it was never more ridiculous than when applied
to the British Government and the British Nation today. Throughout the
war the Government has underestimated the qualities of the
nation--courage, discipline, fortitude, and wisdom. It is still
underestimating them. For myself, I have no doubt that in the making of
peace the sagacity of the nation as a whole would be greater than the
sagacity of the Government. But even if it were not, the right of the
nation to govern itself in the gravest hour of its career remains
unchallengeable. All arguments in favor of depriving the nation of that
right amount to the argument of Germany in favor of taking Belgium--"We
do it in your true interests, and in our own."
If the Government does not on its own initiative declare that it will
consult--and effectively consult--Parliament concerning the peace terms,
then it is the duty of Parliament, and especially of the House of
Commons, to make itself unpleasant and to produce that appearance of
internal discord which (we are told by all individuals who dislike being
disturbed) is so enheartening to Germany. There have always been, and
there still are, ample opportunities for raising questions of foreign
policy in the House of Commons. If foreign policy has seldom or never
been adequately handled by the House of Commons, the reason simply is
that the House has not been interested in it. Not to the tyranny of
Ministries, but to the supineness and the ignorance of the people's
representatives, is the present state of affairs due. Hence the rank and
file of Radicals should organize themselves. They would unquestionably
receive adequate support in the press and at public meetings. And none
but they can do anything worth doing. And among the rank and file of
Radicals the plain common-sense men should make themselves heard.
Foreign policy debates in the House are usually the playground of cranks
of all varieties, and the plain common-sense man seems to shrink from
being vocal in such company. It is a pity. The plain common-sense man
should believe in himself a little more. The result would perhaps
startle his modesty. And he should begin instantly on the resumption of
Parliament. He will of course be told that he is premature. But no
matter. When he gets up and makes a row he will be told that he is
premature, until Sir Edward Grey is in a position to announce in the icy
cold and impressive tones of omniscience and omnipotence and perfect
wisdom that the deed is irrevocably done and only the formal
ratification of the people is required. We have been through all that
before, and we shall go through it again unless we start out immediately
to be unpleasant.
I hope nobody will get the impression that I think we are a nation of
angels under a Government of earthy and primeval creatures. I do not. We
are not in a Christian mood, and we don't want to be in a Christian
mood. When last week a foolish schoolmaster took advantage of his august
position to advocate Christianity at the end of the war, we frightened
the life out of him, and he had to say that he had been "woefully
misunderstood." In spite of this, the nation, being cut off from direct
communication with foreign autocracy and reaction, is in my view very
likely to be less unwise than the Government at the supreme crisis. And
even if it isn't, even at the worst, it is and should be the master and
not the slave of the Government.
German Women Not Yet For Peace
By Gertrude Baumer, President of the Bund Deutscher Frauen.
_An emphatic refusal of German women to take part in the recent Women's
Peace Conference at The Hague was issued by the Bund Deutscher Frauen
(League of German Women) signed by Gertrude Baumer as President, and
published by the Frankfurter Zeitung in its issue of April 29, 1915. The
manifesto reads:_
On April 28 begins the Peace Congress to which women of Holland have
invited the women of neutral and belligerent nations. The German woman's
movement has declined to attend the congress, by unanimous resolution of
its Executive Committee. If individual German women visit the congress
it can be only such as have no responsible position in the organization
of the German woman's movement and for whom the organization is,
therefore, not responsible.
This decimation must not be understood to mean that the German women do
not feel as keenly as the women of other countries the enormous
sacrifices and sorrows which this war has caused, or that they refuse to
recognize the good intentions that figure in the institution of this
congress. None can yearn more eagerly than we for an end of these
sacrifices and sorrows. But we realize that in our consciousness of the
weight of these sacrifices we are one with our whole people and
Government; we know that the blood of those who fall out there on the
field cannot be dearer to us women than to the men who are responsible
for the decisions of Germany. Because we know that, we must decline to
represent special desires in an international congress. We have no other
desires than those of our entire people: a peace consonant with the
honor of our State and guaranteeing its safety in the future.
The resolutions that are to be laid before the women's congress at The
Hague are of two kinds. One kind denounces war as such, and recommends
peaceful settlement of international quarrels. The other offers
suggestions for hastening the concluding of peace.
As concerns the first group of suggestions, there are in the German
woman's movement women who are in principle very much in sympathy with
the aims of the peace movement. But they, too, are convinced that
negotiations about the means of avoiding future wars and conquering the
mutual distrust of nations can be considered only after peace has again
been concluded. But we must most vigorously reject the proposition of
voting approval to a resolution in which the war is declared to be an
"insanity" that was made possible only through a "mass psychosis." Shall
the German women deny the moral force that is impelling their husbands
and sons into death, that has led home countless German men, amid a
thousand dangers, from foreign lands, to battle for their threatened
Fatherland, by declaring in common with the women of hostile States that
the national spirit of self-sacrifice of our men is insanity and a
psychosis? Shall we psychologically attack in the rear the men who are
defending our safety by scoffing at and deprecating the internal forces
that are keeping them up? Whoever asks us to do that cannot have
experienced what thousands of wives and mothers have experienced, who
have seen their husbands and sons march away.
Just as in these fundamental questions the women of the belligerent
States must feel differently from those of neutral States, so, too,
there is naturally a difference of opinion among the women of the
different belligerent States concerning the time of the conclusion of
peace. Inasmuch as the prospects of the belligerent States depend upon
the time of the conclusion of peace and therewith the future fate of the
nations involved in the war, there can likewise be no international
conformity of opinion on this question either.
Dear to us German women as well, are the relations that bind us to the
women of foreign lands, and we sincerely desire that they may survive
this time of hatred and enmity. But precisely for that reason
international negotiations seem fraught with fate to us at a time when
we belong exclusively to our people and when strict limits are set to
the value of international exchange of views in the fact that we are
citizens of our own country, to strengthen whose national power of
resistance is our highest task.
Diagnosis of the Englishman
By John Galsworthy
This article originally appeared in the Amsterdaemer Revue,
having been written during the lull of the war while England
fitted her volunteer armies for the Spring campaign, and is
here published by special permission of the author.
After six months of war search for the cause thereof borders on the
academic. Comment on the physical facts of the situation does not come
within the scope of one who, by disposition and training, is concerned
with states of mind. Speculation on what the future may bring forth may
be left to those with an aptitude for prophecy.
But there is one thought which rises supreme at this particular moment
of these tremendous times: The period of surprise is over; the forces
known; the issue fully joined. It is now a case of "Pull devil, pull
baker," and a question of the fibre of the combatants. For this reason
it may not be amiss to try to present to any whom it may concern as
detached a picture as one can of the real nature of that combatant who
is called the Englishman, especially since ignorance in Central Europe
of his character was the chief cause of this war, and speculation as to
the future is useless without right comprehension of this curious
creature.
The Englishman is taken advisedly because he represents four-fifths of
the population of the British Isles and eight-ninths of the character
and sentiment therein.
And, first, let it be said that there is no more deceptive,
unconsciously deceptive person on the face of the globe. The Englishman
certainly does not know himself, and outside England he is but guessed
at. Only a pure Englishman--and he must be an odd one--really knows the
Englishman, just as, for inspired judgment of art, one must go to the
inspired artist.
Racially, the Englishman is so complex and so old a blend that no one
can say what he is. In character he is just as complex. Physically,
there are two main types--one inclining to length of limb, narrowness of
face and head, (you will see nowhere such long and narrow heads as in
our islands,) and bony jaws; the other approximating more to the
ordinary "John Bull." The first type is gaining on the second. There is
little or no difference in the main character behind.
In attempting to understand the real nature of the Englishman certain
salient facts must be borne in mind:
THE SEA.--To be surrounded generation after generation by the sea has
developed in him a suppressed idealism, a peculiar impermeability, a
turn for adventure, a faculty for wandering, and for being sufficient
unto himself in far surroundings.
THE CLIMATE.--Whoso weathers for centuries a climate that, though
healthy and never extreme, is perhaps the least reliable and one of the
wettest in the world, must needs grow in himself a counterbalance of dry
philosophy, a defiant humor, an enforced medium temperature of soul. The
Englishman is no more given to extremes than is his climate; against its
damp and perpetual changes he has become coated with a sort of
bluntness.
THE POLITICAL AGE OF HIS COUNTRY.--This is by far the oldest settled
Western power, politically speaking. For eight hundred and fifty years
England has known no serious military disturbance from without; for over
one hundred and fifty she has known no military disturbance, and no
serious political turmoil within. This is partly the outcome of her
isolation, partly the happy accident of her political constitution,
partly the result of the Englishman's habit of looking before he leaps,
which comes, no doubt, from the mixture in his blood and the mixture in
his climate.
THE GREAT PREPONDERANCE FOR SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF TOWN OVER COUNTRY
LIFE.--Taken in conjunction with centuries of political stability this
is the main cause of a certain deeply ingrained humaneness of which,
speaking generally, the Englishman appears to be rather ashamed than
otherwise.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.--This potent element in the formation of the modern
Englishman, not only of the upper but of all classes, is something that
one rather despairs of making understood--in countries that have no
similar institution. But, imagine one hundred thousand youths of the
wealthiest, healthiest, and most influential classes passed during each
generation at the most impressionable age, into a sort of ethical mold,
emerging therefrom stamped to the core with the impress of a uniform
morality, uniform manners, uniform way of looking at life; remembering
always that these youths fill seven-eighths of the important positions
in the professional administration of their country and the conduct of
its commercial enterprise; remembering, too, that through perpetual
contact with every other class their standard of morality and way of
looking at life filters down into the very toes of the land. This great
character-forming machine is remarkable for an unself-consciousness
which gives it enormous strength and elasticity. Not inspired by the
State, it inspires the State. The characteristics of the philosophy it
enjoins are mainly negative and, for that, the stronger. "Never show
your feelings--to do so is not manly and bores your fellows. Don't cry
out when you're hurt, making yourself a nuisance to other people. Tell
no tales about your companions, and no lies about yourself. Avoid all
'swank,' 'side,' 'swagger,' braggadocio of speech or manner, on pain of
being laughed at." (This maxim is carried to such a pitch that the
Englishman, except in his press, habitually understates everything.)
"Think little of money, and speak less of it. Play games hard, and keep
the rules of them even when your blood is hot and you are tempted to
disregard them. In three words, 'play the game,'" a little phrase which
may be taken as the characteristic understatement of the modern
Englishman's creed of honor in all classes. This great, unconscious
machine has considerable defects. It tends to the formation of "caste";
it is a poor teacher of sheer learning, and, aesthetically, with its
universal suppression of all interesting and queer individual traits of
personality, it is almost horrid. But it imparts a remarkable
incorruptibility to English life; it conserves vitality by suppressing
all extremes, and it implants everywhere a kind of unassuming stoicism
and respect for the rules of the great game--Life. Through its
unconscious example and through its cult of games it has vastly
influenced even the classes not directly under its control.
Three more main facts must be borne in mind:
THE ESSENTIAL DEMOCRACY OF THE GOVERNMENT.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE PRESS.
ABSENCE OF COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE.
These, the outcome of the quiet and stable home life of an island
people, have done more than anything to make the Englishman a deceptive
personality to the outside eye. He has for centuries been permitted to
grumble. There is no such confirmed grumbler--until he really has
something to grumble at, and then no one who grumbles less. There is no
such confirmed carper at the condition of his country, yet no one really
so profoundly convinced of its perfection. A stranger might well think
from his utterances that he was spoiled by the freedom of his life,
unprepared to sacrifice anything for a land in such a condition.
Threaten that country, and with it his liberty, and you will find that
his grumbles have meant less than nothing. You will find, too, that
behind the apparent slackness of every arrangement and every individual
are powers of adaptability to facts, elasticity, practical genius, a
latent spirit of competition and a determination that are staggering.
Before this war began it was the fashion among a number of English to
lament the decadence of the race. These very grumblers are now foremost
in praising, and quite rightly, the spirit shown in every part of their
country. Their lamentations, which plentifully deceived the outside ear,
were just English grumbles, for if in truth England had been decadent
there could have been no such universal display for them to be praising
now. But all this democratic grumbling and habit of "going as you
please" serve a deep purpose. Autocracy, censorship, compulsion destroy
humor in a nation's blood and elasticity in its fibre; they cut at the
very mainsprings of national vitality. Only free from these baneful
controls can each man arrive in his own way at realization of what is or
is not national necessity; only free from them will each man truly
identify himself with a national ideal--not through deliberate
instruction or by command of others, but by simple, natural conviction
from within.
Two cautions are here given to the stranger trying to form an estimate
of the Englishman: The creature must not be judged from his press,
which, manned (with certain exceptions) by those who are not typically
English, is too highly colored altogether to illustrate the true English
spirit; nor can he be judged by such of his literature as is best known
on the Continent. The Englishman proper is inexpressive, unexpressed.
Further, he must be judged by the evidences of his wealth. England may
be the richest country in the world per head of population, but not 5
per cent. of that population have any wealth to speak of, certainly not
enough to have affected their hardihood, and, with inconsiderable
exceptions, those who have enough are brought up to worship hardihood.
For the vast proportion of young Englishmen active military service is
merely a change from work as hard, and more monotonous.
From these main premises, then, we come to what the Englishman really
is.
When, after months of travel, one returns to England one can taste,
smell, feel the difference in the atmosphere, physical and moral--the
curious, damp, blunt, good-humored, happy-go-lucky, old-established,
slow-seeming formlessness of everything. You hail a porter, you tell him
you have plenty of time; he muddles your things amiably, with an air of
"It'll be all right," till you have only just time. But suppose you tell
him you have no time; he will set himself to catch that train for you,
and he will catch it faster than a porter of any other country. Let no
stranger, however, experiment to prove the truth of this, for that
porter--and a porter is very like any other Englishman--is incapable of
taking the foreigner seriously and, quite friendly but a little pitying,
will lose him the train, assuring the unfortunate gentleman that he
really doesn't know what train he wants to catch--how should he?
The Englishman must have a thing brought under his nose before he will
act; bring it there and he will go on acting after everybody else has
stopped. He lives very much in the moment, because he is essentially a
man of facts and not a man of imagination. Want of imagination makes
him, philosophically speaking, rather ludicrous; in practical affairs it
handicaps him at the start, but once he has "got going," as we say, it
is of incalculable assistance to his stamina. The Englishman, partly
through this lack of imagination and nervous sensibility, partly through
his inbred dislike of extremes and habit of minimizing the expression of
everything, is a perfect example of the conservation of energy. It is
very difficult to come to the end of him. Add to this unimaginative,
practical, tenacious moderation an inherent spirit of competition--not
to say pugnacity--so strong that it will often show through the coating
of his "Live and let live," half-surly, half-good-humored manner; add a
peculiar, ironic, "don't care" sort of humor; an underground but
inveterate humaneness, and an ashamed idealism--and you get some notion
of the pudding of English character. Its main feature is a kind of
terrible coolness, a rather awful level-headedness. The Englishman makes
constant small blunders; but few, almost no, deep mistakes. He is a slow
starter, but there is no stronger finisher because he has by temperament
and training the faculty of getting through any job that he gives his
mind to with a minimum expenditure of vital energy; nothing is wasted in
expression, style, spread-eagleism; everything is instinctively kept as
near to the practical heart of the matter as possible. He is--to the eye
of an artist--distressingly matter-of-fact, a tempting mark for satire.
And yet he is in truth an idealist, though it is his nature to snub,
disguise, and mock his own inherent optimism. To admit enthusiasms is
"bad form" if he is a "gentleman"; "swank" or mere waste of good heat if
he is not a "gentleman." England produces more than its proper
percentage of cranks and poets; it may be taken that this is Nature's
way of redressing the balance in a country where feelings are not shown,
sentiments not expressed, and extremes laughed at. Not that the
Englishman lacks heart; he is not cold, as is generally supposed--on the
contrary he is warm-hearted and feels very strongly; but just as
peasants, for lack of words to express their feelings, become stolid, so
it is with the Englishman from sheer lack of the habit of
self-expression. Nor is the Englishman deliberately hypocritical; but
his tenacity, combined with his powerlessness to express his feelings,
often gives him the appearance of a hypocrite. He is inarticulate, has
not the clear and fluent cynicism of expansive natures wherewith to
confess exactly how he stands. It is the habit of men of all nations to
want to have things both ways; the Englishman is unfortunately so unable
to express himself, _even to himself_, that he has never realized this
truth, much less confessed it--hence his appearance of hypocrisy.
He is quite wrongly credited with being attached to money. His island
position, his early discoveries of coal, iron, and processes of
manufacture have made him, of course, into a confirmed industrialist
and trader; but he is more of an adventurer in wealth than a heaper-up
of it. He is far from sitting on his money-bags--has absolutely no vein
of proper avarice, and for national ends will spill out his money like
water, when he is convinced of the necessity.
In everything it comes to that with the Englishman--he must be
convinced, and he takes a lot of convincing. He absorbs ideas slowly,
reluctantly; he would rather not imagine anything unless he is obliged,
but in proportion to the slowness with which he can be moved is the
slowness with which he can be removed! Hence the symbol of the bulldog.
When he does see and seize a thing he seizes it with the whole of his
weight, and wastes no breath in telling you that he has got hold. That
is why his press is so untypical; it gives the impression that he does
waste breath. And, while he has hold, he gets in more mischief in a
shorter time than any other dog because of his capacity for
concentrating on the present, without speculating on the past or future.
For the particular situation which the Englishman has now to face he is
terribly well adapted. Because he has so little imagination, so little
power of expression, he is saving nerve all the time. Because he never
goes to extremes, he is saving energy of body and spirit. That the men
of all nations are about equally endowed with courage and self-sacrifice
has been proved in these last six months; it is to other qualities that
one must look for final victory in a war of exhaustion. The Englishman
does not look into himself; he does not brood; he sees no further
forward than is necessary, and he must have his joke. These are fearful
and wonderful advantages. Examine the letters and diaries of the various
combatants and you will see how far less imaginative and reflecting,
(though shrewd, practical, and humorous,) the English are than any
others; you will gain, too, a profound, a deadly conviction that behind
them is a fibre like rubber, that may be frayed, and bent a little this
way and that, but can neither be permeated nor broken.
When this war began the Englishman rubbed his eyes steeped in peace; he
is still rubbing them just a little, but less and less every day. A
profound lover of peace by habit and tradition, he has actually realized
by now that he is in for it up to the neck. To any one who really knows
him--_c'est quelque chose_!
It shall be freely confessed that, from an aesthetic point of view, the
Englishman, devoid of high lights and shadows, coated with drab, and
super-humanly steady on his feet, is not too attractive. But for the
wearing, tearing, slow, and dreadful business of this war, the
Englishman--fighting of his own free will, unimaginative, humorous,
competitive, practical, never in extremes, a dumb, inveterate optimist,
and terribly tenacious--is undoubtedly equipped with Victory.
Bernard Shaw's Terms of Peace
_A letter written by G. Bernard Shaw to a friend in Vienna is published
in the Muenchener Neueste Nachrichten and in the Frankfurter Zeitung of
April 21, 1915. Mr. Shaw says:_
We are already on the way out of the first and worst phase. When reason
began to bestir itself, I appeared each week in great open meetings in
London; and when the newspapers discovered that I was not only not being
torn to pieces, but that I was growing better and better liked, then the
feeling that patriotism consists of insane lies began to give place to
the discovery that the presentation of the truth is not so dangerous as
every one had believed.
At that time scarcely one of the leading newspapers took heed of my
insistence that this war was an imperialistic war and popular only in so
far as all wars are for a time popular. But I need hardly assure you
that if Grey had announced: "We have concluded a treaty of alliance with
Germany and Austria and must wage war upon France and Russia," he would
have evoked precisely the same patriotic fervor and exactly the same
democratic anti-Prussianism, (with the omission of the P.) Then the
German Kaiser would have been cheered as the cousin of our King and our
old and faithful friend.
As concerns myself, I am not unqualifiedly what is called a pan-German;
the Germans, besides, would not have a spark of respect left for me if
now, when all questions of civilization are buried, I did not hold to my
people. But neither am I an anti-German.
Militarism has just compelled me to pay about L1,000 as war tax, in
order to help some "brave little Serbian" or other to cut your throat,
or some Russian mujik to blow out your brains, although I would rather
pay twice as much to save your life or to buy in Vienna some good
picture for our National Gallery, and although I should mourn far less
about the death of a hundred Serbs or mujiks than for your death.
I am, even aside from myself, sorry for your sake that my plays
are no longer produced. Why does not the Burgtheater play the
"Schlachtenlenker"? Napoleon's speech about English "Realpolitik" would
prove an unprecedented success. If the English win, I shall call upon
Sir Edward Grey to add to the treaty of peace a clause in which Berlin
and Vienna shall be obliged each year to produce at least 100
performances of my plays for the next twenty-five years.
In London during August the usual cheap evening orchestra concerts,
so-called promenade concerts, were announced in a patriotic manner, with
the comment that no German musician would be represented on the program.
Everybody applauded this announcement, but nobody attended the concerts.
A week later a program of Beethoven, Wagner, and Richard Strauss was
announced. Everybody was indignant, and everybody went to hear it. It
was a complete and decisive German victory, without a single man being
killed.
A Policy of Murder
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This article is taken from Conan Doyle's book "The German
War," and is reproduced by permission of the author.
When one writes with a hot heart upon events which are still recent one
is apt to lose one's sense of proportion. At every step one should check
one's self by the reflection as to how this may appear ten years hence,
and how far events which seem shocking and abnormal may prove themselves
to be a necessary accompaniment of every condition of war. But a time
has now come when in cold blood, with every possible restraint, one is
justified in saying that since the most barbarous campaigns of Alva in
the Lowlands, or the excesses of the Thirty Years' War, there has been
no such deliberate policy of murder as has been adopted in this struggle
by the German forces. This is the more terrible since these forces are
not, like those of Alva, Parma, or Tilly, bands of turbulent and
mercenary soldiers, but they are the nation itself, and their deeds are
condoned or even applauded by the entire national press. It is not on
the chiefs of the army that the whole guilt of this terrible crime must
rest, but it is upon the whole German Nation, which for generations to
come must stand condemned before the civilized world for this reversion
to those barbarous practices from which Christianity, civilization, and
chivalry had gradually rescued the human race. They may, and do, plead
the excuse that they are "earnest" in war, but all nations are earnest
in war, which is the most desperately earnest thing of which we have any
knowledge. How earnest we are will be shown when the question of
endurance begins to tell. But no earnestness can condone the crime of
the nation which deliberately breaks those laws which have been indorsed
by the common consent of humanity.
War may have a beautiful as well as a terrible side, and be full of
touches of human sympathy and restraint which mitigate its unavoidable
horror. Such have been the characteristics always of the secular wars
between the British and the French. From the old glittering days of
knighthood, with their high and gallant courtesy, through the eighteenth
century campaigns where the debonair guards of France and England
exchanged salutations before their volleys, down to the last great
Napoleonic struggle, the tradition of chivalry has always survived. We
read how in the Peninsula the pickets of the two armies, each of them as
earnest as any Germans, would exchange courtesies, how they would shout
warnings to each other to fall back when an advance in force was taking
place, and how to prevent the destruction of an ancient bridge, the
British promised not to use it on condition that the French would forgo
its destruction--an agreement faithfully kept upon either side. Could
one imagine Germans making war in such a spirit as this? Think of that
old French bridge, and then think of the University of Louvain and the
Cathedral of Rheims. What a gap between them--the gap that separates
civilization from the savage!
Let us take a few of the points which, when focused together, show how
the Germans have degraded warfare--a degradation which affects not only
the Allies at present, but the whole future of the world, since if such
examples were followed the entire human race would, each in turn, become
the sufferers. Take the very first incident of the war, the mine laying
by the Koenigin Luise. Here was a vessel, which was obviously made ready
with freshly charged mines some time before there was any question of a
general European war, which was sent forth in time of peace, and which,
on receipt of a wireless message, began to spawn its hellish cargo
across the North Sea at points fifty miles from land in the track of all
neutral merchant shipping. There was the keynote of German tactics
struck at the first possible instant. So promiscuous was the effect that
it was a mere chance which prevented the vessel which bore the German
Ambassador from being destroyed by a German mine. From first to last
some hundreds of people have lost their lives on this tract of sea, some
of them harmless British trawlers, but the greater number sailors of
Danish and Dutch vessels pursuing their commerce as they had every right
to do. It was the first move in a consistent policy of murder.
Leaving the sea, let us turn to the air. Can any possible term save a
policy of murder be applied to the use of aircraft by the Germans? It
has always been a principle of warfare that unfortified towns should not
be bombarded. So closely has it been followed by the British that one of
our aviators, flying over Cologne in search of a Zeppelin shed,
refrained from dropping a bomb in an uncertain light, even though
Cologne is a fortress, lest the innocent should suffer. What is to be
said, then, for the continual use of bombs by the Germans which have
usually been wasted in the destruction of cats or dogs, but which have
occasionally torn to pieces some woman or child? If bombs were dropped
on the forts of Paris as part of a scheme for reducing the place, then
nothing could be said in objection, but how are we to describe the
action of men who fly over a crowded city dropping bombs promiscuously
which can have no military effect whatever, and are entirely aimed at
the destruction of innocent civilians? These men have been obliging
enough to drop their cards as well as their bombs on several occasions.
I see no reason why these should not be used in evidence against them,
or why they should not be hanged as murderers when they fall into the
hands of the Allies. The policy is idiotic from a military point of
view; one could conceive nothing which would stimulate and harden
national resistance more surely than such petty irritations. But it is
a murderous innovation in the laws of war, and unless it is sternly
repressed it will establish a most sinister precedent for the future.
As to the treatment of Belgium, what has it been but murder, murder all
the way? From the first days of Vise, when it was officially stated that
an example of "frightfulness" was desired, until the present moment,
when the terrified population has rushed from the country and thrown
itself upon the charity and protection of its neighbors, there has been
no break in the record. Compare the story with that of the occupation of
the South of France by Wellington in 1813, when no one was injured,
nothing was taken without full payment, and the villagers fraternized
with the troops. What a relapse of civilization is here! From Vise to
Louvain, Louvain to Aerschot, Aerschot to Malines and Termonde, the
policy of murder never fails.
It is said that more civilians than soldiers have fallen in Belgium.
Peruse the horrible accounts taken by the Belgian Commission, who took
evidence in the most careful and conscientious fashion. Study the
accounts of that dreadful night in Louvain which can only be equaled by
the Spanish Fury of Antwerp. Read the account of the wife of the
Burgomaster of Aerschot, with its heartrending description of how her
lame son, aged sixteen, was kicked along to his death by an aide de
camp. It is all so vile, so brutally murderous that one can hardly
realize that one is reading the incidents of a modern campaign conducted
by one of the leading nations in Europe.
Do you imagine that the thing has been exaggerated? Far from it--the
volume of crime has not yet been appreciated. Have not many Germans
unwittingly testified to what they have seen and done? Only last week we
had the journal of one of them, an officer whose service had been almost
entirely in France and removed from the crime centres of Belgium. Yet
were ever such entries in the diary of a civilized soldier? "Our men
behaved like regular Vandals." "We shot the whole lot," (these were
villagers.) "They were drawn up in three ranks. The same shot did for
three at a time." "In the evening we set fire to the village. The priest
and some of the inhabitants were shot." "The villages all around were
burning." "The villages were burned and the inhabitants shot." "At Leppe
apparently two hundred men were shot. There must have been some innocent
men among them." "In future we shall have to hold an inquiry into their
guilt instead of merely shooting them." "The Vandals themselves could
not have done more damage. The place is a disgrace to our army." So the
journal runs on with its tale of infamy. It is an infamy so shameless
that even in the German record the story is perpetuated of how a French
lad was murdered because he refused to answer certain questions. To such
a depth of degradation has Prussia brought the standard of warfare.
And now, as the appetite for blood grows ever stronger--and nothing
waxes more fast--we have stories of the treatment of prisoners. Here is
a point where our attention should be most concentrated and our action
most prompt. It is the just duty which we owe to our own brave soldiers.
At present the instances are isolated, and we will hope that they do not
represent any general condition. But the stories come from sure sources.
There is the account of the brutality which culminated in the death of
the gallant motor cyclist Pearson, the son of Lord Cowdray. There is the
horrible story in a responsible Dutch paper, told by an eyewitness, of
the torture of three British wounded prisoners in Landen Station on Oct.
9.
The story carries conviction by its detail. Finally, there are the
disquieting remarks of German soldiers, repeated by this same witness,
as to the British prisoners whom they had shot. The whole lesson of
history is that when troops are allowed to start murder one can never
say how or when it will stop. It may no longer be part of a deliberate,
calculated policy of murder by the German Government. But it has
undoubtedly been so in the past, and we cannot say when it will end.
Such incidents will, I fear, make peace an impossibility in our
generation, for whatever statesmen may write upon paper can never affect
the deep and bitter resentment which a war so conducted must leave
behind it.
Other German characteristics we can ignore. The consistent, systematic
lying of the German press, or the grotesque blasphemies of the Kaiser,
can be met by us with contemptuous tolerance. After all, what is is, and
neither falsehood nor bombast will alter it. But this policy of murder
deeply affects not only ourselves but the whole framework of
civilization, so slowly and painfully built upward by the human race.
The Soldier's Epitaph
"HE DIED FOR ENGLAND."
[Inscription on the tombstone of a private soldier, recently killed in
action.]
These four short words his epitaph,
Sublimely simple, nobly plain;
Who adds to them but addeth chaff,
Obscures with husks the golden grain.
Not all the bards of other days,
Not Homer in his loftiest vein,
Not Milton's most majestic strain,
Not the whole wealth of Pindar's lays,
Could bring to that one simple phrase
What were not rather loss than gain;
That elegy so briefly fine,
That epic writ in half a line,
That little which so much conveys,
Whose silence is a hymn of praise
And throbs with harmonies divine.
The Will to Power
By Eden Phillpotts
A distinction between power as physical force and as expressed
in terms of spiritual value is drawn by Mr. Phillpotts in his
article, appearing in The Westminster Gazette of March 27,
1915, which is here reproduced.
It has not often happened in the world's history that any generation
can speak with such assured confidence of future events as at present.
When the living tongue is concerned with destiny it seldom does more
than indicate the trend of things to come, examine tendencies and
movements and predict, without any sure foreknowledge or conviction,
what generations unborn may expect to find and the conditions they will
create. Destiny for us, who speak of it, is an unknown sea whose waves,
indeed, drive steadily onward before strong winds, but whose shore is
still far distant. We know that we men of the hour can never see these
billows break upon the sands of future time.
But today we may look forward to stupendous events; today there are
mighty epiphanies quickening earth, not to be assigned to periods of
future time, but at hand, so near that our living selves shall see their
birth, and participate in their consequences. Nor can we stand as
spectators of this worldwide hope; we must not only hear the evangel
whose first mighty murmur is drifting to our ears from the future, we
must take it up with heart and voice and help to sound and resound it.
There is tremendous work lying ahead, not only for our children, but for
us. Weighty deeds will presently have to be performed by all adult
manhood and womanhood--deeds, perhaps, greater than any living man has
been called to do--deeds that exalt the doer and make sacred for all
history the hour in which they shall be done.
On Time's high canopy the years are as stars great and small, some of
lesser magnitude, some forever bright with the splendor of supreme
human achievements; and now there flashes out a year concerning which,
indeed, no man can say as yet how great it will be; but all men know
that it must be great. It is destined to drown all lesser years, even as
sunrise dims the morning stars with day; it is a year bright with
promise and bodeful with ill-tidings also; for in the world at this
moment there exist stupendous differences that this year will go far to
set at rest. This year must solve profound problems, determine the trend
of human affairs for centuries, and influence the whole future history
of civilization. This year may actually see the issue; at least it will
serve to light the near future when that issue shall be accomplished.
There has risen, then, a year that is great with no less a thing than
the future welfare of the whole earth. It must embrace the victory of
one ideal over another, and include a decision which shall determine
whether the sublime human hope of freedom and security for all mankind
is to guide human progress henceforth, or the spirit of domination and
slavery to win a new lease of life. On the one hand, this year of the
first magnitude will shine with the glory of such a victory for
democratic ideas as we have not seen, or expected to see, in our
generation; on the other, its bale-fire will blaze upon the overthrow of
all great ideals, the destruction of a weak nation by a powerful one,
and the triumph of that policy of "blood and iron" from which every
enlightened man of this age shrinks with horror. The situation cannot be
stated in simpler terms; no words can make it less than tremendous; and
it is demanded from us to make it personal--as personal to ourselves as
it is to the King of England, the Emperor of Germany, or the Czar of
all the Russias.
They live who, when this far-flung agony of war is ended, when the last
hero has fallen and lies in his grave, when the final cannon has sounded
its knell, must be called upon to make the great peace. They live who
will weave a shroud of death for the exhausted world, or plant the tree
of life upon her bosom; and since we, inspired by the splendor of our
cause, are assured that the day-spring will be ours, we already feel and
know that we shall see that tree of life planted. But do we also feel
and know that we must help to plant it, that the labor and toil of each
of us is vital, that none is so weak but that there is a part of that
planting for which he was born, a part consecrated to his individual
effort, a part that will go undone if he does not do it?
Look to yourself, man, woman, child, that with heart and soul and
strength you perform your part in the great world work lying ahead;
remember that not princes and rulers, not regiments of your kinsmen, not
the armed might of nations can do your appointed task for you. Fail of
it, and by so much will the life tree lack in her planting; succeed, and
by so much will she be the more splendid and secure. Her name is Freedom
and her fruits are for the weak and humble as well as the strong and
great, for the foolish as well as the wise, for all subjects as well as
for all States. Put out your power, then, for that most sacred tree;
deny yourself no pang that she may flourish; labor according to your
strength that her blossom shall win the worship of humanity and her
fruit be worthy of the blood of heroes that has poured for her planting.
Much we hear of the Will to Power, and because that great impulse has
lifted our enemies on the full flood tide of their might and manhood in
one overwhelming torrent, Germany has been condemned. But not for her
united effort and whole-hearted sacrifice should we condemn her--not for
her patriotism and response to the call. Her reply is wholly
magnificent, and it only stands condemned for the evil ends and ignoble
ambitions toward which it is directed. The spectacle of a great nation
at one, inspired by a single ideal and pouring its life, its wealth, its
energy, with a single impulse in the name of the Fatherland can only be
called sublime. The tragedy lies in the fact that this stupendous effort
is not worthy of the cause; that for false hopes, false ambitions and
mistaken sense of right and justice Germany has wasted her life and
given her soul.
Who blames the Will to Power? Power is the mightiest weapon fate can
forge for a nation--a treasure beyond the strength of commerce, or
armies, or navies, or intellect of man to produce. But it is necessary
that we define power in terms of spiritual value; and then, surely, it
appears that Power and Force can never be the same. A Frederick I., or a
Napoleon, may pretend to confound power with force, and believe that
their might must be right. They possessed a giant's strength and used it
like giants. But true Power is ever the attribute of Right and they who
strive for it must cleanse their souls, see that their ambition is
worthy of such a possession, and, before all else, strive to realize the
awful responsibility that goes with Power.
Never was a moment more golden than the present for this nation to Will
to Power. For once our hearts are single, our resolutions pure, our
patriotism, as well as the objects that we seek to attain, sure set upon
the line of human progress. In the sane and sacred name of Freedom,
therefore, and at her ancient inspiration it becomes us now to strive by
all that is highest and best in us to fulfill our noblest possibilities
and give soul and strength that the united Will to Power of our nation
may surmount that of her enemies, even as our goal and purpose surmount
theirs.
It is for the victory that must crown this victory we should labor, and
cease not while hand can toil, mind achieve, and heart sacrifice to make
the vital issue assured.
Alleged German Atrocities
Report of the Committee Appointed by the British Government
and Presided Over by
The Right Hon. Viscount Bryce
_Formerly British Ambassador at Washington_
Proofs of alleged atrocities committed by the German armies in
Belgium--proofs collected by men trained in the law and
presented with unemotional directness after a careful
inquiry--are presented in the report of the "Committee on
Alleged German Atrocities" headed by Viscount Bryce, the
English historian and formerly British Ambassador at
Washington. The document was made public simultaneously in
London and the United States on May 12, 1915, four days after
the sinking of the Lusitania. It was pointed out at the time
that this was a coincidence, as the report had been prepared
several weeks before and forwarded by mail from England for
publication on May 12.
WARRANT OF APPOINTMENT.
I hereby appoint--
The Right Hon. Viscount Bryce, O.M.;
The Right Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bt., K.C.;
The Right Hon. Sir Edward Clarke, K.C.;
Sir Alfred Hopkinson, K.C.;
Mr. H.A.L. Fisher, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield; and
Mr. Harold Cox;
to be a committee to consider and advise on the evidence collected on
behalf of his Majesty's Government as to outrages alleged to have been
committed by German troops during the present war, cases of alleged
maltreatment of civilians in the invaded territories, and breaches of
the laws and established usages of war; and to prepare a report for his
Majesty's Government showing the conclusion at which they arrive on the
evidence now available.
And I appoint Viscount Bryce to be Chairman, and Mr. E. Grimwood Mears
and Mr. W.J.H. Brodrick, barristers at law, to be Joint Secretaries to
the committee.
(Signed) H.H. ASQUITH.
15th December, 1914.
Sir Kenelm E. Digby, K.C., G.C.B., was appointed an additional member
of the committee on 22d January, 1915.
To the Right Hon. H.H. Asquith, &c., &c., First Lord of H.M. Treasury.
The committee have the honor to present and transmit to you a report
upon the evidence which has been submitted to them regarding outrages
alleged to have been committed by the German troops in the present war.
By the terms of their appointment the committee were directed
"to consider and advise on the evidence collected on behalf of
his Majesty's Government as to outrages alleged to have been
committed by German troops during the present war, cases of
alleged maltreatment of civilians in the invaded territories,
and breaches of the laws and established usages of war; and to
prepare a report for his Majesty's Government showing the
conclusion at which they arrive on the evidence now
available."
It may be convenient that before proceeding to state how we have dealt
with the materials, and what are the conclusions we have reached, we
should set out the manner in which the evidence came into being, and its
nature.
In the month of September, 1914, a minute was, at the instance of the
Prime Minister, drawn up and signed by the Home Secretary and the
Attorney General. It stated the need that had arisen for investigating
the accusations of inhumanity and outrage that had been brought against
the German soldiers, and indicated the precautions to be taken in
collecting evidence that would be needed to insure its accuracy.
Pursuant to this minute steps were taken under the direction of the Home
Office to collect evidence, and a great many persons who could give it
were seen and examined.
For some three or four months before the appointment of the committee,
the Home Office had been collecting a large body of evidence.[A] More
than 1,200 depositions made by these witnesses have been submitted to
and considered by the committee. Nearly all of these were obtained under
the supervision of Sir Charles Mathews, the Director of Public
Prosecutions, and of Mr. E. Grimwood Mears, barrister of the Inner
Temple, while in addition Professor J.H. Morgan has collected a number
of statements mainly from British soldiers, which have also been
submitted to the committee.
[Footnote A: Taken from Belgian witnesses, some soldiers, but most of
them civilians from those towns and villages through which the German
Army passed, and from British officers and soldiers.]
The labor involved in securing, in a comparatively short time, so large
a number of statements from witnesses scattered all over the United
Kingdom, made it necessary to employ a good many examiners. The
depositions were in all cases taken down in this country by gentlemen of
legal knowledge and experience, though, of course, they had no authority
to administer an oath. They were instructed not to "lead" the witnesses
or make any suggestions to them, and also to impress upon them the
necessity for care and precision in giving their evidence.
They were also directed to treat the evidence critically, and as far as
possible satisfy themselves, by putting questions which arose out of the
evidence, that the witnesses were speaking the truth. They were, in
fact, to cross-examine them, so far as the testimony given provided
materials for cross-examination.
We have seen and conversed with many of these gentlemen, and have been
greatly impressed by their ability and by what we have gathered as to
the fairness of spirit which they brought to their task. We feel certain
that the instructions given have been scrupulously observed.
In many cases those who took the evidence have added their comments upon
the intelligence and demeanor of the witnesses stating the impression
which each witness made, and indicating any cases in which the story
told appeared to them open to doubt or suspicion. In coming to a
conclusion upon the evidence the committee have been greatly assisted by
these expressions of opinion, and have uniformly rejected every
deposition on which an opinion adverse to the witness has been recorded.
This seems to be a fitting place at which to put on record the
invaluable help which we have received from our secretaries, Mr. E.
Grimwood Mears and Mr. W.J.H. Brodrick, whose careful diligence and
minute knowledge of the evidence have been of the utmost service.
Without their skill, judgment, and untiring industry the labor of
examining and appraising each part of so large a mass of testimony would
have occupied us for six months instead of three.
The marginal references in this report indicate the particular
deposition or depositions on which the statements made in the text are
based.[A]
[Footnote A: Marginal references are omitted in this
reproduction.--EDITOR.]
The depositions printed in the appendix themselves show that the stories
were tested in detail, and in none of these have we been able to detect
the trace of any desire to "make a case" against the German Army. Care
was taken to impress upon the witness that the giving of evidence was a
grave and serious matter, and every deposition submitted to us was
signed by the witness in the presence of the examiner.
A noteworthy feature of many of the depositions is that, though taken
at different places and on different dates, and by different lawyers
from different witnesses, they often corroborate each other in a
striking manner.
The evidence is all couched in the very words which the witnesses used,
and where they spoke, as the Belgian witnesses did, in Flemish or
French, pains were taken to have competent translators, and to make
certain that the translation was exact.
Seldom did these Belgian witnesses show a desire to describe what they
had seen or suffered. The lawyers who took the depositions were
surprised to find how little vindictiveness, or indeed passion they
showed, and how generally free from emotional excitement their
narratives were. Many hesitated to speak lest what they said, if it
should ever be published, might involve their friends or relatives at
home in danger, and it was found necessary to give an absolute promise
that names should not be disclosed.
For this reason names have been omitted.
A large number of depositions, and extracts from depositions, will be
found in Appendix A, and to these your attention is directed.
In all cases these are given as nearly as possible (for abbreviation was
sometimes inevitable) in the exact words of the witness, and wherever a
statement has been made by a witness tending to exculpate the German
troops, it has been given in full. Excisions have been made only where
it has been felt necessary to conceal the identity of the deponent or to
omit what are merely hearsay statements, or are palpably irrelevant. In
every case the name and description of the witnesses are given in the
original depositions and in copies which have been furnished to us by
H.M. Government. The originals remain in the custody of the Home
Department, where they will be available, in case of need, for reference
after the conclusion of the war.
The committee have also had before them a number of diaries taken from
the German dead.
It appears to be the custom in the German Army for soldiers to be
encouraged to keep diaries and to record in them the chief events of
each day. A good many of these diaries were collected on the field when
British troops were advancing over ground which had been held by the
enemy, were sent to headquarters in France, and dispatched thence to the
War Office in England. They passed into the possession of the Prisoners
of War Information Bureau, and were handed by it to our secretaries.
They have been translated with great care. We have inspected them and
are absolutely satisfied of their authenticity. They have thrown
important light upon the methods followed in the conduct of the war. In
one respect, indeed, they are the most weighty part of the evidence,
because they proceed from a hostile source and are not open to any such
criticism on the ground of bias as might be applied to Belgian
testimony. From time to time references to these diaries will be found
in the text of the report. In Appendix B they are set out at greater
length both in the German original and in an English translation,
together with a few photographs of the more important entries.
In Appendix C are set out a number of German proclamations. Most of
these are included in the Belgian Report No. VI., which has been
furnished to us. Actual specimens of original proclamations issued by or
at the bidding of the German military authorities, and posted in the
Belgian and French towns mentioned, have been produced to us, and copies
thereof are to be found in this appendix.
Appendix D contains the rules of The Hague Convention dealing with the
conduct of war on land as adopted in 1907, Germany being one of the
signatory powers.
In Appendix E will be found a selection of statements collected in
France by Professor Morgan.
These five appendices are contained in a separate volume.
In dealing with the evidence we have recognized the importance of
testing it severely, and so far as the conditions permit we have
followed the principles which are recognized in the courts of England,
the British overseas dominions, and the United States. We have also (as
already noted) set aside the testimony of any witnesses who did not
favorably impress the lawyers who took their depositions, and have
rejected hearsay evidence except in cases where hearsay furnished an
undersigned confirmation of facts with regard to which we already
possessed direct testimony from some other source, or explained in a
natural way facts imperfectly narrated or otherwise perplexing.[A]
[Footnote A: For instance, the dead body of a man is found lying on the
doorstep, or a woman is seen who has the appearance of having been
outraged. So far the facts are proved by the direct evidence of the
person by whom they have been seen. Information is sought for by him as
to the circumstances under which the death or outrages took place. The
bystanders who saw the circumstances but who are not now accessible,
relate what they saw, and this is reported by the witness to the
examiner and is placed on record in the depositions. We have had no
hesitation in taking such evidence into consideration.]
It is natural to ask whether much of the evidence given, especially by
the Belgian witnesses, may not be due to excitement and overstrained
emotions, and whether, apart from deliberate falsehood, persons who mean
to speak the truth may not in a more or less hysterical condition have
been imagining themselves to have seen the things which they say that
they saw. Both the lawyers who took the depositions, and we when we came
to examine them, fully recognized this possibility. The lawyers, as
already observed, took pains to test each witness and either rejected,
or appended a note of distrust to, the testimony of those who failed to
impress them favorably. We have carried the sifting still further by
also omitting from the depositions those in which we found something
that seemed too exceptional to be accepted on the faith of one witness
only, or too little supported by other evidence pointing to like facts.
Many depositions have thus been omitted on which, though they are
probably true, we think it safer not to place reliance.
Notwithstanding these precautions, we began the inquiry with doubts
whether a positive result would be attained. But the further we went and
the more evidence we examined so much the more was our skepticism
reduced. There might be some exaggeration in one witness, possible
delusion in another, inaccuracies in a third. When, however, we found
that things which had at first seemed improbable were testified to by
many witnesses coming from different places, having had no communication
with one another, and knowing nothing of one another's statements, the
points in which they all agreed became more and more evidently true. And
when this concurrence of testimony, this convergence upon what were
substantially the same broad facts, showed itself in hundreds of
depositions, the truth of those broad facts stood out beyond question.
The force of the evidence is cumulative. Its worth can be estimated only
by perusing the testimony as a whole. If any further confirmation had
been needed, we found it in the diaries in which German officers and
private soldiers have recorded incidents just such as those to which the
Belgian witnesses depose.
The experienced lawyers who took the depositions tell us that they
passed from the same stage of doubt into the same stage of conviction.
They also began their work in a skeptical spirit, expecting to find much
of the evidence colored by passion, or prompted by an excited fancy. But
they were impressed by the general moderation and matter-of-fact
level-headedness of the witnesses. We have interrogated them,
particularly regarding some of the most startling and shocking incidents
which appear in the evidence laid before us, and where they expressed a
doubt we have excluded the evidence, admitting it as regards the cases
in which they stated that the witnesses seemed to them to be speaking
the truth, and that they themselves believed the incidents referred to
have happened. It is for this reason that we have inserted among the
depositions printed in the appendix several cases which we might
otherwise have deemed scarcely credible.
The committee has conducted its investigations and come to its
conclusions independently of the reports issued by the French and
Belgian commissions, but it has no reason to doubt that those
conclusions are in substantial accord with the conclusions that have
been reached by these two commissions.
ARRANGEMENT OF THE REPORT.
As respects the framework and arrangement of the report, it has been
deemed desirable to present first of all what may be called a general
historical account of the events which happened, and the conditions
which prevailed in the parts of Belgium which lay along the line of the
German march, and thereafter to set forth the evidence which bears upon
particular classes of offenses against the usages of civilized warfare,
evidence which shows to what extent the provisions of The Hague
Convention have been disregarded.
This method, no doubt, involves a certain amount of overlapping, for
some of the offenses belonging to the latter part of the report will
have been already referred to in the earlier part which deals with the
invasion of Belgium. But the importance of presenting a connected
narrative of events seems to outweigh the disadvantage of occasional
repetition. The report will therefore be found to consist of two parts,
viz.:
(1) An analysis and summary of the evidence regarding the
conduct of the German troops in Belgium toward the civilian
population of that country during the first few weeks of the
invasion.
(2) An examination of the evidence relating to breaches of the
rules and usages of war and acts of inhumanity, committed by
German soldiers or groups of soldiers, during the first four
months of the war, whether in Belgium or in France.
This second part has again been subdivided into two sections:
a. Offenses committed against noncombatant civilians during
the conduct of the war generally.
b. Offenses committed against combatants, whether in Belgium
or in France.
PART I.
THE CONDUCT OF THE GERMAN TROOPS IN BELGIUM.
Although the neutrality of Belgium had been guaranteed by a treaty
signed in 1839 to which France, Prussia, and Great Britain were parties,
and although, apart altogether from any duties imposed by treaty, no
belligerent nation has any right to claim a passage for its army across
the territory of a neutral State, the position which Belgium held
between the German Empire and France had obliged her to consider the
possibility that in the event of a war between these two powers her
neutrality might not be respected. In 1911 the Belgian Minister at
Berlin had requested an assurance from Germany that she would observe
the Treaty of 1839; and the Chancellor of the empire had declared that
Germany had no intention of violating Belgian neutrality. Again in 1913
the German Secretary of State at a meeting of a Budget Committee of the
Reichstag had declared that "Belgian neutrality is provided for by
international conventions and Germany is determined to respect those
conventions." Finally, on July 31, 1914, when the danger of war between
Germany and France seemed imminent, Herr von Below, the German Minister
in Brussels, being interrogated by the Belgian Foreign Department,
replied that he knew of the assurances given by the German Chancellor in
1911, and that he "was certain that the sentiments expressed at that
time had not changed." Nevertheless on Aug. 2 the same Minister
presented a note to the Belgian Government demanding a passage through
Belgium for the German Army on pain of an instant declaration of war.
Startled as they were by the suddenness with which this terrific war
cloud had risen on the eastern horizon, the leaders of the nation
rallied around the King in his resolution to refuse the demand and to
prepare for resistance. They were aware of the danger which would
confront the civilian population of the country if it were tempted to
take part in the work of national defense. Orders were accordingly
issued by the Civil Governors of provinces, and by the Burgomasters of
towns, that the civilian inhabitants were to take no part in hostilities
and to offer no provocation to the invaders. That no excuse might be
furnished for severities, the populations of many important towns were
instructed to surrender all firearms into the hands of the local
officials.[1]
[Footnote 1: Copies of typical proclamations have been printed in
_L'Allemagne et la Belgique_, Documents Annexes, xxxvi.]
[Illustration: [map of Belgium]]
This happened on Aug. 2. On the evening of Aug. 3 the German troops
crossed the frontier. The storm burst so suddenly that neither party had
time to adjust its mind to the situation. The Germans seem to have
expected an easy passage. The Belgian population, never dreaming of an
attack, were startled and stupefied.
LIEGE AND DISTRICT.
On Aug. 4 the roads converging upon Liege from northeast, east, and
south were covered with German Death's Head Hussars and Uhlans pressing
forward to seize the passage over the Meuse. From the very beginning of
the operations the civilian population of the villages lying upon the
line of the German advance were made to experience the extreme horrors
of war. "On the 4th of August," says one witness, "at Herve," (a village
not far from the frontier,) "I saw at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon,
near the station, five Uhlans; these were the first German troops I had
seen. They were followed by a German officer and some soldiers in a
motor car. The men in the car called out to a couple of young fellows
who were standing about thirty yards away. The young men, being afraid,
ran off and then the Germans fired and killed one of them named D." The
murder of this innocent fugitive civilian was a prelude to the burning
and pillage of Herve and of other villages in the neighborhood, to the
indiscriminate shooting of civilians of both sexes, and to the organized
military execution of batches of selected males. Thus at Herve some
fifty men escaping from the burning houses were seized, taken outside
the town and shot. At Melen, a hamlet west of Herve, forty men were
shot. In one household alone the father and mother (names given) were
shot, the daughter died after being repeatedly outraged, and the son was
wounded. Nor were children exempt. "About Aug. 4," says one witness,
"near Vottem, we were pursuing some Uhlans. I saw a man, woman, and a
girl about nine, who had been killed. They were on the threshold of a
house, one on the top of the other, as if they had been shot down, one
after the other, as they tried to escape."
The burning of the villages in this neighborhood and the wholesale
slaughter of civilians, such as occurred at Herve, Micheroux, and
Soumagne, appear to be connected with the exasperation caused by the
resistance of Fort Fleron, whose guns barred the main road from Aix la
Chapelle to Liege. Enraged by the losses which they had sustained,
suspicious of the temper of the civilian population, and probably
thinking that by exceptional severities at the outset they could cow the
spirit of the Belgian Nation, the German officers and men speedily
accustomed themselves to the slaughter of civilians. How rapidly the
process was effected is illustrated by an entry in the diary of Kurt
Hoffman, a one-year's man in the First Jaegers, who on Aug. 5 was in
front of Fort Fleron. He illustrates his story by a sketch map. "The
position," he says, "was dangerous. As suspicious civilians were hanging
about--houses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, were cleared, the owners arrested, (and
shot the following day.) Suddenly village A was fired at. Out of it
bursts our baggage train, and the Fourth Company of the Twenty-seventh
Regiment who had lost their way and been shelled by our own artillery.
From the point D.P., (shown in diary,) I shoot a civilian with rifle at
400 meters slap through the head, as we afterward ascertained." Within a
few hours, Hoffman, while in house 3, was himself under fire from his
own comrades and narrowly escaped being killed. A German, ignorant that
house 8 had been occupied, reported, as was the fact, that he had been
fired upon from that house. He had been challenged by the field patrol,
and failed to give the countersign. Hoffman continues:
"Ten minutes later, people approach who are talking
excitedly--apparently Germans. I call out 'Halt, who's there?'
Suddenly rapid fire is opened upon us, which I can only escape
by quickly jumping on one side--with bullets and fragments of
wall and pieces of glass flying around me. I call out 'Halt,
here Field Patrol.' Then it stops, and there appears
Lieutenant Roemer with three platoons. A man has reported that
he had been shot at out of our house; no wonder, if he does
not give the countersign."
The entry, though dated Aug. 5, was evidently written on the 6th or
later, because the writer refers to the suspicious civilians as having
been shot on that day. Hoffman does not indicate of what offense these
civilians were guilty, and there is no positive evidence to connect
their slaughter with the report made by the German who had been fired on
by his comrades. They were "suspicious" and that was enough.
The systematic execution of civilians, which in some cases, as the diary
just cited shows, was founded on a genuine mistake, was given a wide
extension through the Province of Liege. In Soumagne and Micheroux very
many civilians were summarily shot. In a field belonging to a man named
E. fifty-six or fifty-seven were put to death. A German officer said:
"You have shot at us." One of the villagers asked to be allowed to
speak, and said: "If you think these people fired kill me, but let them
go." The answer was three volleys. The survivors were bayoneted. Their
corpses were seen in the field that night by another witness. One at
least had been mutilated. These were not the only victims in Soumagne.
The eyewitness of the massacre saw, on his way home, twenty bodies, one
that of a young girl of thirteen. Another witness saw nineteen corpses
in a meadow.
At Blegny Trembleur, on the 6th, some civilians were captured by German
soldiers, who took steps to put them to death forthwith, but were
restrained by the arrival of an officer. The prisoners subsequently were
taken off to Battice and five were shot in a field. No reason was
assigned for their murder.
In the meantime house burners were at work. On the 6th, Battice was
destroyed in part. From the 8th to the 10th over 300 houses were burned
at Herve, while mounted men shot into doors and windows to prevent the
escape of the inhabitants.
At Heure le Romain on or about the 15th of August all the male
inhabitants, including some bedridden old men, were imprisoned in the
church. The Burgomaster's brother and the priest were bayoneted.
On or about the 14th and 15th the village of Vise was completely
destroyed. Officers directed the incendiaries, who worked methodically
with benzine. Antiques and china were removed from the houses, before
their destruction, by officers who guarded the plunder, revolver in
hand. The house of a witness, which contained valuables of this kind,
was protected for a time by a notice posted on the door by officers.
This notice has been produced to the committee. After the removal of the
valuables this house also was burned.
German soldiers had arrived on the 15th at Blegny Trembleur and seized a
quantity of wine. On the 16th prisoners were taken; four, including the
priest and the Burgomaster, were shot. On the same day 200 (so-called)
hostages were seized at Flemalle and marched off. There they were told
that unless Fort Flemalle surrendered by noon they would be shot. It did
surrender and they were released.
Entries in a German diary show that on the 19th the German soldiers gave
themselves up to debauchery in the streets of Liege, and on the night
of the 20th (Thursday) a massacre took place in the streets, beginning
near the Cafe Carpentier, at which there is said to have been a dinner
attended by Russian and other students. A proclamation issued by General
Kolewe on the following day gave the German version of the affair, which
was that his troops had been fired on by Russian students. The diary
states that in the night the inhabitants of Liege became mutinous and
that fifty persons were shot. The Belgian witnesses vehemently deny that
there had been any provocation given, some stating that many German
soldiers were drunk, others giving evidence which indicates that the
affair was planned beforehand. It is stated that at 5 o'clock in the
evening, long before the shooting, a citizen was warned by a friendly
German soldier not to go out that night.
Though the cause of the massacre is in dispute, the results are known
with certainty. The Rue des Pitteurs and houses in the Place de
l'Universite and the Quai des Pecheurs were systematically fired with
benzine, and many inhabitants were burned alive in their houses, their
efforts to escape being prevented by rifle fire. Twenty people were
shot, while trying to escape, before the eyes of one of the witnesses.
The Liege Fire Brigade turned out but was not allowed to extinguish the
fire. Its carts, however, were usefully employed in removing heaps of
civilian corpses to the Town Hall. The fire burned on through the night
and the murders continued on the following day, the 21st. Thirty-two
civilians were killed on that day in the Place de l'Universite alone,
and a witness states that this was followed by the rape in open day of
fifteen or twenty women on tables in the square itself.
No depositions are before us which deal with events in the City of Liege
after this date. Outrages, however, continued in various places in the
province.
For example, on or about the 21st of August, at Pepinster two witnesses
were seized as hostages and were threatened, together with five others,
that, unless they could discover a civilian who was alleged to have
shot a soldier in the leg, they would be shot themselves. They escaped
their fate because one of the hostages convinced the officer that the
alleged shooting, if it took place at all, took place in the Commune of
Cornesse and not that of Pepinster, whereupon the Burgomaster of
Cornesse, who was old and very deaf, was shot forthwith.
The outrages on the civilian population were not confined to the
villages mentioned above, but appear to have been general throughout
this district from the very outbreak of the war.
An entry in one of the diaries says:
"We crossed the Belgian frontier on 15th August, 1914, at
11:50 in the forenoon, and then we went steadily along the
main road till we got into Belgium. Hardly were we there when
we had a horrible sight. Houses were burned down, the
inhabitants chased away and some of them shot. Not one of the
New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 3, June, 1915 April-September, 1915 / Various