Mar. 30.
On Mondsy we learnt that Great Britain, France and Russia have entirely declined, as was expected, to accept the American Secretary of State's suggestion to disarm merchantmen. Yesterday brought news of o fresh straining of relationships between America and Germany due to the sinking of the Sussex and Englishman, and of the pos-.'sibility of an actual rupture. As regards the latter, we shall believe in it when we see it. At the same time this further outrage must considerably weaken the force of anything more thet Mr. Lansing may have to say about armed merchantmen. The position is really very simple. By ite decision not to recognize the claim of Germany to torpedo armed merchant ships without warning the United States Government acknowledg-Jed the right of trading ships to carry weapons for their own protection. It would be unthinkable that. such an acknowledgement should be made null and void by alterations of harbour rules to the disadvantage of such trading ships. The whole course of naval history, that of America included, justifies the arming of merchuntmen; and in ware of the past both American and other membant-{men have gone far beyond the defensive rights uow asserted by great Britain, in taking the initiative in the use of their guns.
While (hus exposing himself to some criticism in countries of the Entente, Mr. Lunsing has aroused open hostility in Ger-{many. His attitude 1s described jby the German press as shifty and pro-British; and his suggestion for " compact that Germany should sink no more merchantmen on condition that the Allies disarmed their trading ships was very coldly received by the form-few ships which the submarines succeed in sinking are consistently magnified by the newspapers into the deadliest blow at British prosperity, while the enormous losses of German submarines are sedulously concealed. Thus the "Deutsche Tageszeitung" ssysthat Mr. Lansing's would, if accepted, "'render it impossible to wage submarine war successfully; both the "Krousseilung"' the "Taglische Rundschau"" think that. Mr. Lansing is merely trying to-secure an advantage for Great in; and the ''Hamburger Nachrichten' comments in words that we cannot resist quoting in full "The Lansing proposals.. consider only merchant-ships and non-combatants, and his humanity stops abruptly when it comes to the brave crows of our submarines—e part of the human family, too. Old men tottering to their graves, gouty women, and other non-combatants are to be solicitoualy protected, while the brave men in the submarines, toiling unselfishly for their country and valiantly enduring discomfort and privations, these heroee—in. the most brilliant significance of that word—are to be left without a thought to innumerable peri, ood pechape " tore ble end."
In other words, non-combatanteare meekly to offer themselves for slaughter, without thought of resistance." But where does the heroism come in? "Tis as brave to kill a kitten as & man that not defends himself."" Could anything be more typically Teutonic What is in danger of being forgotten is that British merchant~ men were not aumed until Germany had publicly declared -her intention of sinking them at sight. whenever she could; and the subsequent excuse offered by Germany that she was justified in sinking them because they were armed has been allowed by some {neutrals to pass muster in the most extraordinary manner. The plain fact of the matter is that notes and compromises are not lof the faintest use. Assumi for argument's sake that Germany promised not to sink merchant men if the Allies promised not to arm them. All the world knows that Germany would never keep her promise, that, in fact, she would never make it except
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.