“The scene was now terrible. Particularly do I remember a young child with a life-belt around her calling, ‘Mamma!’ She was not saved. I had seen her on the liner, and her sister was on the collapsible boat, but I could not reach her. I saw a cold-storage box or cupboard. I swam towards it and clung to it. This supported me for a long time. At last I saw a boat coming towards me and shouted. I was heard and taken in. From this I was transferred to what I think was a trawler, which also picked up three or four others. Eventually I was placed upon a ferry boat known as the Flying Fish, in which, with others, I was taken to Queenstown.
“It was quite possible that some people went down while in their cabins, because after lunch it was the custom with some to go for a rest. A friend of mine on the liner has told me he saw Alfred G. Vanderbilt on deck with a life-belt and observed him give it to a lady. It seemed to me the seriousness of the situation scarcely was realized when the boat was torpedoed. It was all so sudden and so unexpected, and the recollection of it all is terrible.”
GERMAN SUBMARINES PREVENTED RESCUE OF LUSITANIA PASSENGERS — STORY OF ETONIAN’S CAPTAIN — DODGED TWO SUBMARINES — NARRAGANSETT DRIVEN OFF — TORPEDO FIRED AT NARRAGANSETT.
From the lips of Captain Turner, of the Lusitania, and from several of the survivors the world has heard the story of the sudden appearance among the débris and the dead of the sunken liner, of the German submarine that had fired the torpedo which sent almost 1,200 non-combatants, hundreds of them helpless women and children, and among them more than a hundred American citizens, to their deaths. But it remained for the captain of the steamship Etonian, arriving at Boston on May 18, to add the crowning touch to the tragedy.
Captain William F. Wood, of the Etonian, specifically charged that two German submarines deliberately prevented him from going to the rescue of the Lusitania’s passengers after he had received the liner’s wireless S. O. S. call, and when he was but forty miles or so away, and might have rendered great assistance to the hundreds of victims.
Captain Wood charged further that two other ships, both within the same distance of the Lusitania when she sank, were warned off by submarines, and that when the nearest one, the Narragansett, bound for New York, persisted in the attempt to proceed to the rescue of the Lusitania’s passengers, a submarine fired a torpedo at her, which missed the Narragansett by only a few feet.
The Etonian is a freight-carrying steamship, owned by the Wilson-Furness-Leyland lines, and under charter to the Cunard Line. She sailed from Liverpool on May 6. Captain Wood’s story, as he told it without embellishment and in the most positive terms, was as follows:
“We had left Liverpool without unusual incident, and it was two o’clock on the afternoon of Friday, May 7, that we received the S. O. S. call from the Lusitania. Her wireless operator sent this message: ‘We are ten miles south of Kinsale. Come at once.’
“I was then about forty-two miles from the position he gave me. Two other steamships were ahead of me, going in the same direction. They were the Narragansett and the City of Exeter. The Narragansett was closer to the Lusitania, and she answered the S. O. S. call.
“At 5 P.M. I observed the City of Exeter across our bow and she signaled, ‘Have you heard anything of the disaster?’
“At that very moment I saw the periscope of a submarine between the Etonian and the City of Exeter. The submarine was about a quarter of a mile directly ahead of us. She immediately dived as soon as she saw us coming for her. I distinctly saw the splash in the water caused by her submerging.
Charging Through Barbed-Wire Entanglements.
The King’s Regiment of the British Army suffered heavily while trying to penetrate the enemy’s wire entanglement at Givenchy. Three lines of a perfect thicket of barbed-wire lay between them and the enemy. Only one brave officer even managed to penetrate the wire. (Il. L. News copr.)
A Land Mine Exploded Underneath a Section of the Enemy’s Trenches.
A method which has been known to blow forty men to pieces at once. By sapping and mining the gallery was dug almost to the enemy’s trenches underground and explosives placed, which were then fired by electric wire. The explosion hurled a piece of railroad iron weighing twenty-five pounds a distance of over a mile. (Il. L. News copr.)
“I signaled to the engine room for every available inch of speed, and there was a prompt response. Then we saw the submarine come up astern of us with the periscope in line afterward. I now ordered full speed ahead, and we left the submarine slowly behind. The periscope remained in sight about twenty minutes. Our speed was perhaps two miles an hour better than the submarine could do.
“No sooner had we lost sight of the submarine astern than I made out another on the starboard bow. This one was directly ahead and on the surface, not submerged. I starboarded hard away from him, he swinging as we did. About eight minutes later he submerged. I continued at top speed for four hours, and saw no more of the submarines. It was the ship’s speed that saved her. That’s all.
“Both these submarines were long craft, and the second one had wireless masts. There is no question in my mind that these two submarines were acting in concert and were so placed as to torpedo any ship that might attempt to go to the rescue of the passengers of the Lusitania.
“As a matter of fact, the Narragansett, as soon as she heard the S. O. S. call, went to the assistance of the Lusitania. One of the submarines discharged a torpedo at her and missed her by a few feet. The Narragansett then warned us not to attempt to go to the rescue of the Lusitania, and I got her wireless call while I was dodging the two submarines. You can see that three ships would have gone to the assistance of the Lusitania had it not been for the two submarines.
“These German craft were, it seems to me, deliberately stationed off Old Head of Kinsale, at a point where all ships have got to pass, for the express purpose of preventing any assistance being given to the passengers of the Lusitania.”
That the British tank steamer Narragansett, one of the vessels that caught the distress signal of the Lusitania, was also driven off her rescue course by a torpedo from a submarine when she arrived within seven miles of the spot where the Lusitania went down, an hour and three-quarters after she caught the wireless call for help, was alleged by the officers of the tanker, which arrived at Bayonne, N. J., on the same day that the Etonian reached Boston.
The story told by the officers of the Narragansett corroborated the statements made by officers of the Etonian. They said that submarines were apparently scouting the sea to drive back rescue vessels when the Lusitania fell a victim to another undersea craft.
The Lusitania’s call for help was received by the Narragansett at two o’clock on the afternoon of May 7, according to wireless operator Talbot Smith, who said the message read: “Strong list. Come quick.”
When the Narragansett received the message she was thirty-five miles southeast of the Lusitania, having sailed from Liverpool the preceding afternoon at five o’clock for Bayonne. The message was delivered quickly to Captain Charles Harwood, and he ordered the vessel to put on full steam and increase her speed from eleven to fourteen knots. The Narragansett changed her course and started in the direction of the sinking ship.
Second Officer John Letts, who was on the bridge, said he sighted the periscope of a submarine at 3.35 o’clock, and almost at the same instant he saw a torpedo shooting through the water. The torpedo, according to the second officer, was traveling at great speed.
It shot past the Narragansett, missing the stem by hardly thirty feet, and disappeared. The periscope of the submarine went out of sight at the same time, but the captain of the Narragansett decided not to take any chance, changed the course of his vessel so that the stern pointed directly toward the spot where the periscope was last sighted, and, after steering straight ahead for some distance, followed a somewhat zigzag course until he was out of the immediate submarine territories.
Captain Harwood abandoned all thought of the Lusitania’s call for help, because he thought it was a decoy message sent out to trap the Narragansett into the submarine’s path.
“My opinion,” said Second Officer Letts, “is that submarines were scattered around that territory to prevent any vessel that received the S. O. S. call of the Lusitania from going to her assistance.”
When attacked by the submarine the Narragansett had out her log, according to Second Officer Letts, and the torpedo passed under the line to which it was attached. The torpedo was fired from the submarine when the undersea boat was within two hundred yards of the tanker.
The Narragansett when turned back had not sighted the wreck of the Lusitania, and her officers, who were led to believe the S. O. S. was a decoy, did not learn of the sinking of the Cunarder until the following morning at two o’clock.
The Narragansett, under charter to the Standard Oil Company, is one of the largest tank steamships afloat. She is 540 feet long, has a sixty-foot beam, and 12,500 tons displacement.
“THE CRIME OF WHOLESALE MURDER”—CAPTAIN TURNER’S TESTIMONY — SAW THE TORPEDO — DOUBLE LOOKOUTS ON LINER — NO WARNING GIVEN — OTHER TESTIMONY — CORONER HORGAN’S STATEMENT.
One of the first official acts with reference to the loss of the Lusitania was the impaneling, on May 10, of a coroner’s jury at Queenstown to fix the responsibility for the death of the passengers whose bodies were recovered and taken to that place. The inquest was conducted by Coroner John Horgan. The coroner’s proceedings were comparatively brief, and were concluded with the return of the following verdict of the jury:
“We find that the deceased met death from prolonged immersion and exhaustion in the sea eight miles south-southwest 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 this 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 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.”
Captain W. T. Turner, the Lusitania’s commander, was the chief witness at the inquest.
The Coroner asked the captain 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.”
“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.”
“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.
“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?” he was asked.
“At ordinary times,” answered Captain Turner, “she could make twenty-five knots, but in war times her speed was reduced to twenty-one knots. My reason for going eighteen knots was that I wanted to arrive at Liverpool 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 your orders promptly carried out?”
“Yes.”
“Was there any panic on board?”
“No, there was no panic at all; it was all most calm.”
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 northerly 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 water-tight 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 water-tight bulkheads.”
“There certainly was, without doubt.”
“Were the passengers supplied with life-belts?”
“Yes.”
“Were any special orders given that morning that life-belts be put on?”
“No.”
“Was any warning given you before you were torpedoed?”
“None whatever. It was suddenly done and finished.”
“If there had been a patrol boat aboard; 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 never had 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.
Cornelius Horrigan, a waiter aboard the Lusitania, testified that it was impossible to launch boats on the starboard side because of the steamer’s list. He went down with the ship, but came up and was rescued. Horrigan gave a partial identification of one of the bodies, which he thought to be that of Steward Cranston.
The ship’s bugler, Vernon Livermore, gave evidence that the water-tight compartments were closed, but thought that the explosion must have opened them. No one was able to identify a man in whose pocket was found a card bearing the name of John Wanamaker of New York, and in the left-hand corner “Notary Public MacQuerrie, Bureau of Information.”
Coroner Horgan 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.
He charged that the responsibility “lay on the German government and the whole people of Germany who collaborated in the terrible crime.
“This is a case,” he said, “in which a powerful war-like engine attacked an unarmed vessel without warning. It was simple barbarism and cold-blooded murder.
“I purpose to ask the jury 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.”
VIEWS OF COLONEL ROOSEVELT, UNITED STATES SENATORS AND OTHER PROMINENT MEN—OPINIONS OF THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA — VIEWS OF PROMINENT CANADIANS.
Not even the invasion of peaceful Belgium, nor any of the other atrocities charged to the belligerent nations in the great war, stirred such universal and emphatic condemnation as the destruction of the Lusitania and over half its human freight of human lives. From all quarters of the globe the cry of amazement, indignation and outrage arose.
One of the first to express his feelings was Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who said: “This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of murder than any old-time pirate ever practiced.
“This is the warfare which destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of men, women and children in Belgium carried out to innocent men, women and children on the ocean and to our own fellow countrymen and countrywomen who are among the sufferers.
“It seems inconceivable that we should refrain from taking action in this matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to our own national self-respect.”
Atlee Pomerene, U. S. Senator from Ohio, member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said: “To Americans the sinking of the Lusitania is the most deplorable incident of the European war. Every man with the milk of human kindness in his breast condemns any policy by any nation that leads to the slaughter without warning of babes, women and non-combatants.”
Morris Sheppard, U. S. Senator from Texas, said: “The sinking of the Lusitania is an illustration of the unspeakable horror of modern warfare, and will be a tremendous argument for general disarmament when the war closes. Let us handle the present situation with patience and calmness, trusting the President to take the proper course.”
John W. Griggs, former Governor of New Jersey and at one time Attorney-General of the United States, expressed himself emphatically on the Lusitania tragedy. He said: “The time for watchful waiting has passed. No investigating committee is needed. The facts are known. Action is demanded. A demand should be made at once without waiting by the government to get the finding of any investigations or inquests. Would you hesitate to act if a man slapped you in the face? I do not say what should be demanded. That is for the government to decide. But an explanation should be demanded of Germany at once. The German submarine violated a law that even savages would recognize. I would hold Germany to account by proclaiming her an outlaw among the nations of the world. If the German government pleads that it was justified in this crime—which it will—it is then the duty of the United States to join with other neutral nations and cut her off from the rest of the world.”
“I’m Not Arguing With You, William; I’m Just Telling You!”
Jacob M. Dickinson, Secretary of War under President Taft, issued a statement in which he said: “It is not likely that Germany will disavow the purpose to destroy the Lusitania with full knowledge of the fact that this involved many American lives. In view of the result and the warning given by our government to Germany, some proper action must be taken, or the American government will incur the contempt of the world and the contempt of a vast number of its own people.”
“An act of barbarity without justification,” was the expression of Frederick R. Coudert, of New York, an authority on international law, in referring to the torpedoing of the Lusitania. Mr. Coudert said: “I make that statement on the supposition that lives of citizens of the United States, a neutral nation, were destroyed by the sinking of the vessel. There is no justification, however, for ruthlessly sinking a merchant ship in the open seas when that vessel is not engaged in any manner as a belligerent vessel, and when the lives of non-combatants depend upon its safety. It would seem to be time for the government of this country to determine whether it will sit idly by and accept explanations that Americans were warned to keep off the steamer, or take a definite stand upon the rights of our citizens on the seas.”
The opinion of the nation on the sinking of the Lusitania is fairly represented by the following extracts from the editorial columns of leading newspapers throughout the United States:
New York Evening Post: “Germany ought not to be left in a moment’s doubt how the civilized world regards her latest display of ‘frightfulness.’ It is a deed for which a Hun would blush, a Turk be ashamed and a Barbary pirate apologize. To speak of technicalities and the rules of war, in the face of such wholesale murder on the high seas, is a waste of time. The law of nations and the law of God have been alike trampled upon. The German government must be given to understand that no plea of military necessity will now avail it before the tribunal on which sits as judge the humane conscience of the world. As was declared by Germany’s own representative at The Hague Congress, the late Marschall von Bieberstein, there are some atrocities which international law does not need to legislate against, since they fall under the instant and universal condemnation of mankind.”
Non-Combatants Honored With Their Flags.
The upper picture shows the body of an American victim of the Lusitania disaster carried through the streets of Queenstown covered with the Stars and Stripes. Below, British soldiers laying the Union Jack over the coffins of victims recovered after the sinking of the Lusitania. (C. Int. News Service.)
One American Family Lost on the Lusitania.
Wife and children of Paul Crompton. Not only hundreds of non-combatant men, but many women and children were intentionally sunk with the Lusitania.
New York Tribune: “Failing these things, no American should misunderstand the meaning of the present crisis; no American should shrink from the facts that cannot be evaded or avoided. If Germany has once and for all embarked upon a deliberate campaign of murder directed against American citizens, there can be but one consequence—the end is inescapable.”
New York World: “The main thing that concerns the American government today is not the subordinate question of reparation for the assassination of American citizens who were traveling on the Lusitania. It is the broader question of whether Germany can be brought to her senses and induced to abandon methods of warfare that are a crime against civilization and an affront to humanity.”
New York Times: “Neither in law nor in custom is there any extenuation for this act of monstrous inhumanity, no exception, no condition, can be made to shield it from the full force and condemnation it deserves and has received. And the warning advertisement published by the German Embassy here, being notice of an intent to commit a crime, is of no more avail for exculpation than a Black Hand letter of threat.”
New York Globe: “The duty of this government is sufficiently clear. In a formal and emphatic manner, not shrinking from explicit characterization, it should denounce the greatest international outrage that has occurred since the Boxer savages of China, with the countenance of a treacherous government, attacked the women and children in the legations at Pekin.”
Philadelphia Public Ledger: “As it stands the horror is almost inconceivable. There has been nothing like it before. One of the consequences of this war ought to be that nothing like it can ever happen again. Unless civilization is to relapse into barbarism, helpless non-combatants must not be exposed in such a fashion to the worst calamities of war.”
Boston Transcript: “The torpedoing of the Lusitania was not battle—it was massacre. To destroy an enemy ship, an unarmed merchant vessel of great value and power, is an act of war; to sink her in such a manner as to send hundreds of her passengers, among them many neutrals, to their death, is morally murder, and no technical military plea will avail to procure any other verdict at the bar of civilized public opinion.”
Boston Post: “The sinking of the British liner Lusitania by the torpedo of a German submarine with terrible loss of life, is the worst crime against civilization and humanity that the modern world has ever known. It is a reversion to barbarism that will set the whole world, save perhaps the little world of its perpetrators, aflame with horror and indignation.”
Boston Traveler: “With the destruction of this queen of the ocean liners and the hundreds of lives of non-combatant men, women and children, also came the ruin of the last vestige of the structure of international law and humane consideration that through the centuries mankind has been striving to erect. The very life and honor of the nation depend upon the manner in which this attack upon its integrity is adjudicated, even if any adjudication of a civil nature will be deemed sufficient to permit of a peaceful, to say nothing of a friendly, adjustment.”
Hartford Courant: “It is hard to find in the dictionary the words strong enough to fit such conduct, and the effect of the destruction of the ship and the loss of lives will be to turn public sentiment more than ever against the Germans.”
Providence Journal: “Scores of Americans were murdered yesterday on the high seas, by order of the German government. Men and women, citizens of the United States, traveling peaceably on a merchant steamer, have been sent to their death by the deliberately planned act of Emperor William and his advisers.”
Providence Evening Tribune: “The torpedoing of the Lusitania, in that it destroyed innocent American lives, was a capital crime committed by Germany against the United States. A capital crime is a crime punishable by death. And in the case of a nation punitive death is usually administered by the process of war.”
Chicago Herald: “International law contemplates the capture of merchant vessels. It contemplates their destruction under certain conditions. But it does not contemplate, provide for or justify destruction of the crews and passengers of such ships without giving them a chance for safety.”
Minneapolis Journal: “Germany intends to become the outlaw of nations. Perhaps we are yet to witness savagery carried to its ultimate perfection.”
Minneapolis Tribune: “The sinking of the Lusitania is outside the rules of civilized warfare. The President will have the loyal support of the people of this country in whatever course wise counsel may find it necessary to pursue.”
Denver Rocky Mountain News: “Mankind will hang its head in shame. It was not war. It is not England that suffers; it is not the relatives and friends of the dead that suffer only; the people of Germany will suffer for the deed of yesterday.”
Washington Post: “No warrant whatever, in law or morals, can be found for the willful destruction of an unarmed vessel, neutral or enemy, carrying passengers, without giving them an opportunity to leave the vessel. Germany stands indicted on this charge, and if it is proved the world will not exonerate that nation for the awful destruction of innocent life.”
Baltimore American: “Americans must and will resent the invasion of their rights, and in this there can be no division of American sentiment.”
Charleston News and Courier: “The destruction of the Lusitania has been accomplished, it now appears, with the most diabolically cruel deliberation. If this shall be established as a fact, there can be no question that the wrath of the American people will flame—and should flame.”
New Orleans Times-Picayune: “What is Washington going to do about it? Slaughter of American citizens in contravention of all laws of warfare has placed the United States in a position that is intolerable. Our people were wantonly done to death.”
Even sterner was the tone of the editorial opinion of the Canadian press. In many cases the actual intervention of the United States in the war was advocated. The following excerpts are characteristic of the opinion of the newspapers of Canada:
Toronto Daily News: “This fresh display of Teutonic Kultur raises anew the question as to how long the Washington government is going to be scorned and trampled upon by the most unscrupulous and barbarous race of modern times. What effect will this deliberate destruction of hundreds of American citizens in cold blood have upon public sentiment throughout the United States? Can President Wilson forever stand aside while international law and international moral standards are cast to the winds by a brutal and infuriated people?”
Toronto Mail and Empire: “The Washington government knows why the American citizens whose names are on the passenger list of the Lusitania trusted themselves to the ship despite the warnings of the Kaiser’s agents and accomplices in New York. Those American men and women disregarded the warnings, not because they believed the Germans incapable of torpedoing a passenger vessel, but because they felt that the neutrality and puissance of their nation would be respected. The Washington government cannot let these American citizens who relied on its protection go unavenged.”
Toronto Globe: “But what of the United States. Does President Wilson propose to let German submarines destroy the lives of American citizens because they choose to cross the Atlantic in a passenger ship flying the British flag? Does he still think the mad dog of Europe can be trusted at large? Is it not almost time to join in hunting down the brute?”
Toronto Daily Star: “The sinking of the Lusitania was not necessary to prove what was already abundantly demonstrated—that there is no length of vindictiveness to which Germany will not go. There is no lesson to be drawn from it except that Germany must be fought to a finish, and that all the resources of the allied countries must be marshalled for that purpose. We are engaged in no ordinary war. The very existence of civilization is at stake. The civilized world is threatened by a nation that has deliberately gone back to barbarism and given a free rein to criminal instincts. Denunciation and rebuke are of no avail in such a case. The conflict is between a powerful criminal and those who desire to live under the reign of law; and the time has come for every man who believes in law, in every nation, to fight for the life of civilization.”
That the torpedoing of the Lusitania was not an act of war in the technical sense committed by Germany as against the United States, was the view expressed by Mr. McGregor Young, professor of international law in Toronto University, who said in an interview:
“Certain acts are acts of war in the technical sense—acts, that is to say, which touch the state qua state. But the torpedoing of the Lusitania does not come within that category, so far as the United States is concerned. It is not an act such as is not compatible with friendly relations between that country and Germany. The Lusitania was a British ship, and the American passengers on board her were really an incident, as it were. Whether it would be consistent with the United States’ self-respect to put up with Germany’s action is another matter. That is a question as to which a nation must judge for itself.”
Mr. E. F. B. Johnston, K.C., gave his opinion as follows:
“The Lusitania was a vessel owned by a British company, carrying on business in England. It was not under the control of the United States. Individual citizens choosing to travel by this boat would do so at their own risk, and so far as loss is concerned, the United States as a nation would not perhaps be legally affected. But if citizens of the United States are not to be protected by their own Government, a wholesale slaughter might be justified on the ground that the ship was English. It seems to me to be a question of policy. And, as such, one would say that it was the duty of the United States to protect, as far as possible, their own citizens.”
On the Sunday following the destruction of the Lusitania reference to the disaster was made by countless clergymen throughout Canada. Varying sentiments were expressed in their sermons, but perhaps the keynote was sounded by the Rev. W. H. Hincks, D.D., pastor of Trinity Methodist Church, Toronto, who alluded to the subject as follows:
“Neutral nations headed by the President of the United States seven months ago entered a united diplomatic protest against the violation of the branch of The Hague Convention which has to do with the killing of civilians. The greatest thinkers in Great Britain have taken the view that the United States can do more good as a neutral by exerting her influence in the interest of humanity and in accordance with The Hague Convention than in entering unprepared into the war. Our duty is to pray for the President of the United States, that, surrounded by the wisest of his advisers, he may take action with other neutral nations to prevent the repetition of such a crime.”
PRESIDENT WILSON’S GREAT RESPONSIBILITY — THE NOTE TO GERMANY — ATTACKS CALLED CONTRARY TO RULES OF WARFARE — WARNING TO GERMANY RECALLED — SUBMARINE WARFARE ON COMMERCE CONDEMNED — PUBLISHED WARNING DECLARED NO EXCUSE FOR ATTACK — PROMPT, JUST ACTION BY GERMANY EXPECTED — THE WHOLE NATION BEHIND THE PRESIDENT — SOUTH AND WEST RESOUNDED WITH APPROVAL.
Rarely has a man in any office of life had laid upon his shoulders so great a responsibility as was thrust upon President Wilson by the destruction of more than a hundred American lives in the Lusitania disaster. No heart was more sorely stricken than his by the dastardly calamity, and yet it is characteristic of the man, and to his everlasting credit, that when impetuous minds were urging him to hasty action, his reply was,
“We must think first of humanity.”
A man of lesser stature, mentally and spiritually, would have required a host of counselors. In the great crisis which he faced President Wilson assumed for himself full responsibility. There was the rare spectacle of a man great enough and sure enough to determine wholly within his own mind upon the action he should take. He sought no advice; he eschewed advisers. In solitude he evolved his supreme duty.
When, in the seclusion of his own soul, he had fixed upon his policy, he proceeded in the same way to put it into words. It is a thing perhaps without precedent before the administration of President Wilson that the note to the German government, which has become a historic document, was written originally by the President in shorthand. After he had set down the communication in this way he transcribed it on his own typewriter. No official or clerk of the White House had any part in the preparation of the document until after it had been presented to the members of the Cabinet. Not even Secretary Bryan saw it in advance of that time.
The full text of President Wilson’s note, dated May 13, and communicated over the name of Secretary of State Bryan, is as follows: