PROGRESS OF THE WAR
At time of writing no additional ships aro reported to have been torpedoed in the AVestern Atlantic, but the situation created by tho extension of the, German submarine campaign to that region is in some respects developing. .An increase' of one-third in the Atlantic warrisk presumably means that business men take a serious view of the new dangers to which shipping is exposed, and that it is regarded as possible at least that Germany may accomplish something more than a spectacular raid. The question, of course, is not settled by the reported movement of the insurance rate, but it should soon be put to a definite test. German agents in New' York aro said to be- openly boasting that- U53 intends to sink nine ships, all save one of them British, which arc named in the news to-day. The Itochambeau is French.. The Manchuria mentioned is probably a British steamer of 2997 tons, but there is an American liner of over 13,000 tons bearing the same uame. The German talk about these ships may be mere bluff, but after the case of tho Lusitania this cannot be taken for granted. Whatever is attempted by U53 and any consorts she may have, the protective measures taken by the Navy will no doubt be quickly elaborated' and improved upon, as they have bcr.n in every area selected by the submarines for attack on seaborne commerce. This apart, if. liners are attacked it will have to be assumed that Germany is prepared to face tho prospect of war with Araorica, and incidentally the loss of half a million tons of shipping interned in American ports, rather, than impose limits upon hm; submarine operations. The sinking of a passenger liner would almost certianly entail loss of life', even if the ship were warned beforehand, and the proportion of American passengers in the liners now crossing the Atlantic is probably large. In effect, therofore, if USH or another sub'marino attacks a liner on the approaches' to the American coast, the act will be practically equivalent to a declaration of war on America. Relations between Germany and America are already at a very critical pass, and any such outrage as German agents in New York are predicting would bp calculated to exhaust even tho American Government's almost limitless capacity for temporising.
According to a dispatch published by the War York World tho mission on which Mi:. Gerard (American Ambassador to Germany) has returnocl to the United States lias much more to do with GermanAmerican relations than with' German peace proposals. Whatever Mil. Gerard himself may have said on the subject, the dispatch gives a not improbable explanation of his mission. In any case a belief that the situation as between Germany and America is grave .does not by any means rest only upon theories as to the precise motive which induced Mr. Gerard to cross the Atlantic. Reports deolaro that the Germans sank the British steamer Strathdene without warning, and also sank an innocent neutral steamer which had no contraband aboard. If these reports are true, then the American Government is faced by the flagrant violation at its own doors of tho agreement which it extorted from Germany six months ago in regard to the use and control ol submarines. In a Noto dispatched on April 18 the American Government fastened responsibility for the Sussex crime on Germany, and, after traversing the circumstances of the submarine war, made the following declaration:—
To its pain, it has become clear to it (Hi© American Government) that the standpoint which it adopted from the beginning is inevitably right—namely, that the employment of submarines for the destruction of enemy trade is of necessity, owing to the oharaoter of the ships employed and the methods of attaok which their use involves, completely irreconcilable with the principles of humanity, with the long-existing," undisputed rights of neutrals, and with the. sacred privileges of non-combatants. If it is still the intention of the Imperial Government to wage further war mercilessly and indiscriminately with submarines against merchantmen without respect for what the Government of the United States must regard as the sacred and indisputable rules of international law and the generally recognised dicMes ■of humanity, the United States, Government will bo finally forced to the conclusion that there is only one course it can take. If the Imperial Government should not now, without delay, proclaim and make effective renunciation of its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and cargo ships, the United States Government can have no other choice than to break off completely diplomatic relations with the German Government. .v.. It was to the demands thus embodied that Germany soon afterwards assented. The concession, it is true, was saddled with conditions relating to'the blockade practice of tho Allies, but these were repudiated by America, and not pressed by Germany. If tho reports regarding the torpedoing of the • Strathdene and the Dutch steamer Bloomersdyk are in accordance with, the facts the issue as between Germany and America has already been carried beyond the limits of amicable settle-, ment as these wore laid down by the last-mentioned country in its Note of April last.
The theory of fcho New Tor.k Tribune that the, missing Bremen has, in 'fact, been lurking for some time on the- American coast, and has accumulated supplies from a-tender sent out from clay to day to look for her, may seem to be somewhat farfetched. But it is rather striking that a responsible American newspaper should regard as possible such a. slack control and pdl icing of the American coast and territorial waters as this state of affairs would imply. ' Granted the .'conditions which the. Tribune assumes it would no doubt be quite practicable for one submarine to. act. as, mothership to others, and so extend the limits of their cruising. This would mean, however, that tbo United States wcro violating tho Hague Convention by permitting their territory to bo used as a base of naval operations.
Activity by German submarines in the northern part of the White Sea is not a new development. The underwater raiders have operated in this region from an early period of the war, though not a great deal has been heard on tho subject. The season for which the White Sea is open to shipping will soon come to an end, and the submarines will have to choose another cruising ground for the winter. Unless a bettor route is opened on the south, which is not by any means impossible, the Russians will no doubt during the winter import large quantities of supplies through their open port in Kola Bay, considerably to the westward of'the White Sea. The approaches to this port will hardly be an attractive cruising ground for submarines during the winter, more especially as they would be operating at a distance of about 1700 miles from their base, and a long way within, the Arctic circle.
There is little detail news at time of writing of tho various land campaigns, but tho French have driven home another successful attack on the southern section of the offensive front south of the Somme. In Macedonia the Allied offensive is making steady headway, both on tho approaches to Monastir and east of the Struma. ,
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2900, 12 October 1916, Page 4
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1,213PROGRESS OF THE WAR Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2900, 12 October 1916, Page 4
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