New-York tribune. [volume], November 18, 1918, Page 8, Image 8

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"The Freedom of the Seas"
Being unable to interpret it, the Brit?
ish government reserved adhesion to
Article II of President Wilson's fourteen
peace conditions?the one dealing with
"the freedom of the seas."
Article II reads:
Absolute freedom of navigation upon
the seas, outside territorial waters, alike
in peace and in war, except as the seas
may be closed in whole or in part by
international action for the enforcement
of international covenants.
Confusion as to the meaning of this
language is universal. Admiral Sims
said in London the other day: "I am
unable to find any one on either side
to give a definition of the 'freedom of
the seas.'" Thereupon, according to a
Washington dispatch to The Tribune,
he was rebuked by an "authority" at the
Navy Department, who declared: "Ad?
miral Sims abandons the traditional
policy of the United States."
That glittering generality has been
the refuge of all those who have tried
to define the President's attitude toward
the free use of the seas. It was used
by "The Evening Post" in January,
1917, to justify his enigmatic remarks
about the freedom of the seas in his
"peace without victory" address to
Congress. It is still being used. Mr.
David Lawrence, that busy interpreter
o? Mr. Wilson's thoughts and phrases,
wrote in one of his articles last week:
"There is reason to believe that the
possibility of friction on the freedom
of the seas has been exaggerated in
some British quarters, for America is
going to stand for exactly the things
which Elihu Boot, as Secretary of State,
expressed at the behest of President
.Roosevelt in IS 07."
If America is going to do* that, it is
?ot going to stand for Article H, or for
any other of Mr. Wilson's pronounce?
ments on the freedom of the seas. The
-American delegates to The Hagne Con?
ference of 1907 presented an amend?
ment to one of the treaties concerning
warfare at sea, which read:
The -private property elf all citizen*? ot
subje_*t_ of the Bi***nai?*?>K*y powers- tcitk.
the exception oj cowfombaml of war,
nh_JQ be " ?^mpt from ea:--)-i_s-_ ___d seiz?
ure an the k__i by i3ae traed vessels
ar by the mxHtaiy forces ?f any of the
signatory p_-*?-_**j_.
Tira amendment was re;jecie?cL If it
lad been adopted it might have seemed
at that time to represent a material ex?
tension of nButral sea rights. Bat the
?actntardiirary extension of belligerent
sea rights in ____ world war just ending
"would have made such a concession
practically worthless. Contraband lists
have been extended to cover praetically
aU articles of commerce, private ship?
ping has been converted on an enormous
scale to military uses, and blockades
have been imposed which have put all
the trade of the world directly under
the supervision of the belligerents hav?
ing control of the sea. In the latter
years of the war free navigation of any
?art has been virtually ?strangled.
It is inconceivable that President
Wilson should have been thinking about
securing absolute freedom of naviga?
tion, alike in peace and in war, by writ?
ing into international law a puny amend?
ment such as the United States offered,
without success, at the last Hague con?
ference
Article II of the fourteen peace con?
ditions can, in fact, be understood only
by studying its origin and development.
It cropped out in 1917 as a sop to Ger?
many in the framing of a "peace with
? out victory." Germany wanted unre?
stricted navigation and commerce in
time of war. That would liave been
of vast military advantage to her. She
was strong for the abolition of commer?
cial blockades.
In his peace address on January 22,
1917, the President coquetted with those
idea*. He said: "No douM a somewhat
practical reconsideration of many of
the rules of international practice hith?
erto sought to be established may be
necessary in order to make the seas
indeed free and common, in practically
all circumstances, for the use of man?
kind, but the motive for r*uch changes is
compelling." Ku-*h a reconsideration
would plainly involve an abrogation of
contraband regulations and of commer
i la! blockade?.
But, by way of casting an anchor to
windward for the benefit of hi? "inter?
preters," the President remarked, near
the end1,i hi? address: "I a/n proposing
?. . that freedom of the ?eas which is in
ternational conference after interna?
tional conference representatives of the
United States have urged with the elo?
quence of those who are the convinced
disciples of liberty."
Secretary Lansing's mind was also
working at that time on the subject of
the greater freedom of the seas. He
wrote a letter in January, 1917, to the
American Institute of International
Law, in session at Havana, Cuba, in
which he said:
Judicial decisions, text writers and in?
ternational agreements have given all the
advantage to the belligerent and have
shown little regard for the rights of neu?
trals. It would appear that it is time
to reverse this process of treatment of
the subject of neutrality and to deal with
it from the point of view of the neutrals.
At Mr. Lansing's suggestion Dr. Ale?
jandro Alvarez, secretary general of the
institute, a Chilean jurisconsult, had
prepared a new sea code for the in?
stitute's indorsement. Here are some
illuminating excerpts from it:
Article I
Neutrality, especially maritime neu?
trality, must hereafter be regulated not
merely on the basis of the rights of bel?
ligerents, but especially on that of the
rights of neutrals, by safeguarding com?
mercial liberty and releasing neutrals
from the useless burdens resting on them
with a view to observing neutrality.
Article II
When war is declared the neutral states
of the entire world shall, upon the re?
quest of the Administrative Council of
the Permanent Hague Court, meet in
conference, in order:
1. To take all necessary measures to
maintain the freedom of commerce and
navigation of the neutral countries.
2. To determine the list of articles to
be regarded as contrabmd.
3. To see especially to the observance
of all neutral rights and duties estab?
lished in these present rules and to exer?
cise any other powers granted them by
the said rules.
Article VII
The commercial blockade, both of the
belligerent ports and the maritime zones
along belligerent coasts, is formally for?
bidden, no matter what the means by
which the blockade is to be effected.
Article VIII
The right of private property in the
open sea is inviolable. Belligerent and
neutral merchant vessels may in no case
be confiscated nor sunk, under any pre?
text whatever. If carrying contraband,
this may be confiscated or destroyed by
the captor.
Article IX
The right of search is abolished. . . .
Here is a "somewhat practical" re?
vision of the rules of warfare at sea.
It destroys naval power. It ends block?
ades. It would have given Germany
exactly what she wanted four years ago,
and would perhaps have enabled her to
win the war. It penalizes the nations
whose military strength is on the water
and plays into the hands of those best
able to make war on land.
It is nearly two years since Mr. Wil?
son put out his first version of the
''freedom of the seas. " He claimed that
his first vague programme was in har?
mony with American tradition. How can
any one say that his final programme
has American tradition behind it?
"Absolute freedom of navigation upon
the seas, outside territorial waters,
alike in peace and in war, except as
the seas may be closed in whole or in
part by international action for the
enforcement of international coven?
ants." (Article II. Fourteen Peace Con?
ditions.)
Here is the full growth of the con?
ception of an internationalized ocean.
Is it any wonder that Great Britain
shied at it? Is there any reason why
the United States, the second maritime
power in the world, should try to have
it incorporated in terms of peace dic?
tated to Germany?
Belgium's Day of Glory
Belgium's martyrdom is almost over.
The Germans have evacuated Antwerp.
They have left Brussels. Soon they will
be clear of Namur and Li?ge. They are
quitting, humiliated and broken in spirit,
the heroic little country which they have
tyrannized over for four years and a
quarter.
Belgium was tried more harshly, per?
haps, than any other of Germany's vic?
tims. But she has come through her
trial, as President Wilson has well said,
with "imperishable glory." She was an
artificial nation, a creation of European
diplomacy. Her status was that of a
protege of the various powers which
guaranteed her independence and terri?
torial integrity. She was bound over to
neutrality. She enjoyed something less
than the full rights of sovereignty.
But when the courage and spirit of
her people were tested she vindicated
nobly her right to exist as an equal in
the family of free nations. Nothing
could have been finer than her proud
reply to Germany's insulting demand
for the use of her territory as a path?
way into France. Nothing could have
been more inspiring than her choice be?
tween military annihilation and dis?
honor.
For a time German military power
seemed to carry everything before it.
Evil prospered. But even if Germany
had come nearer to a military decision
than she did in France in 1914 or in
Russia in 1916, she would still have
failed because of the challenge to the
security of the neutral nations which
her treatment of Belgium emphasized.
The outrages inflicted on the Belgian
people left the German cause without a
disinterested friend or an unpurchased
apologist anywhere outside the bounda?
ries of the Quadruple Alliance.
Belgium has Bymholi**ed the cause for
which the Allies fought. In the day of
triumph Bhe a?ks nothing but just repa?
ration. This ?he will get. She has the
first claim on German atonement. She
<|_*erves more. She deserves full inde?
pendence. And if Luxemburg wants to
unit? with her &o obstacle ought to fet
put in the way of such a union. Perse?
cution has unified the Belgians. A he?
roic people, under a heroic king, they
have won for themselves a proud place
in a new Europe dedicated to a recog?
nition of the aspirations of all races and
peoples which have the real stuff of
nationality in them.
A Great Example
The biggest news does not always
get the headlines. Announcement from
Washington, in technical trade terms, of
an historic agreement between the Amer?
ican copper industry and the War Indus?
tries Board was printed by The Tribune
on its financial page and by the other
New York papers that carried it at all in
various obscure positions. Yet nothing
more important has happened since the
signing of the armistice.
The agreement is?
(1) That the production of copper
shall continue undiminished;
(2) That the price shall be unchanged;
(3) That wages shall be maintained;
and,
(4) That the War Industries Board
shall distribute the output?all until
January 1.
The purpose is to restore the copper
industry to a peace basis without any
boom or panic or stultifying uncertainty.
The same thing can be done with every
great productive industry.
Ws know by experience that it is im?
possible to produce more iron and copper
and cotton and oil and other imperish?
able basic commodities than the world
can use. If by chance you produce
more than the world is immediately ready
to use, you have only to store it safely
and it is so much true capital ahead.
Then why not go on producing the
basic things as before, at the same rate,
at the same prices and at the same
wages?
If the demand for the surplus should
lag for a little while, no matter. The
surplus will not spoil. We are rich
enough to carry it until the world is
ready to take it.
People cannot impoverish themselves
by producing more than they consume.
The only prqblem is to see that those
who assist in the production shall
participate fairly in the ultimate pro?
ceeds. That is a detail of finance. The
principle alone is important.
We congratulate the chairman of the
War Industries Board and the men of
the copper industry on their famous
example.
After the Slump
It is still a dull front page that greets
us in the morning if we compare it with
pages of the last four years. But com?
pare it with pages of the old, faraway
days before the fighting. If the period
of the Great War was the most interest?
ing in historic times, surely the period
now about us is the next most interest?
ing. And the news and problems and
guesses and thoughts of to-day and the
whole long period of pacification and
settlement and reconstruction offer a
programme of entertainment and thrill
that ordinary folks accustomed to peace
would fall over one another to see.
Most of us are already beginning to
prick up our ears a bit, we think. The
first awful slump has almost passed
away. The feeling of being suddenly set
down in an utterly empty room is no
more. Fresh objects of interest are
constantly appearing out of the void. He
that was the Kaiser, for instance. What
does'he think of himself when he wakes
up in the morning? Is he simply de?
pressed and stricken? Or is he, like a
true German, hurt and abused and angry
and vindictive toward Gott because of
the trick that was played on him? What
do the German people think of it all?
Are the Bavarians better or worse in
their attitude? Then there is the betting
on Bolshevism. It is on the wane, will
never spread in Germany and will soon
vanish in Russia. Or is it sweeping
westward like a prairie fire to consume
us all? Who will be the last king to go,
by the way?
It is an awful mess?that is the great
difference. The Great War, for all its
colossal size and unbelievable variety, of
weapon, of invention, of place, was a
clear-cut duel, as directly personal a
combat of two forces, of two personali?
ties, as any fight in a prizering. The
great reconstruction is a hopeless med?
ley. Most of us have our pet theory of
the unity, the theme underlying it all.
But the show is not single. It is a con?
fused jumble of warring factors, with
neither goal nor process clear or com?
prehended. It is exactly as manifold
and vari-colorcd and disturbed and con?
fusing as a crowd in action. You pick
out one group advancing, only to see it
swallowed up in another. Personalities
occupy the headlines for a day and
depart.
Right hero is the true fascination oi
this new period. After you had read all
the war experts and seen them duly con?
firmed or contradicted by tho issue any?
body could follow the dramatic action o?
the war. But no experts can forecast
what is happening now. There are nc
definite t-limaxee. The show is not drama
at all, but chaoa. Or so it now appears
The interest will lie in seeking out the
thread, sensing a unity between an out?
cry at The Hague and a government con?
cession in Stockholm, attempting to work
out a formula for it all, or at least a no?
tion of tho direction of the mind and itt
probable force. Also, if poesiblcf ol
making up one's own mind about a teriei
of world problems the knottiest and most
difficult ever assembled under one roof?
problems which have heretofore defied
every last mind that ever tackled them.
Not exactly a hopelessly dull and safe
era, is it?
Henry Allen, hero of William Allen
White's book "The Martial Adventures
of Henry and Me," is on his way back
from his Red Cross work in France. In
his absence he was elected Governor of
Kansas by the largest majority ever
given a candidate. The Wichita Beacon,
of which he is editor, made no mention
of his candidacy during the political
campaign in which the Republicans swept
the state. He will succeed Governor
Arthur Capper, who was elected Senator.
How doth the busy Hun improve each
shining hour! Out in California he has
been poisoning flowers to kill bees. The
California Association of Bee Raisers
has offered a reward of $5,000 for the
capture of the anti-honey Hun.
As Nations Can
By Theodore Roosevelt
(Copyright by The Kansas City Star)
FUNDAMENTALLY war and peace are
matters of the heart rather than of
organization, and any declaration or peace
league which represents the high flown
sentimentality of pacifists and doctrinaires
will be worse than useless.
But if without in the smallest degree
sacrificing our belief in a sound and intense
national aim we all join with the people
of England, France and-Italy, and with the
people in smaller states who in practice
show themselves able to steer equally clear
of Bolshevism and of Kaiserism, we may
be able to make a real and much needed
advance in the international organization.
The United States cannot again com?
pletely withdraw into its shell. We need
not mix in all European quarrels nor as?
sume all spheres of interest everywhere to
be ours, but we ought to join with the
other civilized nations of the world in some
scheme that in a time of great stress would
offer a likelihood of obtaining just settle?
ments that will avert war.
Therefore, in my judgment, the United
States at the peace conference ought to be
able to cooperate, effectively with the British
and French and Italian governments to sup?
port a practical and effective plan which
won't attempt the impossible, but which
will represent a real step forward.
Probably the first essential would be to
limit the league at the outset to the Allies,
to the people with whom we have been
operating and wkh whom we are certain
we can cooperate ~in the future.
Neither Turkey nor Austria need now be
considered as regarda such a league, and
we should clearly understand that Bol?
shevist Russia is and that Bolshevist Ger?
many would be as undesirable in such a
league as the German and Russian of the
Hohenzollerns and Romanoffs.
Bolshevism is just as much an interna?
tional menace as Kaiserism.
Until Germany and Russia have proved
by a course of conduct extending over years
that they are capable of entering such a
league in good faith, so that we can count
upon their fulfilling their duties in it, it
would be merely foolish to take them in.
?The league, therefore, would have to be
based on the combination among the Allies
of the present war, together with any peo?
ples like the Czecho-Slovaks, who have
shown that they are fully entitled to enter
into such a league if they desire to do so.
Each nation should absolutely reserve to
itself its right to establish its own tariff
and general economic policy and absolutely
ought to control such vital questions as
immigration and citizenship and the form
of government it prefers. Then it would
probably be best for certain spheres of
interest to be reserved to each nation or
a group of nations.
The northernmost portion of South Amer?
ica and Mexico and Central America, all of
them fronting on the Panama Canal, have
a special interest to the United States, more
interest than they can have for any Euro?
pean or Asiatic power. The general con?
duct of Eastern Asiatic policy bears a most
close relationship to Japan. The same thing
is true as regards other nations and cer?
tain of the peculiarly African and Euro?
pean questions. Everything outside of what
is thus reserved, which affects any two
members of the league or affects one mem?
ber of the league and outsiders, should be
decided by some species of court, and all
the people of the league should guarantee
to use their whole strength in enforcing the
decision.
(Copyright, 1018, by The Kama? City Star)
Preaching Americanism
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The defeat of all the six New York
Socialist candidates for Congress at this
election does not moan that the grip of in?
ternational socialism upon our foreign-born
population has at all lessened. The result
at the polls was primarily a reaction of the
war. The community at large must not
think that the black flag of anarchy, which
is prone to blend into the red emblem of
socialism, is gone from our midst.
An important work in this connection is
being done by the National Security
League's "propaganda regiment" of open-air
soapbox orators, known as the "flying
squadron." These Security League speak?
ers, I believe, played an important part in
the defeat of the Socialist?, and it was most
interesting for me to observe how they
smoked out the hidden anti-war planks of
the St. Louis platform. The speakers never
attacked socialism per se, but always made
it clear to their street audiences that their
objection was purely to Socialists who de?
nounced the objects of America in the war.
The manner in which these volunteer
workers of the Security League expounded
loyal Americanism to their audiences, par?
ticularly on the East Side, where I was able
to observe them nt first bund, is deserving
of sincere commendation. I am glad to see
that to-dny we are not. iishumcd to preach a
good healthy, red-blooded Americanism and
love of country on the highway and byway.
B. S. BRIGGS.
New York, Nov. 14, 1918.
Punishment to Fit the Crime
(/"rom The, Emporio, lian., (iaxettn)
We may be accused of being unduly
bloodthirsty, but our opinion of a suitable
punishment /or the Kaiser is to compel
him to shava with a dollar safety razor.
SHOES & SHIPS &
. SEALING WAX
THE TWO O'CLOCK BOTTLE
How clear to my brain are the nights of
your childhood,
When Father Experience holds them
to view;
The Horlick's, the Borden's from cows
of the wildivood,
In all of those quarts which your in?
fancy knew.
The hard-earned old greenbacks, I'd pay
to the milkman,
The debts that I owed him, the yarns
that I wove;
How clad in pajamas at two I would
shiver,
While getting the bottle which sat on
the stove.
The two o'clock bottle, the cussed-at old
bottle,
That two o'clock bottle which sat on the
stove.
But, kid, it was worth it, and any time
you
Should wish for refreshment at one or
at two;
Just yodle your signal, and then the old
man
Will gumshoe downstairs and collect
what he can.
And out of the zero and darkness I'll
bring
A bottle, or crackers, or any old thing;
And down at the side of your crib in
delight,
We'll go to the eats in the small of the
night.
LESLIE ALAN TAYLOR.
* * *
We move that the peace table be set
for Thanksgiving Day and that the
Kaiser's goose be served thereon.
* # *
We'll Do It
F. F. V.?Now that we are permitted
to dwell on causes of death other than
gas and shell?
Why not canvass your readers to as?
certain (1) how many of them have met
their death in revolving doors, and (2)
if any of them have survived, to what
cause, accident or precaution they be?
lieve they owe their lives? A. F. A.
* * *
Indian summer is the time when peo?
ple in the city long to get back to the
country and people in the country won?
der if they hadn't better move to the
city, after all.
* * *
MOTHER GOOSESTEP
I love those dear Germans,
Their hearts are so warm.
And if we disarm them
They'll do us no harm.
We'll send thera new clothing
And shiploads of food.
They'll divido with the Allies
Because they're so good.
GEORGIANA P. CHEESMAN.
* * *
"Germany is appealin' to Wilson and
Lansing and Mrs. Wilson and Jane
Addams and most every one but me,"
says Uncle Abimelech Bogardus, of
Preakness, N. J. "There ain't no ani
mile on God's footstool that will tell its
sorrows so loud to the hull world as a
plain hog, is there?"
* * *
Legible Clerks, Attention !
I CLERK.?Must write eligible hand. "Ellgrible,"
Ihe Tribune.
* * *
CARDROOM EPITAPHS
JOE GOOF HAS CLIMBED THE GOLDEN
STAIK.
TO CHANGE HIS LUCK HE'D MUSS
HIS HAIR
OR GALLOP MADLY 'ROUND A CHAIR.
* ?c *
Admiral Hipper has met Admiral
Beatty at sea for a second time, and will
probably return to Germany less winded
than on his former encounter.
F. F. V.
'The German War9
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Creasy has given us a list of what
he calls the "Fifteen Decisive Battles of
the World." These begin with the Battle
of Marathon, 490 B. C, and end with the
Battle of Waterloo, in 1816. Since the book
was written about 1850, it obviously fails
to include certain recent battles which
would be generally regarded as decisive. In
this class certain of the battles in our Civil
War, in the Franco-Prussian War, and in
the Russo-Japanese War might possibly be
included. It may be that the war which has
just closed should find a place, although
there was no battle that was decisive in
the sense that Waterloo was decisive.
Looking over the list given by Creasy, it
will be noted that twelve bear the names of
places at or near which the battles were
fought; two are given the names of the vic?
tors?Arminius and Joan of Arc; and one
is designated as "The Defeat of the Spanish
Armada." Practically all the battles in our
recent war have been named from the, geog?
raphy of the country.
It is, however, of far greater importance
to select an appropriate designation for a
war as a whole than for its individual bat?
tles. Most of us have referred to the hos?
tilities of the last four years as "The War."
I If any one designation has come into use
| more than another it would seem to be "The
World War." It seems to the writer that
this is open to considerable objection.
While it is true that the greater part of
the world was at war, it is also true that
by far the greater part of those engaged in
hostilities did so from necessity rather than
from choice. It is not quite fair to the
world as a whole to use this designation.
Now that we are in a position to look
back on the whole situation it becomes
clearer every dny that the war was defi?
nitely planned by a body of unscrupulous
self-seeking Germans for personal and na?
tional profit. This being the csso, is there
any designation which so appropriately de?
scribes the conflict as "The German War" I
JAMES S. STEVEN?.
University of Maine, Orono, Me., Nov.
? 18, 1918.
GEHT WEG!
"Anywhere, anywhere, out of the world."
Keepers of Seas
By P. W. Wilson
(American Correspondent of The London Daily News)
IN THE press this week there have been
somewhat severe comments upon Great
Britain's alleged attitude toward what
is called the "Freedom of the Seas." Will
you allow me to state the position as we
see it? Our case may be good or bad, but
it cannot be answered until it is heard, and
at present that hearing is all that we de?
sire.
Without claiming to understand American
opinion, I may mention, perhaps, that after
addressing more than a hundred meetings,
in many of which questions were invited
and asked, I have not once heard a criticism
of the British navy and its policy. On the
contrary, I have been told repeatedly that
I put the case for the British navy too low.
But I recognize what allowance must be
made for the generous hospitality of Amer?
icans.
Happily it is common ground that in
times of peace the British navy, with its
strategic advantages in coaling stations, was
not used to limit the commercial opportuni?
ties of any country, least of all Germany,
which did a larger, trade with Britain than
with Austria-Hungary, where the population
is 50 per cent greater than ours.
The Seas Were Free
This fact is recognized by Mr. Hurley,
chairman of the United States Shipping
Board, who, writing in "The Humanitarian"
for October, 1918, says: "Germany's rulers,
although having the fullest access to the
sea, and with the oceans covered with Ger?
man merchant ships, set up the plea in be?
ginning the war that they were fighting for
freedom of the seas. They are still mak?
ing that absurd plea.''
The only question appears to be, there?
fore, whether we made a right use of our
navy during the two and one-h?lf years oT
war waged before the United States be?
came a belligerent.
A verdict on this matter does not concern
Great Britain alone. We were acting with
and for a league of nations as it then ex?
isted. The French, Italian, Japanese and
Russian navies followed with ours an iden?
tical policy, and if criticism is due it falls
on the Allies as one unit.
When the U. S. N. Got in
It has been argued that President Lincoln
himself, in the Civil War, adopted what I
may call the larger interpretation of block?
ade, but on that precedent I cannot express
an informed opinion. When the American
navy entered the present struggle the de?
termination to prevent aid and comfort
reaching Germany was, if anything, intensi?
fied, and, as it seems to us, there is no dis?
tinction to be drawn in principle between
American practice on the high seas in time
of war and that of the Allies. There may
be a difference, but I speak with sincerity
when 1 say that it is not clear to us.
In 1905 German pressure drove M. Del
cass? from office. France and Britain knew
that they were up against it. In 1907 we
were urged to surrender the right of
capture of private property at sea. We re?
fused to give an undertaking which woul.i
have bound us without binding the German
autocracy.
It is said that our attitude constituted an
incitement. That is not history as we read
it and as it is read by the French. In 1911
we were on the verge of war over a French
matter that is, Morocco and the disaster
was averted because Germany was told that
the British navy was a factor.
The Unbrandished Weapon
It is now known that, in August, 1914,
Germany only took the plunge because she
believed, on the reports of her agents, that
Britain would stand aside. In Paris and in
Petrograd it was a complaint against us
that in those critical days we did not more
plainly indicate that the navy was again a
factor. Among our allies it is still believed
that if wo had made our position more defi?
nite war would have been averted.
When Germany attacked France it was
our duty tc relievo the pressure by every
means in our power. "The Nation" this
week contains an article by Dr. Pitman B.
Potter, of the Carnegie Endowment for In?
ternational Peace, who says that the Dec?
laration of London "could not have been
maintained without stultifying a largo part,
if not the greater part, of British be!
ligerent action." He recalls the fact thsi
freedom of the seas would have meant rub?
ber and raw cotton for Germany.
Where Neutrals Stand
Neutrals have suffered, but it is remark?
able that every one of them to-day support
the cause for which the Allies had to tti
strong measures on the ocean four jeirc
ago. Quite frankly, we do not feel d?tl
upon to apologize because some neutral a:
goes failed to assist the enemy in his it
tempt to bombard' Paris.
We have now to consider the futur?
There is no longer any question of Brit?:;
ruling the waves. It is clear that a Stet
as powerful as hers, and probably core
powerful, will be owned by the Unite.'*
States. Also, the British navy will cia
tinue to work as it lias done in alliant'
with France, Italy and Japan, a.id there r!l
be one policy fur the ocean, pursued by
friendly nations in common.
Under a league of nations, as I read th
scheme, the Allied policy, for which preju?
dice is raised against Great Britain, would
be strengthened. If war occurred the con?
stitution of the league would prevent any
nation remaining neutral. Instead o?
searching cargoes measures would be taker
to prevent the loading of ships before the**
set sail, and the whole world would be re?
sponsible for boycotting the aggressor.
There is thus no real cause of diff?rer,?
between those who desire a league to es
force peace and the action of the All?
when they formed themselves into ?uch ?
league in order to enforce peace on Gtr
' many.
Shoal Water
But there is a danger that by attribua'"
to Great Britain responsibilities which -??
shares with other democratic nation?,;5'
eluding the United States, the advoca"*'-'
freedom of the seas ?nay inadvertent'-'-"
ate a diplomatic difficulty which U? ?*?
substance except in phrase?.
The Allies are only too anxious *? "|*
the wishes of America, but there are i"1!
people in the world who would like to'
this question to foment the old misB*'
standing between Britain and the tni
States. If they succeed and they will "^
succeed -the forces of law and o?*'
throughout the world, already m?80-;
from many sides, will be further wea??'
and no country will escape the results.
The American and British navies ??
working in absolut?' harmony, with one?*;
icy and with a joint organization. Tiie'
-justment of American and British tonn
is also unified. . ,
In all seriousness, I would sUgf;e5t.^
with the ink scarcely dry on the *rtt*
as yet unfulfilled, it is a case of *PW*
the words to the united States and all c
allies. "What God has joined together
not newspaper men put asunder.
A Child's Verdict
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: My suggestion is that Germ?^
name ought not to be spelled with ?&
letter, because she was so cruel to the ^
tries that she fought with. ?!"** 6^.
she treated Belgium, and the poor &?
of Belgium. I am so glad that Gers?"
hasn't Kaiser Bill any more.
SELMA SHAPIRO ? aged six year*.
Passaic, N. J., Nov. 15. 191S
The Figures Explained
(from The Koasoa Cita star- ^
The quartermaster general *nO0UD'?I-t-si
contracts have been placed with the n
government for 1,800,000 pairs of *** '
and 1,400,000 coats for the America ?F*^
tionary forces. The reason **? ^5
coats than trousers were ordered ? -t
is that the American boys ight *' ^
coats off, differing in this resp?- fr?^
Scotch, who merely remove their tro
Amend to Read "D?mocratie
trrotn The Kanso* Ci*? Tf"*> ,
A New Yorker writ** to The fr*"^
vocatitijr a law abolishing th? *W ^
party. W? nuggest that he t/?? ** #
the next Congress, i
i