Part 4

The German Government considered that the Declaration of London gave it the right to sink neutral prizes laden with contraband. The Dutch Government held firmly to its standpoint that the destruction of a neutral prize was in all circumstances an illegal act and that the prescription of the Declaration of London allowing, by way of exception, destruction of neutral prizes, could not be regarded as established international law.

Its offer to submit the case to international arbitration was rejected by the German Government.

_Times History of the War._

"_IRON CROSSES_"

"_You laugh, Muller! but there are still people who like them, and besides it gives me exercise_"

From the very beginning there was a wholesale distribution of Iron Crosses. Before the war the possession of an Iron Cross was a rare distinction and a cherished memory of the war of 1870. Iron Crosses soon became as plentiful as blackberries. According to official statistics there had up to the end of March, 1915, been distributed five Grand Crosses, 6,488 Iron Crosses of the First Class, and 338,261 Iron Crosses of the Second Class. During the whole of the war of 1870 only 1,304 Iron Crosses of the First Class and 45,791 Iron Crosses of the Second Class had been distributed.

_Times History of the War._

_BETHMANN-HOLLWEG AND TRUTH_

"_Truth is on the path and nothing will stay her_"

A German has written this book. No Frenchman, no Russian, no Englishman.

A German who is unbribed and unbribable, not bought and not for sale.

A German who loves his Fatherland as much as any man; but just because he loves it, he has written this book.

_Opening lines of "J'accuse"--a German to Germans--published in Switzerland, April, 1915._

The book sets out to prove that the war had long been planned and prepared by Germany and Austria, not only from the military but from the political point of view.

That it had long been determined to represent this aggressive war to the German people as a war of liberation, since it was known that only thus could the needful enthusiasm be aroused.

That the object of this war is the establishment of German hegemony on the Continent, and in due course the conquest of England's position as a world power on the principle "_Ote-toi de la que je m'y mette_."

_THE FALABA_

"_We have better luck with passenger boats than with war ships, for they cannot shoot_"

On March 28, 1915, the British steamer _Falaba_ was torpedoed by a German submarine. The torpedoes were fired while the crew and passengers were entering the small boats. More than 100 persons, including Mr. Thrasher, an American citizen, perished with the ship.

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.

BRITISH OFFICIAL PRESS BUREAU. _April 8, 1915._

_THE GAS FIEND_

At some time between 4 and 5 P.M. (22d April) 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.

BRITISH OFFICIAL EYEWITNESS. _April 27, 1915._

"We shall not allow these wonderful weapons, which German intelligence invented, to grow rusty."

_The Cologne Gazette._

Germany was a signatory to the declaration at the Hague Conference of 1899, and an article in that Declaration ran as follows: "The contracting Powers agree to abstain from the use of projectiles the sole object of which is the diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases."

_SLOW ASPHYXIATION_

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.

_Official Investigation by_ DR. J. S. HALDANE, F.R.S.

"_Hullo! Potsdam? Did you thank your dear old God for this new success?_"

The Royal Highlanders of Montreal, 13th Battalion, and the 48th Highlanders, 15th Battalion, were more especially affected by the discharge. The Royal Highlanders, though considerably shaken, remained immovable on their ground. The 48th Highlanders, who no doubt received a more poisonous discharge, were 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 a very short time. In a few moments they were again their own men. They advanced on and reoccupied the trenches which they had momentarily abandoned....

The sorely tried Battalion (the 13th) held on for a time in dug-outs, and, under cover of darkness, retired again to a new line being formed by reinforcements. The rearguard was under Lieut. Greenshields. But Major McCuaig remained to see that the wounded were removed. It was then, after having escaped a thousand deaths through the long battle of the night, that he was shot down and made a prisoner.

SIR MAX AITKEN, _in "Canada in Flanders."_

"_THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI_"

_ALL IS QUIET IN BELGIUM_

I asked General von Bissing if there was much need for this military tribunal (The Feld Gericht). I shall not forget his reply.

"We have a few serious cases," he said. "Occasionally there is a little sedition but for the most part it is only needle pricks. They are quiet now. They know why," and, slowly shaking his head, von Bissing, who is known as the sternest disciplinarian in the entire German Army, smiled.

_From an interview given by the_ GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BELGIUM _to_ EDWARD LYALL FOX, _New York Times, April, 1915._

_Germany: "Gott strafe England! or I will do it myself"_

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._ _Advertisement published in New York newspapers._

"_Well, have you nearly done?_"

The Cunard liner _Lusitania_ was yesterday torpedoed by a German submarine and sank. The _Lusitania_ was naturally armed with guns. Moreover, as is well know here, she had large quantities of war material in her cargo.

BERLIN OFFICIAL REPORT, _May 8, 1915._

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.

COLLECTOR PORT OF NEW YORK, _May 9, 1915._

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.

FROM UNITED STATES NOTE TO GERMANY, _May 13, 1915._

_THE LUSITANIA--HEROD'S NIGHTMARE_

"_Are they crying 'Mother'--or 'Murder'?_"

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.

COL. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. _May 7, 1915._

_VICTIMS OF GERMAN KULTUR_

Whatever be the other facts regarding the _Lusitania_, the principal fact is that a great steamer, primarily and chiefly a conveyance for passengers, and carrying more than a thousand souls having no part or lot in the conduct of the war, was torpedoed and sunk without so much as a challenge or a warning, that men, women and children were sent to their death in circumstances unparalleled in modern warfare.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT'S NOTE TO GERMANY.

_THE VERDICT_

"_It is the Hour, come_"

We find that this appalling crime was contrary to International law and the conventions of all civilized nations, and we therefore charge the officers of the said submarine, and the Emperor of the Government of Germany, under whose orders they acted, with the crime of wilful and wholesale murder before the tribunal of the civilized world. We desire to express our sincere condolence with the relatives of deceased; the Cunard Company; and the United States of America, so many of whose citizens perished in this murderous attack on an unarmed liner.

_The unanimous verdict of the Irish jury at the inquest of the "Lusitania" victims._

"_THIS IS TOO BORING, DO SUGGEST SOMETHING NEW_"

_Some German achievements in the first months of the Great War_:

The violation of Belgium and Luxemburg.

Massacre of civilian populations in Belgium and France.

Bombardment by warships of open towns.

Murder of civilians by air raids.

Murder of civilians on the high seas.

The introduction of liquid fire and poison gas.

Enslavement of conquered civilian communities.

"_HAVE ANOTHER PIECE?_"

Without a drop of blood flowing, and without the life of a single Italian being endangered, Italy could have secured the long list of concessions which I recently read to the House--territory in Tyrol and on the Isonzo as far as the Italian speech is heard, satisfactions of the national aspirations in Trieste, a free hand in Albania, and the valuable port of Valona.

VON BETHMANN-HOLLWEG. _Reichstag, May 28, 1915._

_THE WOLF-TRAP_

_Italy: "You would make me believe that I shall have my cub given back to me, but I know I shall have to fight for it"_

The discussion continued for months from the first days of December to March, and it was not until the end of March that Barion 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._

SIGNOR SONNINO. _Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs._ _May 25, 1915._

_THE BROKEN ALLIANCE AND ITALY_

"_Twenty years and more you've forced me to wear this chain_"

For the guardianship, therefore, of these treaties the government of the kingdom of Italy found itself constrained to notify the Imperial Austrian Government on the fourth of this month, May, 1915, that it must withdraw all of its proposals of agreement, denounce the treaty of the alliance, and declare its own liberty of action. Nor, on the other hand, was it more possible to leave Italy in isolation without security and without prestige, just at the moment in which the history of the world was taking on a decisive phase.

Everything else we must forget from this moment, and remember only this: to be _Italians_, to love all Italy with the same faith and fervor. The forces of all must be cemented into one single heart; only one single will must guide all toward the wished for end; and force, and art, and will must find their expression one, alive, and heroic in the army and navy of Italy and in the august leader who conducts them toward the destiny of the new history.

ANTONIO SALANDRA. _President of the Ministerial Council._ _Rome. May 20, 1915._

_GOTT STRAFE ITALIEN_

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 produce.

_The Frankfurter Zeitung, May 25, 1915._

_THE LATIN SISTERS_

_Italy: "Indeed she is my sister"_

Giuseppe Garibaldi with a corps of Italian soldiers went to the defense of the French Republic in the war of 1870 against the Prussians, performing heroic deeds at Dijon worthy of an epopee.

Ricciotti Garibaldi, living son of the Hero, with a corps of Italian volunteers went to the defense of Greece against Turkey in 1897, performing heroic deeds worthy of an epopee at Domokos.

Peppino Garibaldi, living son of Ricciotti, with a corps of Italian volunteers went to the defense of the French Republic in the present war against Germany, performing heroic deeds worthy of an epopee in the Argonne.

_From "Why Italy entered the Great War."_ LUIGI CARNOVALE.

_THE ZEPPELIN TRIUMPH_

"_But Mother had done nothing wrong, had she, Daddy?_"

The first Zeppelin attack on London was made on the evening of the last day of May, 1915. Zeppelins passed over Colchester at 10 o'clock, and at twenty-three minutes past ten the people in one of the poorest and most crowded quarters of East End were startled to find bomb after bomb, mainly of incendiary type, dropping among them. A large number of civilians including many women and children were killed.

By shell from sea, by bomb from air, Our greeting shall be sped, Making each English homestead A mansion of the dead. And even Grey will tremble As falls each iron word; "God punish England, brother? Yea! Punish her, O Lord!"

_A Hymn of Hate by_ HERR HOCHSTETTER. _Translated by_ CAPT. G. VALENTINE WILLIAMS. _London Daily Mail._

_MY SON, GO AND FIGHT FOR YOUR MOTHERLAND_

IS YOUR CONSCIENCE CLEAR?

Ask your conscience why you are staying comfortably at home instead of doing _your_ share for your King and Country.

1. Are you too old?

The only man who is too old is the man who is over 38.

2. Are you physically fit?

The only man who can say honestly that he is not physically fit is the man who has been told so by a Medical Officer.

3. Do you suggest you cannot leave your business?

In this great crisis the only man who cannot leave his business is the man who is himself actually doing work for the Government.

If your conscience is not clear on these three points your duty is plain.

ENLIST TO-DAY

GOD SAVE THE KING

_Newspaper advertisement in British Press, May, 1915._

_THE SACRIFICE--FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE_

The women of Great Britain will never forget what Belgium has done for all that women hold most dear.

In the days to come mothers will tell their children how a small but great-souled nation fought to the death against overwhelming odds and sacrificed all things to save the world from an intolerable tyranny.

The story of the Belgian people's defense of freedom will inspire countless generations yet unborn.

EMMELINE PANKHURST, _in "King Albert's Book."_

_ON TICKET-OF-LEAVE_

"_Next time I'll wear a German Helmet and plead 'Military Necessity'_"

The German went into this war with a mind which had been carefully trained out of the idea of every moral sense or obligation, private, public, or international. He does not recognize the existence of any law, least of all those he has subscribed to himself, in making war against women and children.

All mankind bears witness to-day that there is no crime, no cruelty, no abomination that the mind of man can conceive which the German has not perpetrated, is not perpetrating, and will not perpetrate if he is allowed to go on.

These horrors and perversions were not invented by him on the spur of the moment. They were arranged beforehand. Their outlines are laid down in the German war book. They are part of the system in which Germany has been scientifically trained. It is the essence of that system to make such a hell of countries where their armies set foot that any terms she may offer will seem like heaven to the people whose bodies she has defiled and whose minds she has broken of set purpose and intention.

RUDYARD KIPLING, _at Southport, England, June, 1915._

_ANOTHER GERMAN "VICTORY"_

In June the Germans once more turned to the East and the North-East Coast. On June 4, 1915, there was a raid, doing some slight damage; and two days later there was another, by far the most serious of any that had yet happened. The raiders succeeded in reaching a town on the East Coast during the night and bombed it at their leisure. One large drapery house was struck and was completely wrecked, the entire building--a somewhat old one--collapsing. Some working-class streets were very badly damaged, a number of houses destroyed, and many people injured. It was one of the peculiarities of this raid that, unlike most of the others, all the people injured were struck while indoors. The total casualties here were twenty-four killed, about sixty seriously injured, and a larger number slightly injured.

_Times History of the War._

"_He was a brave 'Zepp,' he had already killed over one hundred women and children_"

The outrage (see preceding page) was quickly avenged by a young British naval airman, Flight Sub-Lieut. R. A. J. Warneford, in one of the most brilliant aerial exploits of the war.

On the morning of June 7 at 3 A. M. he encountered a Zeppelin returning from the coast of Flanders to Ghent, and chased it, mounting above it and sailing over it at a height of 6,000 feet. Zeppelin and aeroplane exchanged shots, and when the Zeppelin was between one and two hundred feet immediately below him he dropped six bombs on it. One bomb hit the Zeppelin fairly, causing a terrific explosion, and setting the airship on fire from end to end. Warneford's aeroplane was caught by the force of the explosion and turned upside down, but he succeeded in righting it before it touched the ground. He was forced to alight within the German lines. Nevertheless he restarted his engine, though not without great difficulty, and in due course returned to his station without damage. Only the framework of the Zeppelin was left, the crew being all burned or mangled, and the body of the machine being completely destroyed.

_Times History of the War._

_THE GREAT SURPRISE_

_Moses II. leads his chosen people through the channel to the promised (Eng.) land_

From a military or political or economic point of view one should look at the matter (the capture of Calais) with the eyes of Great Britain and define the Calais idea as a possibility for a seafaring continental power to conduct a war against Great Britain from the continental coast channel and with all military resources while holding open communication between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.

COUNT VON REVENTLOW. _June, 1915._

_BOTHA TO BRITAIN_

"_I have carried out everything in accordance with our compact at Vereeniging_"

On July 9, 1915, a despatch from General Botha was published stating that he had brought his campaign in South-West Africa to a triumphant close, and had received the unconditional surrender of Governor Sietz and the German forces of 3,500 men. The campaign, commencing in February, had lasted five months. The patriotic devotion of General Botha and the loyalty of the great majority of the Dutch people to the cause of the British Empire were a magnificent vindication of the Liberal Cabinet's policy of reconciliation after the close of the South African war.

_THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH IN ARMS_

The self-governing Colonies in the British Empire have at their disposal a 'militia,' which is sometimes only a process of formation. They can be completely ignored so far as concerns any European theatre of war.

VON BERNHARDI, _1911_.

Our thoughts naturally turn to the splendid efforts of the Oversea Dominions and India, who, from the earliest days of the war, have ranged themselves side by side with the Mother Country. The prepared armed forces of India were the first to take the field, closely followed by the gallant Canadians--who are now fighting alongside their British and French comrades in Flanders. In the Dardanelles the Australians and New Zealanders--combined with the same elements, have already accomplished a feat of arms of almost unexampled brilliancy. In each of these great Dominions new and large contingents are being prepared, while South Africa, not content with the successful conclusion of the arduous campaign in South-West Africa, is now offering large forces to engage the enemy in the main theatre of war.

LORD KITCHENER, _Guildhall speech, July 9, 1915._

There are now in training or in the field 350,000 troops of the overseas dominions alone, while this country, on estimate, has at least 2,775,000 men in the field or in training.

SIR GILBERT PARKER, _July, 1915._

_JOHN BULL: "COME ON, MICHAEL, I'M AWAKE NOW"_

Rightly or wrongly, we have in the past devoted our energies and our intelligence, not to preparations for war, but to that social progress which makes for the happiness and contentment of the mass of our people. And this, no doubt, is the reason why other nations imagine that we, as a nation of shopkeepers, are too indolent and apathetic to fight for and maintain these priceless liberties won by the men who laid the foundation of our vast empire.

But they are entirely mistaken in forming any such estimate of the temperament or determination of our people. Great Britain hates war, and no nation enters more reluctantly upon its horrible and devastating operations; but at the same time no nation, when it is driven to war by the machinations of its foes who desire to filch from it or from its co-champions of liberty any portion of their inherited freedom, is more resolved to see the matter through, at whatever cost, to a successful issue.

SIR EDWARD CARSON, _British Attorney-General._ _Statement on first twelve months of war._

_L'AVENIR_