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Show THE HESPERIAN CASE. Count, von Bernstorff assured our state department in explicit, numistak able terms that German submarines would no longer torpedo liners without giving warning and without giving the passengers and crews full opportunity op-portunity to make their way to safety. The torpedoing of the Hesperian Hes-perian appears to be in direct conflict with the embassador's assurances, assur-ances, but later reports may demonstrate demon-strate that warning was given and that the liner tried to escape or to resist. If no Americans were aboard our government would not be .justified in calling Germany to accouul any far- the-r than protesting against, a violatiou of the rules of war and the assurances given in the embassador's note. These assurances, it will be remembered, re-latod re-latod to all liners not offering resistance resist-ance or trying to escape after warning. t may be that the submarine which torpedoed the Hesperian lias not been in port since the German government definitely decided to couform submarine subma-rine warfare to the rules of international interna-tional law. It may be that a number of submarines are yet at sea with the old instructions, and that other passenger passen-ger ships may be torpedoed without warning. It is possible, but hardly probable, that there is a conflict of orders, and that some submarine commanders may have been instructed to give warning while others are permitted to operate under the old orders. . There is always the possibility, of course, that a liner may hit a floating mine, and that the passengers aud crew may ascribe the explosion to a torpedo. Such floating mines, however, are contrary con-trary to the nilcs of war and to The Hague conventions. If Germany abandoned aban-doned her lawless submarine practice and resorted to the equally illegal practice prac-tice of strewing mines on the high seas, little would be gained to the advantage of neutrals. Should it transpire thaf the liner was armed or that she resisted, the case could not be classed with that of the Lusitania or the Arabic. |
