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Show Boats Were Shelled. LONDON, Feb. 7. 2:36 p. m. Ambassador Ambas-sador Page today forwarded to Wesley Frost, the American consul at Cork, instructions in-structions from Washington to obtain affidavits from members of the erew of the British steamship Eavestone. The Eavestone. according to an official report, was sunk by a German submarine subma-rine which shelled the boats as they were leaving the sinking steamer, killing the captain and three seamen, one of whors was Richard Wallace, an American Ameri-can nesro. mittee, she will oblige neutrals and Belgium to conclude that she is not sincere when she affirms that she does not wish to hinder the feeding of Belgium. The only way in which the German government may prove its sincerity, and not interfere with this provisioning, is to guarantee complete immuuity, and without re serve, to the relief committee's ships. Up to Germany. The first and only question is what will be the German government's practice at sea toward relief committee com-mittee boats independent of any decisions de-cisions to be asked eventually by the British government. 1 es or no will immunity be assured them, so that they can carry out nieir humanitarian mission under conditions inherent to navigation ? Yes or no are they to be protected from all attempts at destruction de-struction when they have brought from England a fifth of the supplies of food which the relief committee buys in that country? Yes or no will ships en route, and which it has been impossible to warn, be attacked and sunk if. conformably to their navigation orders, they penetrate into the new prohibited zone? Relief Ships Held Up. It is known that Mr. Hoover has given orders to vessels finding themselves them-selves in American, Argentine, Indian In-dian and European ports to remain there provisionally. If these ships have no Immunity in navigation it will result seriously in increasing the cost of food of the relief committee, which will painfully aggravate the ; condition of life, already almost In- ! tolerable, In occupied Belgium. j It appears, then, that all affirma- I tlon of good will given by German authority at Brussels is vain, because it lacks the essential element which would alone entitle It to faith that Is to say, complete immunity assured to the ships of the relief committee. That Immunity depends only upon the German Ger-man government. The opinion of neutral countries will certainly be in accord with Belgian Bel-gian opinion to demand it from Germany Ger-many as a pledge of sincerity and as a right that is vital to the Belgian population. As to the British government, gov-ernment, whose favorable disposition is well 'known, Belgians are assured of finding from that side all support desirable to solve the practical difficulties diffi-culties resulting from the evolution . of war. |