THE CALL TO ARMS 



of her Allies. But what the German could not hope 

 to do in fair and open conflict he believed he could 

 accomplish by adopting stealthy tactics, by throwing 

 to the winds everything which stood for honour and 

 humanity and resorting to methods of murder and 

 outrage which made his name a by-word for all that 

 was cowardly and infamous. 



One of the very first of the German naval acts at 

 sea, acts performed not by the German Navy, which 

 could not leave its land-locked hiding-place, but by 

 sporadic action of units let loose upon the waters, 

 was to run amok at British steam trawlers which 

 were peacefully fishing in the North Sea, sink and 

 destroy the vessels, and take as many of the fisher- 

 men prisoners as they could capture. It was an un- 

 warrantable and craven performance, worthy of the 

 nation that in course of time was to sink the 

 Lusitania, to raid defenceless ports and cities, and 

 to force the whole civilised world to band together 

 for the maintenance of justice and the defence of 

 humanity. 



Fervent hope was centred in the unlimited warfare 

 of the U-boats, and early in the war vast faith was 

 put in the mine. There was good reason for hoping 

 that the effects of the mine on British sea-borne 

 commerce would be paralysing, for the mines were 

 so plentifully sown and in such wide areas, and the 

 means of combating the danger were so apparently 

 inadequate. But the poison produced the antidote, 

 and no sooner was the extent of the peril realised 

 by the British Admiralty than recourse was had to 



37 



