November iC, ir)i6 
LAiND & WATER 
passengers for England on board her. But her manifests 
sliowed tliat she would touch at an English port, and it 
was this gross offence against German dignity that sealed 
her doom. 
It is then to a somewhat changed situation that Mr. 
Wilson reappears with the added power and confirmed 
authority of his popular endorsement. What will hii? 
attitude be towards the case of the Manna — an empty 
vessel in ballast, sunk unwarned and carrying with 
lier to the bottom of the sea a considerable number of 
American citizens ? Or to the case of the Arabia, the 
details of whose destruction are fresh in all our minds ? 
Here the perfect discipline of the passengers and the fine 
seamanship of the officers and crew, saved all on bo^rd 
■ — and there were Americans amongst them-- from the 
fate of those in the Persia and Ltisilaitia. Or to the case 
of the Columbian, an American ship, or to the Stcjano, 
a passenger ship whose human freight was only saved by 
the fortunate presence of American naval vessels ? 
Will he make common cause with his fellow neutrals ? 
Arming of Neutral Merchant Ships 
Speaking generally, the position with regard to the 
submarine devastations is rather more satisfactory than 
it was. The first Half of November has resulted in 
roughly a quarter of the losses suffered in the last half 
of October. But as in October 55 Norwegian ships alone 
were synk, the pause may only be due to the fact that 
Germany is watching the effect of her previous depreda- 
tions on Norway before resuming a more vigorous policy. 
Indeed, heavy as have been the losses of the world's 
shipping during the last three and a half months, it is not 
British shipping that has suffered most. There are two 
quite obvious reasons for this, and I have often directed 
attention to them. First, it is naturally the British 
masters who are in closest touch with those who direct 
the main anti-submarine campaign. It is feasible to 
give secret directions to ships leaving or making British 
ports, not feasible to give similar warnings and in- 
structions to foreign captains. Next, it is our business 
to patrol British waters, and those that are virtually 
British — in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. We cannot 
patrol either the coasts or port entries of neutral countries. 
Lastly, no neutrals, so far as I am aware, have yet adopted 
the belligerent plan of arming their merchantmen for 
defence against the pirates. Yet when ships are armed, 
their chances of being destroyed are divided by ten. 
The reasons for this, are obvious, and the fact has been 
the subject of one of the most diverting of Germany's 
complaints. When a merchant ship carries guns that 
the submarine officer can perceive, he is, to all intents and 
purposes, barred from attempting to stop her by coming 
to the surface. One or two cases notwithstanding — 
such as the two recent instances of Russian submarines 
capturing Turkish transports and bringing them into 
Sevastopol — there can be no equality in an artillery 
contest between a submarine and a surface ship, if the 
guns are equal in power and directed with equal skill. 
The only danger that threatens an armed ship is an 
unwarned attack by torpedo, such as resulted in the 
sinking of the Arabia. But the chances of such attack 
are immensely reduced because, if the submarine has to 
keep below the surface, it has so much less speed with 
Mhich to mancEuvre into an attacking position. In the 
long run then, it can only succeed when the surface ship 
is ambushed, and this must be largely a matter of chance. 
If the submarines do not hesitate to attack without 
warning, the practice of arming ships may sometimes 
result in a great loss of life. But it is bound also to result 
in a much greater saving of ships. And up to n.ow I 
should be surprised if the experience is not that a far 
larger number of lives have actually been lost in unarmed 
than in armed ships. The Norwegian press, lor example, 
complains that over two hundred Norwegian officers, 
sailors, engineers and passengers, have lost their lives by 
submarine and mine. The Swedes bewail one hundred 
victims. And yet not a single Norwegian or Swedish ship 
has been armed. More than a thousand were drowned in 
the Lusitania, and other unarmed liners must account 
for all except a small fraction of the rest. 
It is a thousand pities tliat the principle of arming 
cannot be pushed further than it has been. It would 
surely be worth while to enquire into this matter as closely 
The Union Jack Club 
By* Guy Ridley 
(Their Mother speaks to her Warrior Sons). 
Men froiti the Battleships, Men from the Trenches, , 
Hero on hero, warrior on warrior, 
Men from the fore-front, men from the Sea- wake, 
Rest here on my bosom ! 
Innocent, death-giving — laughing and stern-mouth'd, 
Kindly, merciful, wreakers of vengeance, 
Great thigh'd, hcavy-limb'd, keen-vision'd Britons, 
Come to my arms ! 
Sleeping, resting, safe, sure, and wondering, 
Silent, gruesome, terrible men, 
.Blood-stain'd, mire-soiled, blameless warriors. 
Open your hearts ! 
Gentle, forgiving, coarse-tongued innocents, 
With the secret of Death at the back of your eyes. 
And the heart still rift with the cry of a friend. 
Smiling, bewildered, wearied warriors. 
Pour out your thoughts ! 
For many have slumbered upon my breast 
And gone hence to battle, and never returned, 
Killed unswervingly, laughingly, gallantly — 
You may sleep on my bosom and hear their tales. 
Of the blood they spilt and the horror they saw, 
And the Light of God that showed through all. 
Steel-thew'd, stubborn men, trusty and valiant. 
Tell me your secrets ! 
For the tears have flowed from the stern, strong eyes — 
Who showed in the battle no sign of grief — 
Men toujjhen'd and temper'd for works of war 
By the firm resolve to win to the end, 
By the hard tradition of fighting men. 
Great-hearted, rugged men, watching, wrestling, 
Speak' to me, trust in me ! 
For here, on my breast, men weep and speak 
And rise with a sterner battle cry ; 
And the more they speak and the more they sigh 
The greater the love their brothers find- — 
The softer my breast, the easier the pillow, 
The sweeter the rest for the men that come after. 
Silent, gruesome, terrible men; 
Grim from the battle-front, grim from the warships. 
Rest here on my bosom ! 
as possible. To what extent have the armaments of the 
older cruisers been deflected to this purpose? Is it 
certain that every gun that can be spared from the Royal 
Navy has been devoted to the protection of trade ? 
Will the neutrals ever pluck up the courage to arm their 
ow'n ships? Neutrality at sea has long since been, as 
we/have seen, a phrase only, for Germany is impartially 
at war with all shipping. If it is good law that defensive 
arming does not turn the merchant ship of a belligerent 
into a belligerent warship, then it would seem to be good 
law that the arming of the merchant ships of a neutral 
for defensive purposes against unneutral attack, should 
not be a belligerent act of the neutral power that so arms 
her. Anyway, if a neutral captain or ship owner chose 
to protect himself in this way, it should not involve his 
government in any breach of neutrality — -so long as that 
government does not admit the belligerent's right to sink 
its country's ships for reasons hitherto held insufficient 
by international law. The question is no doubt delicate. 
But we may as well recognise at once that it is one that 
must come up for solution when the war is over. For, 
all countries will be faced by this dilemma. Either the 
submarine must be by common consent abolished, or 
all surface ships must for ever go about their work know- 
ing 'that it is in the pow-er of any country ow-ning sub- 
marint'S, t6 opeii the next war by a ruthless ai d un- 
wai-fied attack upon its neighbour's sea service. 
Arthur Pollen 
