a large dinner at Lord French's about the same time, at which Lord K.,
Lord Haldane, and others were present, comes to my mind; probably no one
there but those three men had an idea of the threatening cloud which
broke in so short a time over England, and the important part two of
them would take in it. Lord K., as the world knows, was on the point of
returning to Egypt; in fact, he had started when he was recalled, almost
on board the steamer at Dover.
[Sidenote: The country expects Lord Kitchener to head the War Office.]
The two questions which moved the soul of the English people to its
deepest depth were, undoubtedly, what part the country was going to take
when it was realized that war was inevitable, and, after that, who was
to preside at the War Office. There might have been hesitation on the
one point; on the other there was none, and the silent, deep
determination with which the people waited to be told that Lord
Kitchener was to be Secretary of State for War can only be realized by
those who went through those anxious days. There was never a doubt or
hesitation in the mind of the country that Lord K. was the only person
who could satisfy its requirements, and the acclamation with which the
news flashed through the country when he was appointed Secretary of
State for War was overwhelming, while those who were thrown into contact
with him give a marvelous account of the cool, rapid, and soldier-like
way in which he accepted the great position. He quickly installed
himself at the War Office, even to sleeping there, so that he was ever
at the call of his office, and lived there till Lady Wantage placed her
house in Carlton Gardens, close by, at his disposal. Later on the King
offered him St. James's Palace, and those neighbors who rose early
enough saw him daily start off on his morning walk to his office, where
he remained all day.
[Sidenote: Lord Kitchener's arduous two years.]
The last two crowded years of Lord Kitchener's life, full of their
anxieties and responsibilities, had not changed him; but though he had
aged, and the constant strain had told on him, he had altered outwardly
but little. The office life was irksome, and the want of exercise to a
man of his active habits very trying, for he hardly ever left London
except for an occasional week-end at Broome. His intended visit to
Russia was not known, and, like so many of his visits to France and the
army at the front, were only made public after his return. Those who saw
him that last week and knew of his going, tell how he longed for the
change and how eagerly he looked forward to his holiday.
[Sidenote: The great task completed.]
[Sidenote: The farewell visit to the King and to the Grand Fleet.]
The last few months, with the controversies over conscription, had
harassed him. He was not a keen believer in the conscript principle; he
was more than justified in his preference for a voluntary army by the
response he had received on his appeal to the manhood of England. There
was a wonderful completion of the task he had undertaken in those last
few days. He had raised his millions, and the country had accepted the
inevitable imposition of compulsion, and with it that chapter of his
life was finished. He had met the House of Commons, and, uncertain as
the result of that conference was, like all he did, it was one of his
greatest successes. He had no indecision when it was proposed to him
that he should meet the Commons, and, as was always the case, the result
was never in doubt. What passed has never been divulged, but he left an
impression on the two hundred members who were present which was perhaps
one of the best tributes ever paid him. After his farewell to the King,
his last visit to Broome and to Sir John Jellicoe and the Grand Fleet,
he set sail for the shore he never reached, and the end had come. It was
perhaps the most perfect end of such a life--a life full of high
endeavor and completion. The service he had rendered his country by
raising her armies and foreseeing the probable duration of the war could
not have been performed by any other living man. If, as his critics say,
he depended too much on his own individual endeavors, he was not to be
blamed when we read day by day of the glorious deeds of the armies he
had created.
The country staggered under the blow of his death, and one can never
forget the silent grief and dismay of that dreadful day with its
horrible tragedy. The grief was universal and personal, and the tributes
to his work and memory were spoken from the heart by the great leaders
of both parties. No more touching and pathetic tribute was ever said
than the speech made by Lord Derby in the House of Lords on the
resolution in reference to his death. There is not one word to be
altered from beginning to end, but the concluding words must go to
every heart and find an echo:
[Sidenote: The whole machinery of the new armies in running order.]
Lord Kitchener said good-by to the nation at a moment when he left the
whole of the machinery of the great armies that he had created in
running order, and when it only required skilled engineers to keep going
his work. It was really as if Providence in its wisdom had given him the
rest he never would have given to himself.
With the memory of a great naval battle fresh in our minds we must all
realize how rich a harvest of death the sea has reaped. We in these
islands from time immemorial had paid a heavy toll to the sea for our
insular security, but, speaking as the friend of a friend, I can say
that the sea never executed a heavier toll than when Lord Kitchener,
coffined in a British man-of-war, passed to the Great Beyond.
* * * * *
How and why America joined with the Allies against Germany in April,
1917, is told in the three articles following. The summaries contained
therein are official, and the war message of President Wilson condenses
the reasons which impelled the United States, after long delay, to throw
the force of its strength and resources against the German Empire.
WHY AMERICA BROKE WITH GERMANY
PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON
[Sidenote: Germany proclaims ruthless submarine warfare.]
The Imperial German Government on the 31st day of January announced to
this Government and to the Governments of the other neutral nations that
on and after the 1st day of February, the present month, it would adopt
a policy with regard to the use of submarines against all shipping
seeking to pass through certain designated areas of the high seas, to
which it is clearly my duty to call your attention.
[Sidenote: The _Sussex_ case.]
Let me remind the Congress that on the 18th of April last, in view of
the sinking on the 24th of March of the cross-channel steamship _Sussex_
by a German submarine without summons or warning, and the consequent
loss of lives of several citizens of the United States who were
passengers aboard her, this Government addressed a note to the Imperial
German Government, in which it made the following statement:
[Sidenote: The note to the Imperial German Government.]
"If it is still the purpose of the Imperial German Government to
prosecute relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of
commerce by the use of submarines without regard to what the Government
of the United States must consider the sacred and indisputable rules of
international law and the universally recognized dictates of humanity,
the Government of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion
that there is but one course it can pursue. Unless the Imperial
Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of
its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and freight
carrying vessels, the Government of the United States can have no choice
but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Empire altogether."
In reply to this declaration the Imperial German Government gave this
Government the following assurance:
[Sidenote: Germany's assurances to the United States.]
"The German Government is prepared to do its utmost to confine the
operations of war for the rest of its duration to the fighting forces of
the belligerents, thereby also insuring the freedom of the seas, a
principle upon which the German Government believes now, as before, to
be in agreement with the Government of the United States.
[Sidenote: Promises that merchant vessels shall not be sunk without
warning.]
"The German Government, guided by this idea, notifies the Government of
the United States that the German naval forces have received the
following orders: In accordance with the general principles of visit and
search and destruction of merchant vessels recognized by international
law, such vessels, both within and without the area declared a naval war
zone, shall not be sunk without warning and without saving human lives,
unless these ships attempt to escape or offer resistance.
"But," it added, "neutrals cannot expect that Germany, forced to fight
for her existence, shall, for the sake of neutral interest, restrict the
use of an effective weapon if her enemy is permitted to continue to
apply at will methods of warfare violating the rules of international
law. Such a demand would be incompatible with the character of
neutrality, and the German Government is convinced that the Government
of the United States does not think of making such a demand, knowing
that the Government of the United States has repeatedly declared that
it is determined to restore the principle of the freedom of the seas,
from whatever quarter it has been violated."
To this the Government of the United States replied on the 8th of May,
accepting, of course, the assurance given, but adding:
[Sidenote: The reply of the United States.]
[Sidenote: Rights of American citizens do not depend on conduct of
another government.]
"The Government of the United States feels it necessary to state that it
takes it for granted that the Imperial German Government does not intend
to imply that the maintenance of its newly announced policy is in any
way contingent upon the course or result of diplomatic negotiations
between the Government of the United States and any other belligerent
Government, notwithstanding the fact that certain passages in the
Imperial Government's note of the 4th inst. might appear to be
susceptible of that construction. In order, however, to avoid any
misunderstanding, the Government of the United States notifies the
Imperial Government that it cannot for a moment entertain, much less
discuss, a suggestion that respect by German naval authorities for the
rights of citizens of the United States upon the high seas should in any
way or in the slightest degree be made contingent upon the conduct of
any other Government, affecting the rights of neutrals and
noncombatants. Responsibility in such matters is single, not joint,
absolute, not relative."
To this note of the 8th of May the Imperial German Government made no
reply.
On the 31st of January, the Wednesday of the present week, the German
Ambassador handed to the Secretary of State, along with a formal note, a
memorandum which contained the following statement:
"The Imperial Government therefore does not doubt that the Government of
the United States will understand the situation thus forced upon Germany
by the Entente Allies' brutal methods of war and by their determination
to destroy the Central Powers, and that the Government of the United
States will further realize that the now openly disclosed intention of
the Entente Allies gives back to Germany the freedom of action which she
reserved in her note addressed to the Government of the United States on
May 4, 1916.
[Sidenote: Germany will sink all ships within zone proclaimed.]
"Under these circumstances, Germany will meet the illegal measures of
her enemies by forcibly preventing, after February 1, 1917, in a zone
around Great Britain, France, Italy, and in the Eastern Mediterranean,
all navigation, that of neutrals included, from and to England and from
and to France, &c. All ships met within the zone will be sunk."
I think that you will agree with me that, in view of this declaration,
which suddenly and without prior intimation of any kind deliberately
withdraws the solemn assurance given in the Imperial Government's note
of the 4th of May, 1916, this Government has no alternative consistent
with the dignity and honor of the United States but to take the course
which, in its note of the 18th of April, 1916, it announced that it
would take in the event that the German Government did not declare and
effect an abandonment of the methods of submarine warfare which it was
then employing and to which it now purposes again to resort.
[Sidenote: Diplomatic relations with Germany are severed.]
I have therefore directed the Secretary of State to announce to his
Excellency the German Ambassador that all diplomatic relations between
the United States and the German Empire are severed and that the
American Ambassador to Berlin will immediately be withdrawn; and, in
accordance with this decision, to hand to his Excellency his passports.
[Sidenote: Hard to believe Germany will carry out threats.]
Notwithstanding this unexpected action of the German Government, this
sudden and deplorable renunciation of its assurances, given this
Government at one of the most critical moments of tension in the
relations of the two Governments, I refuse to believe that it is the
intention of the German authorities to do in fact what they have warned
us they will feel at liberty to do. I cannot bring myself to believe
that they will indeed pay no regard to the ancient friendship between
their people and our own or to the solemn obligations which have been
exchanged between them, and destroy American ships and take the lives of
American citizens in the willful prosecution of the ruthless naval
program they have announced their intention to adopt. Only actual overt
acts on their part can make me believe it even now.
If this inveterate confidence on my part in the sobriety and prudent
foresight of their purpose should unhappily prove unfounded; if American
ships and American lives should in fact be sacrificed by their naval
commanders in heedless contravention on the just and reasonable
understandings of international law and the obvious dictates of
humanity, I shall take the liberty of coming again before the Congress
to ask that authority be given me to use any means that may be necessary
for the protection of our seamen and our people in the prosecution of
their peaceful and legitimate errands on the high seas. I can do nothing
less. I take it for granted that all neutral Governments will take the
same course.
[Sidenote: America does not desire war with Germany.]
We do not desire any hostile conflict with the Imperial German
Government. We are the sincere friends of the German people, and
earnestly desire to remain at peace with the Government which speaks for
them. We shall not believe that they are hostile to us unless and until
we are obliged to believe it; and we purpose nothing more than the
reasonable defense of the undoubted rights of our people. We wish to
serve no selfish ends. We seek merely to stand true alike in thought and
in action to the immemorial principles of our people, which I have
sought to express in my address to the Senate only two weeks ago--seek
merely to vindicate our rights to liberty and justice and an unmolested
life. These are the bases of peace, not war. God grant that we may not
be challenged to defend them by acts of willful injustice on the part of
the Government of Germany!
[Sidenote: Reasons for addressing Congress.]
I have again asked the privilege of addressing you because we are moving
through critical times during which it seems to me to be my duty to keep
in close touch with the houses of Congress, so that neither counsel nor
action shall run at cross-purposes between us.
On the 3rd of February I officially informed you of the sudden and
unexpected action of the Imperial German Government in declaring its
intention to disregard the promises it had made to this Government in
April last and undertake immediate submarine operations against all
commerce, whether of belligerents or of neutrals, that should seek to
approach Great Britain and Ireland, the Atlantic coasts of Europe, or
the harbors of the Eastern Mediterranean and to conduct those operations
without regard to the established restrictions of international
practice, without regard to any considerations of humanity even which
might interfere with their object.
[Sidenote: The German ruthless policy in practice.]
That policy was forthwith put into practice. It has now been in active
exhibition for nearly four weeks. Its practical results are not fully
disclosed. The commerce of other neutral nations is suffering severely,
but not, perhaps, very much more severely than it was already suffering
before the 1st of February, when the new policy of the Imperial
Government was put into operation.
[Sidenote: American commerce suffers.]
We have asked the cooperation of the other neutral Governments to
prevent these depredations, but I fear none of them has thought it wise
to join us in any common course of action. Our own commerce has
suffered, is suffering, rather in apprehension than in fact, rather
because so many of our ships are timidly keeping to their home ports
than because American ships have been sunk.
[Sidenote: American vessels sunk.]
Two American vessels have been sunk, the _Housatonic_ and the _Lyman M.
Law_. The case of the _Housatonic_, which was carrying foodstuffs
consigned to a London firm, was essentially like the case of the _Frye_,
in which, it will be recalled, the German Government admitted its
liability for damages, and the lives of the crew, as in the case of the
_Frye_, were safeguarded with reasonable care.
The case of the _Law_, which was carrying lemon-box staves to Palermo,
discloses a ruthlessness of method which deserves grave condemnation,
but was accompanied by no circumstances which might not have been
expected at any time in connection with the use of the submarine against
merchantmen as the German Government has used it.
[Sidenote: Congestion of shipping in American ports.]
In sum, therefore, the situation we find ourselves in with regard to the
actual conduct of the German submarine warfare against commerce and its
effects upon our own ships and people is substantially the same that it
was when I addressed you on the 3rd of February, except for the tying up
of our shipping in our own ports because of the unwillingness of our
ship owners to risk their vessels at sea without insurance or adequate
protection, and the very serious congestion of our commerce which has
resulted--a congestion which is growing rapidly more and more serious
every day.
This, in itself, might presently accomplish, in effect, what the new
German submarine orders were meant to accomplish, so far as we are
concerned. We can only say, therefore, that the overt act which I have
ventured to hope the German commanders would in fact avoid has not
occurred.
[Sidenote: Indications that German ruthlessness will continue.]
But while this is happily true, it must be admitted that there have been
certain additional indications and expressions of purpose on the part of
the German press and the German authorities which have increased rather
than lessened the impression that, if our ships and our people are
spared, it will be because of fortunate circumstances or because the
commanders of the German submarines which they may happen to encounter
exercise an unexpected discretion and restraint, rather than because of
the instructions under which those commanders are acting.
[Sidenote: Situation full of danger.]
It would be foolish to deny that the situation is fraught with the
gravest possibilities and dangers. No thoughtful man can fail to see
that the necessity for definite action may come at any time if we are,
in fact and not in word merely, to defend our elementary rights as a
neutral nation. It would be most imprudent to be unprepared.
I cannot in such circumstances be unmindful of the fact that the
expiration of the term of the present Congress is immediately at hand by
constitutional limitation and that it would in all likelihood require an
unusual length of time to assemble and organize the Congress which is to
succeed it.
[Sidenote: The President asks for authority.]
I feel that I ought, in view of that fact, to obtain from you full and
immediate assurance of the authority which I may need at any moment to
exercise. No doubt I already possess that authority without special
warrant of law, by the plain implication of my constitutional duties and
powers; but I prefer in the present circumstances not to act upon
general implication. I wish to feel that the authority and the power of
the Congress are behind me in whatever it may become necessary for me to
do. We are jointly the servants of the people and must act together and
in their spirit, so far as we can divine and interpret it.
[Sidenote: Necessary to defend commerce and lives.]
No one doubts what it is our duty to do. We must defend our commerce and
the lives of our people in the midst of the present trying circumstances
with discretion but with clear and steadfast purpose. Only the method
and the extent remain to be chosen, upon the occasion, if occasion
should indeed arise.
[Sidenote: Diplomatic means fail.]
Since it has unhappily proved impossible to safeguard our neutral rights
by diplomatic means against the unwarranted infringements they are
suffering at the hands of Germany, there may be no recourse but to armed
neutrality, which we shall know how to maintain and for which there is
abundant American precedent.
It is devoutly to be hoped that it will not be necessary to put armed
forces anywhere into action. The American people do not desire it, and
our desire is not different from theirs. I am sure that they will
understand the spirit in which I am now acting, the purpose I hold
nearest my heart and would wish to exhibit in everything I do.
[Sidenote: Mr. Wilson the friend of peace.]
I am anxious that the people of the nations at war also should
understand and not mistrust us. I hope that I need give no further
proofs and assurances than I have already given throughout nearly three
years of anxious patience that I am the friend of peace and mean to
preserve it for America so long as I am able. I am not now proposing or
contemplating war or any steps that need lead to it. I merely request
that you will accord me by your own vote and definite bestowal the
means and the authority to safeguard in practice the right of a great
people, who are at peace and who are desirous of exercising none but the
rights of peace, to follow the pursuit of peace in quietness and
good-will--rights recognized time out of mind by all the civilized
nations of the world.
[Sidenote: America not seeking war.]
No course of my choosing or of theirs will lead to war. War can come
only by the willful acts and aggressions of others.
You will understand why I can make no definite proposals or forecasts of
action now and must ask for your supporting authority in the most
general terms. The form in which action may become necessary cannot yet
be foreseen.
[Sidenote: Merchant ships should be supplied with defensive arms.]