The invention and application of the submarines and the airships
unquestionably call for new rules of warfare on land and sea. The German
contention that the submarine cannot be held to the requirement of
notice and search required of surface water craft would, if allowed,
work against Germany if she had a navy and merchant marine afloat. It is
because the German fleets, except the submarines, are practically swept
from the seas, that the contention of Germany in regard to the submarines
now works almost exclusively in her favor. A prominent American
manufacturer, who has had much to do with the development of the modern
submarine, asserted, in a recent interview, that the United States should
concentrate its naval expenditures on the construction and operation of
submarine craft. He avers that with a fleet of five hundred submarines of
an approved type, efficiently manned, the coasts and coast cities of the
United States could be perfectly protected against armed invasion. With
such submarines watching, he says, no hostile ships could approach our
coast and every hostile troop transport could be easily sunk. This is a
question for experts, but it is evident that the development of submarine
warfare is going to lead to great changes in the rules of the game. The
same may be said with regard to air craft. If a German, French or English
aircraft drops bombs behind the enemy’s lines and hits non-combatants,
men, women and children, or neutrals, are the nations sending out the
aircraft to be held to particular liability? It is evident that the
aircraft cannot give notice before the attack, cannot warn the civilians
to get out of the way, cannot search the buildings on which they drop
the bombs to see if they contain war material. H. G. Wells, the eminent
British author, is out with an article in which he declares that the way
to beat Germany is through the air; that England must send out aircraft
by the tens of thousands and drop explosives all over Germany, blow up
their arsenals and ammunition factories, their supply depots of all
kinds, and carry the war home to the German people. If such a mode of
warfare is adopted by all the nations can any restrictions be placed upon
it—and will any restrictions be placed upon the operations of submarine
craft?