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Teg e ue eee pat ( OH Wg Apo ll i a L gi OT Ua VOL. 47 CLEVELAND AUGUST, 1917 NEW YORK Her Submarine Campaign Was Final Stake in Her Efforts to Win the War—Recent Berlin News Reveal Her Own Doubts of Success UBMARINES have the ability to torpedo cab- inets as well as merchant ships, as a number of European statesmen have reason to know. The Italian and French ministries have been forced to face adverse comment by the elected representatives, while .most of the neutral countries have been roused spasmodically to a dangerous pitch over the activities of the submersibles. Mr. Asquith relin- quished the reins of government over England owing, largely, to the feeling that adequate pre- cautions were not being taken to protect that island from the ravages of the underwater craft. Even Lloyd George, in his comparatively short tenure of office as premier, has faced one crisis resulting from a few weeks’ unusually successful depredations. Now the pendulum is swinging“back and Von Bethmann Hollweg is facing the freest criticism any German chancellor has ever met. As an official responsible to the kaiser alone, the chancellor prob- ably cares little for these criticisms, except as they reflect the growth of a disturbing sentiment among the rank and file of the German people, that is, a keener appreciation of the fact that the submarine campaign has not accomplished all that its pro- moters, including Von Bethmann Hollweg, claimed for it. What has the submarine campaign done? Staking All on a Last Gamble The German chancellor, with that infrequent candor that he occasionally displays, once stated frankly that the submarine was Germany’s | final chance to win the war. This belief was held so generally that all of Germany’s official family was won over to this last gamble. Its sure and swift success discounted the inevitable entry of the United States into the war. At the end of five months, we find the German reichstag, newspapers and populace, in an uproar over electoral reforms. Recalling our none too clear perspective on Germany’s internal affairs, we still feel free to deduce that a close association can be ‘found between the present awkward situation at 263 Berlin and the dubious success of the submarine campaign. The British admiralty figures since March 1, when the weekly statements began to appear, show the loss of slightly less than 20 vessels of more than 1600 tons, every seven days. These losses, while serious, are not fatal. As an offset, about one-half million tons of German ships have been released from the protection of neutral powers which the . submarine campaign transformed into belligerents. - Spending a Billion for Ships Garbled as American news offered to German readers undoubtedly is, some realization must be entertained in Germany of the extent of this country’s plans—half a billion already appropriated for ships and another half billion asked for. Pitted against the great shipyards of the British Isles and the daily increasing number and capacity of the shipbuilding plants in this country, even a German may well question the success of the Von Tirpitz idea. A study of our monthly export figures also is encouraging. The May exports of iron and steel alone were nearly 600,000 tons and showed a gain over April of this year and May of last. They were slightly less than in January, the last month of our undoubted neutrality and far heavier than in February, the first month of our undoubted bellig- erency. Any effectual measures which this country has taken to combat and down the submarine menace were absolutely necessary. Any slackening in our repressive efforts now would be distinctly unwise. But any panicky feeling which the submarine cam- paign may have aroused in its early stages, has been supplanted by the conviction that Germany, as on several previous occasions, overestimated her ca- pacity to destroy.