CORONER HORGAN’S STATEMENT
Coroner Horgan said that the first torpedo fired by the German submarine did serious damage to the Lusitania, but that, not satisfied with this, the Germans had discharged another torpedo. The second torpedo, he said, must have been more deadly, because it went right through the ship, hastening the work of destruction.
He charged that the responsibility “lay on the German government and the whole people of Germany who collaborated in the terrible crime.
“This is a case,” he said, “in which a powerful war-like engine attacked an unarmed vessel without warning. It was simple barbarism and cold-blooded murder.
“I purpose to ask the jury to return the only verdict possible for a self-respecting jury—that the men in charge of the German submarine were guilty of willful murder.”
CHAPTER VII
THE WORLD-WIDE INDICTMENT OF GERMANY FOR THE LUSITANIA ATROCITY
[VIEWS OF COLONEL ROOSEVELT, UNITED STATES SENATORS AND OTHER PROMINENT MEN]—OPINIONS OF THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE [UNITED STATES] AND [CANADA] — [VIEWS OF PROMINENT CANADIANS].
Not even the invasion of peaceful Belgium, nor any of the other atrocities charged to the belligerent nations in the great war, stirred such universal and emphatic condemnation as the destruction of the Lusitania and over half its human freight of human lives. From all quarters of the globe the cry of amazement, indignation and outrage arose.
One of the first to express his feelings was Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, who said: “This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of murder than any old-time pirate ever practiced.
“This is the warfare which destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of men, women and children in Belgium carried out to innocent men, women and children on the ocean and to our own fellow countrymen and countrywomen who are among the sufferers.
“It seems inconceivable that we should refrain from taking action in this matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to our own national self-respect.”
Atlee Pomerene, U. S. Senator from Ohio, member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said: “To Americans the sinking of the Lusitania is the most deplorable incident of the European war. Every man with the milk of human kindness in his breast condemns any policy by any nation that leads to the slaughter without warning of babes, women and non-combatants.”
Morris Sheppard, U. S. Senator from Texas, said: “The sinking of the Lusitania is an illustration of the unspeakable horror of modern warfare, and will be a tremendous argument for general disarmament when the war closes. Let us handle the present situation with patience and calmness, trusting the President to take the proper course.”
John W. Griggs, former Governor of New Jersey and at one time Attorney-General of the United States, expressed himself emphatically on the Lusitania tragedy. He said: “The time for watchful waiting has passed. No investigating committee is needed. The facts are known. Action is demanded. A demand should be made at once without waiting by the government to get the finding of any investigations or inquests. Would you hesitate to act if a man slapped you in the face? I do not say what should be demanded. That is for the government to decide. But an explanation should be demanded of Germany at once. The German submarine violated a law that even savages would recognize. I would hold Germany to account by proclaiming her an outlaw among the nations of the world. If the German government pleads that it was justified in this crime—which it will—it is then the duty of the United States to join with other neutral nations and cut her off from the rest of the world.”
“I’m Not Arguing With You, William; I’m Just Telling You!”
Jacob M. Dickinson, Secretary of War under President Taft, issued a statement in which he said: “It is not likely that Germany will disavow the purpose to destroy the Lusitania with full knowledge of the fact that this involved many American lives. In view of the result and the warning given by our government to Germany, some proper action must be taken, or the American government will incur the contempt of the world and the contempt of a vast number of its own people.”
“An act of barbarity without justification,” was the expression of Frederick R. Coudert, of New York, an authority on international law, in referring to the torpedoing of the Lusitania. Mr. Coudert said: “I make that statement on the supposition that lives of citizens of the United States, a neutral nation, were destroyed by the sinking of the vessel. There is no justification, however, for ruthlessly sinking a merchant ship in the open seas when that vessel is not engaged in any manner as a belligerent vessel, and when the lives of non-combatants depend upon its safety. It would seem to be time for the government of this country to determine whether it will sit idly by and accept explanations that Americans were warned to keep off the steamer, or take a definite stand upon the rights of our citizens on the seas.”
The opinion of the nation on the sinking of the Lusitania is fairly represented by the following extracts from the editorial columns of leading newspapers throughout the United States: