NEW PROBLEMS
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?