Instead  of  urging  the  President  to
take  steps  against  Germany,  we
should  impeach  the  Secretary  of
State  for  his  neglect  of  duty  in  not
warning  all  Americans  of  the  peril
of  ocean  trafllic  in  the  war  zone,  es-
pecially under  the  flag  of  a  bellig-
erent nation.  If  the  Secretary  of
State,  in  accordance  with  the  Mex-
ican precedent  had  issued  such  a
warning,  not  a  single  American  life
would   have  been    forfeited.
Germany,  provoked  by  England
which  established  a  war  zone  as
early  as  November  and  made  the
importation  of  foodstuffs  into  Ger-
many practically  impossible,  decided
upon  submarine  warfare  as  a  meas-
ure of  retaliation.  She  vvas  forced
to  do  so  by  the  signal  failure  of  the
T'uited  States  to  protect  the  common
rights  of  neutrals.  When  Germany
determines  upon  a  plan  of  action  she
means  business.  The  Germans  are
not  a  nation  of  poker  players.  Ger-
many does  not  bluff.
The  sinking  of  the  liUsitania  is  a
terrific  lesson,  but  in  order  to  drive
home  its  force  more  fully  and  to
safeguard  this  country  from  further
losses  and  from  the  danger  of  com-
plications with  Germany,  the  State
Department  should  issue  at  once  a
formal  notice  admonishing  Ameri-
can citizens  to  shun  all  ships  flying
the  flag  of  a  belligerent  nation  and
all  ships,  irrosppctivo  <if  nationality,
which  carry  across  the  sea  the  tools
of   destruction.
But  if  we  accuse  the  State  Depart-
ment   of    negligence,    we    should    in-


dict the  officials  of  the  Cunard  Line
for  murder.  They  knew  that  the
Lusitania  was  a  floating  fortress.
