The Greensboro patriot [May 17, 1915]

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GREENSBORO, Ni C, MONDAY, MAY 17,1915 VOL. 94—NO. 39
WILSON DEMANDS THAT GERMANY PDT
AN END TO SUBMARINE BARBARITIES
jn Words of Steel Clothed in Velvet the President Takes
Up Sea Outrages With Berlin and Asks For
Full Reparation—Meets Hearty
Approval of the Public.
president Wilson's note to the
German government calling atten-ion
-to the grave situation which
lias resulted" from violation of
American rights on the high seas,
eliminating In the sinking of the
Losttania with a los of more than
1«0 American lives, was presented
bv Ambassador Gerard to the Ger-man
foreign office in Berlin Satur-
The communication expresses the
confident expectation of the United
?:aies "that the imperial German
government will disavow the acts of
which the government of the United
Siates complains; that they will
make reparation, so far as repara-tion
is possible, for injuries which
„re without measure, and that they
will take immediate steps to prevent
the recurrence of anything so ob-viously
subversive of the principles
Oi warfare for which the imperial
German government in. the past so
wisely and so firmly contended." >
The note makes America champion
oi humanity and guardian of the
•sacred freedom of the seas." It ad-vises
Germany firmly that the
Vnited States will no longer tolerate
her present policy of attacking mer-er,
a utmen with submarines, because
it is impossible to guard the lives of
neutral passengers.
Full reparation is demanded for
the lives of those who went to the
bottom with the Lusitania. the Gul-flight
and the Falaba, coupled with
the positive announcement that ex-cuses
will not be accepted by the
I'liited States if there should be a re-currence
of these attacks.
Srute force will not be allowed to
interfere with the inalienable right
o! American citizens to travel the
high seas upon peaceful missions.
in. its conclusion, the note states
that the "imperial German govern-ment
will not expect the government
of the United States to omit any
word or any act necessary to the per-formance
of its sacred duty of main-taining
the rights of the United
States and its citizens and of safe-guarding
their free exercise and en-joyment."
The dignified, conservative and
firm position assumed by President
Wilson has met with the practically
Manimous approval of the American
people. Leading newspapers and pub-lic
men of all shades of political
opinion are enthusiastic in their
commendation of the president's
stand.
Ilie President's Communication.
The full text of the note follows:
In view of recent acts of the
German authorities in violation of
American rights on the high seas,
"•hich culminated in the torpedotng
wo' sinking of the British steamer
Lusitania on May 7, 1915, by.which
over one hundred American citizens
«*t their lives, it is clearly wise and
desirable that the government .of the
1 sited states and the imperial gov-ernment
should come to a clear and
fall understanding as to the grave
s""ation which has resulted.
The sinking of the British pas-sesger
steamer Falaba by a German
submarine on March 28, through
'''•"••'!i Loon C. Thrasher, an Ameri-
'ir' citizen, was drowned; the attack
on April 28 on the American vessel
'■'■•' ins by a German aeroplane; the
"Toiloing on May 1 of the American
'"'■-■'' Gulflight by a German subma-
-•' ,..s a result of which two or
American citizens met their
; and. finally, the torpedoing
'inking of the steamship Lusi-
'""iviitnte a scries of events
: ■ government of the United
•'as observed with growing
'rn. distress and aiv.azemont.
culling the humane and en-
' '■''•'! altitude hitherto assumed
|tn|''-riol German government
" '* of internati .nal right,
"-Marly with regard to the
"!l of the seas: havinc learned
'"Knire the German views' anfi
1 :"uiir influence on the field of
*'ional obligation
lor.
ihe i
,.a BCC.U., , na0s always
ihuT°f "P"" tht si<Ie of jU8tice and
anity; ancl having understood
!:>strnction of the imperial Ger-man
government to its naval com-manders
to be upon the same plane
of humane action prescribed by the
naval codes of other nations, the
government of the United States was
loath to believe—it cannot now bring
itself to believe—that these acts, so
absolutely contrary to the rules, the
practices and the spirit of modern
warfare could have the countenance
or sanction of that grett govern-ment.
It feels it to be its duty,
therefore, to address the imperial
German government concerningthem
with the utmost frankness and in
the earnest hope that it is not mis-taken
in expecting action on the
part of the imperial German govern-ment
which will correct the unfor-tunate
impressions which have been
created and vindicate once more the
position of that government with re-gard
to the sacred freedom of the
seas.
No Rights Are Surrendered.
"The government of the United
States has been apprised that the im-perial
government considered them-selves
to be obliged by the extraor-dinary
circumstances of the present
war and the measures adopted by
their adversaries in seeking to cut
Germany off from all commerce to
adopt methods of retaliation which
go beyond the ordinary methods of
warfare at sea, in the proclamation
of a war zone from,which they have
warned neutral ships to keep away.
This government has already taken
occasion to Inform the imperial Ger-man
government that it cannot ad-mit
the adoption of such measures
or such a warning of danger to oper-ate
as in any degree an abbreviation
of the rights of American shipmas-ters
or of American citizens bound
on lawful errands as passengers or
merchant ships of belligerent na-tionality;
and that it must hold the
imperial German government to a
strict accountability for any In-fringement
of those rights, inten-tional
or incidental. It does not un-derstand
the imperial German gov-ernment
to question those rights. It
assumes, on the contrary, that the
imperial German government ac-cept,
as of course, the rule that the
lives of non-combatants, whether
they be of neutral citizenship of citi-zens
of one of the nations at war,
cannot lawfully or rightfully be put
in jeopardy by the capture or de-struction
of an unarmed merchant-man
and recognize also, as all other
nations do, the obligation to take the
usual precaution of visit and search
to ascertain whether a suspected
merchantman is in fact of belliger-ent
nationality or is in fact carrying
non-contraband of war under a neu-tral
flag.
Submarine Attacks Inhuman.
"The government of the United
States, therefore, desires to call the
attention of the imperial German
government with the utmost earn-estness
to the fact that the objection
to their present method of attack
against the trade of their enemies
lies in the practical impossibility of
employing submarines in the de-struction
of commerce without dis-regarding
those rules of fairness,
reason, justice and humanity which
all modern opinion regards as im-perative.
It is practically impossi-ble
for the officers of a submarine
to visit a merchantman at sea and
examine her papers and cargo. It is
practically impossible for them to
make a prize of her; and, if they
cannot put a prize crew on board
of her, they cannot sink her without
leaving her crew and all on board of
her to the mercy of the sea in her
small boats. These facts it is un-derstood
the imperial German gov-ernment
frankly admit. We are in-formed
that in the instances of
which we have spoken time, enough
for even that poor measure of safety
was not given, and in at least two
of the cases cited not so much as a
warning was received. Manifestly,
submarines cannot be used against
merchantmen, as the last few weeks
have shown, without an inevitable
violation of many sacred principles
of justice and humanity.
"American citizens act within
their indisputable rights in taking
their ships and in traveling wherever
their legitimate business calls them
upon the high seas, and exercise
those rights in what should be the
well-justified confidence that their
lives will not be endangered by acts
done in clear violation of universally
acknowledged international obliga-tions,
and certainly in the confidence
that their own government will sus-tain
them in the exercise of their
rights.
Newspaper Warning Irregular.
"There was recently published in
the newspapers of the United States,
I regret to inform the imperial Ger-man
government, a formal warning,
purporting to come from the impe-rial
German embassy at Washington,
addressed to the people of the United
States and stating, in effect, that any
citizen of the United States who ex-ercised
his right of free travel upon
the seas would do so at his peril, if
his journey should take him within
the zone of waters within which the
imperial German navy was using
submarines against the commerce of
Great Britain and France, notwith-standing
the respectful but very
earnest protest of his government,
the government of the United States.
I do not refer to this for the purpose
of calling the attention of the im-perial
government at this time to the
surprising irregularity of a com-munication
from the imperial Ger-man
embassy at Washington ad-dressed
to the people of the United
States through the newspapers, but
only for the purpose of pointing out
that no warning that an unlawful
and inhumane act will be commit-ted
can possibly be accepted as an
excuse or palliation for that act or
as an abatement of the responsibil-ity
for its commission.
"Long acquainted as this govern-ment
has been with the character of
the imperial German government,
and with the high principles of
equity by which they have in the
past been actuated and 'guided, *£
government of the United States
cannot believe that the commanders
of the vessels which committed these
acts of lawlessness did so except un-der
a misapprehension of the orders
issued by the imperial German naval
authorities. It takes it for granted
that, at least within the practical
possibilities of every such case, the
commanders even of submarines
were expected to do nothing that
would Involve the lives of non-com-batants
or the safety of neutralships,
even at the cost of failing of their
object of capture or destruction. It
confidently expects, therefore, that
the imperial German government
will disavow the acts of which the
government of the United States
complains; that they will make re-paration
so far as reparation is pos-sible
for the injuries which are
without measure, and that they will
take immediate steps to prevent the
recurrence of anything so obviously
subversive of the principles of war-fare
for which the imperial German
government has in the past so wisely
and so firmly contended.
People Expect Prompt Action.
"The government and people of
the United States look to the im-perial
German government for just,
prompt and enlightened action in
this vital matter with the greater
confidence because the United States
and Germany are bound together,
not only by special ties of friend-ship,
but also by the explicit stipu-lations
of the treaty of 1828 be-tween
the United States and the
kingdom of Prussia.
"Expressions of regret and offers
of reparation in case of the destruc-tion
of neutral ships sunk by mis-take,
while they may satisfy inter-national
obligations, if no loss of
life results, cannot justify or excuse
a practice, the natural and necessary
effect of which is to subject neutral
nations : nd neutral persons to n«
and immeasurable risks.
"The imperial German govern-ment
will not expect the government
of the United States to omit any
word or any act necessary to the per-formance
of its sacred duty of main-taining
the rights of the United
States and of safeguarding their free
exercise and enjoyment.''
GERMANVMAY ASK FOR
COURT OF ARBITRATION.
In view of telegraphic and cable
delays and the probable necessity for
conferences between the German for-eign
minister and the imperial chan-cellor,
and doubtless with Emperor
William himself, a week may elapse
before a reply is received to Presi-dent
Wilson's note.
la* the Interim confidence prevails
amonf high officials in Washington
and is shared in German official
quarters that there will be no sub-marine
attacks on passenger vessels
while the questions at issue are be-ing,
resolved.
The intimation which came in
proas' dispatches indirectly from Ber-lin
to the effect that Germany would
willingly submit the questions raised
by ^he American note to arbitration
wasswcelved with much interest, and
it was indicated that if there was a
suspension of submarine warfare on
merchant ships while the discussion
was |n progress, the plan might be
given serious consideration.
Arbitrations had been talked of in
Washington before the press dis-patches
arrived. Seme German offi-cials
had intimated that, although
without advices from Berlin, they
were confident from previous knowl-edge
of the desire of the German
government to remain friendly with
the United States that arbitration
would be welcomed. The difficulty
of constituting a court or arbitration
at this time, when most of the great
powers whose participation might be
desired are at war, was pointed out
by Borne diplomatists, however, as
making the plan impracticable.
POLICE OFFICERS ARE
EXONERATED OF CHARGES.
The city commissioners Thursday
conducted an investigation ofcharges
brought by Rev. R. T. Weatherly and
other colored people of the city
against A. B. McFarland, a member
of the police.force. It was charged
that the officer had searched Lila
Smith, colored, who was accused of
t'.ie larceny of a diamond ring, in a
manner that was improper, illegal
and humiliating and which in fact
constituted an assault.
Chief Iseley made himself a party
to the Investigation and stated to
4M -commissioners that he instruct-ed
Officer McFarland to make the
search and was present when it was
made in his office.
The Smith woman testified that
she was forced to practically dis-robe,
while Chief Iseley and Officer
McFarland swore that the search
was made with the idea of saving
the woman from embarrassment or
humiliation.
The commissioners exonerated
both Chief Iseley and Officer McFar-land.
The negress is under bond to ap-pear
at the next criminal term of Su-perior
court on the larceny charge
made out by the officers.
Incidentally it might be stated
that the police officers did not find
the ring, but later it was discovered
in the kitchen of the home where the
woman had been employed as cook.
Following his exoneration, Mr.
McFarland was re-elected a member
of the police force, his election hav-ing
been held up on account of the
charges against him.
Rockefeller Wins Tax Suit.
John D. Rockefeller won an im-portant
victory in his fight to pre-vent
the collection of taxes on $311,-
000,000 in personal property by
Cuyahoga county. Ohio, when Judge
Clarke, in the United States District
court, at Cleveland, granted an in-junction
sought by the oil magnate
to restrain the colection". The taxes
sought to be obtained amounted to
about $1,500,000, including a penal-ty
of 50 per cent for failure to pay
when due.
The assessment, which is held in-valid,
was made in February, 1914,
when tax commissioners Visited the
Rockefeller summer home at Forest
Hill. They served papers on the oil
king, which alleged that he had re-mained
in the county more than six
months of the tax year and there-fore,
under the Ohio law, was a res-ident
of Ohio for taxation purposes.
The judge held -that Rockefeller
was not a resident of Ohio under the
meaning of the law. '
The suit will be carried to the
United States Circuit Court of Ap-peals
by the attorneys for Cuyahoga
county and, if the injunction is sus-tained
there, it may be carried to the
Supreme court.
World Court Congress.
The World Court Congress held
its concluding session in Cleveland,
O., Friday night with its delegates
expressing the opinion that the lat-est
movement toward world peace,
as expressed in the congress' idea
of an international court of justice,
baa been launched toward a conclu-sion
that is bound to be successful.
1 LOCAL NEWS IN BRIEF FORM
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE
READERS OF THE PATRIOT
FAR AND NEAR.
Had Good Crowd.—The Southern
Railway's excursion to Washington
Thursday night carried 325 passen-gers
from Greensboro and surroun-lng
towns. The excursionists re-turned
Saturday night.
Picnic and Fish Fry.—A large
crowd enjoyed a picnic and fish fry
Thursday at Watlington's pond, in
Washington township. This is an
annual event with the people of that
section of the county.
Attend Grand Lodge.—Several
members of the order in Greensboro
will leave tonight and in the morn-ing
for Hendersonville to attend the
r-.nnual meeting of the North Caro-lina
Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows.
Endorse Plan.—The directors of
..he Gre3ti3boro Chamber of Com-merce
have given their hearty en-dorsement
to the plan to construct
for the county a combination court
house and business building on the
present court house site.
Broke Bone in Leg.—While play-ing
at bis home on Sunday, the 9th
inst., Edgar Cook, the 15-year-old
son of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Cook, of
Greensboro Route 2, had the misfor-tune
to break the small bone in his
right leg. He is recovering from the
accident very satisfactorily.
Light Registration.—The indica-tions
are that the registration for the
1250,000 court house bond election
to be held June 1 will be rather
light. Next Saturday is the last day
of registration, and unless there is a
decided improvement during the
week, perhaps not more than half
the voters of the county will be reg-istered
and qualified to participate
in the election. .
New Dentist Here.—Dr. H. Kemp
Foster, formerly of Liberty, has lo-cated
in Greensboro for the practice
of dentistry and his friends will be
glad to know that he Is meeting with
success. Dr. Foster was located at
Aberdeen for a while, but desiring
a wider field, moved to this city. He
is well equipped for the practice of
his profession. Dr. Foster's office is
located over the Greenshoro Nation-al
Bank.
Masonic Officers.—At the meet-ing
of the York rite Masonic bodies
of this state in Asheville last week
four Greensboro men were honored
by election or appointment to office.
Mr. C. M. Vanstory was elected right
eminent grand commander of the
Knights Templar; Mr. A. W. Fetter,
grand inspector general, and Rev.
Dr. Melton Clark was appointed
grand prelate. Mr. John J. Phoenix
was elected grand principal sojourn-er
of the Grand Chapter of Royal
Arch Masons.
Canning School—A canning school
for the benefit of the women of
North Carolina will be conducted at
the State Normal and Industrial Col-lege
from May 31 to June 5 under
the direction of Mrs. Jane McKim-inon,
of Raleigh, who is in charge of
the girls' canning club work in the
state. During the six days of the
school a number of lectures of vari-ous
subjects of interest to home-makers
will be delivered by experts.
Board and lodging will be provided
at the college for those who may at-tend
the school.
H. C. Edwards Dead.—Mr. H. C.
Edwards, a well known citizen, died
Friday morning at 11 o'clock at his
home near Kernersvilie. He had
been in feeble health for quite a
while. Mr. Edwards was 83 years
of age and is survived by his widow,
two sons and two daughters. Mrs.
Edwards is a sister of Mr. W. C. Bo-ren,
chairman of the Guiiford county
board of commissioners. The funeral
was held from the Methodist church
in Kernersvilie Saturday afternoon
at 3 o'clock, the services being con-ducted
by Rev. C. P. Goode, the pas-tor.
Time Getting Short.—Beginning
the first week in June, the delin-quent
tax list of the county will be
advertised for four weeks^ the sale
of property upon which the taxes
may remain unpaid to take place
the first Monday in July. In this is-of
The Patriot Sheriff Stafford
Oak Ridge Commencement.—The
commencement exercises of Oak
Ridge Institute opened yesterday
with the baccalaureate sermon,'
which was preached by Rev. A. O.
Dlxon, of High Point. The class day
exercises are to be held this after-noon
and this evening at 8 o'clock
the annual debate will take place.
The oratorical contest will take place
tomorrow morning at 10.30 o'clock
and will be followed by the annual
address by Gen. Julian S. Carr. In
the afternoon Lieutenant Governor
Daughtridge will make an address
in presenting the diplomas.
Big Celebration.—Owing to the
fact that July 4 this year will fall on
Sunday, the r-.nnual celebration at
the Guiiford Battle Ground will be
held on Saturday, July 3. The exer-cises
will be made notable by the
unveiling of the memorial monument
to Gen. Kathanael Greene provided
by the government. The governors
of the sto.te3 that had troops at the
battle of Guiiford Court House have
been invited to attend. Representa-tives
of a number of historical and
patriotic organizations will also be
present, and taken altogether, the
celebration promises to be one of the
best held in years.
More School Buildings.—The city
commissioners have under serious
consideration the question of in-creasing
Greensboro's school facili-ties
by the erection of additional
buildings. Although several new
buildings have been erected and
others enlarged during the past few
years, the cry still is for more room.
The commissioners are considering
the advisability of a 150,000 school
bond issue and probably will adopt
this course. Greensboro's school
buildings are entirely inadequate,
and were it not for the fact that the
training school at the State Normal
and Industrial College houses about
400 children, the city would be in a'
sad plight indeed.
sue
gives notice that the advertised list
will be made up and turned over to
the printer on May 25, and he re-quests
all delinquents who desire to
save costs and do not wish to be ad-vertised
to pay their taxes by that
date. It is understood that there are
about the usual number of delin-quent
tax-payers in the county.
BUSINESS MEN TO SUPPORT
COURT HOUSE BOND ISSUE.
I ..;.■; ■ ._...,„_", ■•■^ ■ >■-•■ -'-'-•■' ~^»JM--*i1iA*lMiimii*J*m*AI*.
A number of representative busi-ness
men of the city held a meeting
Friday night in the rooms of the
Chamber of Commerce and organiz-ed
to work for the success of the
$250,000 court house bond election
to be held June 1. Much interest
was manifested in the matter and
the opinion was freely expressed
that the progressive county of Gull-ford
cannot afford to turn down the
proposition.
The following resolution was
adopted as an expression of the sen-timent
of the meeting:
"Resolved, that it is the sense of
this meeting that we favor the issue
of bonds as proposed; that we ex-press
our confidence in the board of
commissioners to properly protect
the interests of the county and urge
all voters of the county to vote their
approval of the bonds on June 1."
The following were appointed mem-bers
of a committee to conduct a
campaign for the bond issue: John
N. Wilson, chairman; N. L. Eure, H.
L. Coble. C. W. Gold and C. M. Van-story.
This committee will appoint
such sub-committees as may be need-ed
to assist in the work.
Mr. Ceasar Cone stated that he
came to th# meeting as a seeker af-ter
light. A few days previously he
had received a circular letter attack-ing
the bond issue which he read
with interest until he came to the
end and saw there was no signature
attached, whereupon he consigned
the communication to the Waste bas-ket
as worthless. Before the meet-ing
adjourned Mr. Cone said he
had become convinced that he should
support the bond issue and would do
so heartily.
Methodist Bishops Uphold Wilson.
The college of bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
in session in Nashville, Term., sent
the following telegram to President
Wilson:
"The college of bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
thanks God that our president, on
whom rest at this time such great
and unusual burdens, is a man of
prayer, discretion, courage, patriot-ism
and ability. As chief pastors of
some millions of our American peo-ple,
the college assures the president
of its sympathy and prayers in its
efforts to preserve the peace of our
beloved country, and to protect the
rights and honor of our citizens. At
this hour and in all things may the
hand of our God and the God of our
fathers guide yon and all who are as-sociated
with yon in directing the
destiny of Americans."
'