War on and under the Sea (3)

All of this time the Germans were accusing the United States of
favoring the nations of the Entente because they were selling
munitions of war to them and none to Germany. They said that it was
grossly unfair for neutral nations to sell to one side when, owing to
the blockade, they could not sell to the other also. When a protest
was made by Austria, the United States pointed out that a similar case
had come up in 1899. At that time the empire of Great Britain was at
war with two little Dutch Republics in South Africa. The Dutch,
completely blockaded, could not buy munitions in the open market.
Nevertheless, this fact did not prevent both Austria and Germany from
selling guns and ammunition to Great Britain. (It must be made plain
that the United States government was not selling munitions of war to
any of the warring nations. What Germany wanted and Austria asked was
that the U.S. government should prevent our private companies, as, for
example our steel mills, from shipping any goods which would
eventually aid in killing Germans. The United States made it plain
that their people had no feeling in the matter--that they were in
business, and would sell to whomsoever came to buy; that it was not
our fault that the British navy, being larger than the German,
prevented Germany from trading with the U.S.)

In the meanwhile explosions kept occurring in the many munition
factories in the United States that were turning out shells and guns
for the Allies. Several hundred Americans were killed in these
explosions, and property to the value of millions of dollars was
destroyed. It was proved that the Austrian ambassador and several of
the German diplomats had been hiring men to commit these crimes. They
were protected from our courts by the fact that they were
representatives of foreign nations, but the President insisted that
their governments recall them.

The Germans made a great point about the brutality of the English
blockade. They told stories about the starving babies of Germany, who
were being denied milk because of the cruelty of the English. As a
matter of fact, what Germany really lacked was rubber, cotton,
gasoline, and above all, nickel and cobalt, two metals which were
needed in the manufacture of guns and shells.

Finally, in the summer of 1916, came a world surprise. A large German
submarine, the Deutschland, made the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean
and bobbed up unexpectedly in the harbor of Baltimore. In spite of all
the trouble that the United States had had with Germany over the
sinking of ships by submarines, the crew of this vessel was warmly
received, and the cargo of dyes which she brought was eagerly
purchased. The Germans, in return, loaded their ship with the metals
and other products of which Germany was so short. As one American
newspaper said, the Deutschland took back a cargo of nickel and rubber
to the starving babies of Germany. Once more the Deutschland came,
this time to New London, and again her crew was welcomed with every
sign of hospitality.