he plain truth is--the German fleet is not blockading,
cannot blockade, and never will blockade our coasts.

I propose now to read to the committee the statement which has been
prepared by his Majesty's Government and which will be public property
tomorrow. It declares, I hope in sufficiently plain and unmistakable
terms, the view which we take, not only of our rights, but of our duty.
[Cheers.]

Germany has declared that the English Channel, the north and west coasts
of France, and the waters around the British Isles are a "war area" and
has officially notified that all enemy ships found in that area will be
destroyed and that neutral vessels may be exposed to danger. This is, in
effect, a claim to torpedo at sight, without regard to the safety of
crew or passengers, any merchant vessel under any flag. As it is not in
the power of the German Admiralty to maintain any surface craft in these
waters, the attack can only be delivered by submarine agency. The law
and custom of nations in regard to attacks on commerce have always
presumed that the first duty of the captor of a merchant vessel is to
bring it before a prize court, where it may be tried, and where the
regularity of the capture may be challenged, and where neutrals may
recover their cargoes. The sinking of prizes is in itself a questionable
act, to be resorted to only in extraordinary circumstances and after
provision has been made for the safety of all the crew or passengers--if
there are passengers on board. The responsibility for discriminating
between neutral and enemy vessels, and between neutral and enemy cargo,
obviously rests with the attacking ship, whose duty it is to verify the
status and character of the vessel and cargo and to preserve all papers
before sinking or even capturing the ship. So, also, is the humane duty
to provide for the safety of the crews of merchant vessels, whether
neutral or enemy, an obligation on every belligerent. It is on this
basis that all previous discussions of the law for regulating warfare at
sea have proceeded.

The German submarine fulfills none of these obligations. She enjoys no
local command of the waters in which she operates. She does not take her
captures within the jurisdiction of a prize court; she carries no prize
crew which she can put on board the prize she seizes. She uses no
effective means of discriminating between a neutral and an enemy vessel;
she does not receive on board, for safety, the crew of th