"The U-53 and other German submarines, if there are others," said a
member of the German Embassy at Washington, "is engaged in doing to the
commerce of the Allies just what the British tried to do to the
_Deutschland_ when she left America. (The submarine _Deutschland_,
engaged in commercial enterprise, had visited the United States some
time previously.) It is a plain case of what is sometimes known as
commerce-raiding. It is being done by submarines, that is all. Warfare,
such as that which has been conducted in the Mediterranean, has been
brought across the Atlantic. It should be easy to destroy more of the
overseas commerce of the Allies, which is principally with America, near
where it originates."
Here was a veiled threat--not so veiled either--which was no doubt
marked in Washington. President Wilson received the news of the sinkings
in silence, but plainly government authorities were worried over the
situation. New problems were erected and the future was filled with
possibilities of a multifarious nature.
Thus, within twenty-four hours it was demonstrated that the war was not
3,000 miles away from us, but close to our shores. The implied threat
that it would be a simple matter for submarines to cross the Atlantic
and deal with us as they were dealing with France and England and other
Entente nations--not to say harmless neutrals such as Holland and
Scandinavia--was not lost upon the citizens of this country. But, as
usual, German judgment in the matter of psychology was astray.
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