Submarine Crews
Sir,—My letter in The Times of March 15 with reference to the conduct of certain of the German submarines has been followed by a good many other letters upon the same subject. Some of your correspondents have travelled far from the question at issue into the general question of permissible reprisals, into which I have no intention of following them. But others, by exhibiting what I may venture to describe as an ignoratio elenchi, have made it desirable to recall attention to the specific purport of my former letter. It was to the effect—(1) that the acts of those who, in pursuance of a Government commission, sink merchant vessels without warning are not “piracy,” the essence of that offence at international law being that it is committed under no recognised authority; and that neither is it “murder” under English law; (2) that the question of the treatment appropriate to the perpetrators of such acts, even under the orders of their Government, is a new one, needing careful consideration. I was, of course, far from stating, as a general rule, that Government authority exempts all who act under it from penal consequences. The long-established treatment of spies is sufficient proof to the contrary.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. E. HOLLAND
Oxford, March 22 (1915).