With the subsequent progress in infamy of Germany’s submarine campaign it was natural that the sensibilities of the civilised world, so shocked by the ruthless sinking of the _Lusitania_, should have become somewhat dulled. But it is clear, in retrospect, that this tragic event marked an epoch in the slow gathering of the non-combatant world’s condemnation. Upon the general events preceding the loss of this world-famous vessel, this is not, perhaps, the place to dwell. It will be remembered however, that from February 18th, 1915, the German Government announced that it proposed to consider the waters round Great Britain and Ireland and the entire English Channel as what they described as a “War Zone,” stating that they would “endeavour to destroy every merchant ship found in this area of war, without its always being possible to avert the peril that thus threatens persons and cargoes.” [Illustration: THE “MAURETANIA” AS A HOSPITAL SHIP, OFF NAPLES HARBOUR (The “Mauretania” was a sister ship of the “Lusitania”)] To this the British Government issued a reply on the following March 1st, that the German announcement was in fact a claim to torpedo at sight, regardless of the safety both of the crew or passengers, any merchant vessel under any flag. The British Government proceeded to remind Germany and the world, that by all the accepted traditions of the sea, and under the terms of international law, it was the duty of an enemy vessel to bring a captured ship to a Prize Court, where all the circumstances of the case could be impartially investigated, and where neutrals might recover their cargoes. The sinking of prizes was therefore, as the British Government pointed out, always a questionable proceeding, and could only be justified in exceptional circumstances, and after full provision had been made for crews and passengers. The legal responsibility of verifying the status of any vessel always rested with the attacking ship, while the obligations of humanity required adequate provision to be made for the safety of all crews and passengers of merchant vessels, whether enemy or neutral. It is now both common and tragic knowledge that these protests, as well as all the canons, so long established, of sea chivalry, were entirely ignored by the German Government, and it was on May 7th, 1915, that this became finally and startlingly clear to every intelligent observer in the civilised world. That the German Government possessed any special spite towards the _Lusitania_ may not perhaps have been the case, but, as we have seen, it was by means of the _Lusitania_ and her sister ship the _Mauretania_ that the “blue ribbon” of the Atlantic, in the matter of speed, had been wrested from German hands. [Illustration: “PHRYGIA” SINKING A SUBMARINE]