The Philadelphia Public Ledger also criticized it for ignoring altogether “the protest in the name of humanity against submarine warfare upon non-combatants,” and the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune laid bare the “absolute ignoring of the vital principles set forth in the Wilson letter,” adding that “there is a half contemptuous, albeit entirely courteous, suggestion of ‘Well, they are still dead; now, what do you propose to do about it?’” [Illustration: NO USE.] The German claim that the Lusitania was in effect a warship, with mounted guns, and carried ammunition and Canadian soldiers, was emphatically denied in a public statement by Dudley Field Malone, collector of the port of New York, and the New York World vehemently answered the German claim by declaring that “the Lusitania was a warship in the same way that Belgium was an aggressor against Germany; in the same way that the University of Louvain and Rheims Cathedral were ‘fortifications’; in the same way that various seaside resorts in England, raided by Germans, were ‘defended.’” ATTACKS ON AMERICAN VESSELS MUST CEASE Many newspapers joined in calling for more drastic action on the part of the United States government. “We have but one thing in mind,” announced the New York Tribune, “that these crimes shall cease. Any answer, therefore, which fails to guarantee their stoppage as a condition precedent to diplomatic rectification cannot be expected to satisfy the just expectation of the United States.” The Washington Herald followed this by saying: “The patience of the American people in the face of contemptuous disregard of their rights and a series of outrages against their countrymen has been sublime, but surely it has a limit. Surely a way will be found, without much longer delay, to compel Germany to cease her attacks on American vessels engaged in neutral commerce and to guarantee the safety of American lives and property.” SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT On the other hand there was a strong element that counseled coolness and restraint. “This is not a time,” declared the Albany Knickerbocker Press, “to suggest to President Wilson what ought to be done. It is not a time to become impatient. It is a time for restraint. Nothing can be gained now by playing upon the strings of excitable public opinion in America. The President must find his way out and every true American must support him loyally.” Echoing this sentiment, the Springfield Republican added, “but the German government may fairly be required to give definite assurances that during the period of the negotiations no more torpedo attacks on passenger ships which may be carrying American citizens will be permitted.” CHAPTER X SWIFT REVERSAL TO BARBARISM BY VANCE THOMPSON CULTURE SWEPT AWAY -- BREAKING POINT OF CIVILIZATION -- BARBARISM AND WOMEN -- AFTER BARBARISM, WHAT? [The following article is reproduced by the courtesy of the New York Times.]