Lord R. CECIL—­Not all. [Laughter.]

Mr. ASQUITH—­No; some had misadventures on the way. ["Hear, hear!” and laughter.] The 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 the vessel she sinks.  Her methods of warfare are, therefore, entirely outside the scope of any of the international instruments regulating operations against commerce in time of war.  The German declaration substitutes indiscriminate destruction for regulated capture. [Cheers.] Germany is adopting these methods against peaceful traders and non-combatant crews with the avowed object of preventing commodities of all kinds, including food for the civil population, from reaching or leaving the British Isles and Northern France.