at the force of America is the force of
moral principle, that there is not anything else that she loves and that
there is not anything else for which she will contend.

Two Ex-Presidents' Views

MR. ROOSEVELT SPEAKS.

[Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]

_SYRACUSE, N.Y., May 7.--Ex-President Roosevelt, after learning details
of the sinking of the Lusitania, made this statement late tonight:_

This represents not merely piracy, but piracy on a vaster scale of
murder than old-time pirates ever practiced. This is the warfare which
destroyed Louvain and Dinant and hundreds of men, women, and children in
Belgium. It is a warfare against innocent men, women, and children
traveling on the ocean, and our own fellow-countrymen and countrywomen,
who are among the sufferers.

It seems inconceivable that we can refrain from taking action in this
matter, for we owe it not only to humanity, but to our own national
self-respect.

_On May 9 a Syracuse dispatch to_ THE NEW YORK TIMES _conveyed this
statement from Mr. Roosevelt:_

On the night of the day that the disaster occurred I called the
attention of our people to the fact that the sinking of the Lusitania
was not only an act of simple piracy, but that it represented piracy
accompanied by murder on a vaster scale than any old-time pirate had
ever practiced before being hanged for his misdeeds.

I called attention to the fact that this was merely the application on
the high seas, and at our expense, of the principles which when applied
on land had produced the innumerable hideous tragedies that have
occurred in Belgium and in Northern France.

I said that not only our duty to humanity at large but our duty to
preserve our own national self-respect demanded instant action on our
part and forbade all delay.

I can do little more than reiterate what I then said.

When the German decree establishing the war zone was issued, and of
course plainly threatened exactly the type of tragedy which has
occurred, our Government notified Germany that in the event of any such
wrongdoing at the expense of our citizens we would hold the German
Government to "a strict accountability."

The use of this phrase, "strict accountability," of course, must mean,
and can only mean, that action will be taken by us without an hour's
unnecessary delay. It was eminently proper to use the exact phrase that
was used, and, having used it, our own self-respect demands that we
forthwith abide by