Omaha daily bee., 1904-08-12
LION CROWLS At THE BEAR
Russian Regulations as to OOntrabsnd Are
Specifically Objected To,
REPLY FROM CzAR is NOT SATISFACTORY
Demand for Modification of Regqla-
tions and for Reversal of Attitude
in knight Commander Case
a. Being Pressed.

in knight Commander Case
is Being Pressed.
! LONDON, Aug. 1.-THE Associated Press
! learns that Great Britain is distinctly dis
satisfied with Russia's attitude in the case
of the British steamer Knight Commander
| sunk by the Vladivostok squadron, and
/ continues to press the Russian government
! to make substantial notifications Of the
! list of articles regarded as contraband.
| Count Benckendorff, the Russian ambas-
| sador to Great Britain, called at the for
eign office yesterday and conferred for an
hour with Foreign Secretary Lansdowne,
! the latter bringing up the question Of the
] changes which should be made in the Rus
sian regulations in order to make them ac-
! ceptable to the commercial nations, be-
sides pointing out the inadvisabilty Of de-
| caring food, fuel and clothing contraband
under all circumstances. Lord Lansdowne
dwelt on the sweeping character Of Rus
! sia's proclamation, some Of the provisions
/ Of which, after specifying goods as contra
| band, closed with the word "etcetera,"
which Lord Lansdowne pointed out can
| include anything and everything the Rus
| sian authorities desire. AS this Is a seri-
GUS restriction on neutral shipping, Lord
Lansdowne insisted that the regulations
should not contain generalities of that
| kind. In reply Lord Lansdowne was as
sured that Russia had no desire to un-
! necessarily hamper neutral shipping, but
that she cannot AFFORD to permit Japan to
receive supplies which would facilitate her
military operations.
Debated in Parliament.
| The questions of the Russian volunteer
| fleet steamers and Russia's views on con-
| traband of war were raised in both the
House Of Commons and House of Lords
today.
! In the House Of Commons James Bryce,
liberal, urged joint action on the part Of
Great Britain and the Uuited States in
dealing with the Russian claims regarding
what is contraband, and to insure that raw
cotton and foodstuffs be not treated as
| contraband unless proved that they were
| intended for the use of belligerent forces.
| Mr. Bryce also drew attention to Russia's
use Of neutral ports.
Gibson Bowles.' conservative, suggested
| that the Dardanelles question be referred
/ to The Hague arbitration tribunal. He
/ characterized the sinking Of the steamer
Knight Commander as an outrage and said
the government must insist on full repara-
! tion.
The Marquis of Ripon, in the House of
Lords, questioned Foreign Secretary Lans-
downe on the same subjects. In reply
Lord Lansdowne said the government had
nlready explained its views as to the ille-
| gaIify OF TIE actions of the ST. Petersburg
and smolensk. Russia, he added. had sent
instructions to desist from similar seizures.
These instructions had reached their des-
tination and consequently the foreign Of
fee assumed that there would be no
further seizures
Passage of the DardaneIIes.
In regard to other vessels of the volun-
| teer feet passing the Dardanelles in the
future, Lord Lansdowne confirmed the AS
ISOLATED Press dispatches regarding the un-
dertaking obtained by the porte from Rus
sia that the vessels shall fly the Russian
commercial flag during the whole voyage
and not carry ornaments or munitions OF
war, and not be transformed into cruisers.
AS to the more serious question OF Rus
sian views OF contraband OF war, the for
eign secretary pointed out that the regu-
lations issued by Russia at the beginning
OF the war very greatly amplified the dehn-
ition of contraband hitherto accepted by
Great Britain, and he believed by most
other countries, the enlarged definition
including such articles as coal, alcohol,
rye and other provisions, horses, etc It
seemed to be a matter of such Importance
that the British government deemed It its
duty to call the attention of Russia to the
gravity OF the question, referring particu-
larly to the inclusion Of provisions, in
which this country is largely interested.
among the articles regarded as "uncondi-
tionally contraband of war"
Great Britain Protests.
The British government had pointed out
that this inclusion was a serious innova-
tion and stated that It was bound to as
sert its rights by protesting against the
doctrine that 1t was optional for a belliger-
ent to decide on what articles should be
dealt with as contraband, regardless OF
we'll established rights and usages The
government had informed Russia that It re-
fused to consider itself bound to regard as
valid the decision OF any prize court vio-
lating these rights or which failed to act
in conformity with recognised principles OF
international law. The effect of these se-
we're rules had been greatly intensified by
the exceptional measures taken to enforce
them, as In the case of the Knight Com
mander The government had been given
10 understand that Russia considered that
It was within the rights OF a belligerent
TO destroy a captured, neutral vessel
whether she carried cohtraband or not.
This country had never accepted such a
view and he Qord Lansdowne) believed
It had been refused by other powers. It
certainly had not been accepted by the
government OF the United States. The
British government therefore, twas unable
to admit that the sinking OF the Knight
Commander was justihable according to
any Of the principles OF international law
by which this country had ever considered
itself bound.
Eject ON British Commerce.
II the st. Petersburg court reverses the
decision Of the Vladivostok prize court It
would be a matter for congratulation.
: But. anyway. the government has refused
to admit that the destruction OF the Knight
Commander was justified or that the pro-
ceedings OF the prize court were valid.
The cumulative result Of the Russian ac-
tions was extremely serious, and was hav-
ing a most injurious effect on the com
merce Of Great Britain. His impression,
however. was that both governments would
be glad to discover reasonable means OF
settling their differences. Lord Lansdowne
concluded with remarking that he was