Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-06-15

ship to neutral ports non-contrabant
goods even though the ultimate desti
| nation of these goods Is to citizen!
Of one Of the belligerents.
Our government, through the STATE
department wrote Great Britain OF
March 30th protesting against the no
| tice of March 1st and the order II
council Of March 18th. In this letteI
Of March 30th it was declared tina
innocent ships may be freely trans
ported to and from the United States
through neutral countries to belliger
| ent territory without being subject t
Brft1sh blockade, much less to deten
tiohH and conflscation." Again thi
same letter declares that such inter
ference by Great Britain Is "distinc
invasion of the sovereign rights of tn,
| nation whose trade and commerce Il
interfered with"
EnsIand's Only Answer Was Continued
Seizures.
The only answer Great Britain ha!
given to this letter has been the con
tinued seizure Of vessels loaded will
cotton and other non-contrabanC
goods destined to neutral ports. These
seizures have continued to such ar
extent that shipments Of cotton into
thie TERRITORY have been abandoned
Great Britain has destroyed the mar
ket., and has deferred cotton merchant.
and shippers from even seeking fur.
th( 10 enter the market.
Acotton shipper was in Washington
a few days ago with an order from
Sweden for 10000 bales Of cotton. HI
had proof that the cotton would b'
consumed by Swedish mills. HI
sought to obtain assurance from thu
English embassy there that the vesse
cotton. He obtained no satisfaction.
Hoxsthe South Suffered From this o.
legal Blockade.
The injury to our entire country
and, especially of the cotton growing
stat4e, II the illegal blockade to which
hive referred Is permitted to remair
Of force, cannot be over-estimatt d
Our people struggled through lJv
prices for cotton last fall. They mus
not submit to continued low price!
caused by an illegal blockade.
In number Of instances Swedish
spinners are now in England seeking
through the aid Of their government
to obtain cotton consigned to them BY
citizens Of the United States which
has been seized by Great Britain. By
the help Of their own government they
may obtain some Of this cotton.
Great Britain has neglected to settle
with the cotton spinners for cottor
seized. Various excuses have beer
given which can be easily answered
One Of these excuses recently EN-.
bodied in a letter from Sir Edward
Grey Is that Swedish consignees are
claiming some Of the cotton. The ship
pers from the United States ask moth.
ing better than that cotton should bt
turned over to their consignees Great
Britain does not deliver to Swedish
consignees, or pay the American ship
pers.
Seized Cotton, But Wouldn't Pay.
I had brought to my attention with.
in the past two weeks the case Of q
southern firm which early in March
shipped several thousand bales Of cot.
ton to Rotterdam, Holland. A member
Of the firm came here and presented his
invoices together with proof Of his
contracts Of sale to the British EN-.
bassy, and sought to obtain payment
for the cotton which Great Britain
had seized, and sold, but he was able
to obtain no satisfaction.
1 will not take up more time discuss
ing the mistreatment Great Britain has
given to those cotton shippers whose
cotton has been carried into English
ports. While it is serious matter
for them to have from $5,000,000 tc
ceived for their cotton, tied up by
the British seizures, the really big
problem is the loss Of our market
caused by the illegal conduct Of Great
Britain, and the helplessness Of in
dividuals to defend themselves.
In Spite of Promises Seizures Con.
tinue.
The declaration Of London made by
the representatives of the great ma
tions Of the world, February, 1903
contained list Of those things which
under no circumstances in case OF
war were to be made contraband, and
the list was headed by raw cotton.
Great Britain has solemnly pledged
to this government by the letter OF
October 26, that cotton would not be
seized, and that so far as Great Brit
ain was concerned 1t was on the free
list and would remain there. In spite
of all this, the seizures have been
made and the cotton trade with Ger
many, Austria and all Of northern
Europe destroyed. Other non-contra-
band commodities have been similarly
treated by Great Britain.
There Are Other "Rights" of Citizens
That Should Be Stressed Upon.
The importance of pressing our
cotton markets cannot be over-esti-
mated 1t is non contraband and Great
Britain has no right to make 1t con-
prif In
TO blockade neutral ports. We should
insist upon the rights Of citizens of
the United States to ship cotton to
Holland, Denmark, and Sweden, even
though it ultimately may go to Ger
many and Austria
Not one line has gone from our gov
ernment to Great Britain since the let
ter Of March 80, which Great Britain
ignored. It is but fair to the admins
tration to say that / believe the sub
ject would have been aggressively
handled before the middle Of May but
for the sinking Of the Lusitania.
We should not submit longer to the
disregard of our rights by Great Brit
ain, no matter what Germany has
done. The people Of the entire coun-
try should understand what has taken
place, and especially those who are
UelIlS 81 STltNouSiy "ioh6Su ohoeA>
see the hand that strikes the blow.
But it is said that cotton Is used to
make explosives. This Is nothing new.
1t was the case when the declaration
Of London in 1909 declared that raw
cotton could not be put on the con-
traband list. 1t was the case last
October when we received the solemn
pledge from Great Britain that no
interference should be made with cot
ton shipments Great Britain cannot
now make a new rule that we should
recognize on this subject, and she has
not undertaken even to make cotton
contraband. 1t Is being stopped by an
illegal blockade, a blockade which dis
regards recognized principles Of inter-
national law, and which the declara-
ton Of London Of February, 1909, eX-
pressly declares shall never be made
contraband.
Destroying Our Markets, While We
Supply Her With Ammunition.
Our own government has notified
Great Britain that this interference is
"a distinct invasion Of the sovereign
rights Of the nation whose trade and
commerce is interfered with"
Great Britain and the allies are re-
ceiving half of their munitions OF war
from the United States. They would
destroy the market for the farmers OF
tho coutb opd tho market for many