Evening star., 1915-06-25

Washington morning of 2oth INST.
Please telegraph if this date is says
factory Memorandum reads ds ioi
ows:
-. His majesty's government nave
on various occasions, ana notapiy az
the communication which was ad-
dressed to the United states amoassa,
ior on the 18th of March last, given
assurances to the United states gov
arnment that they would make IL .nell
frst aim to minimize the lnconVeIlehc
which must inevitably be caused 10
leutral commerce from the existence
Of state of war at sea, and In par
ticular from the measures taken py
he allied governments for the restric-
lion of the enemies oversee trade.
complaints made 10 this department by
the ambassador from time to time as
to the peculiar hardships alleged 10
nave been wrongly inflicted on Ameri-
AN trade and shipping by the opera
government desire to offer the follow
ing observa ton respecting the manner
in which they have consistently en-
,leavored to give practical effect to
those assurances.
Blockade Rights Relinquished.
".2. It will be recalled that, at the
7oment when his majestys government
4nnounced their measures against en-
my commerce, they declared their IN
ention to refrain altogether from the
xercise of the right to confiscate ships
Or cargoes, which belligerents had al
ways previously claimed in respect OF
breaches of blockade: that. under arti-
lie Ave % of the enactment OF the
1th of March, it was expressly pro
vided that any person claiming to be
Interested in goods placed in the prize
court in pursuance of the provision OF
that enactment might forthwith issue
writ against the proper officer OF the
crown, the object being to confer upon
claimants the right to institute pro-
ceedings without waiting for the writ
of the procurator general, and thus TO
remove all possible cause of legitimate
grievance on account of delay: and
that, finally, a pacific assurance was
eiven to the United States government
that the instructions to be issued by
his majesty's government to the fleet,
and to the customs officials and execu-
tive officials concerned, would impress
upon them the duty of acting with the
utmost dispatch consistent with the
object in view, and of showing in every
might be compatible with that object,
namely, to prevent vessels carrying
goods for. or coming from the enemy's
".3. The above measures were all
designed to alleviate the burdens inn
posed upon neutral sea-borne COM
merce in general. Various special con-
cessions, over and above those enumer-
favor of the United States citizens
-. Thus his majestys government
have acted. as regards shipments of
American cotton, in accordance with
the provisions of an arrangement ar
rived at in direct collaboration with
representatives of the American cotton
interests. In accepting this scheme, the
principal representative of those inter-
ests described 1t as conceding all that
American interests could possibly ask.
The provisions of the ARRANGEMENT
were as the United States ambassador
Is aware. as follows:
Cotton Agreement.
"'I) All cotton for which con-
tracts of sale and freight engagements
have already been made before the
I'd March is to be allowed free Cor
bought at contract price II stopped),
provided the ship sails not later than
the 31st March.
corded to all cotton insured before the
I'd March. provided 1t Is put on board
not later than the 18th March.
'(3) All shipments of cotton claim
ing the above protection are to be. de-
clared before sailing and documents
produced to and certificates obtained
from consular officers or other author
ity fixed by the. government.
IS. Cons derable shipments Of cotton
have already been dealt with under
this arrangement and in certain cases
the dates specified have been extended
in favor Of American shippers.
The board of trade have already
paid sum exceeding 9450.000 to vari-
are being and will continue to be paid
as rapidly as they are presented and
the proofs of title can be checked.
II in some cases progress has
been delayed. this has been due to the
fact which has seriously embarrassed
his majesty's government in that a
number of consignments, for which the
American shippers had specifically in
voked the protection of the arrange
ment. are now claimed by Swedish and
Dutch firms, whose title to ownership.
Notwithstanding the action of the
American shippers. appears in some
cases to be valid, and in others has led
to the issue Of writs in the prize court
Prompt Settlement of Claims.
"'S. 1t has been explicitly acknowl-
edged by the special representatives Of
the American claimants, who have
been in constant and direct communi-
cation with the board Of trade, that
all the claims far submitted under
the cotton arrangement have been set
tied with the utmost promptitude so
soon as the production of the necessary
documents by the claimants allowed of
this being done.
There is. at the present moment, no
claim before his majesty's government
that has not been paid, and the sums
SO paid over are already considerably
in excess of the amounts realized by
the sale of the goods.
~. AS regards the more general al
Legation of delay In dealing with cases
of detained cargoes. the following
facts and figures may be quoted:
The total number OF vessels which.
having cleared from United States
ports since the initiation Of the retail
atory measures against German trade,
are still detained in United Kingdom
ports. is twentyseven; of this number
eight are discharging cotton which his
jestys government has agreed to
purchase under the above arrangement.
OF the remaining nineteen vessels. sew
en- are free to depart SO soon as the
court have been discharged. The other
twelve. of which three only are Ameri-
can ships. are detained pending In
quiries as to suspicious consignments
and particulars as to the dates and
approximate cause of detention are
II will be observed that eight have
been detained for a period OF less than
a week and three for a period Of less
than a fortnight. while the detention
Of one is due to the difaculties In re-
gard to transit across Sweden and
Russia.
Arbitrary Interference Denied.
"s His majesty's government re-