, 1915-01-09

OUTSIDE member ana IL lHlukS lulS WOulN
pave the way for a Court OF ArOitral Justice,
such as America has proposed. It's other
suggestions are: better provision for rapid
procedure, and methods whereby search may
be waived on the prod uctiou OF a certificate
by a consul or custom official, and tie adop-
ton of some definite permanent line regard
ing contraband. Every country, it says, IS
tempted to adopt one policy when q bflll-
gerent and another when neutral, and also
to act rs though a blockade was effective,
although ineffective. 1t thinks the British
policy has recently been huctuating.
The high freight rates now prevailing
increase the pressure on the Government
to release the German tonnage captured
since the outbreak of war and which is
now lying idle and useless here and
abroad. 1t could be made to yield large
profits if employed in general trading,
or utilized as Transports, instead of tax
ing up other tonnage at high rates.
Forty. three shillings and six pence per
ton is asked to carry grain from the Rio
Plata to the United Kingdom, against the
normal twelve shiIIings, while q vessel has
been chartered at the unheald of figure OF
f%orty-fVe shillings per ton.
Advices from Washington state that the
British revisions of the Declaration OF Lon
tpA HUI eASS RHS GOHtidOiiltt ounJcSG5
eleven to forty-one, or practically everything
in commerce. The State, Treasury aud Com
merce Departments are cooperating in the
preparation of a circular to the Customs Off
cials regarding assuring themselves before
certifying to the correctness of manifests
that they are complete aud truthful lists of
the cargo, without deciding whether the
articles laden are contraband, and it is hoped
that such certificates will lessen the annoy
ance of the searches. Such methods have
already been used at Savannah.
There has been q long and heated hearing
before the Committee of the House of Re
representatives., the German and Irish-Amerl-
cans arguing that neutrality was inconsistent
with the selling of supplies to one belIige-
rent and not to another, and moreover that
war supplies should be accumulated in the
United States, which is almost unarmed and
defeuceless.
London, Jan. 6th-A French official com
muuique states In Belgium, desplte'the con-
ditions of the ground and the resulting diff
~iculties, our infantry progressed on the sand
dunes before Newport, and in the region Of
St. Georges our men advanced at difficult
places 300, 200, and 500 yards, occupying
houses and trenches, and at several points
the Belgian artillery silenced the artillery of
lQ6 O6EInhn5, from the LNS 10 the OIso
and in the region Of Notre Dame de L%orette,
west Of Lens, we were successful, thanks to
our mortars and hand 9renades, i'll complete
ly stopping the sapping labours OF the enc
my. In the vicinity of Lille, on the high
way, the Germans blew up one of our
trenches and then took possession of it, but
an immediate counter-attack again put us III
possession. From the Disc TO the VosSes
no infantry activity has been reported. In
the region of Craonne and Rheims artillery
engagements have taken place, our batteries
effectively bombarding the positions of the
enemy IN the town Of Suppers, as we'll as in
the region of Perthes les Hurlus and in the
vicinity of Beuusejour. Similar activity is
reported in the Argonne and on the heights
of the Mouse. In Alsace, southeast of Col
al B~Onhomme, we have entered the Hamlet
of Creux d'Argent, two kilometres west of
Orbey, where we are organizing our posi-
ton. The gains realized by us on the road
from Thanh to CerRay have been maintained
at q distance of one kilometre east of old
Thanh, and furthermore the fire of our heavy
artillery at n point two kilometres east Of
Purnharpt lie Haul silenced the artillery Of
the enemy.
A Berlin official announcement says ''To
the north of Arras we have blown up French
trenches two hundred yards in length and