The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1915-04-02

to any German port. z. No merchant
vessels shall be allowed to sail from
ANY German port 8. Ships sailing
from one neutral port to another with
goods ultimately destined for Germany
may be arrested. 4. Ships sailing be-
tween neutral ports with goods ORR
ginally from Germany may be arrest
ed. In response to an inquiry by our
state department, however, assurances
have been given by both England and
France that these operations will not
be conducted outside of European wa
tiers, including the Mediterranean
Great Britain's most concise official
statement of the situation is contained
in the following sentence: ~
The British fleet has instituted a
blockade effectively controlling by
fcruiser Gordon all passage to and from
Germany by sea-"
If this new form of blockade is eff
fectiye, says a Washington dispatch to
the Boston Transcript, the loss to the
United States in customs revenue
alone will be approximately 100000 a
day. Certain notes of protest from our
government against specific infringe
ments of neutral rights by the belli-
gerents have already been discussed
i'll these pages. The next move, accord
ing to Washington correspondent of
| hn ;,,o Do 1,
blanket protest covering all such en-
croachments as are implied in the poll
cies laid down by Germany Great Bri-
tain, and France. The same cores
pondent goes on to suggest that no
radical change in the situation is prob
able until there has been big naval
! battle" AS he puts it:
The eonciliatory tone of the an
swers of all the powers has created a
| favorable impression, but it does not
, lessen the belief that there will be no
decided change in the fundamental sit
uation until there has been big nav
al battle, and one side or the other has
secured absolute control of the sea.
Naval officers regard this feature of
the situation as underlying the whole
problem"
Many papers dwell on the partial
parallel between the recent British or
ders in council and those of 1907,
which led up to a declaration of war
by the United States in 1912. 1T is
clear that the possible courses of ac-
ton are the same which were open to
our fathers" declares the New York
American, which goes on to say:
I'VE can submit to orders of foreign
powers, permit our neutral commerce
to be destroyed, our flag to be insulted
and degraded to the office of disguis-
ing foreign ships, and become con-
temptible in the eyes of the whole
sneering world. Or, we can declare
war against any power that molests
commerce, voyaging under the Ameri-
can flag as our forefathers did.
I'VE can lay an embargo and cease
all trading with Europe until Europe's
warning rulers have had their fill Of
fighting. Or we can re-enact the non
intercourse law of 1909 and refuse to
trade with such countries as refuse to
recognise the neutral rights Of our
commerce on the high seas.
One of these courses we must pur-
sue, Because If we do not adopt one
Tor the three active methods of re-
prisal and resistance, then we must
accept the first and eat the dirt of
submission. There is no escape from
that logic.
Whatever course it is decided to
pursue, we should all stand by our
government. This is no time for irdi-
nary disputes of politics. 1t is seri-
Gus time, when Americans must walk
warily but shoulder to shoulder. And
ii is emphatically time to drop I'M
patriotic and unbeeoming and unneu-
trail partizanship; time to be neither
pro- British nor pro-German, but sole
| ly pro-American.
A gigantic blunder" is all the Wash
ington Post can see in Great Britain's
novel plan of starving Germany into
submission, for if it is effective the
first to suffer will be hundreds of
| thousands of French, Russian aud Bri-
| fish prisoners. Would the German
government take pains to feed the pris-
oners of war first while Germans
| themselves were starving?" asks The
Post, which adds:
In a short time it will become ap
! parent that Great Britain has made
a gigantic blunder by thus antagoniz-
| ing the peaceful nations of the world.