Norwich bulletin., 1915-01-11

" e1oALAi4SCOii, JttA' IV.-- CTI0S1L |
 Britain's preliminary reply to the note from the United States government re questing an improvement in the treat l
 men of American commerce by the 1 British feet was made public here and in London today by mutual agree 1 ! ment between the state department and the British foreign office. The British communication con- CUTS in the views of the United States 1 1 that commerce between neutral na tions should be interferred with only when imperatively necessary and of l fcialS of the Washington government i construed it as conceding that tAe | principles expressed by the American
 note were just and held by the pre- | viously accepted usageS of interna- | tional law. 1 The only formal comment made to- night was contained in a brief state
 ment issued by Secretary Bryan. who | said.
 l This answer being preliminary and i not being intended as q complete re- ply, we will postpone comment until ! the full answer is received"
 Ccncedes Contentious of United States 1 Briefly, the British note while con- | ceding the principles of the American | governments contentious, points out 1 difficulties in actual practice, refers tf ] allegeged fraudulent practices by ship I pers and cites statistics showing an increase rather than a decress iI cer- | tain neutral commerce, in support o2 l Great Britain's suspicious that Gcer- ! man and Austria have been indirectly i obtaining contraband thhroUgn neutral i countries. The note promises, how ! ever, that Great Britain will make ! redress whenever the action of the | British fleet may uuintentionally ex- | ceed' the limits of international law. Note Entirely Friendly.
 1 While they are generally reserved in 1 their comment, it may be stated au | thoritatively that high officials of tne 1 United States government regard tiIe l note as entirely friendly and believe, ! moreover. that the discussion which | will be carried on in the same vein | with a desire on the part Of both countries to reach a satisfactory un- 1 derstanding.
 1 The admission by Great Britain of one of the chief points in the Ameri- | can note that the relations between ! neutrals were those of normal times, l of peace and not of war, was gTati- ! flying to officials who believed the con ! troverSy would now resolve itself into a frank discussion of what were the | actual necessities of the 'as9 which l impel interference by beIligerent l when suspecting that the ultimate ! destination of a neutral cargo is bel l liS G44I ttIIliOIN.
 Says Statistics Are Misleading.
 The statistics brought forth to show ] that commerce between the UhIed ! States and neutral countries to Ger i many and Austria had increased ma ] terially since the outbreak of the war
 l were regarded here as misleading. It
 1 was pointed out that in view of lhe
 1 breaking down of the normal relations
 of commerce with Germany and Aus
 1 tria many non contraband products l had been shipped through neutral l countries. Similarly, the neutral 1 countries which previously had ob- 1 tained much of their supplies from bel 1 ligerents were now importing from the ] United States.
 1 As 70 the increase in shipments in ! copper to Italy it was pointed out i that the Italian ambazeador has aI- ] ready explained that Italy which had previously obtained copper from Ger ! many and Austria for her n1anuf4c- l turers, now was forced to import from ] the United States because of the em- 1 bargo on exportation which the bel 1 ligerentS themselves had impoSsn1. ! The American government contends, ! moreover, that if some copper ndc ! reached the belligerents through neu- 1 tral countries, it is the duty C: the | British 70 make more effective ar | rangements with those reI.ral coun- ] tries.
 1 The admission of Great Britain that a. to foodstuffs and conditional con- i traband, Lord Salisbury's doctrine | quoted in the American note, would | be followed in practice by the British, 1 foodstuffs being held up only when 1 destined to an enemy force. also was pleasing to American officials.
 45 caraoes in Prize Court ! There is every reason to believe that 1 the United States will not accept the 1 view of Great Britain that gargoes
 mnst be taken into port for extended ! eXanina tion. While statistics advapc- l ed show that only 45 cargoes ou. Of l 773 have actually gotten into tha prize i courts. officials here not that no mer- l ticn is made in the British note of l the great number of American cal- 1 goes detained and subsequently re-
 suffered by American commerce which 1 brought forth the American note. but 1 the desire to prevent rr;va-e com
 merce in the future from being mis- i treated. The United States also lad 1 stress on the effect which the de- l tentions already made had hal on 1 shippers, who hesitated to export car. l goes on account of the hazards in- 1 volved and what was termed the in- ] decision of the British authorizes :n 1 applying their own rules
 l Novel Argument For Seizinq Ships,
 Officials regarded as novel the aryu. ment of Great Britain that 1t callId
 not give unlimited adherence to the l rules with respect to conditional con traband destined for oelligerent coun-