The Washington herald., 1915-08-15
Cotton, Conraband, and the Embargo.


Britain will exert her power to the limit to pre-
vent cotton from reaching Germany The press
of the country is clamorous in its demands for a
declaration making cotton contraband, pointing
to the suicidal policy of the nation in failing to
utilize its supremacy on the seas to cut off abb
soltftely from its enemy the product from which
it manufactures the high explosives that thin
ing the armies of the allies. In spite of all the
British precaution and interference with neutral
commerce large quantities of the American cotton
crop of 1914 reached Germany through neutral
ports, and in self-preservation the British gov
crnment has determined to prevent at all hazards
shipments from the 1915 crop from reaching Ger
many's munition factories.
1t goes without saying that if Great Britain
had not found it necessary to seriously interfere
with neutral cargoes of every description in the
past, resulting in the present controversy with
the United States, she would lose no time in
adding cotton to the list of absolute contraband,
but in the present circumstances she is resisting
the popular demand for such action, because she
has desire to deal damaging a blow to an
important industry of the United States, nation
upon which she is so heavily dependent for the
supplies necessary to carry on warfare England
would vastly prefer to deal with the cotton situa
ton by means of her present system of embargo,
taxing SuCn COTTON as Sne ana ncr allleS can use
and permitting the neutral countries OF Europe
to import sufficient for their legitimate needs
This would be to England's advantage and i'm
meaSurably to our own, compared with the
placing of cotton the contraband list.
The fate of cotton, it thus appears de-
ponds in no small measure upon the outcome of
the pending negotiations between Washington and
London over the interference with neutral COM
merce; and it is not improbable that the cotton
situation may prove important factor in bring
ing about a conclusion. Great Britain has raised
a number of new and important points relating
10 blockade and embargo, that diplomatic CORE
spondence cannot dispose of without concessions
on one side or the other, and it is not impossible
that England may be willing to yield some
points in order that she may with the grace
declare cotton contraband. She cannot afford to
divert from its destination and purchase all the
cotton we desire to export to countries other than
France or England; and yet she realizes that to
make cotton contraband, while continuing her
present practices with relation to neutral COM
merce in general would be to add to the irritation
and invite reprisals on this side of the Atlantic
We need the markets of the allies for our prod
ucts of all kinds but their need for what We can
send them is far greater and the sterncst of
Slty compclS them to keep our cotton out of Ger
many. So, with no issue of cnormity like that
OF the Lustania with Germany at stake, but only
a matter of trade, the negotiations between the
United States and Great Britain have become suf-
hc1cntly intricate to tax craftsmanship and dplo-
macy on both sides to the utmost 1t would ap-
pear that common necessity and an unavoidable
of mutual interests cannot be wholly
by the nicetes of international law
precedent and usage.
If is all very well for Cep,+o- IJo1..
determine that "the only thing to do is to tell
Great Britain to revoke the blockade order or
she can have no neutral trade with u.s. But how
would it work OUT This way, according to the
New York Herald:
Just how would such cutting off their noses
help the cotton farmers, in whose plight the
Georgia Senator is manicsting so great INTEREST,"
70 stop all trade between the United States
and Great BrItan-for. of course, neutral trade"
means all tradc-would necessitate soppage of all
rade between the United States and Great Brit
ans allies also for Great Britain is acting for
and with her allies.
This would mean entire cessation of American !
exports to the British Isles to Canada and other
parts OF the British Empire, to France and her
colonies to Italy and her colonies to Russia in |
Europe and Russia in Asia and to Japan Ameri-
IAN wheat would drop to so cents bushcl hun
ircdS OF thousands OF workmen in factories and !
mills and mines would be thrown out of employ
nent. This country would experience the most !
disastrous financial panic of its history And
what about cotton2 In all human probability
we're this nation to follow the Hokc Smith policy
lotion would sell somewhere around SIS a bale |
Representative Henry's proposal that the gov
,rnment of the United States invest $500 900 900 !
n cotton might be questionable proceeding for
he country but it would certainly be infinitely
,ettcr for cotton than Senator Hokc Smiths
suicide pact"
These results not exaggerated, though The
Herald did not follow them to their logical con-
fusion, perhaps because already have horrors
nough in reality. But the Georgia Senator is
rcithcr Napoleon nor the Kaiser, and we do not
believe he can bring such things about, any more
han believe he either supply Germany
With cotton compel Great Britain to declare it
However, it would seem to be al
most time for the South to send Hoke Smith a
'ettion to leave its interests in the hands of
President Wilson and his Cabinet.
Helping the RAILWAYS,