TaÌˆgliche Omaha tribuÌˆne. [volume] (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926, 1915-01-16
BY WILLIAM BAYARD HALE.

tlon which the British order In Coun-
ell makes in the sense Of Articles
XXXIn. and XXXv. Of the Declare.
ton OF London.
The former article declares that
there can be no question OF condi-
tional contraband except In cases
whore the cargo Is destined for the
use OF the administration department
or tho military or naval force OF the
enemy. Under the latter article
there can be no question Of condi
tional c~ontraband on vessels sailing
for a neutral port.
The British Government now an
nounces that Il will regard articles
Of conditional ~contraband consigned
to merchants or other persons under
the control OF the authorities Of Tue
enemy" In the same light as IL they
were consigned directly TO the mill.
tary forces Of the enemy. This means
nothing else than that provisions, for
instance, on the way to a German
port, consigned TO a private I'M
porter and intended for no other use
than the consumption by tho peaceful
population In the ordinary way Of
life, are subject to capture by British
ships-beeause all the inhabitants Of
the country are under the control Of
The authorities. Not only SO. but the
came harmless eargoes on the way
10 Danish, Dutch, or Italian ports
arc likewise subject to capture
because IL may suit the purposes OF
the British Goyernment To suspect
any importer, anywhere, OF being
under the control" of German auth
critics. In other words, American
Farmers. cattle raisers, and pork
packers are today, BY BrltiEh edict,
being denied the right TO sell and
deliver their products to the peace
full populations Of the countries with
which Great Britain happens to be
at war, and Of the countries which
she suspects sympathize with them.
The situation is not an academic
nor an imaginary one. The Depart
ment of State has NOT e 81 TO
make public particulars regarding
the detention Of vessels laden with
American food products on their way
TO Europe, but II is known that in
not less than half a hundred instane-
es ships and cargoes are nov being
or have been detained. In some
cases the detention Is excused on the
ground OF suspicion that articles now
by England denominated as absolute
c~ontraband are hidden In the cargo,
but the principle Of the new British
edict is that henceforth British
ships are free TO stop and carry into
British ports American and other neu-
trail vessels laden with foodstuifs.
clothing, or other cargo Of the c6Gdi-
tional contraband class on the sus-
picion that part Of lt may be des.
tined for the use Of the forces OF the
enemy.
Ships Held on Suspicion.
Thus the American ship Kroonland
was held for weeks at Gibraltar. She
was laden with copper on the way
TO Italy. The American ship Pridilla
was under detention at Halifax with
a mixed cargo on the way to a
neutral port. The American ship
Rockefeller. laden with oil, destined
to a scandinavian port when stopped,
was held at Kirkwall England. The
American ship Edward Pierce. and
the American ship George Hawley,
all laden with mixed cargo, chiefly
foodstuffs, bound to neutral North
European ports, were held at Fal
mouth, England, whittier they were
taken by British m~cn-ofwar. These
are instances only.
What crime have the owners of
these vessels committed? They have
committed no crime. Under what
Law are they being punished They
have t-r2nsgresssd no law and lie
open to no peualty. Their sole CT
Tense a that they had on board
goods which might possibly find their
way out of the neutral countries in
which they would have been landed
into Germany 81 Austria, and there
might be appropriated by the military
and naval forces. But is American
commerce to be destroyed. and the
right OF American farmers and cattle
raisers to sell their goods where they
viii for peaceful purposes to be
denied, because English statesmen
choose to suppose such possibilities?
Does international law, or common
sense, require that a farmer in a
peaceful country should In time Of
war follow his wheat or his meat
through all the channels of trade to
the very mouth that consumes it,
No, international law requires no
such thing, and common sense brands
the suggestion as preposterous. But
the British Government demands 1t.
The right of search was bad enough
in earlier days when vessels were
small and the cargo could be searched
at sea. In modern days, when this
~prerogatiye has been stretched to
mean the right to stop a non-
belligerent ship, divert 1t from It's
course and carry 1t rs a captive to
a port, there to be detained in
definitely, it is infinitely more I'M
/, portant that the already severe laws
, of contraband should not be strained
, to the intolerable point to which Eng
I land is new straining them. The
! losses endured by the innocent ship
per may be compensated for; Eng
: land will have a very heavy debt to
pay on this account when the war
is ended, but The damage done to the
commerce Of the United States can
! never be thus atoned for-for, as the
note dispatched by our Department
of State to London points out, the
4 moral effect Of these detentions Is I'd
: deter ship owners from lending theil
vessels to such losing ventures ano
to drive our commerce from the sea
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