The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-18

, action of Great Britain as oitiful 1 enc to the commercial interests oi the l United States and said that many oi the great industries of the country were suffering because their products were denied long established markets in nett | tral European countries contiguous to | the nations at war.
 Tt is unfortunately true that n these days, when trade and finance are cos | mopolitan, any war, particularly {, Wal
 of any magnitude, must result s.n a srievous dislocation of commerce. iE- cluding that of the nations which talk | no part in the war. Your excelleney will realize that in this tremendous struggle for the outbreak of which Great Britain is in no way respon- sible, it is impossible for the trade oi ans country to escape all injury and loss but for such his majesty's gov ernment are not to blame.
 'I do not understand the paragraph which I have quoted from your excei- lency's note as referring to these indi- , rect consequences of the state of WAT i bat to the -nlorl prv xlliiate and oireci effect Of our beIligerent action in deal | ing with neutral ships and cargoes or 1 the high seas Such action has beer l limited to vessels on their way to enemy l ports in neutral countries adjacent tt the theatre of war because it is onls through such ports that the enemy m 1 troduces the supplies which he requires for carrying on the war
 Sir Edward then points out that only eight out of 773 ships sailing from the United States for neutral European coun- tries have been placed in the prize courts and that only 45 have been Temporarily 1 detained to enable particular cous,s n- ments of cargo to be discharged for the purpose of prize court proceedings" No nofosIS E;vor
 The note does not go into detail as 10 American ships detained on the high seas or taken to British ports for search. The next paragraph analyses the statistics of exports from the United States and
 makes the observation that it is there
 fore clear that, if cotton be excluded the effect of the war has been not to In-
 crease, but practically to arrest, tine ue-
 cline of American exports which was m
 progress earlier in the year; in fact, any
 decrease in American exports which Is attributed to the war is essentially cot
 toh.
 Pointing out that Great Britain has never declared cotton contraband or in-
 terfered with it's shipments, the note then remarks that imports Of cotton to tile
 United Kingdom fell as heavily as those to other countries, and the same mo doubt was true of France.
 "rhe general result" it continues. ''is to show convincingly that the naval op- erations of Great Britain are not the cause of any diminution sn rne volume of American exports, and that if the commerce of the United States is in the unfavorable condition which your excel lency describes, the cause ought, in fair ness. to be sought elsewhere than in the activities of his majesty's naval forces
 Moreover, the British communication contends that even though trade between the United States and the allies has di-
 ninished from normal,s the commerce with neutral countries as compared with previous years has been maintained and the inference may fairly be drawn that "substantial part of this trade was in fact intended for the enemy countries going through neutral ports by routes to which it was previously unaccustomed."
 Taking up some of the ''inconveniences to which this great war is exposing the commerce of all neutral countries,' the
 tContinued on Page TenS