The Washington times., 1915-05-23

, now announced to have been broken
off so far as Great Britain Is concerned
| because Of the impossibility of making
real progress.
Cotton Movement Involved.
The British attitude toward shipments
of cotton has been especially demoral-
izing to that trade. Commercial au-
thorities Of this Government realize that
! Great Britain Is determined at any haz-
! ard to keep cotton out of Germany. In
the effort to do this. the whole move
ment Of cotton to the continent has be-
come involved.
About twenty-five cargoes of cotton
are now held up. according to the au-
thorlties here. and there is no knowing
what Will be the final determination OF
the whole problem. The British willing
that are seized does not give sausfac-
ton from any point of view. while the
delays In getting the business settled
are constantly more and more annoy
ing.
British contol OF cables, practically ali
over the world. has become one OF .he
greatest causes of friction. From the
, very beginning of the war this control
mas been exercised in ways that have
called down intense criticism on the
English censorship which is charged
especially with being utterly unintellj-
gent and needlessly exasperating. Ca
ties relating to cotton have been har-
! died for long time through the diplo-
/ matte agencies, but even this has been
no assurance against delays that arc
rulnous in connection with commercial
transactions. many messages falling to
get through at all, even when they are
passing between diplomatic agencies
Commercial cablegrams have been
Vlsed by the British authorities with
the most extreme care, the use of all
| code terms has been forbidden. num-
erals are eschewed for fear they may
nave some code meaning, and the diff
hculty OF commercial communication
mas grown constantly greater.
Routed Via Hong Kong.
short time ago it was announced
that cables for the Orient would all
have to be routed by way Of Hong
Kong, a British settlement. whereas
previously they had gone by way of
either Hong Kong or Shanghai.
The notification said that the ShanR-
hal route communication had been
interrupted" which was promptly
construed in Washington to mean that
this line had been closed in order TO
force all the business to pass through
the censor's establishment In Hong
Kong. The character and extent OF
British domination Of cable routes has
been impressed as never before, and
1t has become one of the most i'm
portant weapons in Britain's COM
mercial war on her enemies
one incidental result of this British
cable control. and of the insufferable
delays or failures in delivering com
merclal messages, has been serious
demora liZation in the wheat export
business to the continent The Dutch
government formed the Dutch Over
hon
the nation. to handle certain lines OF
foreign trade. Through this, it was
designed that the government should
secure the largest possible freedom
of trade. by giving its guarantee that
shipments Of contraband should not
be permitted to pass through Holland
into the hands Of the Germans.
Despite the very thorough and com
plete system thus created for giving
assurances that contraband should
be embargoed in Holland. the inter.
ferences with trade have continued
and Holland finds herself In a posi-.
tion quite as difficult as that of the
United States.
Russia Also Troubled.
Even Great Britain's ally, Russia,
has met the same troubles. Ship
ments OF furs, skins, and other Rus
sian staples for a time came out
largely through Sweden. the port OF
Gothenburg handling most Of them
The British blockade has intcrfered
even with these movements. and it is
now announced that Russian
American line of steam ships Il to be
operated during the summer, with
Archangei, on the Arctic. as its Euro
pean terminal. Through this route
munitions will go into Russia and
her commercial staples will come out