Bisbee daily review., 1915-08-25
END OF THE AUTHORIZATIONS FIGHT.

The long, bitter campaign waged in this country t'
stop the export of arms and ammunition may now b
said to have ended The propaganda has collapsed sud
denly and dramatically
It's collapse is due to, two events which occurred sim
uaneously Secretary Lansins's reply to the Austrian
protest and the newspaper exposure of the secret ma
chinery by which Germany sought to control American
opinion and politics
The to Austria is the full and final statement o
the American position with regard to the munitions traf
nc It establishes policy which it is nconceivabe tina
we should change It is such crushing rejoinder T,
Ausuia-Hungary that may expect further wor,
from that nation. It is sufficient to silence any critic
Of our national policy who is accessible to reason
The Austrian protest in asking to stop selling am
to the Allies asserts that is the duty neutral
take account Of special conditions affecting begeronts
and to equalze those conditions Such an obligation
unknown in international practice If it were admitted
"it would impose every neutral nation duty to ST
in judgment the progress Of the and restrict III
commercial intercourse with bellgerent whose nava
successes prevented the neutral from trade with the
my" It would 'the establishment of system o
non-ntercourse with the victor" which, if consisten
would bar all forms trade If valid against beliger
ent superior the it should also be valid against
beligeren superior the land Manifestly such prn
cple would involve neutral nations perpexy and econ
mic confusion
Austria and Germany themselves for many years have
sold arms and ammunitions throughout the world an,
especially belgerents" and never during the perio,
before the present war did either Of them suggest or ap
ply the principle now advocated by Austria Hungary
During the Brtish-Boer war both sold ammunitions t.
Great Britain, which controlled the and blockade,
South Africa paralleing traffic with Great Britain
now.
AS for the law-The Hague Convention of 1907 ex
pressly declared that neutral is bound prohibit
the expectation Of conraband Of Whether shal
do left to its discretion the juds
ment OF Interested belligerents.
Less than one-ffth of recognized authorities advocate
changing the law to prohibit such exports German
authority Paul Heinecke covers our own case exactly
by the statement Such prohibitions may be ccnsdere
violations of neutrality unfriendly acts
if they are enacted during a war with the purpose ID
close unexpectedly the sources of supply to a part
which heretofore had relied upon them"
Moreover to put an embargo on munit!ons now, es
plains Secretary Lansing would establish dangerou
precedent We must defend the principle that be-
ligerent may buy arms anywhere because il is our onl
hope of safety in we are attacked It is the onI
hope any nation not well prepared against the aggre
sons of military nations. To abolish this right woul
compel every nation ready always great stor
of and ammunition. would foster universal mi
tarism. thwarng the hope of peace.
We justified then, by law, by common practice b
German and Austrian precedent by consideration of GU
own safety and by the highest morality
This sold logic is admirably supported by the pubGc
ton of German service letters through the ente
prise of the New York World. Those documents hay
shown that the sentiment in America favoring a
arms embargo has been the most part created ant
hciay by underground propaganda directed fro
Berlin and supported by German money
The agents of Germany have sought to control Anne
( lean service, mislead American newspapers an
corrupt public opinion. They have fathered nations
bodies operating in the of false neutrality The
have sought to work havoc in our industries by strr
strikes. They have played the South encouragir
southern leaders of opinion to demand a munitions or
barge in retaliation for the cotton embargo They ha,
medded with domestic politics. have worked to bei
congress and the president to their will and have pa
ned to Americans of German blood against o
other citizens in a new party to use as a weapon again
England
An these facts are common property. Both u
false logic and the hypocrisy Of the demand for an e
barge clearly revealed that there should be tit
heard about the matter heneegorh from either foreign
domestic sources.
YELLOWSTONE HoLo.UPs.