The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-03-03
II Duty Of the United States to
Protest.

Protest.
Tne United States would lose its
~self-respect and confess f~eebleness as
a nation II Vt did not protest vigor-
ously against the hybrid doctrine
which Great Britain and France pro-
claim, that their right to frame re-
taa1atory measures against Germany
Ju0e1nes them in preventing "commod.
tiles Of any kind from reaching or
leaving that country without formally
declaring n blockade. what the Al
lies propose is not n blockade. al
though IL Is their aim to secure the
advantages Of mi II has been well
safd that while the object OF the
right Of a %belligerent to intercept
contra band in transitu is 10 IA of
imports into an enemy's country. the
object Of the b~elligerent right Of
blockade IL to cut of both imports
and exports" So to gain their OBJ
iect and to relieve themselves from
the rigors and perils of a blockade
the Allies make all commodities sub
iect to seizure. something that 10
nation in the history of warfare has
eve done before. The United States.
in fact all the neutral nations. are
expected TO acquiesce in this revolu.
tionary procedure OF the Allies. The
neutral nations ought to have known
complacency was expected of them.
In the British note of February 10
Sir EDWARD GREY said:
eff his Ma1esty's Government should
hereafter feel constrained to declare
foodstufs absolute contrahand. or TO
take other measures for interfering
with German rad by way OF reprlsals,
they confidently expect that sue action
will not be challenged on the part OF
neutral States nv appeals to avs and
usages OF war whose validity rests on
their forming an integral part % that
system OF international doctrine which.
a. q whole, their enemy frankly boasts
the liberty and intention TO disregard.
30 long as such neutral States cannot
ofsP. '"N 'N'' NANlA'NNA "
abandon methodist warfare vhich have
not In recent history been regarded as
having the sanction of either law or
humanity"
The argument was that a. neutrals,
who are innocent bystanders. had
failed 10 persuade Germany To aban-
don submarine warfare on British
commerce they must assent 10 any
repr1sals adopted by Great Britain,
although international law governing
the rights OF neutrals was to he thrown
into the discard 70 that the Allies
could continue their game OF war IN
hampered. Was a cooler, more auda-
ciOue proposal ever made by Brit
ish statesman? Two days before Sir
EDWARD GREY brought IL to the at
tent1on Of the United States he OBJ
served that ''the rules under which We
are at present conducting our bclliger-
ent operations give us no power in
the absence OF a blockade 10 seize or
interfere with cotton when on its way
10 Q belligerent country in neutral
ships" The transfer OF cotton 10
the omnibus list now cancels any
obligation the United States was ex
pected to feel on account Of the len
ity Of Great Britain: and the disap-
pearance Of the cotton trade with
Germany would be a serious matter.
mutation frnnn AZ AUYnN = "a ~
site here:
We have an ocean between us and
the great armed camps OF the Old
World and. while there are innumar-
able questions as 10 which one Euro
pean State may con into collision
with another. the only points AS to which
we would be likely to cOme INTO col
lision with a European State a!e those
connned IN the maintenance OF neu-
trail rights. II was 10 maintain such
rights that We went to war in 1912
and, spcept during the abnormal ana
exceptional spasm OF the late civ'l war,
our national life has heretofore been
the life OF a neutral and a vindi,ator
Of neutral rights. . II is IN.
possible TO overcome the feeling that mo
sea, like the air, should be free, and
thaa no Power, no matter how great its
resources. should he permitted TO domi-
naRs Il, 20 az 10 enable II, in case OF
~, 70 ransack all ships which may
10 mot for h discovery OF an enemy's
goods."
That IL what Great Britain and
her partner in war propose to do. IN
less headed Off ransack an neutral
ships to stop the encmy's goods, in
practice blockade the Atlantic Ocean.
what becomes of the freedom of the