The Washington times., 1915-02-28
THE BLOCKADE.

THE BLOCKADE.
The allies in Europe announce
themselves prepared to enforce q
general blockade against Germany
and her coadjutor nations. This
means that the reprisals against
Germany's submarine warfare are tc
take the most rigorous form they
could be given by the overwhelming
sea power of the Franco British
combination.
At the beginning of the war Great
Britain did not proclaim a blockade
of Germany, even after it had beer
organized and its reasonable effec-
tiveness was assured. 1t was not
desires to impose such hard condi-
tions on the commerce of neutrals
Not only was no blockade attempted
but England agreed in making her
contraband list to exempt cotton
from it, which was great conces-
sion to the United States and to hu.
manitarian treatment of the civilian
population of Germany. AS to food
stuffs, Great Britain during the Boer
war made the rule that foodstuffs
destined to the civil population
should not be regarded as contra
band. That ruling resulted from the
sending of three ships with supplies
from this country for the Boer civil
populations, which became the sub
ject Of diplomatic exchanges, at the
end of which Lord Salisbury laid
down the rule as now accepted by
Great Britain.
Thus American influence may be
said to have ameliorated the rigors
of wars effects on commerce in our
great staples. But when the Ger
man government commandeered all
food supplies in the empire, and thus
made it impossible to differentiate
the supplies destined for military
and those destined to civil consump-
ton, the rule laid down in the Boer
war became inapplicable. Still Great
Britain did not resort to the general
blockade, until the German subma-
rine war zone was proclaimed, and a
novel attack on all commerce in that
zone begun. AS a result of this, the
allies tardily declare their general
blockade of the Germanic federation.
A blockade puts an end to all dis
cussion of contraband, conditional
contraband, and like terms; for ev-
erything becomes contraband. 1t is
exactly a reproduction of the condi
tions enforced by the Federal Gov
ernment during the civil war. No
matter what cargo or flag was car
ried, the blockade runner was simply
a blockade runner; whenever he
could be found, on his way to the
blockaded territory, he was seized.
That is what France and Great Brit
ain intend shall be the rule now.
And, as has been pointed out many
times, heretofore, Britain will find
plenty of precedents for everything
it needs to do, in the procedure of
American courts during the civil
war. We are presumed to be bound
by our own decisions when the boot
was on the other leg; SO now the al
lies will pull those decisions on us.
The Anglo-French governments
had two courses open to them. They
might have acquiesced in the sug-
gestions of the Washington State De-
partment, which were in effect that
the Germans discontinue their sub
marine warfare on commerce, and
that the allies permit foodstuffs to
pass freely into Germany. That
course would have amounted to a
capitulation by the British sea pow
er. 1t would have admitted that the
German submarine menace had
scared Britain out of her long-main-
tanned place as mistress of the seas
1t would probably have exasperated
the British parliament and people Sc
much that there might have been a
governmental crisis.
The other possible course open to
the British was exactly the one they
have adopted, of the blockade. The
blockade will involve danger of com,
plications with neutrals, it is true
But the most important of all neu,
trails cannot we'll protest, because
its own laws of blockade will be fol.
lowed; the others are not powerful
enough to give much worry.