The farmer and mechanic., 1915-09-14
BRITAIN s ED|CT
HARD To. EMF ORCE
Many Complications In Peklng
From "Trading-With The
Enemy" Prohibition

Pekine, Sept 10.-Endless compi-
cations have been caused here by the
prohibition against trading with the
enemy" which Great Britain is uy-
ing to enforce among the BRUSH
firms in China. For months corporH-
tions which have had German aftill1-
ton have been reorganizing and ad-
justing their business so as to come
within the requirements of the reSn-
lations against trading with Germans
and AustrianS.
American interests have already
been considerably affected by the new
order, and many American concerns
are all at sea as to how they VIII
meet the new regulations. English
officials, in some cases, nave insisted
that American concerns took over
German goods in order to enable the
German owners to escape the new
regulations. At Shanghai and other
ports, American concerns have been
unable to get space in British ships
for certain shipments. In som" cases
they were told by English officials
that under the eXigencies of war the
English lines ceased to be common
carriers. However, the later explain
alton of the refusal to carry such
goods was that English ships nave
more English freight than they can
carry, and this statement is sui
stantiated in many cases by actual
port statistics.
The British minister, Sir John Jor-
dan, has issued a four-page pamphlet,
setting forth fully the regulations
against trading with the enemy of
Great Britain and her allies. Like
most legal documents, this is difficult
of Interpretation and application to
the complex conditions which exist in
the Chinese cities where there is eX-
ira a-territoriality. The confusion aris-
ing from their regulations is compar-
able to that caused by the income tax
law in America. English citizens
have found great difficulty in applying
the terms Of the regulations to the
complex business conditions of the
Far East. The regulations are ex.
tremely broad in that they prohibi
the payment of any sum of money tC
an enemy or for the benefit of the
enemy" They also forbid an English
subject to act in any way "on behal
of an enemy in any sort of tinancia
operations. They prevent English
men from directly or indirectly
supplying goods to an enemy or ''fo
the benefit OF the enemy" Such
great leeway is permissible in the in
depreciation of these regulations tina
Englishmen connected with firm
which have had any sort Of busines
Turkish concerns have called franti
cally upon their consuls and legation
for a decision on transactions il
which they have had part.
In the enforcement of the ney
regulations upon small business con
Germs many absurd situations hav
arisen. At Tientsin, for example,
German baker and confectioner wa
forced to close up his soda fountain
HnwaVnr ho Q narrpitto4 RI aonfip n,
the sale Of bread and pastry. The eS
planation of this action was that
was undesirable to have a drinkin
place where Germans might congre
gate.
In some Chinese cities the new reg
ulations are being enforced withor
any special hardship to small mel
chants. This IS largely due to tn
good judgment of English official
who have no desire to upset sma
business and disarrange local cond
tons