The Washington times., 1915-10-02
AMERICAN TRADEUP
800 PER CENT, SAYS
IBR|TA|N'S ANSWER
Commerce With Neutral North
ern Europe Is Not choksd,
Declares Sir Edward Grey.

The British government has made
reply to the charges that II 10 discrimi-
mating against American trade With
neutral countries Of northern Europe a.
means Of building up its own commerce
In that quarter.
II cites figures with the oldest Of
showing that American exports 70 the
neutral countries In northern Europe
have increased to a much greatsr e.
tent than those Of Great Britain
It declares that the total volume q
trade Of the United States with scsndi-
navia and the Netherlands has ins
creased 300 per cent.
The British statement y in he fosu
Of note addressed by Sir Edward 0rsy
TO Ambassador Page at London. BY re-
quest Of the London foreign office the
note was given out At the State Depart
ment.
Would Still Criticism.
In forwarding this note Great Britain
was apparently moved BY q purposs to
still criticisms In this country. notably
In the South. that It was exercising Q
blockade that helped its own business
while interfering with American trade
with neutrals In Europe.
With the note In q communication
from Ambassador Page TO the British
foreign office requesting on behalf Of
Consul-General Skinner, of London. cer-
tain statistics with regard to British
trade with Holland. Denmar1g, Norway
and Sweden. These statistics were fur
nished by the British govenment to
Consul General Skinner. Who. incorpo-
rated them In q report TO Washington.
They showed increases In British 10
exports OF cocoa and cocoa products 70
the northern neutrals for the first part
of this year, as compared with the Same
period OF last year.
From this Consul-Gcneral Skinner
drew the inference that British traders
were profiting at the expense Of the re-
strictions placed upon American trade
with the northern neutrals as z result
OF the British war measures. On ths
peatedly In the United States that the
British government was detberatey
holding up American trade with the
northern neutrals in order that British
exporters might enjoy larger trade
The British government aserts that
! before any conclusions are drawn from
the fact that statistics show increases
| in exports OF certain commodities from
British ports TO the northern neutrals,
these figures should be considered In
comparison with the statistics OF Amert
can trade with the same countries dur
| ing the same periods.
Big Cotton Increase.
They cite. therefore. their own sta
! tistics and also the figures for United
| States exports compiled. they assert.
from manifests OF vessels actually arriv-
ing In Scandinavian and Dutch ports
during the five months Of Janusry to
| Nd fiva -txuo ~ tina
total United States trade for the year
| 1914 with those countries as given in
Washington Government reports.
These show that while British rock
ports Of cotton increased during this
period of 1915. as compared with tho
same period OF 1914. the American ex-
ports Of cotton to the sanv countries
showed an increase six times as great
as that OF the British. Regarding rubber
the British figures show that there has
been n decrease. not an Increase. OF
British re-exports, while American
traders have shipped more rubber than
| before. Similar showing Is made with
regard to lubricatinE oils, tobacco. CO.
Goa coffee. rice. wheat. flour and bar
ley.
Shift of Trade Routes.
The British explain that many In
creases OF their re-export trade with
the northern neutrals are due to ths
fact that much Of the trade OF the
British colonies with these countries
used to go through German ports before
the war, and that this trade was natur'
ally transferred to British ports.
In conclusion Sir Edward Grey says
Everything In the statistics have
quoted tends to show that the mer
camille community of the United State,
has made profits proportionally equal x
or greater than those Of the mercantile
community Of Great Britain In respect
to all those demands which have IN
cvitably arisen In Scandinavia and thu
Netherlands as a consequence OF thu
volume OF the trade of the United
States with these countries has in
creased 800 per cent. The value Of the
total increase In those exports during
this period amounted to 45,65s 900"