The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-06-17

! 4 cotton shipper was IN NaShlng-
! ten a few days ago with an or .er
t-on. Sweden for 1n.0C0 Eales Of cot
+ l"3. ..o lad COT that the cotton
would be consumed by Swedish mills.
! He sought to obtain assurance from
the English embassy here that the
vessel would not be seized if he sent
the cotton. He obtained no satisfac-
| ton.
How the south Suffers From This IL
legal Blockade.
The !njury 70 our entire country.
| and especially to the cotton-grOwing
States. if the illegal blockade to-
which / have referred is permitted
to remain of force. cannot be over
! estimated. Our people struggled
! through low prices for cotton last
! fall. They must not submit to con-
tinued low prices caused by an il
legal blockade.
In number of instances Swedish
spinners are now in England seeking
, through the aid of their government
to obtain cotton consigned to them
| by citizens of the United States
which has been seized by Great Bri-
tain. By the help Of their own gov
ernment they may obtain some Of
this cotton.
Great Britain has neglected to set
tie with the cotton shippers for cot
ton seized. Various excuses have
: been given which can be easily an
swered. One of these excuses recent
ly embodied in letter from Sir Ed
, ward Gre" is that Swedish con-
signees are claiming some of the
cotton. The shippers from the Unit
ed States ask nothing better than
! that cotton should be turned over to
their consignees. Great Britain does
not deliver to Swedish consignees,
| or pay the American shippers.
Seized Cotton. But Wouldn't Pay For
! Ii.
! had brought to my attention
within the past two weeks the case
: of a Southern firm which early in
! March shipped several thousand bales
of cotton to Rotterdam, Holland. A
member of the firm came here and
! presented his invoices together with
! proof of his contracts of sale to the
British embassy, and sought to OBJ
. tain payment for the cotton which
| Great Britain had seized, and sold,
but he was able to obtain no salts
| faction.
I will not take up more time dis
cussing the mistreatment Great Bri-
tain has given to those cotton ship
pers whose cotton has been carried
into English ports. While it is Sc
! rious matter for them to have from
! $4,000 to sS,000.000, which they
! should have received for their cotton,
tied up by the British seizures, the
really big problem is the loss of our
market caused by the illegal conduct
of Great Britain, and the helplessness
of individuals to defend themselves.
. In Spite of Promises Seizures Con-
tinue.
| The declaration of London made
bv the representatives of the great
nations of the world, February, 1909,
contained list OF those things which
under no circumstances in case of
war were to be made contraband, and
; the list was headed by raw cotton.
Great Britain has solemnly pledg-
ed to this government by the letter
of October 26th that cotton would
not be seized. and hat so far as Great
: Britain was concerned it was on the
| free list and would remain there. In
spite of all this, the seizures have
+ been made and the cotton trade with
| Germany. Austria and all of northern
! Europe destroyed. Other non-con-
traband commodities have been SIM
! ilarly treated by Great Britain.
There are Other "Rights" of Citizens
That Should BE Stressed Upon.
The importance of preserving our
! cotton markets cannot be over-esti-
mated. 1t is non-contraband and
Great Britain has no right to make
it contraband. Great Britain has no
right. to blockade neutral ports. We
should insist upon the rights of citi-
! zens of the United States to ship cot
! ton to Holland, Denmark, and Swe-
den. even though it ultimately may
! go to Germany and Austria.
Not one line has gone from our
government to Great Britain since
the letter of March 30th, which Great
Britain ignored. 1t is but fair to the
administration to say that l believe
the subject would have been aggres-