The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-16

of it's delivery has Seen received.
 Text . sSote
 Washington, Av Q S5.-The text of the note follows:
 '.The governn. If the United States statement of the imperial and royal gov ernment in regard to the exportation of arms and ammunition from the United States to the countries at war with Aus tria- Hungary and Germany The gov ernment of the United States notes with satisfaction the recognition by the inn perial and royal government of the un- doubted fact that it's attitude with re- gard to the exportation of arms and ann muntion from the United States is prompted by it's intention to maintain the strictest neutrality and to conform to the letter of the provisions of interna- tional treaties,' but is surprised to find the imperial and royal government i'm plying that the observance of the strict principles of the law under the conditions which have developed in the present war is insufficient, and asserting that this government should go beyond the long recognized rules governing such traffic hy neutrals and adopt measures to main tain an attitude of strict parity with re- spect to both belligerent parties
 Unable to Accede
 '"To this assertion of an obligation to change or modify the rules of interna- tional usage on account of special cond- tions the government of the United States cannot accede. The recognition of an obligation of this sort. unknown to the international practice of the past would impose upon every neutral nation a duty to sit in judgment on the progress of a war and to restrict it's commercial inter- course with a bellgerent whose naval successes prevented the neutral from trade with the enemy. The contention of the imperial and royal government ap- pears to be that the advantages gained to a belligerent by it's superiority on the sea should be capitalized by the neutral powers by the establishment of system Of nonintercourse with the victor The imperial and royal government confines it's comments to arms and ammunition, but if the principle for which it contends is sound, it should apply with equal force to all articles of contraband A bellig- erent controlling the high seas might possess an ample supply of arms and am- muntion. but be in want of food and clothing. On the novel principle that equalization Is a neutral duty, neutral nations would be obligated to place an embargo on such articles because one of the belligerents could not obtain them through commercial intercourse.
 Neutral frlnclpleS Appned
 But if this principle. so strongly urged by the imperial and royal government should be admitted to obtain by reason of the superiority of bellgerent at sea. ought it not to operate equally as to a belligerent superior on land? Applying this theory of equalization, a belligerent who lacks the necessary munitions to contend successfully on land ought to be permitted to purchase them from neutrals while a belligerent with an abundance of war stores or with the power to pro- duce them should be debarred from such traffic.
 Manifestly. the idea of strict neutrality now advanced by the imperial and royal government would involve a neutral na- tion in mass of perplexities which would obscure the whole field of international obligation, or produce economic confu- sion, and deprive all commerce and in- dustry of legitimate fields of enterprise already heavily burdened by the unavoid- able restrictions of war.
 Tn this connection it is pertinent to di. rect the attention of the imperial and royal government to the fact that Aus tria-Hungary and Germany. particularly the latter. have during the years pre- cedng the present European war pro- duced a great surplus of arms and ann muntion, which they sold throughout the world and especially to belligerents. Never
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