Evening star., 1916-05-27

THE
| there is, in the opinion of the govern
| ment of the United States, no legal dis
| tinction between the seizure of mails
| at sea, which is announced as aban-
| doned. and their seizure from vessels
voluntarily or involuntarily in port,
| "Unwarranted Limitation"
| The British and French practice
amounts to an unwarranted limitation
on the use by neutrals of the worlds
highway for transmission of corre-
! spondence. The practice actually fol-
lowed by the allied powers must be
said to justify the conclusion. there
| fore. that the announcement of Febru-
| airy Is was merely notice that one ille-
gal practice had been abandoned to
make place for the development of an
| other more onerous and vexatlouS in
| character.
The present practice is a violation
not only of the spirit of the announce
| ment of February IS, but of the rule of
| The Hague convention upon which 1t is
| concededly based Aside from this. it
| is a violation of the prior practice of
| nations which Great Britain and her
allies have in The past assisted to es-
tablish and maintain. Notwithstanding
| the statement in the memorandum that
"as late as 1907 the letters and dis
patches themselves could be seized
and confiscated." During the war be-
tween the United States and Mexico,
| the United States forces allowed Brit
iSh steamers to enter and depart from
the port of Vera Cruz without molest-
| ing the mails intended for inland points.
During the American civil war LORD
| Russell endeavored to induce the Unit
mails on board a private vessel should
be exempted from visitation or de-
tention" This exemption of mails was
urged in October, 1862, in the case of
British mails on board the Adela.
Secretary Stewards Contention.
On October 81 Secretary Seward an
nounced that public mails of any
friendly or neutral power duly certified
or authenticated as such shall not be
searched or opened, but be put as
speedily as may be convenient on the
way to their designated destination"
In accordance with this announcement,
the government of the United States. in
the case of the British steamship Peter
hoff, which had been seized with her
mails against the protest of her NAL
estys government, had her mails for
Warded to destination unopened.
The same rule was followed by
France, as / am advised. in the Franco.
Prussian war of 1870; by the United
States in the Spansh-American war of
1885, by Great Britain in the South
African war, in the case of the Ger
man mail steamers Bundesrath and
General; by Japan and substantially by
Russia in the Russo-Japanese war of
1904. And even in the present war. as
the memorandum of Great Britain and
France states, their enemy. Germany,
has desisted from the practice of in
terfering with neutral mails. even on
board belligerent steamers. This is il
lustrated by the case of the French
steamer Floride, captured by the aux
Hilary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich. cit
ed by the British and French govern
garding parcel mails. In this case, the
letter mails of the Floride, amounting
to IA sacks. were forwarded to their
destination by the commander at the
first opportunity upon arriving in the
United States. 1t would seem. there
fore. to be conclusively esta blished that
the interferences with mails of which
this government justly complains are
wrong in principle and in practice.
Methods Declared Arbitrary.
The arbitrary methods employed by
the British and French governments
have resulted most disastrously to citi-
zens of the United States. Important
papers which can never be duplicated,
or can be duplicated only with great
difficulty. such as United States patents
for Inventions rare documents, legal
papers relating to the settlement of es-
tates. powers of attorney. fire insur-
ance claims, income tax returns and
similar matters have been lost.
Delays in receiving shipping docu
ments have caused great loss and
Inconvenience by preventing prompt
delivery of of goods. In the case
ments of plants and bulbs from Hol-
land were, ! am informed, frozen on
the wharves because possession could
not be obtained in the absence of docu-
ments relating to them. which had been
Oosterdyk. and Rotterdam.
Business opportunities are lost by
failure to transmit promptly bids.
specifications and contracts. The Stan
dard Underground Cable Company of
Pittsburgh, for example. sent by mail
a tender and specifca tions for GER
tain proposed electrical works to be
constructed in Christiania; after sew
eral weeks of waiting, the papers hav-
ing failed to arrive, the American com
pany was told that the bids could not
be longer held open and the contract
was awarded to British competitor.
Checks, drafts, money orders, securities,
and similar property are lost or de-
tanned for weeks and months. Busi-
ness correspondence relating to legit-
innate, bona fde trade between
neutral countries correspondence of
personal nature. and also certain Off
cial correspondence, such money
order lists and other matter forward
ed by government departments, are de-
tained lost. or possibly destroyed.
Money Order Lists Held Up.
For instance, the Postmaster Cen
eral informs me that certain interna-
tional money order lists from
United States to Germany. Greece and
other countries, and from Germany to
the United States. sent through the
mail, have not reached their desti-
nation, though dispatched several
months ago. 1t was necessary to have
some of these lists duplicated and
again dispatched by the steamship
Frederick VIII, which sailed from New
York April 10. and from which all
the mails intended for Germany have
been taken and held in British juris-
dction.
AS further example of the delay
and loss consequent upon the British
practice. the Postmaster General also
sends me a copy of letter from the
British postal administration admit
ting that the malls were removed from
the steamer Medan in the Downs on
January 80. last. and not forwarded
hat hA NJ