The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-25
UNSATISFACTORY NOTE ON MAIL SEIZURES TO
 BRING NEW PROTESTS
United States Demand of England That Complete and Satisfactory Answer to Original Protests Be Made Text of Memorandum of Reply Evades Main Issues, Washington Reports.

Washington, July 25.-Instruchons to impress upon the British and French governments that the United States desires an early and complete reply to its last note regarding nter- ference with neutral mails were ca bled by the State Department yester- day to Ambassador Page at London and Ambassador Sharp at Paris. rms step was taken after President Wilson and other officials had studied the British memorandum dealing with specific complaints, and deferring un- til the future reply to the American contentious regarding the principles involved.
 Formal announcement of the policy which the government will pursue in dealing with Great Britain regarding the blacklisting of American business houses may be made to Acting Sec retary Of State Polk soon,
 Officials of the State Department made no attempt to disguise their re- sentiment when the British mail mem orandum was mentioned.
 Offer Considered Insolent. {
 The offer of the London government to explain the workings of the system at all times was considered both in- solent and imprudent. State Depart ment and Post Office Department off, cials are perfectly well aware of the way the censorship works.
 It's operations were forcefully point- ed out in the second protest sent to London and Paris, which informed the allies that their practices were beyond the pale of law and warned them that only a radical change would satisfy the United States.
 The fact that the memorandum dis cusses only minor points and evades the real questions, makes it certain. in the opinion of officials, that the only change in the practices com plained of has been to make them even more drastic.
 The prompt action of the admin istration in instructing Ambassador Page to make another demand for speedy answer covering all essential points at issue indicates that, the President is determined to press this matter until satisfactory reply is received and American rights on the high seas are restored.
 Some officials see in the memoran- dunn studied purpose to string out the negotiations as long as possible. in the hope that the war may end meanwhile. removing the cause Of friction. '
 Disclaims Responsibility.
 The official text of the memoran- dunn reveals that Great Britain feels sobliged to disclaim responsibility for the specific occurrences com- piained of in the American note un- til there has been opportunity of in vestigating in detai1.'' The memor- andum points out that there have been many instances of complaints
 ss which on examination proved to arise from the wrong direction of letters, the irregular sailings of neu- tral mailA boats and from other similar causes entirely outside the control of His Majesty's govern ment"
 Outlines of the memorandum cabled from London in last nights press despatches conform closely to- the official text. One of the subjects left for consideration in the allieA forthcoming final reply is the Ameri- can complaint regarding money or- der lists, which it is declared "in- wolves question of principle on which ,consultation between those govern ments Is still in progress"
 In replying to- the complaint re- garding mhil removed from the steamship Medan, some of which later was lost on the Mecklenburg, the memorandum says the facts set forth by the United States "are cor rect except that it is not made clear. though 1t is the fact, that the neutral mail bags removed from the Medan were all sent on : and that 182 bags lost in the Mecklenburg wetf without exception for enemy destina- tion."
 Specific Complaints Not Supported.
 The communication concludes that the specific complaints in the Ameri- can note "do not support the general character against the efficiency, of the ment of the United States have put forward
 The memorandum deals almost solely with a few isolated instances that were merely cited in the vigorous note sent to London under date of May "A. That note has been in the nduQS OI Lu0 bIlVlSn government two months. Even before it's receipt in London. Sir Edward Grey and other British officials were perfectly aware of the American contentious, which had been clearly set forth in the first note dealing with the seizure of the mails, sent several months before.
 Great Britain's original reply side- stepped the principal points at issue and discussed almost entirely the ques- tion of parcel post mail, seeking to justify its seizure of neutral mails on the ground that contraband destined for Germany had been discovered in parcel mail. In it's first note the British government did not admit that first class letter mails had been tam- pered with, although the. fact had been fully established long before.
 Little Short of Trifling. Tn view of the urgent language used in the second maiFprotest, which was sent to both Britain and France, officials had expected the allies to reply to the real points at issue. In- stead of doing so, the memorandum mentions only four specific points raised in this note, and discusses in detail only two of the four.
 One of the four points mentioned was the seizure of United States money order lists, which presents a grave question, since they are the property of the American government itself. The British memorandum L4k h onrrN-