The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-27
STOP SEIZURES OF MAILS. U. s. DEMANDS OF ALLIES:
 WILL ASK FULL DAMAGES

tation and eventual seizure which be longs to be1ligerents as to all car goes on the high seas, as asserted in the joint note under acl1nowledg- ment.
 Ut is noted with satisfaction that the British and French governments do not claim and, in the opinion of this government, properly do not claim, that their so-ca11ed blockade measures are sufficient grounds upon which to base a right to interfere with all classes of mail matter in transit to or from the central powers. On the contrary, their contention ap- pears to be that, as genuine corre- spondence' is under. conventional stip- 'ulation invioIab1e,' mail matter of other classes is subject to detention and examination.
 While the government of the United States agrees that. genuine correspondence mail is inviolable, it does not admit that belligerents may search other private sea-borne mails for any other purpose than to dis cover whether they contain articles of enemy ownership carried on bel1iger- ent vessels or articles of contraband transmitted under sealed cover as let ter mail, though they may intercept at sea all mails coming out of and going into ports of the enemy's coasts which are effectively b1ockaded. The governments of the United States Great Britain and France, however, appear to be in substantial agree ment, as to principle. The method of applying the principle is the chief cause of difference.
 Search Illegal
 Though giving assurances that they consider genuine correspon- dence' to be |invio1ab1e.' and that they VUi1 fn haiT fS frain Ion the high seas from seizing and confiscating such correspondence. the allied Governments proceed to de- prive neutral governments of the benefits of these assurances by seiz- ing and confiscating mail from yes sels in port instead of at sea-
 'SThey compel neutral ships without just cause to enter their own ports, or they induce shipping lines through some form of iduress, to send their mail ships via British ports, or they detain all vessels merely calling at British ports, thus acquiring by force or unjustifiabIe means an illegal ju- risdiction.
 Acting upon this enforced juris- diction, the authorities remove all mail, genuine orrespondence as well as post parcels, take them to Lon don, where every piece, even though of neutral origin and destination, is opened and critically examined to de- termine the sincerity of their char pretation given that undefined phrase by the British and French censors. Finally the expurgated remainder is forwarded, frequently after irrepara- bIe delay, to it's destination.
 Ships are detain ed en route to or from the United States or to or from other neutral countries, and mails are nd daT raJ in some cases. for weeks and even months, even though not routed to ports of North Europe via British ports'
 Reply Unsatisfactory.
 This has been the procedure which has been practiced since the an- of Feb. IS. 1916. To some extent the same practice was follow ed before, that date, calling forth the protest of this government on Jan. 4, 1916, but to that protest the memoF. andum under acknowledgement makes no reference and is entirely unrespon- sive.
 F'The government of the United States must again insist with empha- sis that the British and French gov ernments do not obtain rightful juris- diction of ships by forcing or induc- ing them to visit their ports for the purpose of seizing their mails, or thereby obtain greater belligerent rights as to such ship that they could exercise on the high seas, for there is. in the opinion of the government of the United States, no legal distinction between the seizure of mails at sea, which is announced as abandoned. and their seizure from vessels volun- tarily or invo1untari1y in port.
 '"The British and French practice amounts to an unwarranted limitation 1-1 IoA Ixr1 oJS +In f7 5cs