The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-05-30

board the Adelia. On October 81
Secretary Seward announced that
public mails of any friendly or neu-
trail power duly certified or authen-
ticated 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 ac-
, cordaAce with this announcement the
government of the United States, in
the case of the British steamship
Peterhoff, which had been seized with
her mails against the protest of her
majesty's gov ernment, had her mails
forwarded to destination unopened.
The same rule was followed by
France, as l am advised, in the Fran
co-Prussian war of 1870; by the
United States in the Spanish-Amerl-
can war of 1898; by Great Britain in
the South African war, in the case OF
the German mail steamers Bundles
rath and General; by Japan and sub
stantially 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 interfering with
neutral mails even on board belliger-
ent steamers. This is illustrated by
the. case of the French steamer Flor
; ide, captured by the auxiliary cruiser
Prinz Eitel Friedrich, cited by the
British and French governments in
support of their argument regarding
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 open arriving in the
United States. 1t would seem, there
fore. to be conclusively established
that the interferences with mails Of
which this government justly :. COM
plains are wrong in principle and in
practice.
Hardships on Americans.
"The arbitrary methods employed
by the British and French govern.
ments have resulted most disastrous
ly to citizens 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 estates, powers OF
attorney, fire insurance claims, ia
come tax returns and similar matters
have been lost Delays in receiving
shipping documents have caused
great loss and inconvenience by pre-
venting prompt delivery of goods. In
the case of ,the Macniff Horticultural
company of New York large ship
ments of plants and bulbs from Hol-
land, were, am informed, frozen on
the wharves because possession could
cot be obtained in the absence OF
documents relating to them; Which
had been removed from the New Am
sterdam, Oosterdyke and Rotterdam.
Business. opportunities are lost by
failure to transmit promptly bids,
Specifications and contracts. The
Standard Underground Cable com
pany of Pittsburgh, for example, sent
by mail a tender and specifications
for certain proposed electrical-:works'
to be constructed in Christiania. Af-
ter several weeks of waiting, the pa
pers having failed to arrive, the Amer
can company was told that the bids
could not be longer held open and the
contract was awarded to a British
competitor. Checks, drafts, money
orders, securities and similar prop
erty are lost. or detained for weeks
and months. Business correspond
ence relating to legitimate and bona
fde trade between neutral countries,
correspondence of a personal nature
and also certain official correspond
ence such as money order lists and
other matter forwarded by govern
meat departments are detained, lost
or possibly destroyed. For instance,
the postmaster general informs me
that certain international money
lists, from the United States to Ger
many, Greece, and other countries,
and from Germany to the United
States sent through the mails, have
not reached their destination though