The Washington times., 1916-01-16
ENGLAND READY TO
DECLARE BLOCKADE
Britain Ready to Declare 1t, and
viii Be Supported by Ameri-
can Precedents.
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Baltic side. Then they devoted strenu-
ous effort to perfecting It on the Raltic
side. putting submarines into those
waters. and using the Russian naval
forces They have so far succeeded that
they now are prepared to claim that
they have n state of blockade against
all Germany; That it Will be proclaimed
very soon is the expectation in both
diplomatic and naval circles.
A bclltgerent may not make "a con-
traband list so wide as to prevent
all commerce with the civil pOpula-
ton of his enemy. Both 1ho United
states and Great Britain refused to
accept hdssia's contraband list at the
teginning of the Russo- Japanese
war, because IL amour ted to a dec
laration of general blockade. without
putting Russia to the necessity Of
actually putting the blockade into
effect. England and the United States
announced that they would not recog-
niSe decisions % the Russian prize
courts under that contraband procla-
nation; and Russia yielded, and modi-
ned her list of consraband accordingly.
On that occasion, as during the Ameri-
can civil war, england and the United
states agreed on the general principle.
But a blockade OF Germany is peculiar
iy diffcult because the ports of Den
mark and Holland, which are neutral
used to introduce goods into Germany.
To blockade these would be to make
war on these countries. So, inorder to
make the blockade effective, the allies
VIII have to resort to two doctrines
promulgated by The United States dur
ing the civil war: Ultimate destination,
and continuous voyage.
Under blockade proclamation. any
vessel picked DIP, destined to one of
these neutrals through which Germany
might be reached, will be taken into an
ally port, its papers and cargo examined
and the best possible determinatio
reached as to whether the cargo Is Iles-
tined to Germany. After the examina-
ton those parts of the cargo destined for
consumption in Holland will be forward
ed there; those adjudicated to be for
German consumption will be contiscat-
ed. IL a prize court errs, amends will
I've made later when the fact Is proved,
by payment of indemnity.
Rules Made BY u. S.
Again, the allies will be following the
rules made by the United States in the
civil war and established, long after
that war. by arbitral tribunals on be-
half of the United States and England.
During the Boer war British cruisers
'eized cargoes of German ammunition
Consigned to Delagoa bay, Portu-
guesc--and. therefore. neutraI-port.
ana condemned them, on the ground
.i't' shcN were actually destined to the
ljocFS and Germany acquiesced in this
de"ision. Italy, through "A prize court,
adopted and enforced this rule in 1897.
Ihls rule was first applied by the
United States in the "Springbok" case
That case has been often misquoted
but the international lawyers know it
Thoroughly. and know that it has be-
come the basis of the worlds present
practice. 1t is, indeed, rather curious
mat it should have been adopted by
every maritime power engaged in the
There. :are still left some American
public men-not few of them. in
deed--who protest that Britain shall
never, no, never, be permitted to in
1crfere with American. shipment of cot
ton, rubber or anything else to Hol-
land, Denmark and Sweden. They don't
care to whom it is actually destined
1t must not be interfered with. and they
are ready to dig up the, bloody shirt,
take death grip on the lions tail, and
DEFY all creation. rather than surren-
der the sacred right" to--do exactly
what this country forbade all the world
TO do, and what all the world agreed
not to do!
ForeshadOwed By Grey.
That Britain now intends to extend
the blockade to neutral ports, precisely
as the United States extended it to
Nassau In the Bahamas. and to Mata-
moros in Mexico during the civil war,
was clearly foreshadQwed some time
ago in a dispatch of Sir Edward Grey:
If blockade can only become ef-
fectiVe by extending it to neutral COM
merce passing through neutral ports,
such an extension Is dcfensible and in
accordance with principles which have
met with general acceptance"
consrtss the nSioph2ees in end out ,, Of
this country made the worlds present
law on this subject. They are getting
ready for a tilt against Britain, ths
Administration, the body Of internation-
al law, and the established practice "f
the maritime world. and they will make
every effort to induce the Administra-
tion to put up a solemn-Iaced show
Of determined protest to the allies
There Is not the ghost of a chance that
such an effort can dc more than mis-
lead many ignorant Americans into q
misrepresentation OF their rights. and
possibly into serious commercial
losses.
Britain Is Prepared.
The British authorities are prepared
TO maintain with n good deal of vigor
that they have established a real, cf-
fectiVe blockade of Germany, and In
making their sho wing on this point
once more, they will revert to prece-
dents established by the United States
They have been expanding their naval
force very rapidly OF late, and are un-
Gerstood now to POSSESS Ihc ships with
which to place a Gordon across the
northern end Of the North Sea, from
Scotland to the Swedish coast. and in
tercept everything attempting to pass
through.
This showing Of naval power will lac
compared to the meager display which
the Federal Government was able TO
make along the South Atlantic coast
during the first three years of the civil
war. when, nevertheless, Il was iu6ici-
ally maintained that an effective
blockade" was in force
~. kI-