The Washington times., 1916-01-16
ENGLAND READY TO
DECLARE BLOCKADE
Britain Ready to Declare It, and
win Be Supported by Ameri-
can PrecedentS.
CONTINUED from First Page1

Continued from First Page)
Baltic side. Then they devoted streuu-
ous effort TO perfecting It on the Baltic
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 a state of blockade against
all Germany That II will be proclaimed
very soon Is the expectation in both
/, diplomatic and naval circles.
A bclltgerent may not make con-
traband list so wide as TO prevent
All commerce with the civil popula-
tion of his enemy. Both 1he United
States and Great Britain refused to
accept INdssia's contraband list at the
beginning of the Russo-Japanese
war, because IL amour ted to a dec
laration. of general Dlockadc,' without
putting Russia to the necessity of
actually putting the blockade into
effect. England and the United States
announced that they would not recog-
nice decisions ~ the Russian prize
courts under that contraband procla-
nation; and Russia yielded, and modi-
ned her list of consrlband accordingly.
On that occasion, rs during the Ameri-
can civil war, England and the United
states agreed on the general principle.
But blockade of Germany is peculiar
~ difficult because the ports of Dem
mark and Holland, which are neutral
\ and not subject to blockade, can be
used to introduce goods into Germany.
To blockade these would be to make
make the blockade effective, the allies
Will have to resort to two doctrines
promulgated by the United States dur
ing the civil war: Ultimate destination,
and continuous voyage.
Under a blockade proclamation, any
vessel picked Up, destined to one OF
these neutrals through which Germany
might be reached, will be taken into an
4 4
and the best possible determination
reached as to whether the cargo Is des-|
tined to Germany. After the examina-
ton those parts of the cargo destined for
consumption In Holland will be forward
ed there; those adtudicated to be for
German consumption will be confiscat-
ed. II a prize court errs, amends Will
he 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 arbital tribunals on be-
half of the United States and England.
During the Boer war British cruisers
Jeized cargoes of German ammunition
Consigned to Delagoa bay, a Portu-
guese--and, therefore, neutral-port
and condemned them, on the ground
Beers; and Germany acquiesced in this
decision. Italy, through a prize court
adopted and enforced this rule in 1897.
Tbs Tbs rule rule was =. tirst applied by the
That case has been often misquoted ::
hut the international lawyers know it
thoroughly, and know that 1t has be-
come the basis of the worlds present
practice. 1t is. indeed, rather curious
that it should have been adopted by
every marttims power engaged in the
There sare ssfin .-iefe some Il American
public men-not a few Of them, in
deed--who protest that Britain shall
never, no, never, be permitted to In
terfere with American. shipment Of cot
ton, rubber or anything else to Hol-
land, Denmark and Sweden. They don't
care to whom il is actually destined !;
it must not be interfered with. and they
take a 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
.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 dispatch of Sir Edward Grey:
IF a blockade can only become ef-
fective by extending 1t to neutral COM
merce passing through neutral ports,
such an extension Is defensible and in
accordance with principles which have
met with general acceptance"
To the Anglophobes in sOnd out OF
Congress, II Is quite unimportant that
this country made the worlds present
law, on this subject. They are getting
~ fnV a roll az EnfN Nntw N1s j.,
Administration. the body Of internation-
al law, and the established practice Nf
the maritime world, and they will make
every effort to induce the Administra- :
tion to put up a solemn-faced show
OF determined protest to the allies.
There is not the ghost of chance that
such an effort can do more than mis-
lead many Ignorant Americans into q
possibly into serious commercial
losses.
Britain Is Prepared.
The British authorities are prepared
to maintain with a good deal of vigor
that they have established a real, ef-
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-
~ ~ PSSSSoS IilS ShlpS WITH
which to place a Gordon across the
northern end of the North Sea, from
Scotland TO the Swedish coast, and I'M
tercept everything attempting to pass
through.
This showing of naval power will lac
compared to the meRger display which
the Federal Government was able 10
make along the South Atlantic coast
during the first three years of the civil
war, when, nevertheless II was tudici-
ally maintained that an "effectivo
blockade" was i'm force