Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-01-18
ACTUAL BLOCKADE Of
GERMANY AND ALLIES
PLANNED BY ENGLAND
Government Shows Tendency
to Shift Around to American
Contention in Regard to In
ternatiOnaI Law
(By Associated Press.

LONDON. Jan. 15.-Great Britain will
soon announce the establishment of an
actual blockade of Germany and her
allies thereby superseding the condition
which had been established by the or
ders i'm council. Americans who have
been in close contact with the machin.
cry OF the British orders in council stat
ed today.
person who has acted as a repre-
sentative of American interests in con-
nection with British prize court proceed
ings reviewed today for the Associated
Press the evolution of the orders in
council He said:
THE British government shows an I'M
mistakable tendency now to shift around
TO the persistently expressed American
contention that the international law
which prevailed before the war must
Ultimately govern Great BRUINS asser-
Ions of her sea power. IL is well
.nown that when the war began the
dmiralty urged upon the foreign office
the necessity tor the declaration of an
actual blockade but the latter believed
that the susceptibilities of neutrals
could be better met by orders in coun-
ell and. after the adoption of these. the
government began its interminable
agreements with neutrals.
STAND OF
These agreements might have sue
ceeded if it had not been for the oppo-
sition OF the United States. which took
the stand from the first that the orders
in council were illegal and that there
fore even yelled or subrosa recognition
Of them. in forms similar 20 the Danish
agreement and the Netherlands Overseas
Trust. would be a surrender of Ameri-
can sovereignty under international
law.
Even though not indorsing the atti-
tude of the biggest of the neutrals, the
smaller neutral states began to chafe
under the agreements which are criti-
cised as being partial Furthermore,
these agreements have always been a
direct negation Of Sir Samuel Evans
famous dictum that it is inconcelvable
that the British government would issue
any orders in council which a prize
court could consider as nugatory in rec
Ognized international law.
THE compromise out of court by the
British. government with the Chicago
packers is the best concrete evidence of
the modification of the orders in coun-
ell to meet the conception of interna-
tional law existing before the war. There
is other evidence Of such modification
and a striking tribute to the old inter
national law Is seen IN the BToMlnS EeS-
Ognition of the fact that, despite its
flimsy structure IL is the only possible
code for the settlement of the problems
raised by the relations of belligerents
with neutrals.
Great Britains attempts to substi-
tute a code of her own that would not
form dangerous presidents when she
herself may be neutral, are doomed to
fail and should not be surprised If the
foreign office adopts the course recon-
mended by the adrpiraltysand declares an
actual blockade. 49, -
USED WORD BLOCKADE
1T is significant in this connection
that the recent parliamentary white pa
per which defended the British blockade
used the word blockade, and did not en-
phasize the fact that orders in council
had been adopted as a reprisal measure,
as did Mr.. Asquith when they were first
adopted.
How strictly an actual blockade has