Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-06-02
STOP SEEING mail
u. 8. NOTIFIES BRITAIN AND
FRANCE IN VIGOROUS NOTE.
ALawless Practice" on Seas mo
Longer Can BE Tolerated" and
Allies Are Warned to Change
Policy.
Ne.Leln N%ewspapsr unIon 500 seryIee.

Western Newspaper Union News Service.
Washington, May 29.-The text OF
the communication addressed to the
British and French ambassadors. 10
whom IL was delivered Wednesday. in
part follows:
Department OF state. Washington.
May "a, 1yt6.-EXcellency. l ave the
honor to acknowledge receipt OF your
excellency's note Of April 3 last, trans
hitting a memorandum dated February
10, 1916, and communicated in sub
stance to the American ambassador In
London on February 2Sth. In which are
stated the contentious of the British
and French governments In regard t.
the right to detain and Examine par.
eel and letter mails en- route by sea
between the United states and Eu-
rope.
After a discussion Of the use of the
mails for the transmissiCn OF parce.s
and of the limitations 20 be placed On
inviolable' the joint memorandum o.
February 10 closes with the following
ass -rtiOns:
Il. That from the standpoint of the
right of visitation and eventual arrest
and seizure, merchandise shipped IN
post parcels needs not and snail not be
treated otherwise than merchandise
shipped ia any other manner.
20. That the |inViolability of postal
correspondence stipulated by the eleV-
enth convention OF The Hague Of 1907
does not In any way affect the right OF
the allied governments to VISIT anu II
occasion arise, arrest and seize mer
Chandise hidden in the Wrappers, M
velopes or letters contained in the mail
bags.
and respectful of genuine correspond
ence' the allied governments VIII re-
frain for the present, on the htgh seas
from seizing and confiscating such cor.
| ~nannnnannn lpItnrE or nlkDAlGhEA ana
will insure their s%peedtest possible
transmission, as soon as the sincerity
of their character shall have been as
certained."
Allies Contention Rejected.
I'm reply the government of the
| United States desires to 5 ate that IL
does not consider that the postal union
convention of 1906 necessarily app les
to the interference by the British ana
French governments with the oversea
transportation of mails of which the
government of the United states com
furthermore. the allied powers APP
pear to have overlooked the admission
OF the government of the United States
that post parcels may be treated as
merchandise subject to the exercise o.
beliigerent rights as recognized by in
ternatiOnal law. But the government
OF the United states does not admit
that such parcels are subject 90 the
exercise of the rights OF pc Ice super
| NlklOls NlhlAdAlnh alh tNNANAal q
which belongs to belligerents with ref
erence to all cargoes on the high seas,
as asserted in the Joint note under &C
acknowledgement.
Right Of Search Limited.
TT is noted with satisfaction that the
British and French governments do not
claim. and, in the opinion of this gov
eminent, properly dc not claim, that
their so-called blockade measures are
sufficient grounds upon which to base
- ..EN l. Ill aHanaAn Of
mail matter in transit to or from the
central powers.
"On the contrary, their contention
appears to be that as genuine cores
sDondence' is under con entional stipu-
lation 'inviolable,' mail matter OF other
classes is subject to detention and eX-
animation. While the government o.
the United States agrees that ge0uin'
c-or-espondence' mail is inviolable, II
does not admit that belligerents m y
search other private sea-borne mails
For any other purpose than to discover
whether they contain articles OF enemy
ownership carried on ~belligerent YES
sells or articles Of cOntrNhand t~o@s
mitted under sealed cover as letter
nail. though they may intercept ~ 5 4
all mails coming out of or golni into
borts of the enemY's coasts which are
effectively blockaded.
Malls Seized tn Port.
THE governments of the United
States. Great Britain and France, how
ever, appear to be In substantial agree
ment as TO principle. The method o.
APPLYING the principle is the chic
cause of difference.
"Though giving assurances that they
consider genuine correspondence to be
%Inviolable.' n that they will, true to
their engagements refrain on the
high seas from seizing and confiscat-
ing such correspondence the "'lied
governments proceed to deprive neU
trial governments OF the benefits OF
these assurances by Selling and coi''
fiscating mail from vessels In port in
stead of at sea.
lust cause. to enter their own ports or
they induce shipping lines, through
some form Of duress to send their man
ships via British ports. or they detain
ali vessels merely calling at British
ports-thus acquiring nv force o. I'M
justifiable means an Illegal turisdic-
ton.
Censorship Assaulted.
acting upon this enforced j~urisdic
ton, the authorities remove all mail
genuine correspondence as well as
post parcels; take them to London
where every piece, even though OF neu-
trail origin and destination, is opened
and critically examined, to determine
the sincerity of their character In
accordance with the Interpretation CIV
en- that underlined phrase by the Brit
Ish and French censors. Finely. the
expurgated remains Is forwarded, FIRE
quently after irreparable delay. to It's
destination.
"ships are detained en- route to or
from the United States or to or from
other neutral countries. and mails a~e
held and delayed for several dnl $ and,
in some cases, for weeks ano "v.n
months. even though not routed Il
ports OF North Europe. via British
ports.
This has been the procedure which
has been practiced since the an
n0uncement OF February II 1916. To
some extent. the same practice was fol
lowed before that date calling for IN
tetG But to that protest the mem
o-andum under acknOw'edg Nment
makes no reference and is entirely
UNI, sponsive.
'sThe Government of the United
States must again Insist with emphasi
that the British and French govern
ments do not obtain righttul lurlsdl'
chnrnh nouhIes Pension Fund.