The Washington times., 1916-08-11
EXPLAINS RULES OF
BRITISH BLOCKADE
Sir Frank Newnes Gives De-
tails Of Work Of Big Sea
Gordon.

Luncheon Club by Sir Frank Newnes,
In an address delivered at the last
meeting of the club.
Sir Frank is the head Of great pub
hshiH0 n@ founded by his father. He
u q naamber Of the royal volunteer
naval n reserve. and is acting as as
detention OF neutral ships presided over
by Lord Peel.
His explanation Of the system follows:
Every ship east or west bound pass
by the north Of Scotland IL stopped by
one Of the British men-of-war. boarded
and examined.
These ships are armed merchantmen
and are on duty right across from the
every twenty miles. They are manned
by the royal naval reserve men from
the mercantile marine, who are used to
examining ships papers and doeu-
ments.
"A copy of the ships manifest Is wired
to London. Some ships have between
800 and 600 different descriptions Of
goods on board. and these kilograms
THE telegraphed manifest goes at
once before the contraband committee.
which sits every day and all day. pre-
sided over by E. M. Pollock. Kings
counsel and member ot Parlfn ment 'o-
warwick. The committee considers each
item, and II they. nave any reasonable
suspicion that any items are destined
for the enemy the ship will be detained
and ordered to unload the suspected
items at a suitable port
'If she has nothing suspicious the ship
can proceed at once; and I may say
that the contraband committee works
SO expeditiously that It's decision on
the ship or goods Is nearlv a,,vsvs eiv"r
the same day that the manifest is put
before 1t.
Intelligence Department.
"When the manifest Is telegraphed to
the contraband committee 1t Is also tele-
graphed to the war trade intelligence
department, which has been created for
the purpose OF supplying information on
which the contraDand comittee can de-
eide whether certain goods should bs
allowed to go forward or not.
- have already told you that the de-
sire or the British government 10 to
carry out this blockade with as little de-
lay or Inconvenience to neutrals as 10
possible. and 1 Will now give you some
OF the arrangements made to insure
this:
Agreements have been made with
representative associations OF merchants
In neutral countries under which they
undertake that goods consigned to them
will not be exported to Germany. nor be
used IN the manufacture OF goods which
are for export to Germany.
''The first OF these was the Neither
lands Oversee trust, which was 30 suo-
cessful hat siiniiar assouiatioiis n..S
formed in other countries:
In Denmark, the Danish Merchants
Guild.
In switzerland. the sooiste dc bur-
'Goods can now be exported from this
country practically under license only,
and such licenses are usually granted II
the gooas are Consigned tu t..ese ~sso-
Citations.
Agreements have been made with
many shipping lines under which their
ships are allowed to 10 forward even II
they have contraband on board or are
carrying goods which our authorities
suspect are Tor the enemy. on ,neir 49,
dertaking to return such goods to this
country for the prize court or to retain
them in a neutral country until after
the war.
"Bunker coal from any port In the
ships unless they comply with certain
conditions which insure that the goods
they carry do not go to the enemy.
The Skinner Scheme.
"Then there is the Skinner scheme.
This is a scheme which was suggested
by Mr.. Skinner, the American consul
general In London. 1t Is this:
"A department has been opened in
the British embassy at Warrington to
which an American exporter can 80 and
give particulars Of the nature and
amount of the goods he desires to ex-
port and also the name Of the con-
signee. The department will at once
cable here to the contraband commit
tee. VINO will cable him whether his
goods would pass the blockade or not.
and, thus he can decide whether to
ship them. If he ships the goods the
papers are marked accordingly, and
some American lines will now only take
goods wich have passed the Skinner
"Jt has been found that since the
war broke out certain neutral countries
have been importing a vastly ssd
amount of certain goods beyond their
pre-war and normal requirements, and
unless they were formerly Importing
Germany and Austria there is an over
whelming presumption that they were
imported for the purpose or re,export
to Germany, and there Is no doubt that
this was done on a large scale.
ITO avoid this the system OF ration
ing has been adopted under which the
import of a given article into neutral
country Is limited to the amount OF Ns
true domestic requirements, II Is very
fair system. allowing as II does any
neutral to carry on its own legitimate
trade and to supply It's own wants.
In Excess of "Ration."
''You will note thus that 1t may hap
psn that when YOU apply to the war
trade department for license to ex-
port certain articles to neutral coun-
tries 1t may be refused. not because
there Is any doubt In regard to your
consignee. but for the reason that the
country has already been supplied with
the rationed amount Of such goods.
"I would point out to you that the net
result OF all these arrangements, insti-
tuted by the British government so that
the blockade of Germany will interfere
as little as possible with neutrals. are 80
framed that II any exporter has goods
held up or put In the prize court he has
only himself to blame, and IL any one
doing business with these neutral coun-
tries will only comply with the require
ments have outlined to you he runs
practically no risk Of his goods being
held W with all the consequent loss OF
time and money.
"-The British government are, OF
course, determined to enforce the block
ade with absolute rigidness and strict
ness, but at the same time they are al
ways prepared to consider any reason
able complaints from neutrals arising
out of such enforcement. and believe