New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-15
Note Hits at Failure to
Prevent Breach of
Neutrality
HOLDS BLACKLIST
DOMESTIC AFFAIR"
Long, Bitter Struggle
Ahead" He Declares, "We
Must Use Every Defence"
From Ire Tdhune Bureau J

From Tne Tdbuns Bureaul
Washington, Nov. 14.-Great Brit
aims reply 10 the American protest
against the blacklist, made public By
the State Department tonight, rejects
politely but firmly the demand that
the ban be lifted. The legal argument
set forth in support of this stand is
admitted privately by officials to be
fawless.
The note declares that the measure
is purely domestic legislation, that il
concerns only British citizens and that
it is designed to shorten the war. Wis
count Grey declares that German
houses abroad have acted as part of the
military organization of Germany.
Such firms, he declares. have beer
bases Of supply for German cruisers
paymasters of bomb plotters, etc. Such
activities, he points out, have been car
ried on in the United States, and "no
adequate action has yet been taken by
the government of the United States tc
suppress breaches of neutrality OF this
particularly criminal kind, which
know that they (the United States) are
the first to discountenance and de-
plore."
1t can be stated authoritatively that
as a result of this legal defence .he
United States will abandon its original
contention that the blacklist is vio-
lation Of international law. A new
protest will be made, but it will be
based on the argument that the black
list methods constitute a serious breach
of international comfy. The objection
which officials now urge is not that
the measures in themselves are illegal,
but that they are administered in such
a way as to be needlessly vexatious to
neutrals.
The new American position, which
will be outlined in Forthcoming note
to Great Britain. is based on the indi-
rect effects of the blacklist measures
and the methods used in administering
them.
Couldn't Get Bank Loans
Officials declare that blacklisted
firms have suffered even in domestic
trade, because all American and neutral
firms having valuable relations with
Allied countries fear to acquire a
"taint" by dealing with those on the
list. In some cases they have even
been refused ordinary banking facili-
ties in this country. This, Great Brit
ain insists, is not the intention, but
the State Department believes it is
unavoidable by the very nature of the
blacklist system.
Besides this. the British authorities
in administering the blacklist have
made many extremely vexatious mis-
takes, through which innocent firms
have for long periods been deprived of
trade facilities.
A part of the note which attracted
much official notice dealt with the
subject of peace, based on the theory
that one American contention had been
that there exists no military necessity
for the blacklist, that it is unnecessary
for the Allies TO prejudice neutral
commerce. and that nothing which hap
pens in neutral countries can influence
the result Of the great conflict.
Long, Bitter Struggle Ahead
"If that really were the position, u
says the note, ait is possible that the
measures taken BY his majesty's gov
ernment might be described as uncalled
for. but it is not. We may well wish
that il were so.
Even though the military situation
of the Allies has greatly improved,
there is still long and bitter struggle
in front of them, and one which in
Justice 20 the principles for which they
are fghting imposes upon them the
duty of employing every opportunity
and every measure which they can
iegitimately use TO overcome their OPP
ponents.
"One observation which is very COM
monty heard is that certain belligerent
acts. even though lawful, are too petty
10 have any infuencesin a struggle OF
such magnitude. =
at is, I know. difficult for those who
have no immediate contact with war 20
realize with what painful anxiety men
and women in this country must regard
even the smallest acts which tend TO
increase, il only by a hairs breadth.
the danger in which their relatives and
friends daily stand, or TO prolong, II
only by a minute, the period during
which they are 70 be exposed 10 such
perils.
Business Houses Aid Germany
whatever Inconvenience may be
caused to neutral nations by the exer-
else of belligerent rights, 1t is not to
be compared for an instant to the suf.
fering and loss occasioned TO mankind
by the prolongstion OF the war even
for a week.
In its argument,-the note points out
that German business houses through
out the world have furthered the cause
Of Germany in the war, and have been
active agents "for the dissemination OF
German political and social influence
and for purposes of espionage"
"In some cases." continues the note,
"they have even been used as bases
OF supply for German cruisers, and IN
other cases organizers and paymssters
OF misereants employed to destroy by