The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-03-03

In the United States senate, 1eW
GAYS ago, Senator Hoke Smith, OF Geor-
gia, said:
Mr President, I also have short
article from The Daily Trade Record,
OF New York. 1t contains some extracts
form The Newcastle Illustrated Chron-
icle. of England, showing that in Great
Britain it IS now recognized that cot
ton is no longer necessary in Germany
for the manufacture OF powder. 1t IS.
also an English concession that the
British government placed cotton upon
a contraband list as the result of popu-
lar clamor based upon Misrepresentation
of the facts. The article is quite short
but the information is valuable, and in
stead OF presenting it in the shape c
discussion on the floor I should like to
have it printed in The Record. think
we will all be interested to have this val
liable information
There being no objection, the article
was referred to the committee on for
eign relations and ordered to be print
ed in The Record as follows:
(From The Daily Trade Record, New
York, Feb. 5, 1870.
England based cotton blockade on
obsolete chemistry, says Briton. Ger
man scientific advancement such that
substitutes for powder making were de-
veioped long ago, asserts DR.. Budde. Sir
William Ramsay also admits that cam
paign to make cotton contraband prob
ably was founded on false premises. A
German viewpoint.
Great Britain had cotton absolute
contraband of war months ago on the
theory that the cutting off Of cotton sup
plies would diminish Germany's stocks
of ore of the essential constituents of
smokeless powder.
The contraband order was issued fol-
lowing a vigorous campaign led by the
veteran English chemist, Sir William
Ramsay, whose insistence that the cot
ton supply was vital to Germanys needs
won over practically every section OF
the British press to the support of the
contraband order.
Since the contrabnd order was issued,
the impression has been steadily gaining
ground in Great Britain that this step
was based upon false assumption, as 1t
has been thoroughly demonstrated that
Germany is making gunpowder not out
of cotton but of wood pulp.
1t has been ascertained that German
chemists knew great deal more about
the manufacture Of explosives from
wood pulp than they had revealed prior
to the war. and that they were fully
prepared to eliminate cotton from their
calculations altogether, it having been
assumed by them that the cotton sup
ply probably would be cut off by Brit
ish blockade.
Notwithstanding this belated knowl-
edge on the part of the Britons, they
have refrained from acknowledging
possible error in their conclusions as to
the military necessity of cotton to the
Germans.
To admit that the alleged primary
cause of the cotton blockade-nilitary
necessity-is based upon error due to
poor chemical knowledge would lead
TO a reopening of the entire contraband
agitation, in the opinion of Great Britain
and would weaken the British position
decidedly.
Nevertheless. the British press is
gradually printing the facts about the
cotton 6asco, but without much ado,
though there seems to be disposition
to criticize the authorities because they
did not know OF Germany's success with
wood pulp.
It is entirely probable that the Brit
ish authorities did know of the Ger
man use of wood pulp, and, in fact, the
government repeatedly endeavored to
dodge the contraband order and was
sponsor for the publication OF a state
ment that cotton had been supplanted
by wood pulp in German powder fac
tories, but the British people and press
refused to accept this information as
true and raised such vigorous cry that
the contraband order was issued.
The British newspapers, particularly
the provincial journals, have just print
ed a syndicated interview with DR.. c.
Budde, of Sunderland, chief research
chemist of the Hendon Paper Works