The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1917-09-07
Enlarged

der the Executive order issued on Mon
day, are not to be prohibited, but they
are to be controlled, and more closely
than at any time since the beginning
of August, 1914. For nearly two years
and half, or up to April 2, 1917, the
Interest of the United States in the
control of shipments Of foodstuffs and
other merchandise from this country
to other lands was simply that of a
neutral. AS a neutral, the United
States was more concerned in the as
sertion of it's own rights to freedom
of the seas than in supporting the en-
barge against the Central Powers
which had been established by Great
Britain and France. 1t will easily be
recalled, by those who have followed
the course of the war, that, while the
sympathies of the people of the Unit
ed States, from the beginning, were
manifestly with the Allies, their gov
eminent, in the assertion and mainte-
nance of a neutral attitude, was on
several occasions, drawn into sharp
disputes with the government of Great
Britain regarding what the former
claimed were unjust seizures of Amer
lean ships and cargoes destined for
other neutral ports.
The position was always taken by
Washington that the commerce of the
United States, a neutral, with other
Neutral countries should not be inter-
fered with by Great Britain, or in any
way interrupted. In the latter part of
1914 and during 1915 many United
States and other neutral vessels were
detained by the Bril- :sh Admiralty
In the effort to exclude foodstuffs and
munitions from Germany, British
cruisers diverted from their course the
United States and other neutral flags,
and this gave rise to much serious DIP
lomatic correspondence between Mr..
Bryan and the British Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Edward
Grey. The controversy, in fact, was
continued by Secretary Lansing after
the resignation of Mr.. Bryan, and on
both sides various questions were rails
ed which will doubtless come up for
settlement in the general readjust-
ment of things, and the general re-
framing of international law, after the
return Of peace.
But when the United States was
forced to become a participant in the
great struggle, its interests in pre-
venting the admission into Germany
and countries allied with it Of food
stuffs and other merchandise became
quite as keen as that of Great Bri-
tain and France. The actual work of
keeping out contraband, however, had
to be left to those nations for the time
being, to Great Britain in particular,
and, strange as it may appear, the
United States, from the beginning of
April to the issuance of the Executive
order of Monday, has been making the
problem more rather than less diff
cult for its principal maritime allies.
That is, United States exporters have
been selling goods, foods, and mer-
chandise, to nations which have been
accounted strictly neutral or friendly,
while these nations have been passing
the goods which they have imported
from America to the Central Empires
and their allies. The Scandinavian
countries, Holland, and even Italy,
have been made avenues for the trans
it of contraband to the enemy. A
thoroughly organized system for ov-
grooming the British blockade has been
in operation all along. Commodities
which the allied nations and the Unit
ed States were most DESTROYS of keep
ing out of Germany, Austria, Bulgaria,
and Turkey have found their way into
those countries through the countries
mentioned. AS means to putting a
stop to all this, the United States, in
stead of joining Great Britain and
France in the blockade, has determined
to exercise control over exports.
Cotton, in great quantities, has
found its way into Germany and Aus
tria, and has been used for the making
of high explosives against which the
soldiers of the Allies now, and the SOL
diers of the United States later on,
may be compelled to stand. No cotton
will go forth from the United States
hereafter, save under a license that
can be obtained only on the most
stringent and satisfying conditions.
Regulation of expectation of the raw
staple lies WIFI IHe OHlIeu DIdtes
principally; regulation of expectation
of the manufactured article will lie
with Great Britain and France. The
list of articles interdicted for export,
save under the license system now es-
tablished, covers practically all of the
export commodities of the United
States. The President makes it clear
that it is not the intention to inter
fere unnecessarily with the external
commerce of the country, "but," he
adds, "our own domestic needs must be
adequately safeguarded, and there is
the added duty of meeting the neces-
stiles of all the nations at war with
the Imperial German Government. At
ter these needs are met, it is our wish
and intention to minister to the needs
of the neutral nations as far as our
resources permit. This task will be
discharged without other than the very
proper qualification that the liberia
ton of our surplus products shall not
be made the occasion of benefit to the
enemy, either directly or indirectly"
AS this embargo tightens, we shall
probably hear much complaint from
the neutral nations that have been