Norwich bulletin., 1918-03-21

Washington. March 2O.-Al Dutch shipping in American waters was or ] dered seized tonight in a proclama- tion. by President Wilson.
 The proclamation was issued after | the war trade board received word 1 from London that Holland had refused ] the American ultimatum for a transfer | of the ships according to the original agreement which Germany blocked. | All Dutch. shipping in British waters I is being requisitioned simultaneously. | Naval Guards Board Ships. I Naval guards will go on board the l ships immediately Approximately IT vessels, with a tonnage estimated as 1 high as 600.000. thus will be added to | the American merchant marine The
 ships in British waters will add an l other 300, ,000 or GOO tons to the al- lied merchant fleets.
 ! President Wilson authorized tonight the following statement:
 1 President Wilson's Statement.
 "tor some months the United States land the entente allies have been con- ducting negotiations with the Dutch government with the object of con cluding a general commercial agree lment.
 "A very clear statement of the char
 acter of these negotiations was made
 on March F to the Dutch parliament by His Excellency, the minister of for eign affairs of Holland As appears from the statement the discussion pro ceeded upon the basis of two fuhda- lmental propositions. namely, that the 1 United States and the allies should facilitate. the importation into Hoi-
 land of foodstuffs and other conn1odi- Il ties required to maintain her economic 1l1ife and that Holland should restore liner merchant marine to a normal con Idition of activity.
 Tt was the task of the negotiators
 to develop a specific application of these propositions which would be ac-
 ceptable to the governments concern led.
 Early in January, 1918, the nego- tiators came to an understanding (which was embodied in tentative agreement which was submitted to the governments concerned in order
 that, if acceptable, it might be ratified. Tor. if unacceptable a counter proposal
 might be made.
 Proposition by Dutch Delegates.
 "The negotiations becoming pro- Ilonged, the Dutch delegates proposed, in order that their ships might sooner
 be put into remunerative service, that Dutch tonnage lying idle in American T waters should with certain exceptions, be immediately chartered to the Unit led States for periods not exceeding ninety days. This proposal was ac- Icepted by the United States govern lment and on January 25, 1918, the Dutch minister at Washington handed to the secretary of state of the United States a note expressing the terms of the temporary chartering agreement land his governments acceptance , thereof
 'E Provisions of Agreement. "This agreement provided, among
 other things, that 150,000 tons of Dutch shipping should, at the discre- ton of the United States. be employ
 ed partly in the service of Belgian re- lief and partly for Switzerland on safe lconduct to Cette, France, and that for , each ship sent to Holland in the ser lvice of Belgian relief, a corresponding : vessel should leave Holland for the Limited States. Two Dutch ships ir lthe United States ports with cargoes of foodstuffs, were to proceed to Hol- Hand. similar tonnage being sent in ex- change from Holland to the United States for charter as in the case oi other Dutch ships lying in the United States ports.
 Agreement Was Temporary. "The agreement was explicitly tenn : Iporary in character and being design l ed to meet an immediate situation 2 prompt performance was of the es- sence. The Dutch government at once
 disclosed, however, that it was un- . willing or unable to carry out this 7 Ichartering agreement which it had it. I self proposed The first desire of tho : United States was to secure at once
 shipping, as contemplated by the
 agreement, to transport to Switzerlan6 footstuffs much needed by the state o One difficulty after another was, how. l lever, raised to postpone the charter s ing of Dutch ships for Swiss relief
 and, although the reason was never
 formally expressed, it was generally 2 known that the Dutch ship owners : feared lest their ships should be de l stroyed by German submarines ever . though on an errand of mercy ans I though not traversing any of the SO :. called danger zones proclaimed b1
 the German government. That thi: . Hear was not wholly unjustified ha. c lunhappily been shown by the recen- :. act of the German government in sink ] ing the Spanis ship Sardinero' out : Iside the danger zone,' when carrying s a cargo of grain for switzerland, am
 after the submarine commander hat
 ascertained this fact by an inspection P of the ships papers.
 s Dutch Government Helpless. "In respect of Belgian relief, tn, s Dutch government expressed it's pres lent inability to comply with the agree t fment on the ground that the German
 Government had given Holland to un . derstand that is would forcibly pre-
 lvent the departure from Holland o
 the corresponding, ships, which unde
 the agreement were to leave coinci s dentally for the United States Tn, e Dutch government even felt itself un S | ableato secure the two 7cargoes of food stuffs, which under the agreement i , was permitted to secure, since her, }. again the German government inter n Ivened and threatened to destroy tn : equivalent Dutch tonnage which nri
 ider the agreement was = ;AaAe Hoi