Evening star., 1926-04-27
j. S.-BR|T|SH RUM
CONTROL SOUGHT.
War Claims Problem and
English Colonial Policy Pre-
| sent Delicate Features.
BY FREDERICK WILLIAM VILE.

AngIo.American relations at the mo
,nent are marked by one or lhe
strangest situations in recent olplo'
matte history. At one ana tne SAN!
lime the American Government Is ;ish-
ing Great Britain to help us enforce
our own prohibition laws ana Is ue-
nanGing that the British aroltfate
fouple of hundred mlillon uoiial
worth of World War blockade claliiis'
zen. Andrews, chief enforcement o1
ucer. plans to proceed TO LONDON III
Nav on the prohibition mission. sec
retary Kelloggs coadjutors az tiie
state Department are already III
,reatv with the British embassy at
Washington on the war claims nav
Inc been prodded into acton malt-A
at the insistence of Senator Borah:
strenuous as Gen. Andrews mas
found his first year of MAINTAINING
neutrality as between the drFS an"
the vets, the adventure upon winch
he is about TO embark AT LoHuoH
promises to be considerably more
aventful He seeks a friendly arrange
ment with the British Government.
whereby John Bull will agree 70 feEN-
late in some way or other. his mn
,0enselv lucrative spirits trade WIN
his own possessions i'll the Brl'lsh
West Indies Since prohibition was
enacted in the United states, llllS
trade has mounted by fabulous leaps
and bounds. The various KUN Rows
Off the American coasts are NANNY
sustained by it.
Trade 10 Times More Valuable.
In 1918. seven years before Amerl-
"a went on the water-wagon. Britlsh
exports of spirits to the British west
Indies. including the Bahamas, the
Bermudas and British Gulaha'
amounted to only 1892 PROOF gaF
Ions. In 1924, they had reached 3''.-
9O6 gallons. Last year the exports
aggregated the peak level OF 394,Zel
gallons. or roundly five times what
they were 13 years ago. The value OF
British spirits sales to British do
,ninions in the Southern Atlantic IN
1918 was about $4,000 year. In
1925 the trade was valued at S2,f44,-
345, a ten-fold increase.
Secretary Hoover has just disclosed
that Americans spent $4O,U0o,oou on
smuggled liquor in 1928. compared TO
$40 900 900 in 1922. This includes
iiouor that oozed into the United
States across all its coast and land
frontiers 1t is in damming the flood
that originates in the West Indies
that Gen Andrews mainly seeks
British cooperation"
Sales to the West Indies almost
compensate the British spirits indus
try for the loss of the rich American
market through prohibition. In 1913
John Bull sent the United states
e3,1S1,5 ,535 worth of spirits. West In
dian purchases give every prospect,
within year or two, OF equaillng pre-
prohibition British exports to the
United States. The population OF
the British West Indies today is con-
siderably less than 100000.
Delicate Problems Involved.
How ready Gen. Andrews will find
the British government to interfere
with this very rich trade remains to be
seen. Matters at the moment stand
like this: There have been certain dis
Cussions in Washington. largely with
prohibition officials. which resulted IN
some informal representations from
the British embassy. These Indicated
if the United States were to send
somebody to London to talk over the
whole matter there, il would be pos
sible to discover whether any regula-
tions could be made whereby the Brit
ish could prevent dispatch of liquor to
our various rum rows.
Washington officials say 1t is too
earlN TO lCll NHClllCi lAtSGS "AASA'S
tentative suggestions will lead any
where. Since they were put forth, 1t
has been made known that the United
States will require Britain to arbitrate
claims of American nationals arising
out Of wartime seizures of the ship
ping by the British navy. Apart from
some possible disinclination to be over
accommodating to Uncle Sam at such
an hour, there Is the eternally delicate
question of Britain's relations with her
oversee dominions.
All vessels leaving British waters
with LIQUOR or other cargoes require
clearance papers. Presumably most
Of the rum ships clear for Bermuda or
the Bahamas or the Barbados. III
London should attempt to restrict the
amount of liquor sent to those islands
it's a foregone conclusion that CO.
lonial row Of pretty acrimonious pro-
portions would ensue, because the
West Indian colonists are willing to
admit that good part Of their pros
perity arises from the liquor trafhc
with the United States. But that's