Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-10
BY EDWARD PRICE BELL

In no dominion of political thought
does the march of ideas show more
dramatic aspects of change than in
that concerned with the sea. So Tar
are the maritime ideas of today from
those of yesterday that the latter seem
merely whimsical, amusing, fantastic;
we read of them with something like
delightful incredulity.
Sea powers used to consider them
selves virtual owners of the oceans, or
so much of the oceans as they thought
worth designating as within their JurlS-
diction. England was particularly mag
nificent in her pretensions in this re-
Spect. 1T is the custom of the English
said Charles II to Louis XIV, ito COM
mand at sea-" And the English King
had no doubt as he told the French
Ambassador of the day, that If he
yielded to France on the sea question
his subjects would abjure him.
High Handed in Early Days.
What was we'll back in the seven
| tenth century, when EnglandS mari
! time audacitieS were already we'll known,
| patterned upon the precedentS of Spain.
Holland and Portugal. James I, some
so years before Charles II, had his sea-
men Selling Dutch cargoes of walruses
in the Arctic waters of Greenland be-
1 CduSc bilE lldu uO llCeuSc
| from him. The same monarch COM
F., missioned Selden to write Mare Clau-
sum" ("The Closed Seas') in response
to GrotiuS' great book, Mare Liberum"
| (''The Free SeaS'O.
And Charles I, following James
| CHS father, and preceding Charles II
| this SOM, was another redoubtable
protagonist of English sea presump-
| lions. In the reign of James / Eng
10 y,d'c home ic1o YdS inst about q ii
she had in the world. but her view of
her sea rights knew almost no bounds
no bounds. in fact except those which
she herself chose to fix, for her sea
power was unapproached. At that time,
you will recall, neither Massachusetts,
nor Virginia was settled.
Astounding Instance Cited.
CharlessI had his sea captains trained
| to an extraordinary pitch of loyalty and
| inflexibility in the discharge of their
duties as representatives of England's
purpose to control the sea. An astound-
| ing instance of this is reported by
Richelieu, as quoted by Admiral Mahan
in his Discussion of the Elements OF
Sea Power" in his masterpiece. The
Influence of Sea Power Upon History"
Richelieu writes:
"The Duke of Sully, minister of
Henry w Zone of the most chivalrous
princes that ever lived, having en-
barked at Calais in a French ship wear
ing the French flag at the main, was
no sooner in the channel than, meet
ing an English dispatch boat which
was there to receive him, the COM
mander of the latter ordered the French
ship to lower her flag. The duke,
considering that his quality freed him
from such an affront, boldly refused;
but this refusal was followed by three
cannon shot, which, piercing his ship:
pierced the heart, likewise, OF all
good Frenchmen. Might forced him
to yield what right forbade, and for
all the complaints ne made ne could could
get no better reply from the English
captain than this: THAT just as his
duty obliged him to honor the Am
baSsador's rank, 1t also obliged him
to exact the honor due to the nag
of his master as sovereign OF the
sea- If the words of the King himself
were more polite, they nevertheless had
no other effect than to compel the
duke to take counsel of his prudence,
feigning to be satisfied, while his wound
was all the time smarting and in
durable Henry the Great had to prac-
tice moderation on this occasion; but
with the resolve another time to
sustain the rights of his crown by the
force that, with the aid Of time, he
should be able to put upon the sea-
Ordered to Strike Flag.
Nearly two centuries later Q805),
British admiralty regulations were still
drastic and implacable. Here Is
specimen: "When any of his mai
esty's ships shall meet with the ships
of any power within his majesty's seas
(Which extend to Cape Finisterre1, II
is expected that the said foreign ships
do strike their topsail and take in
their flag, in acknowledgment OF his
maiesty's sovereignty in those seas;
and, T any do resist, all flag ofhcers
and commanders are to use thelr
utmost endeavors to compel them
thereto, and not suffer any dishonor
to be done to his majesty"
Grotesque as those claims seem 10
us now, they were only natural then,
asserted, though they were. in condl.
lions of peace. Only pale vestiges OF
them survive anywhere in this CEN
fury. Occasionally state like Italy,
in the midst of peace, speaks OF a
sea like the Adriatic as our sea-;
(outside the 3-mile limit as French
waters" Britain talks of British
waters" Japan of Japanese waters
and America of American waters.
Nevertheless. these descriptives, under
international law and during the
prevalence Of peace, are only rhetorical;
the high seas, except in war, are Tree.
Free in British Waters.
And the salt water, believe, is freest
of all. in peace, within that jurisdic-
tion-the British-where it was form
erly least free. Britain accords the
peaceful world, so far as her writ runs,
complete maritime freedom and equality,
even within her own ports and coastal
| waters. Her port charges are the same
| to others as to British. Foreign ships
NAV take part in her coastwlse trade.
| Her broad theory is that maritime COM
merce, under whatever nag IL may
move, holds out some hope of profit to
the greatest OF cotemporaneous sea
| farin9 peoples. No other nation Is OF
like mind-not the Italian, not the
French, not the Japanese, not the
| American. Our coastwise trade, for ex-
! ample. is reserved rigidly for vessels of
American registry, and none other may
! ply between our home ports and those
of our overseas territories.
OF indirect restrictions upon the free
dom of the seas in peace one might say
a few words. Tariffs are such restric-
! lions. Subsidies are such restric-
lated to effect such restrictions. Not
until that dim day, almost as remote,
I am afraid, as the Greek calends. when
| fiscally unobstructed markets and the
absence of all arbitrary measures af-
| fecting commerce call to the DIVERSE
fed production of the earth-not until
| then will there be complete freedom of
| the seas, however profound and stable
may be the worlds peace.
Much Progress Recorded.
Meanwhile it is sufficient to take ac-