Evening star., 1941-09-30

masking to our gaze of the stark
and naked menace of Hitler and his
NaZi terrorism, have convinced civil
lied men who love their country,
who hate conquest and oppression,
to determine that Hitler and his
Nazi terrorism must be destroyed.
Restrictions Aimed at Rights.
Hitler seeks to dominate both the
land and the sea. His denial of the
right of other nations to sail the
seas. is challenge TO our undeni-
able rights and a threat to over
throw and destroy them. The re-
strictionS in the arms embargo re-
peal against the arming of mer-
chant ships and the sailing of our
vessels in combat zones or TO ma
tlons at war were in derogation OF
our rights. They were domestic
regulations of our citizens in the
hope that our ships would not be
attacked. AS has already been seen,
that hope was futile. Under Hit
lers decree, our ships cannot sail
akOii ullJ o0o Nllltll Ndll lCdIII
with his submarines, with his sur
face raiders, or with his aircraft.
Hugo Grotius, the celebrated au-
thority on international law, as
early as 1903, laid down the rule.
every nation is free to travel to
every other nation and to trade with
1t" He there enunciated the doc
trine of freedom of the seas. He
exploded the theory that the seas
were the property of the nation
with the longests sword. BY the
18th century, it was universally ac-
cepted that the seas were the COM
mon property of all nations. The
United States, since its foundation
has adhered to the doctrine of free
dom OF the seas. Under the presi-
dency of John Adams, France dep
redated upon our commerce. and in
1898, the House of Representatives,
in an address to the President.
stated that France had proclaimed
predatory warfare against the un-
questionable right of neutral COM
merce, which, with our means of
defense, our interests and our
honor, commanded us to repel"
Congress authorized armed vessels
to resist the armed vessels of the
French. The case of the Barbary
pirates is classic example of our
insistenCe upon the freedom of the
seas. The United States Navy was
dispatched to the Mediterranean.
the pirates were subdued, and
levies upon our commerce were
terminated. The War of 1912. in its
essence. was in defense of freedom
of the seas. The doctrine was MAIN
tanned by Madison when he was
Secretary of State in 1906. Van
Buren,, in 1880, in his instructions to
ambassadors, asserted the doctrine.
Warning Was Disregarded.
1t will be recalled that before and
during World War I. our rights upon
the seas were attacked by the Ger
man submarine campaign. In April,
1916. the Government of the United
States warned the Imperial Ger
man government against the viola
ton of our rights. The warning
was disregarded and our ships were
sunk and our citizens were mur-
dered. During the entire period Of
the World War, and in all of the
years that followed the Govern
ment of the United States has
steadfastly maintained its right to
the freedom of the seas. It is true
that there are those who claim that
by the enactment of the arms en-
barge repeal, the United States sur
rendered its right to the freedom
of the seas. That is an erroneous
assumption, While that act would
restrict freedom of citizens and our
shipping, the act expressly pro-
vided in its preamble that the United
States surrendered none of its
rights under international law. 1t
was so specifically stated in the pre-
amble to that act, which was in the
form of an amendment offered by
the Senator from Texas, now speak
ing. 1t was specifically provided
that the restrictions contained in
that act were domestic regulations
for the control of our citizens and
that "the United States valves
none of its rights or privileges or
those of any of its nationals under
international law" 1t was further
specifically provided that the
United States reserves the right to
repeal, change or modify this joint
resolution, or any other domestic
legislation in the interest of the