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Show ,t NOTE TO GREAT BRITAIN ! One phrase ocrTTthe note of Sec retary Bryan to the Br tish go eminent which defines the relat on Great Br ta n has assumed toward neutrals by the unparalleled blockade The order m council of the loth of March -would const tute says the secretary were its prons ons to be actually carried into effect as they stand a pract cal assert on of LIM ITED BELLIGERENT EIGHTS o er neutral commerce with n the whole European area and an almost unquali fled denial of the so ereign r ghts of nat ons now at peace The phrase is formulated w th mild ness and jet its s gnificance is patent Instead of asserting merely the rights of one neutral to another Great Br tain las assumed toward us the att tude of a belligerent Our government has no mchnat on to insist npon this construe t on with unfriendly emphasis It stu d ously avo ds harsh language It might have used the- phrase state of war and been quite withjn the bounds of reason Germany on the one s de and Great Brita n and France on the other have abandoned a neutral att tude toward the Un ted States and have adopted a course of procedure usually cons stent only with a state of war Owing how ever to the unprecedented circum stances the American government is eager to avo d any act on wh ch would place our country m a state of war toward any of the bell gerents On the contrary Secretary Bryan while seek ing to make clear the lawlessness of the blockade and while urging England v to abandon its extreme pol cy outlined by the orders n council is most meticu Ions in employing nothing but the f r endliest terms There is a touch of humor m that part of the note which appeals to the British government not to taint its policy with llegal ty merely because Germany s policy bears the ta nt of illegally Mr Brjan savs that this government does not for a moment sup I pose that his majesty s government would wish the same taint to attach to their own act ons It is d stinctly an argumentnm ad hom nem It recalls the story told of Eoosevelt at the t me he was acquiring canal r ghts at Panama in h s own peculiar way He is said to have asked Boot or was it Knoxf what he thought of the nego tiations with Colombia So far they have been wholly with out the taint of legality was the re ply While the United States mi sts that Great Britain shall not depart from the interpretations of international law for which It contended in other times a clear concession is made with reference to the manner of enforcing a blockade Our government recognizes that owing to the perils of submarine warfare a close in blockade cannot be mam ta ned It contends however that a blockade remote from the Bhores of the enemy country confers no right to blockade neutral countries or to shut off the trade of one neutral country with another The note also points out that one of the recognized requirements of a legal blockade is that it shall be enforced equally against all coun tries Attention is then called to the fact that the Scandinavian countries are free to trade with all the Baltic ports of Germany while our own boats even if destined to the Baltic ports would be stopped by the British cor don across the English channel and the North sea The note also concedes the Br tish point that ow ng to the changes in naval warfare it is no longer poss ble to conduct a thorough search upon the high seas an that therefore aptured vessels must be taken nto port We continue to maintain bowev- that the search shall be conducted w th due ex edition and that all unnecessary delays shall be avoided It is amusing to read the Lon Ion Times comment n view of our friendly note and our important concessions It sturdily upbol Is the sp rit and the let ter of the or Jers n council an I a Iv ses against any conoesslo on Great Br t a n i fart |