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Show WILSON ASKS SHIPPERS TO RISKS Urges That No Contraband Ee Sent on a Ship Carrying a Legitimate Cargo; Advises Ad-vises Careful Manifests. IS PREPARED TO MAKE FIRM STAND Declares Theory Expounded in Note Is Not Debatable , and Is in Line With England's Eng-land's Own Precedent. WASHINGTON", Dec. 29. President : Wilbou toJay appealed to American shippers of noncontraband poods, such as cotton, not to allow their carpoea to bo mixed with contraband articles. The United States government, ho announced, an-nounced, could deal confidently with the difficulties which had arisen in the treatment of American commerce by Great Britain only if supported by absolutely ab-solutely honest manifests. ' Tbia fitatemcnt followed a discussion by tbe president with his cabinet today to-day of the general shipping situation and of the note dispatched yesterday to Great Britain protesting at length apainst the British policy of prolonged detention of cargoes and other interference inter-ference with American trade. Publication of a synopsis of the note, the contents of which was confirmed at the White house and state department, aroused much interest, not only in diplomatic dip-lomatic quarters, but in congress and official of-ficial quarters generally. Many diplomats dip-lomats of European and South American Ameri-can countries made formaJ inquiry at the sta,te department concerning the note, and were promi&ed a memorandum on the subject. There was a confident feeling in diplomatic dip-lomatic quarters that fcteps would be taken by other leading nations of this hemisphere, as well as by some European Eu-ropean neutrals, to point out to Great Britain their acquiescence in the American Amer-ican point of view. Takes Firm Stand. From the way the president discussed tho situation with, callers, it was evident evi-dent that the Washington government had spoken firmly of its desiro for an : .mprovement in tho conditions of neutral neu-tral commerce, and was prepared to insist in-sist further on its rights. The president presi-dent declared that the theory expounded ex-pounded by the United States in its I note was, t'rom the American point of ; view, hardly debatable, as England had adhered in previous wars to the contentions conten-tions now advanced by the Washington j government. During the cabinet meet-I meet-I ing it was suggested that in order to .support the American government in its effort to protect cargoes of non-! non-! contraband goods, shippers and shtp-j shtp-j ping companies should be warned against concealment of doubtful articles 'on the same ships. The White house then issued its suggestion to American shippers to be careful about the mani-Ifesrs mani-Ifesrs describing their cargoes. ! The president said the great embarrassment embar-rassment to the government in dealing with the whole matter was that some shippers had concealed contraband in their cargoes of noncontraba.nd articles. Scouts Plot Report. So long as there were instances of that kind, the president added, suspicion was cast on every shipment and ail cargoes I were liablo to doubt and to search. State department officials said later that there were two cases in which this had occurred, oc-curred, and that Great Britain had consequently con-sequently used them aa a basis for general gen-eral search. Solicitor Cone Johnson declared it was absurd that any general conspiracy to conceal contraband In cotton shipments ! could exist, because of the mechanical difficulties Involved in such an undertaking, undertak-ing, but he pointed out that one or two Isolated cases would embarrass all shipments. ship-ments. Some officials expressed the opinion that one of the results of the present agitation might be the enactment of legislation leg-islation which would penalize the making of fraudulent or dishonest manifests of cargoes. In some quarters there was talk of oosslble reprisals by the United States In case the British fleet did not accord better treatment to American cargoes. One idea advanced in congressional circles cir-cles and discussed in executive quarters to some extent was the possible enforcement enforce-ment of an embargo against shipment to the allies of products which the United States considered legitimate articles of trade, but which the British fleet prevented pre-vented from reaching Grmany or Austria. Aus-tria. Settlement Expected. In circles close to the White House, however, the belief was confidently expressed ex-pressed that none of these measures would be necessary, as Great Britain, j understanding the seriousness of the j situation to American industries, would take steps to ameliorate the conditions against which this government had pro- i tested. i State department officials would ven- i tore no guess as to the size of the dam- age claims being accumulated by neten- : tions of American cargoes, but President I Wilson himself predicted that millions of. dollars in private indemnities eventually j would have to he paid by Great Britain if the correctness of the American position posi-tion as expressed in its note wpre maln- talnod and he confidently believed it 1 (Continued on Faga Seven.) PRESIDENT URGES STRICT 1IESTS (Continued from Page One) wou d be as It aa bated o rrlnclpes ot lnternat onal aw h t e to generally accoi ted S r Cecil Spring R ce the Brit s en basm or ho reoe ed a copy of the o e at t o same Irr o It vas sent to London p be ansn t ed to b r Edward Ore tl e D t sh ore gn sec etarj dec lned to make an omment on It In co gregs tl o note was referred to In a s ee v Representative Mann the n nor y ea le wlo conne ded the ad m n s a o n poa t on and action Sena tor b n th of Ceo gla p ared before t e sena e e eg a s of protest fron h s con st tuents aga nst B fta s act on I put t g tu pen e a 1 res n on the contra ba d I t benator Wa sh ntroduced a resol tlo ask g fo nformat on a out the Ame lean government s correspond ence lt,h fo e gn pone s conce n ng seizures of copper It became known that protests aga st the at It de of the a lies on t e su Ject of contraband have been con ng to the state department and to senators from a ous parts of t o country a d ha e resu ted In a meas ure In the note to Great Britain ENGLISH PAPERS MAKE COMMENTS ON WILSON NOTE LONDON Dec 80 1 80 a m A 1 the n ornlng newsi apers comment at leng h o the Amerl an governme t s note o Clrcat Brlta n concerning the treatment that Is being accorded American com merce by the Brit sh f eet and ai,ree that the American protest should be met by the Brit s go er ment in tie same spl of friend j good v. as Is Bhov. n by t e note Genera however the ne spa pers a e ned o await the ac ual tex of the note h c has not yet eac e London before ndulg ng In detailed crtt iclsii of It. In the meantime they point out ihow inovitab y serious dlff cu ties arise when ever questions of neutra ty are lnvo ved Moreover they are incl ned to dispute the theorj t at Great Britain alone Is re sponsible for the d slocat on of the wor d s trade arguing that e en had she re malned neutral e fact that a numbe of other nations were lnvo ved in the hostilities must ha e had a detrimental effect on the wor d s commerce In any case they say Great Britain was not re sponslb e for tl e ar The Times in an ed torial, says The note is dated December 24 and although the idea ma seem fanciful we cannot help Imagin ng that It was by no accident that t e eve of the great festival of peace and good w 1 1 was chosen for the d spatch of t Is friendly communication from one of the great branches of the Eng sh speak ng communities to the other If anything In the te egraph c account of the note as received here should seem peremptory we feel that th a Is entirely due to the necess ties of compress on and wi I van sh vhen the text of the docun ent Is before us We fully realize the in onvenience and the loss the conduct of the war must occasion to America and other neu trals We also are confident hat wl en the note Is pub Ished we shall find that President W ilson and 1 s colleagues are not Insens ble to t e lmpeious requirements of our mi 1 tary situation. We do not suppose this Is a dispute of our right as be ltgerenu to prac tlce such interferences with commerce between neutra s as s manifestly nec essary for the protection of our na t onal safety What they do ques tlo as e gather It la whether the ac on of our sh ps does not n some caaes exceed he manifest neceBS Proceeding to stale that there are many peculiar condlt ons arising from the war wllch Justify Great Britain s pol cl the ed torial continues The note deals throughout with un shaken faith in our sense of justice That truBt we shall assuredly do our best to preserve. It Is qu te Incon celvab e that two secsib e peoples on the friendl est terms w th each other should not succeed in devising a way in accordance with the general prin c pies of nteraat ona law hich w 1 meet the pecu iar facts and circum stances of this unprecedented war MORNING POST SAYS JUSTICE WILL BE DONE The Morning Post In an editor al sa s The note wl 1 receive f om the Brit sh government the fu est consideration and will be answe ed in a bp rt not only of Justice and equity but of good will The editorial adds that the examination of suspected cargoes alwajs has been a sore po nt with neutrals during wara, and continues We shall not attempt to d scuss the American complaints untij the text ot the note is aval able, but ve will ask those Americans who th nk that Eng and was ri0ht in taking part in the war to try to put themselves In Eng land s pos tion Without securing command of the seas England can not he p herse f against invas on How then do our American fr ends suppose command of t e sea should be used as a n eans of exert ng pres sure on the enemy It was used by the Lpited States government as a means of exert ng pressure on the Confederacj The wl o e coast of the Confederacy from the Potomac to the Mex can bo der was b ockaded and e erj neutral eh p trading with Con federate por s was 1 ab e to capture T e al ed govern nents might now declare a b ockade of the North sea of the Baltic sea and of the Med t terranean and could doubtless make t effective That wou d injure tl e neutral states but t wou d make an end of sea trade with German In conclus on the Morning Post argues that t e who e d fficu ty lies in the pres enco of neutral states in proximity to the bel Igerents and in d sputed doc trines of neutra ty and suggests that cons derat on of the prob ems may throw some ight upon the real nature of the re ations between states and upon the i truth about peace and war Cites Precedent The E press says We are keen y anx ous that Amer lea should suffer the least poss ble toss from the war but war means inevitab e loss for neutrals as well as for be ge ents Lancashire starved during the A neriean c il war and during the war wi h pa n the Wash Ington government took the same measures to prevent the enemy from recelvfl 9 supp es as Great Brlta n and France are tak ng how Amer cans a e too fair and sports man ike to ask or expect us to tlo one arm beh nd our baok when we are meet ng a powe fu antagonist The Da y C o I e in an editorial th $ morning Just fies he American act on because it sas there ne er has been a war in wh ch the neutra s and be 5 erents agreed upon the r re nect ve rig s ad if tl e Americans made no protest their s ence m ght be construed as acqut escence in the Brit sh iew and conse quently an nfriend y act toward Ger man But adds the G ap Ic the hard s p to t e n erlcan s ppe s ess great t aa he pre ends He can d spose of a 1 h s goods e er to O ea Br tain or 1 er al es or to remote ne tral co ntr es at quite good pr ces e osefa s a chance of mak ng an e cept ona prof t eu of Ge man s m an ned The Da Ma co s de that tho ch t e ques o s ho n an onpe s not n po b e of o u n o bus nes Ke on w o ough app e a o he s d u es and a e no des re o add to he ti A ne m he Da v Ma continues. n us ear a he k eate the econon p e s e e a es e ab p to 1b ng o ea po e a h Boone w-j a o e nrt ade eff f ee to fo o s na cou n e prose cut on of th s po icy wh ch is both lega and essential we regret the inconvenience necessar y caused to me can trade and any so ut on which w U mitigate this in convenience w thout barm to our mil tary interests w 1 be eage y Bou0ht and when found heart! y we corned NEWS RECALLS WAR OF 1812 Tho Dally News n an ed torial con s ders d sputes such as fcave ar sen oe tween Great Br ta n and the Ln ted S a es as one of the penait es which ac conrpany command of the sea It sas Engl sh history teems with in s ances of such frictio and on one lamentab a occas on we a owed a 5 m lar dispute to lead us in o war with the Un ted States. Happ there is no need to fear any sue 1 calamitous deve opment today The j characters of Pres dent W son and 1 Sir Edward Grey offer the surest guarantee that no effprt will be spared to reduce the f iction to. a j minimum and to cons der e ery p ob len with the sing e minded determi nation to find an equitable eo u Ion. The newspaper "aj s t cons ders that one cons de atlon wh ch shou d have we ght w th the Un ted States is that the prize law which Great Br ta n is now enforcing i very s milar to the Amerl can practice and also that the actual commerce under dl pute is not of great pecun ary va ue to Ame lea whi e America wou d greatly benefit from a shorten ng of the war through the all es b ockade On the other hand it eajs the Br t,sh government shou d cons der care fully the re ative values of certa n of its reerlat ons and of American good wil The Da ly Chron c e prem s ng that some amount of Incon en ence is insep arab e from the present e ate of wor d w de war and that it has been Increased by the nove methods of maritime war i fare inaugu ated b Germany assumes that the American government has no Intention of departing f om its n uch prized neutralitv so far as to infringe the belligerent rights 6f England and her a lies and sa s The all es are quite legitimately subjecting Gem an and us rla Hungary to a species of g gantlc b ege and upon the effle ent main tenance of that s ege the r success n t e war must la ge depend If ind vid al American aders wish to defv It I order to profit by the famine prices wh ch now ru e n the bes eged countr es for copper antlmon petrol and otier necessaries thej can do so at thei own rl k The Chron c e contends tiat t s ir tua 1 mposs be o abandon the riht of detent on for eearc n harbors in ead of at sea ow nt? to the great size of modern n er hantmen as compared h o d sh p and ow ng to the tactics of German subm Ines n attacking Brit i sh warsh ps f om beh nd a s reen of i merchant essels I argues that un ess id n on n a bo of ships fo sea ch ; s co ceded e a o sea ch or a p tap poses d sa pea T e newspape ag ees howe e a the go e nn en shou d do e e ng I po ble to e ped e sue sea 1 The Chron e goes on to con end t a so ne of be o h meri an omp a n s ha e e subs a e g e as an n an e the omp a n once n ne e po of foods uff3 be ng c e and ed and points out that American exports of food stuffs In No ember 114 wfre fourfold greater than those of No ember 191 With regard to the complaint about copper the new paper points out that wh le Scandinavia can send her supp y. of copper to Germanj through the Baltic and not by way of Itali A ne can es po ters wl 1 almost be compe ed to send theirs through Ital Therefore it sas no question of part ality Is nvolved In cone us on the Chron c e ays it fee s sure the British government con cedes read y eerj point to the Vmer can go ernment which is not incons st ent w th ts e it mate and succe sful prosecu on of he war |