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Show - - "THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS" - ' ' President Wilson intends to' Bail next ' . week for France. Is he. going .to carry M. ;. .with him, locked up in his bosom, the Mt ! meaning of his demand on the peace, con-H con-H i ference for "the freedom of the seas?" f f The president hat injected this phrase m h into the peace council J but he hag, never a offered any definition of it The second, K ',- of hia fourteen peace. conditions reads: K ' :" II. Absolute freedom of naviga- H r tion upon the MM outside territorial :"f.v " waters, alike in peace and in war, ex- ;. ' cept as the seas may"be closed in R ' 'whole or in part by 'international ac- K C-, tion for the enforcement of iriterna- Kv- V tiorial covenants. R $ - ' The Allied governments could not in- k; j$ terpret this language. When they ac- HfJ zS cepted Germany's proposal tomake peace Bf. ? on the basis of ,Mr. Wilson's fourteen ar- H ; ' tides they felt obliged to reserve assent Bf 'S ; to a stipulation which they did not un- R, (p c derstand. In a memorandum which they it i sent to Washington this notice was given : K a "They (the Allied powers) must K, V. point out, however, that Clause 2, K! '" relating to what is usually described K ? as the freedom of the seas, is open K. -,': to varioui inrpretations, some of. H f')l which they could not, accept They Hf '& in)tst therefore reserve to theniselves H ''$ ' complete freedom on this subject B' 'fi ": ' when they enter the peace confer- , H ; ,; ,;In hW note of November 5 to; the'Ger-H the'Ger-H '.'&.' nianjyernment, transmitting the Allied H '' iwemorandum andann'ouncing thjjt Mar? K ,;" . k Bhal Foch was ready to discuss armistice K :! :f:y terms, Secretary Lansing said: '1 am in- -Hi 4 rtructed by the president to say that he K ' -j Is in agreement with the interpretation H i v, Set, forth in the last paragraph; of the K ',', memorandum quoted." The last: para-K para-K ;; J Jfraph covered, the additional Allied de-K' de-K' "x :' v mahd for compensation for damnge done ; K' ff to the, civilian populations of the allies B"' , V and, their property by German land, sea V Zp 'nrirl?air'operati6tBl. This. language seem-K seem-K -i e'dio4mply thatthe President was not in B ":'- agreement with the Allied reservation K ; ' ' .on the subject of the freedom of ;the seas. B At all eveftsTthe allies do not. know B -ix WhatPresident Wilson meant byj'free-B byj'free-B t Jfl idom of navigation upon the; seasvputside, B '? territorial waters, auke ,;Iril peace rid In B ,t war."" Nor does the11'. American public B i know, TTet.,evoryhcdy !dughMo be per B' " V'littec' to ;lcnow, according torthe Presi-BHr;! Presi-BHr;! '4lenV4srownjdeclarati6n'ih behalf of opent B V4 diplomacy., B"fi - Article 1 of the 4 fourteen conditions BKfy says:.. "Diplomacy shall proceed always B' j. f' 'frankly and in 'the, public view" W B;l A : thferi, have we not fiad long ago orOoffi-Bi'; orOoffi-Bi'; . ciarelucidation of tho meaning, of Para- H 1 "' ;graph;II? Bl-liispeace without victory" address Ba 'viX"' ..Congress on January 22, 1917, Mr. Bl' ; ;. Wilson said : "The apths of the sea must BV y,v alike in vl&.w and iii fact' be1 free. The B tv' 'Ireedom of the. seas is the sine qua non B-aH Of peace, equality and cooperation." B.vi'. He also' said :; "No doubt a somewhat l VP1 reconsideration of many of the Bv ;:rules, of international practice hitherto KC 'tsougthtovsbe. established may be neces-Laaar neces-Laaar ja-m order to make the seas indeed Bv,' fr.andcommon in practically all cir B I, "' leumistjmces; f or the use of mankind, but B,' . the metive.for such" changes is , convinc-Rl; convinc-Rl; Ing arifl compelling." : . B"c Thee are; grandiose ideas Yet The H.VV fiwniilg?jPtill.tryiijg fp convince . !; '4eittm:w3ii?iie.to ofnon- aVaM,.V' ent 6WlftwWte of belligerent power at Bf ss nQTTfiiifrwr;' l5"""' " ' fnffnt - J BBBBBvHt - '"' -1 - 1 ' BvBBBab..- - - - ' (w,&i' BBBBliiW vMk ' -, BTaaTaBTaaBTBBMlssUsMsslm , ,r-.v, v, , ' r u BBBBBBBBwBMBBaBMMlssaBMBWBKiffiT -"'isftft -t..l f... 4ir , - , t. .B - tesimal value. So long at 2 Aigb'&it has the right to extend tlio cor. . :"' list indefinitely,, to impose direc': r.u.l Indirect In-direct blockades, to refuse coal to neutral shipping and to take oyer practically, the, merchant marines of all neutral, nations the immunity of private property at sea. emains a shrunken legal, abstraction. The pragramme which Mr Wilson stands for, says the Post, "has- nothing whatever to dp with the right of naval blockade or the, definition of contraband.' Then it cannot guarantee anything but a shadow of neutral sea.rights. It cannot can-not make the seas any freer than they were when the war ended, with all the commerce of the world under the military control of the Allies. Every intelligent student of international interna-tional law knows what a genuine freedom free-dom of the seas involves. A perfectly clear statement of the essential? of such freedom was given in an article in the April Number of The American Journal of International Law. It read: Freedom Free-dom of the seas means abolition of'coii-' traband and commercial blockades and the right of capture or destruction of enemy en-emy merchant vessels." ,kSitlltii, How could it mean anything less? That is the construction of the phrase which the Germans have always had in view. They needed, freedom of that. sort,, Had., J1ynjoye;it:fiigus, 19Wr on, they would never have lost the war. Does our government share this latl tudinarian view of the freedom of the seas, with its corollary 'of the abolition of- navel power? Nobody can be sure. Are our peace delegates to go to Paris pledged to a programme never revealed to the American public? 1 An explanation i3 due the people. It lis also due the Senate a coordinate branch of the treaty making power. It should have been given when the fourteen four-teen articles were first put forward as the basis of peace which our government favored. It is very late now to issue an authentic authen-tic interpretation. But better late than never. New York .Tjibune. , |