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Show Washington, Jan. 8. It has been understood here that the British government's gov-ernment's preliminary reply to the American note on interferences with shipping would not be completely responsive re-sponsive because the legal propositions proposi-tions advanced by the United States and once partly accepted have since been held not generally binding on all maritime powers. State depart ment officials expect a separation of these legal questions from thn general representations for treatment in the subsequent note that is to come in a fortnight. At noon the British reply had not been received, but officials expected that with prompt transmission it would be uncoded ind before them by night. Conversation between Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, the British ambassador, j Secretary Bryan and Counsellor Lansing Lan-sing have led the state department officials to believe the Brlt'sh government govern-ment would recognize the emergency which existed, as indicated by the American note. The legal questions which have aroused controversy and which the state department officials believe will be treated later, apply particularly to the assertion of the right to ship cargoes of food and other contraband of a conditional character, as well as to such absolute contraband as copper, cop-per, where shipped to neutral countries, coun-tries, through which it might reach a belligerent Protest Against Needless Detention The state department believes, I however that the preliminary British I note delivered to Ambassador Page I today deals w ith the Vmerican protest 'against needless detention and seizure of American cargoes which have 'complied with all the British requirements require-ments so f.ir iis laid down When the United Stntes, without abandoning abandon-ing its contention in regurd to the exemption ex-emption of certain classes of commerce com-merce from interference, gave its official of-ficial sanction to the inspection of outgoing cargoes by British consular officers and by treasury agents Li felt it had a right to expect that ships thus laden would be permitted to proceed pro-ceed without interference It is believed lhat In the preliminary note. Great Britain has promised '0 reduce the annoyance to the smallest degree particularly because it has pratlcaliv completed arrangements with the "neutral states of Europe which will prevent American supplies from getting through to Germany and Austria. It is understood that the British government was satisfied lhat some of the smaller European states had been , lax and that quantities ot American copper and food supplies actually had been going into Germany. |
