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Show iiiilijir I TOO EVASIVE 1 Washington Officials Regard; Statement as an Effort to Dodge the Issue. f MEMORANDUM SENT; jJ Reply to Great Britain Will 1 Call Special Attention to 1 Defects in Crewe's I Document. Washington, June 25. Sufficient ' facts on detention and seizure of American ships and cargoes by tho British fleet have not yet been gathered gath-ered by the state department to complete com-plete the new note to Great Britain which has been under preparation several weeks. Secretary Lansing disclosed today that tho portion dealing deal-ing with the principles of the blockade block-ade had long ago been outlined but that officials had been absorbed in getting data on American ships and goods detained or seized. He intimated inti-mated that the note in its final form would bo a presentation of the acad t emlc principles involved in the Brit- . J ish practice under the Order In Coun- j dt 1 The British memorandum, reviewing I the efforts to minimize inconven- I iences to neutrals, will be acknowl- I edged in the new note and some of its points discussed although It Is re- D warded here that the memorandum was not intended as a reply to the American protest against the Order I In Council. This Great Britain has j not answered. Officials here regard the British statement of detentions as evasive. . The memorandum puts the total num- P ber of vessels "still detained" at 27. f-Nowhere f-Nowhere in the British memorandum F is a statement of the total detentions I which the state department estimates at almost 100 since March 1. if The new note to Great Britain will if: doubtless call special attention to the if British statement that of the 27 ships 'L detained seven are "free to depart as V soon as the items of their cargo f-placed f-placed in the prize court have been if discharged " J Washington is not ready to accept j the principles embodied in that state- I I ment and officials contend it is small L consolation for an American owner of a valuable cargo. The note will in- sist that a non-contraband cargo, con- i Signed to a neutral port, regardless 1 of its eventual destination shall not J be molested, (Continued on Page 3) ? BRITISH NOTE ! TOO EVASIVE (Continued from Page 1) Text of Memorandum. Following is the text of the memorandum memo-randum as transmitted by Ambassador Ambassa-dor Page The American ambassador at London to the secretary of state ad interim. American Embassy London, June i'2, 1915. Lord Crewe, in charge of foreign office of-fice during Sir Edward drey's temporary tempo-rary absence, has just handed me a printed memorandum dated June 17 It is not an answer to the principles set forth in the note transmitted in your 1343 of March 30, but merely an explanation of concrete cases and the regulations under which they are dealt with. Foreign office wishes to arrange for simultaneous publication here and In Washington, morning of 25th inst Please telegraph if this date is satisfactory. satis-factory. Memorandum reads as follows: fol-lows: Assurances Given. "1. His majesty's government have t on various occasions, and notably in I the communication w;hich was address- i ed to the United States ambassador on the 15th of March last, g:ven assur- ances to the United States govern- 1 ment that they would make it their I first a'm to minimize the inconven- 1 ience which must Inevitably he caused ' to neutral commerce from the exist- I ence of a state of vtrar it sea and in s particular from the measures taken by i the allied governments for the restriction restric-tion of the enemy's oversea trade. In 1 view of the representation and com t m f Plaints made to this department by the ambassador from time to time as to the peculiar hardBhipB alleged to have been wrongly Inflicted on American trade and shipping by the operation of those measures, his majesty's government govern-ment desire to offer the following observations ob-servations respecting the manner in which they have consistently endeavored endeav-ored to give practical effect to those assurances. No Intention to Confiscate. "2. It will be recalled that, at the moment when his majesty's government govern-ment announced their measures against enemy commerce, they declared de-clared their intention to refrain alto j gether from the exercise of the right to confiscate ships or cargoes, which belligerents had always previoush claimed in respect to breaches of (blockade; that, under article 5 (1) of the enactment of the 11th of March it was exoressly provided that any person per-son claiming to be interested in goods placed In prize court in pursuance of the provision of that enactment, might forthwith Issue a writ against the proper officer of the crown, the object being to confer upon claimants th right to institute proceedings without .nlng for the writ of the procurator genera) and thus to remove all possible pos-sible cause of legitimate grievance on account of delay; and that, finally, a pacific assurance was given to the United States government that the instructions in-structions to be issued by his majesty majes-ty s government to the fleet, and to ihe customs officials and executive of ficials concerned, would impress upon '.hem the duty of acting with the utmost ut-most dispatch consistent with the object ob-ject In view and of showing in every case such consideration for neutrals ss might be compatible with that oh ject. namely, to prevent vessels carrying carry-ing goods for. or coming from the en emv's territory. bpeclal Concessions "3, The above measures were all designed to alleviate the burdens im posed upon neutral sea-borne commerce com-merce in general. Various special concessions, con-cessions, over and above these enumerated, enu-merated, have, moreover, been made in favor of United States citizens "4 Thus his majesty's government have nefed as regards shipments of American cotton, in accordance with the provisions of an arrangement arrived ar-rived at in direct collaboration with representatives of the American cotton cot-ton Interests In accepting this scheme the principal representative f those interests described it as conceding con-ceding ail that American interests 'ou'd properly expect The provisions d the arrangement were, as the Unit d States ambassador Is aware, as follows: fol-lows: "(1) All cotton for which contracts ")t saU nnd freight engagement haw already been made before the 2nd of March is to be allowed free passage (or bought at contract price It stopped) provided the ship sails not later than the T,lst of March. ' (2; Similar treatment is to be ac-corded ac-corded to all cotton insured before the 2nd of March, provided it is put on board not later than the 16th of March ; Must Be Declared. "(3) Ml shipments of cotton claim i ;ng the above protection are to be de- ! cl fired before sailing, and documents produced to and certificates obtained from consular officers or other au I ihority f'xed bv the government. "(4) Considerable shipments of cot I ton have already been dealt with under this arrangement and in certain cases the dates specified have been extended In favor of American ship-pers. ship-pers. The board of trade have already paid a sum exceeding 450.000 pounds to various American claimants, and all claims are being paid and will contin- j up to be paid as rapidly as they are presented and the proofs of title can be checked If in some cases progress has been delayed this has been due to the fact which has seriously embarrassed embar-rassed his majesty's government that a number of consignments, for which the American shippers had specifically invoked the protection of the arrange ment. are now claimed by Swedish and Dutch f'rms whose titles of ownership, nrit w ithstandlng the action of the American shippers, appears in some rases to be valid and in others has led to the Issue of writs in the prize court. no uia m unpaid. ' i r i It has been explicitly acknowledged ac-knowledged by the special repreenta lives of the American claimants who have been in constant and direct communication com-munication with the board of trade, Lhat all the claims so far submitted un-ler un-ler the cotton arrangement have been settled with the utmost promptitude so soon as the production of the necessary neces-sary documents bv the claimants al-owed al-owed of this being done. There i9. at the present moment, no claim before lis majesty's government that has not )een paid, and the sums paid over are ilready considerably in excess of the imounts realized by the sate of the scods. "(6) As regards the moral allega ion of delay in dealing with case9 of detained cargoes, the following facts and figures may be quoted- "The total number of vessels whic h, having cleared from United States i ports since the initiation of the retaliatory retal-iatory measures agaiust (Jerraan trade 'are still detained in United Kingdom ports Is twenty-seven; of this number eight are discharging cotton which his I majesty's government has agreed to purchase under the abov e arrangement arrange-ment Of the remaining nineteen vessels, ves-sels, seven are free to depart so soon as the items of their cargo placed in the prie court have been discharged. The other twelve, of which three only are American ships, are detained pending inquiries as to suspicious consignments con-signments and particulars as to the dates and approximate causes of detention de-tention are furnished in the accompanying accom-panying list It will be observed that eight have been detained for a period of less than a week and three for a period of less than a fortnight, while the detention of one is due to the difficulties dif-ficulties in regard to the transit across odn and PiKJSin Deny Arbitrary Interference "(Si His majesty's government remains re-mains convinced that, on an impartial review of the facts. It will be admit ted that no arbitrary interference with American Interests has. in regard to cotton cargoes occurred, while if due regard be paid to the enormous volume vol-ume of American and neutral shipping which is continually engaged in the trans-Atlantic trade, the figures and dates quoted In the preceding paragraph para-graph will emphasis the restricted nature na-ture of any interference wnlch bus taken place and the close attention with which the officials concerned have adhered to their instructions to act in all cases with expedition and with every poaaible consideration for neutrals. "(9) Since his majesty's government govern-ment have been compelled to adopt their present measures against German Ger-man commerce, they have given epc- oal consideration to the question of avoiding, as far as possible, unneces-s.trv unneces-s.trv damape to the interest of neutrals neu-trals in reR.trtl to the export of goods of German origin and here again liberal lib-eral concessions have been made to United States citizens Rules of March 11. "(10) Special treatment tias also of March provision is made for the Iilyj stipation of all neutral claims re-Specting re-Specting such goods in the prize court. fnd it is obvious that these claims can receive due and equitable consideration most properly before a Mid'cia' tribunal Nevertheless, in defense de-fense to the express desire of the United States government, arrangements arrange-ments were made toward the end of March whereby United States citizens who might desire to import goods of German origin via a neutral port were ennbled to produce proof of payment to his majesty's embassy at Washington Washing-ton U BUCh proof wpre deemed satis fafctory, his majesty's government gave an understanding ih;it the goods concerned should not be interfered with In transit nnd the American importer im-porter was freed from the necessity of submitting his claim to the prise court in London for adjudication A few davs later his majesty's govern ment further agreed to recognize the neutral ownership of goods of enemy origin even if not paid for before the 1st of March, provided they were the subject of an f o. b. contract of ear lier date, and had arrived at a neutral neu-tral port beiure the 15th of March. Promises Made. "Under the rules enacted on the 11th been ac corded to cargoes of particular par-ticular products destined for the United Slates and stated to be India pensable for the industries of the country: and, In notes addressed to the United States ambassador In April and May. undertakings were given not to interfere during transit with certain cargoes of dyesttlffs, potash, and German beet Bet '1 "11 When it became apparent that large quantites of enemj goods were still passing out through aeutral countries, his majesty's government felt It necessary to fix a definite date after which such shipments must ceQSe to enjoy the special Immunity, theretofore granted, from liability to being placed m the prize court. It had b-. a observed that a large increase bad taken place in the number ot vessels Balling irom neutral countries coun-tries to America and one of the principal prin-cipal lines of steamships advertised a dally In place of a weekly service. In such circumstances it appeared scarcely possible that goods of enemv origin, bought and paid for prior to the 1st of March should not have already al-ready been shipped to their destination. destina-tion. The 1st of June was accordingly according-ly fixed as the date after which the privilege allowed In the case of such shipments should cease; but once more a special favor was granted by extending the date In exceptional cases to the 15th of June. 1" Importers In the United States having now had three months in which to clear off their purchases in enemy territory, his majesty s government gov-ernment trust that, in presence of clr-cumstances clr-cumstances enumerated, the United States government will acknowledge the great consideration which has been shown to American interests. "(13) Nevertheless a fresh appeal ap-peal has now been made to his majesty's ma-jesty's government that shipments ot American-owned goods of enemy origin, or-igin, if paid for before the beginning begin-ning of March, should be allowed to be shipped without molestation after the 15th June. The appeal Is based principally upon the contentions (a) that insufficient time has already elapsed, (b) that no mention of a time limit is made in the enactment Of the 11th March. (c ) that the proofs of ownership required by his majesty s government are of an exacting ex-acting nature and involve much time for preparation. Time Limit. "(14) The first contention (a) has; already been dealt with. As regards! 1(b) and (c). it is true that the enactment en-actment of the 11th March contains no mention of a time limit. But It seems to be overlooked that the lime limit has been fixed only tor the special spe-cial Immunity granted as an exception excep-tion from that enactment. It was a-a a-a friendly concession to American interests in-terests that his majesty s government agreed to an investigation of claims outside the prize court As for the I exacting nature of the proofs required re-quired by his majesty's government experience has shown that such proofs were necessary. (15) In deference, however. to the renewed representations of the United States ambassador, his ma-jestj ma-jestj s government have given further directions that In all such cases as j may have been specially submitted through the British embassy at Wash-; Ington or to his majesty's government direct on or before the 15th June and passed, the goods shall be allowed al-lowed to proceed without Interference, Interfer-ence, it shipped from a neutral port, on the conditions already laid down, notwithstanding the fact that ship ment may not have been made before the 15th June. Will Expedite Cases. "(16) His majesty's government will also be prepared hereafter to give special consideration to cases presented to them and involving particular par-ticular hardships, If the goods concerned con-cerned are required for neutral governments gov-ernments or municipalities, or In respect re-spect of works of public utility, and where payment can be shown to have I been made before the 1st March. 1916. "(17) With the above exceptions his majestv 's government regret they j cannot continue to deal through the diplomatic channel with individual cases, but they would again point out; that special provision is made for the' consideration of such cases in the prize court 'Il8i Complaints have not infrequently infre-quently been made that undue delay occurs in dealing wiht American car- goes in the prize court. An interest-1 ing comment on this subject was made j by the president of the prize ourt ' in the case of the cargo ex-steamship j Ogeechee on the 14th Instant. His lordship, according to the transcript from the official shorthand writer s notes, made the following observa tlons: " 'It Is a very extraordinary thing that when the crown is ready t" go on the claimants come here and say. 'We cannot proceed for six weeks Some day, toward the end of the last, term. I had a row of eminent counsel coun-sel in front pressing me to fix a case at once I fixed it very' nearl;. at Once that is to say, tbe second da of the following term They all came and said "We want an adjournment for six weeks." ' "(19' The solicitor general hereupon here-upon remarked, "It I might sav so. one of the reasons 1 applied today on behalf of the crown is that the matter should be dealt with as soon as possible. There has been such a strong desire on the part of America and American citizens that there should be no delay, but one finds, in fad. the delay comes from there.' (20) The president then stated 'I know that I do not know what the : explanation is, but I am anxious that; there should be no delay ' "(21) It is true that a number of cases, principally relating to cargoes; which, though ostensibly consigned to B person in a neutral country, are in reality believed to be destined for the enemy, have been pending in the prize court for some time. The United Unit-ed States government is aware that most of these cargoes consist of meat and lard and that much of the delay de-lay m bringiug these cargoes to adjudication ad-judication was due to the fact thai negotiations were being carried on for many weeks with a representative of the principal American meat packers for an amicable settlement out of court When at length, owing to the failure of the negotiations, his majesty's maj-esty's government directed that the j would continue the prize court proceedings, pro-ceedings, and had, at the request of the claimants, fixed the earliest possible pos-sible date for the hearing, counsel for the latter asked for an adjournment in their interests despite the fact that - the crown was. by his own admission, I leads to proceed. ' --' His majesty s government T are earnestly desirous of removing all f Ev causes of avoidable delay in deal- i I ing with American cargoes and ves- -els which may be detained, and any ft specific inquiries or representations f which may be made by the United E Slates government in regard to par ticulnr cases, will always receive th WM most careful consideration, and all in- t formation which can be afforded with out prejudice to prize court proceed- V ings will be readily communicated: I but they can scarcely admit that on ' the basis of actual facts any sub- fr stantial grievance on the part of , American citizens is justified or can ll be sustained, and they therefore con- F fidently appeal to the opinion of the United States government as enllght I ened by this memorandum. If "(Signed) PAGE." |