The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1916. THE BLOCKADE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 17, 20 January 1916, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1916. THE BLOCKADE.

For the cause that lacks assistanoe, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance. And the good that we can do.

It is almost as difficult to estimate accurately the effect ol our blockade on Germany as it is to ascertain the enemy's losses in the field. : On the one hand we have official British declarations that the blockade is being felt more and more by the enemy, and unofficial statements: some of them by-Ger-mans themselves, that thero is a very, serious shortage of raw material.. and food. On the other hand, we have: the report of a commissioner sent by the "Daily Mail" to Scandinavia that the blockade is laughed at by Germans, as goods from oversea are pouring into Germany through Sweden. There are also official-British admissions that the blockade has holes in it. The truth, as is so frequently the case in the war,', seems to lie between the two extremes. However much it may use neutral countries as avenues' of import, no great maritime country- can lose almost the whole of its foreign shipping trade without suffering enormously. Moreover, although it is clear that neutral ships carry large supplies for Germany past the examining British ship, a great deal of this trade in contraband is stopped. But figures are eloquent as to the magnitude of this eluding traffic. The Washington correspondent of the "Morning Post" points out that whereas our sea power redncci the export of wheat from America £o Germany from 12,000,000 bushels in ten months of 1913, to 15,000 in ten months of 1915, the exports to the Netherlands and Scandinavia rose from 19,000 v 000 bushels 'to 50,000,000 bushels between these years. German imports of cotton, which is necessary for the making ot ammunition, fell from 1,700,000 bales in 1913 to 174,000 in 1915, but neutral imports went up from 53,000 bales to 1,100,000. It is 'significant that while it is several months since cotton was declared contraband, the German supply of ammunition 6hows no slsn of fallin-** off.

From the beginning the Foreign Office has moved cautiously in this business,! far 'toa cautiously to satisfy some critics. Before long, however, we were in trouble with America over copper shipments, for! it was obvious that when the imports of. Scandinavia and Holland ran up from £7,000,000 to £25,000,000, -great -sup*plies were being sent to Germanyf- ; lii dealing with this we adopted the-doc-trine of "continuous voyage," presuming that certain shipments were on their way to the enemy. Then came the German announcement of the control by Government of all foodstuffs, including imports, and cur reply that in these circumstances Britain would treat as contraband of war all food cargoes for Germany, and would seize cargoes consigned to a. neutral port if their ultimate destination was .patent. Germany roplied by announcing her infamous submarine policy, and Britain and France 'countered this by announcing that they would "detain and take into port 'ships carrying goods of presumed enemy destination, ownership, or origin. It is not in tended to confiscate . such vessels or cargoes unless they would otherwise he liable to condemnation." Everything turns on the phrase, "presumed enemy destination," and it is clear that many ships have sailed through the declaration by this passage. Xaval officers, acting on their present instructions, are" not able to detain all goods destined for the enemy. Moreover, the British Government made an-agreement with groups of merchants abroad by which goods were to he allowed entry into their countries on a pledge being given that they would not be re-exported to Germany. Knowing German methods as we do, it is certain that arrangements have been made by the enemy to take advantage of this concession, either by the breaking of the pledge or by the'employment of agents between the -purchasing merchants and German firms. -

It 6eems to be accepted at Home that a tightening up of the blockade is imminent. It is a matter of extreme delicacy, in which the Foreign Office should not be embarrassed. No one knows all the intricacies and dangers of the problem so well as Sir Edward Grey and his assistants. They have all along been solicitous for the rights of neutrals, hut it looi_ as if the time had come for a less unselfish policy. Britain will probably say to neutrals that she has no objection to them doing their normal oversea trade with other nentrals, but she must insist on stopping any trade beyond that, on the ground that 6he cannot afford to take the risk of the goods going to Germany. This doctrine of necessity would oripple the enemy without imposing hardship on the neutral affected On the other hand, the neutral countries which would be affected by a stricter blockade naturally desire to retain the enormous profits that are now being made out of the trade with .Germany. Apart from that also, countries are jealous of their sovereign rights, and a message from Stockholm -yesterday stated that, when opening .the .Swedish Parliament, King Gustav said that B theGovernment had been more than once obliged to intervene against attempts to 'put Swedish trade under the usurped control of another Power," Even, tzesi-

dent Wilson, influenced by agitation in the United States, has shown a disposition to make trouble over interferences with American exports and shipping, notwithstanding the fact that a rigorous blockade was enforced during the Ameri can Civil War, with the object of starving the Southern States into submission. International law, as affecting the rights of a country at war to exercise control over trade between neutrals and the enemy is not very clearly defined. Therefore, the whole matter requires handling with care and sound judgment, and in such a way as to cause as little friction as possible with neutral countries, while at the same time ensuring that the enemy shall not profit from our laxity in enforcing the right of blockade, which has boon established during past wars, and which has received international recognition, or which may be regarded as fully justified by the special circumstances that have arisen in connection with the present war. *.