CONTRABAND CONTROL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23504, 15 November 1939, Page 10

CONTRABAND CONTROL

A statement descriptive of Britain's contraband oontrol says that the delay to ships at the control bases is being reduced to as little as one day—a striking proof of the efficiency with which the system must be working. There are two objectives, to guard against supplies reaching Germany which might be of use in prosecuting the war, and to interfere as little as possible with the legitimate trade of neutral countries. It is not . always easy to reconcile the two, but the smooth working of the examination system, of which evidence has been given, indicates that success has been won. The statement also says that the distinction between absolute and conditional contraband has almost disappeared. This distinction is as old as Grotius, who formulated it in the first half of the seventeenth century. While wars were fought between comparatively small armies, and the life of the embattled nations continued almost normally, it was reasonably possible to distinguish between war material and other supplies. Under modern conditions, with whole nations mobilised, the position is very different. It is made even more marked because modern science can adapt to the purposes of war a host of substances which previously had no military significance. The change in attitude toward possible contraband is illustrated by the categories contained in the Declaration of London, issued in 1909. Conditional contraband included flying machines and parts, railway material and fuel and lubricants. Among the articles classed as free—not to be declared contraband—were raw cotton and wool, metallic ores and rubber. Nothing more is needed to emphasise the changes made by totalitarian and mechanised warfare in the conception of contraband.