BRITAIN AND RUSSIA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 10139, 27 August 1904, Page 4

BRITAIN AND RUSSIA.

THE RIGHTS OF NEUTRALS

Press Assn. — By Telegraph. — Copyright,

LONDON, August 26. Mr Keswick, member of the House of Commons, presiding at a meeting «f tlie ' East India-China trade section of the ] London Chamber of Commerce, urgently l recommended the Government to take inu * mediate, effective steps lo prevent ship- ' l)iiiß, and insure- the same degree of im- i mnnify from vexatious sloj"|)>igcs as was ' apiKirently enjoyed by shipping «f other < nationalities. ( Sir Thos. Sutherland, chairman of the Peninsular Company, wrote suggesting 1 that the Chamber inquire from Lord ' Lansdowne what prospects there was of narrowing Russia's idea- of contraband ' on Great Britain taking action to put ; ' an en<l to the tension and enable the j ' resumption of ordinary trade. A deputation was then chosen, and j proceded to wait on Mr Balfour, who re- i ' plied fclmt neither the Embassy m London nor the Foreign Office at St. Petersburg was aware until recently that the orders sent had not reached! the- Smolensk or St. Petersburg. At Russia's request two British cruisers had been ordered to search for and convey to both Russian vessels the decision not to interfere further with British shipping. The- Government's views on contraband had, ho said 1 , been "most clearly stated m Lord Lansdowne's despatch, and from that position there was no possibility of receding. It stood on a solid basis recognised by international law. He- was unable to accept Russia's apjxirent doctrine- that all food stuffs, cotton, and other specified things were absolute or necessarily contraband. He proceeded to urge that it had not been clearly proved the Russians differentiated between British and foreign ships. He believed! that the Commission sitting at Vladivostock meted out equality of treatment. The whole episode of the Malacca was, he said, exceptional 1 . Adverting to the relative rales of insurance, the Government had no power to interfere. The matter rested with the underwriters to form an estimate of the risks. He surmised that they fixed high rates more from a general impression that British ships were likely to be relatively ill-treated than owing to specific cases mentioned by the deputation. He considered that one of the Government's chief duties was to insist on absolute equality of treatment. In the declaration m the King's speech m regard to the "no stain" phrase, the • Government meant precisely what they said. He urged the deputation to remember that beligerents had rights equally with neutrals. Those at peace to-day might be at war to-morrow, but it must be hoped] t'liati {ill, whether neutrals or heligerents, would nppeal to tliat great body of international law which, though far from perfect, requiring some revision, liad done much for civilisation. He added, with emphasis, that the rights of neutrals, as far as touched the interests of Britain, would not be ignored by the Government whereto their interests were confined. The newspapers commend Mr Balfour's clearness on general principles, his caution, and firmness, and express a hope that a sense of fairness will secure an eai'ly recognition of those rights of 'neutrals we ourselves recognised when we are victorious beligerents dominating the sea.