DECLARATION OF LONDON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10062, 26 January 1911, Page 1

DECLARATION OF LONDON.

RATIFICATION TO BE POSTPONED. Uniied Preas Association—By Elecirio Tolegra.ph—Copyright. LONDON, January 25, Some newsnapers announce that the oi' the Declaration of London will he postponed until the Imperial Conference has discussed it. A GERMAN THREAT. LONDON, January 25. The "Berlin Post" declares that the campaign against the Declaration requires foreign Powers to reckon with the peril that will arise if ratification Jg refused and old privateering rights frre re-affirmed. The. "Post" adds that the recent British naval manoeuvres showed that the saorifice of an enemy's fleet would make possible the almost complete destruction of the British mercantile marine. Such crippling of the mercantile marine would perpetually jeopardise British supremacy in the shipping trade.

OPINION IN CANADA. LONDON, January 25. The Ottawa .correspondent of the '' Dailv Mail" reports that owing to the meagre dispatches the Declaration if London has attracted little attention. The general opinion is that the dominions should not be overlooked in a matter of this kind. Sir Wilfrid Laurier has not studied the matter, and before he comes to a definite decision Government experts will analyse the Declaration. ' The South Australian Agent-General in an interview said that the Declaration ought not to be ratified without due discussion.

A NEWSPAPER OPINION. LONDON, January 25. The "Manchester Guardian" regards the Declaration of London as un-n-ise. It would mean the abandonment of a principle which Britain had defended for a century, namely, that the onus of proof lay with the captor, while the Declaration of London lays the burden on the owner. If the Declaration can be made binding it would be as easy to secure prohibition of capture of private property altogether. Britain has two courses, either to make the sea in war-time British territory, involving an. enormous coat, or secure complete fr««dom of the seas to commerce.