THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: MAY 28, 1316.
9 A
MAILS MUST HAVE
ALL RIGHTS AT SEA
United States Sends Plain Note to
Great Britain and Frince Con
cerning; Interceptions.
PRESENT PRACTICE ILLEGAL
Washington, May 27. The
Unitea States, denouncing inter
ference with neutral mails, hai
notified Great Britain and France
that it can no longer tolerate the
wrongs which American citixens
have suffered and continue to suf
; ttr through the "lawless practice"
those governments have indulged
: in, and that only a radical change
'in policy, restoring the United
l States to its full rights as a neu
f ti al power will be satisfactory.
4 This notification is given in the
latest American communication
I to the two governments, the text
of which was made public by the
State department tonight. The
, time in which the change must be
effected is not specified, but the
" United States expects prompt
action.
What is Complained Of".
"Onerous and vexatious," abuses
which have been perpetrated by the
British and French governments in
seizing and censoring neutral mails
are recited in the communication and
answers are made to the legal argu
ments contained in the reply of the
entente governments to the first
American note on the subject. It is
vigorously set forth that not only have
American commercial interests been
injured, but that the rights of property
have been violated an the rules of in
ternational law and custom palpably
disregarded. Notice is served that the
United States soon will press claims
against the British and French gov
ernments for the losses which already
have been sustained.
Text of Note,
The text of the communication ad
d. v'sscd to the British and French am
bassadors to whom it was delivered
Wednesday, follows:
Department of State, Washington,
May 24, 1916. Excellent;': I have
the honor to acknowledge receipts of
your excellency's note of April 3, last,
transmitting a memorandum dated
February Is, 1916, and communicated
in substance to the American ambas
tador in London on February 28, in
which are stated the contentions of
the British and French governments
in regard to the right to detain and
examine parcel and letter mails en
route by sea between the United
States and Europe.
After a discussion of the use of the
mailt' for transmission of parcels and
of the limitations to be placed on
"Inviolable mail," the joint memo
randum of February IS closes with the
following assertions! v
-' 1. That from the standpoint of the
right of visitation and eventual arrest
and seizure, merchandise shipped in
post parcels needs not and shall not
be treated otherwise than merchandise
shipped in any other manner.
2. That the inviolability of postal
correspondence stipulated by the elev
enth convention of The Hague of
1907 dues not in any way affect the
right of the allied governments to
visit, and if occasion arises, arrest
and seize merchandise hidden in the
wrappers, envelopes or letters con
tained in the mail bags.
3. That true to their engagements
and respectful of genuine "corre
spondence" the allied governments
will continue for the present to re
frain on the high seas from seizing
and confiscating such correspondence,
letters or dispatches, and will insure
their speediest possible transmission
as soon as the sincerity of their char
acter shall have been ascertained.
Interference Unwarranted.
In reply, the government of the
United States desires to state that it
docs not consider that the Postal
Union convention of 1906 necessarily
applies to the interference by the
British and French governments with
the oversea transportation of mails
of which the government of the
United States is complaining.- Fur
thermore the allied powers appear to
have overlooked the admission of the
government of the United States that
post parcels may be treated as mer
chandie subject to the exercise of
belligerent rights as recognized by in
ternational law. Hut the government
of the United States does not admit
that tiuh parcels are subject to the
"e.crrie of the rights of police super
vision, visitation and eventual seiz
ure which belongs to belligerents as
to all targoes on the high seas" as
S4rte'l in the joint note under at-
know ler!ument.
What May Be Searched.
It ii noted with satisfaction that
the BrttiMi and I-remit governments
do nut lUint, and in the opinion "
thii government properly do riot
claim that their so-called "blot kade"
ttie.tMirrs are sufficient grounds upon
winch to hae a right to uitrrtere
uii!i all tUttfi of mail matter in
train.it to and from the central pow
ers On the contrary, their contention
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own ports or they induce shipping
lines, through some form of duress,
to send their mails via British potts,
or they detain all vessels merely call
ing at Britisli ports, thus acquiring by
force or unjustifiable means an illegal
jurisdiction. Acting upon this enforced
jurisdiction the authorities remove all
mail, genuine correspondence as well
as post parcels and take them to Lon
don, where every piece, even though
of neutral origin and destination, is
opened and critically examined to de
termine the sincerity of their capture,
in accordance with the interpretation
given that undefined phrase by the
British and French censors. Finally
the expurgated remainder is for
warded, frequently after irreparable
delay, to its destination. Ships arc de
tained en route to or from the United
States or to or from other neutral
countries, and mails are held and de
layed for several days and. in sonic
cases, for weeks and even months,
even though not routed to ports of
north Europe via British ports.
Offense Is Flagrant.
This has been the procccdure which
has been practiced since the announce
ment of February l.S, 1910. To some
extent, the same practice was fol
lowed before' that date calling forth
the protest of the government of Jan
uary 4, 1916. But to that protest the
memorandum under acknowledgment
makes no reference and is entirely
unresponsive. The government of the
United States must again insist with
emphasis that the British and French
governments do not obtain rightful
jurisdiction of ships by forcing or in
ducing them to visit their ports for
the purpose of seizing their mails, or
thereby obtain greater belligerent
rights as to such ships than they
could exercise on the high seas; for
there is, in the opinion of the govern
ment of the United States no legal
distinction between the seizure of
mails at sea, which is announced as
abandoned, and their seizure from
vessels voluntarily or involuntarily in
port. The British and French practice
amounts to an unwarranted limita
tion of the use by neutrals of the
world's highway for the transmission
of correspondence. The practice ac
tually followed by the allied powers
mu.st be said to justify the conclusion,
therefore, that the announcement of
I-ebruary IS, was merely notice that
one illegal pratice had been aban
doned to make place for the develop
ment of another more onerous and
vexatious in character.
Violates Spirit and Letter.
The present practice is a volation
not only of the spirit of the an
nouncement of February IS but of the
rule of The Hague convention upon
which it is conccdcdly based. Aside
from this, it is a violation of the
prior practice of nations which
Great Britain and her allies have in
the past assisted to establish and
maintain, notwithstanding the state
ment in the memorandum that "as
late as 1907 the letters and dis
patches themselves could be seized
and confiscated." During the war be
tween the United States and Mexico,
the United States forces allowed
British steamers to enter and depart
from the port of Vera Cruz without
molesting the mails intended for in
land points. During the American
civil war Lord Russell endeavored to
induce the United States to concede
that "Her Majesty's mail on board a
private vessel should be exempted
from visitation or detention." This
exemption of mails was urged in
October, 1862, in the case of British
mails on board the Adela. On Octo
ber 31, Secretary Seward announced
that "public mails of any friendly or
neutral power duly certified or
authenticated as such, shall not be
searched or opened, but be put as
speedily as may be convenient on
the way to their destination." In
accordance with this announcement
the government of the United States
m the case of the British steam
ship I'eterhoff, which had been
seized with her mails against the pro
test of her majesty's government,
had her mails forwarded to destina
tion unopened.
Followed in Other Wars.
The same rule was followed by
France, as I am advised, in the
Franco-Prussian war of 1870; by the
United States in the Spanish-American
war of 1898; by Great Britain in
the South African war; in t lie case
of the German mail steamers Bun
desrath and General; by Japan and
substantially by Russia, in the Russo
Japanese war of 1904 And even in
the present war. as the memorandum
of Great Britain and France states,
; their enemy, Germany, has desisted
trom tnc practice ol mteriering witn
neutral mails, even on board bellig
erent steamers. This is illustrated by
the case of the French steamer
Floride, captured by the auxiliary
cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich, cited
by the British and French govern
ments in support of their argument
regarding parcel mails. In this case,
the letter mails of the Floride,
amounting to 144 sacks, were for
warded to their destination by the
commander at the first opportunity
on arriving in the United States. It
would seem, therefore, to be con
clusivcly established that interfer
ence with mails of which this gov
ernment justly complains are wroiif.
in principle and practice.
Brings Disaster to Americans.
The arbitrary methods employed by
the British and French Bovernments
I ll fl I' r..,,tt,.t ti,s.c, A ic .., mtt lip
citizens of the United States. Im
portant papers which never can be
duplicated, or can be duplicated
only with great difficulty, 6uch
as United States patents for in
ventions, rare documents, legal papers
relating to the settlement of estates,
powers of attorney, fire insurance
claims, income tax returns, and simi
lar matters have been lost. Delays
in receiving shipping documents have
caused great loss and inconvenience
by preventing prompt delivery of
foods. In the case of the MacNiff
lorticultural company of New York,
large shipments of plants and bulbs
from Holland were, I am informed,
frozen on the wharves because pos
session could not be obtained in the
absence of documents relating to
them which had been removed from
the N'ieu Amsterdam, Oosterdyk, and
Rotterdam. Business opportunities
are lost by failure to transmit
promptly bids, specifications and con
tracts. The Standard Underground
Cable company of Pittsburgh, tor ex
ample, sent by a mail a tender and
specifications for certain proposed
electrical works to be constructed in
Christiania; after several weeks of
waiting, the papers having failed to
arrive, the American company was
told that the bids could not be longer
held open and the contract was
awarded to a British competitor.
Checks, drafts and money orders, se
curities and similar property are lost
or detained for weeks and months.
Bother for Government.
Business correspondence relating to
legitimate and bonafide trade between
neutral countries, correspondence of
a personal nature, and also certain
official correspondence, such as
money order lists and other mattes
forwarded by government depart
ments are detained, lost or possibly
destroyed. For instance, the postmaster-general
informs me that cer
tain international money order lists
from the United States to Germany,
Greece and other countries, and from
Germany to the United States, sent
through the mails, have not reached
their destination, though despatched
several months ago. It was neces
sary to have some of these lists dupli
cated and again dispatched by the
steamship Frederick III, which
sailed from New York on April 19.
and from which all the mails intended
for Germany have been taken and
held in British jurisdiction.
As a further example of the delay
and loss consequent upon the British
practice, the postmaster general also
sends me a copy of a letter from the
British postal administration, admit;
ting that the mails were removed from
the steamer Medan in The Downs on
July 30, last, and not forwarded until
some time "between Februarv 2 and
March 2," and that 182 bags of these
mails "were lost during transmission
to Holland on February 26, by the
Dutch steamship Mecklenburg." The
Medan arrived safely at Rotterdam a
day or two after it left The Downs.
Will Claim Reparation.
Numerous complaints similar to the
foregoing have been received by this
government, the details of which are
available, but I believe I have cited
sufficient facts to show the unpre
cedented and vexatious nature of the
interference with mails persisted in
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Noyes-Killy Motor Company
206Gf8 Ffirnam St., Omaha
by the British and French authorities.
Not only are American com
mercial interests injured, but
rights of property are violated
and the rules of international law
and custom are palpably disre
garded. I can only add that this
continuing offense has led to such
losses to American citizens and to
a possible responsibility of the
United States government to re
pair them, that this government
will be compelled in the near fu
ture to press claims for full recla
mation upon the attention of his
majesty's government and that of
the French republic.
The principle being plain and defi
nite, and the present practice of the
governments of Great Britain and
France being clearly in contravention
of the principle. I will state more in
letail the position of the government
ol.ihe United States in regard to the
treatment of certain classes of sealed
mails under a strict application of the
principle upon which our government
seem to be in general accord.
The government of the United
States is inclined to the opinion that
the class of mait matter, which in
cludes stocks, bonds, coupons and
similar securities, is to be regarded as
of the same nature as merchandise or
other articles of property and subject
to the same exercise of belligerent
rights.
Money orders, checks, drafts, notes,
and other negotiable instruments
which may pass as the equivalent of
money are, it is considered also to be
classed as merchandise.
Correspondence, including shipping
documents, money order lists, and
papers of that character, even though
relating to "enemy supplies or ex
ports," unless carried on the same ship
as the property referred to, are, in the
opinion ef this government to be re
garded as "genuine correspondence"
and entitled to unmolested passage.
Cannot Tolerate Practice.
The government of the United
States tn view of the improper
methods employed by th British and
French authorities in interrupting
mails passing between the United
States and other neutral ocuntries and
between the United States and the
enemies of Great Britain can no
lunger tolerate the wrongs which citi
zens of the United Mates suffer and
continue to suffer through these
methods. To submit to a lawless
practice of this character would open
the door to repeated violations of in
ternational law by the belligerent
powers on the ground of military
necessity of which the violator would
be the sole judge.
Manifestly a neutral nation can
not permit its rights on the high
seas to be determined by belli
gerents, or the exercise of those
rights to be permitted or denied
arbitrarily by the government of
a warring nation. The rights of
neutrals are as sacred i s the rights
of belligerents and must be as
strictly observed.
The government of the United
States confident in the regard for in
ternational law and the rights of neu
trals which the British and French
governments have so ofti n proclaimed
and the disregard of which they have
urged so vigorously against their
enemies in the present war, experts
the present practice of the British and
French authorities in the treatment
of mails from or to the United States
to cease, and belligerent rights as ex
ercised to conform to the principle
governing the passage of mail matter
and to the recognized practice of na
tions. Only a radical chaege in the
present British and French policy,
restoring to the United States its full
rights as a neutral power will satisfy
this government.
I have, etc.
ROBERT LAN'SING.
BOY STRUCK BY AUTO
IS SLIGHTLY INJURED
Frank I.arosa. age 7 years, who
lives with his parents at 1110 North
Seventeenth street, was run down by
an automobile driven by Walter
Petersen, 4102 Izard street, as he was
about to cross the street at Sixteenth
and Douglas streets late yesterday
afternoon, sustaining severe bruises
and lacerations about the face and
head.
If 4H, I, t itn S '
t n't I
J I II nil
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jft lliipiii
iiiiuiiiiiwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiibi J, , r VI vfS ?jrftl 2 r
Model 89 f.O.b. Toledo
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