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v '3J - : : i in 16 Pages Today ONE SEC TION . : VOI-. XCV-uCSTO. 113. WILMIKGTON, K. C STJjSTD-X MOENINQ, FEBRUARY 7, 1915 WHOLE DUMBER 1 3,904. THREATENED BLOCKADE OF MM FEDERAL ft. C. L AND STATE GERMANY'S PROCLAMATION IS MADE PUBLIC IN WASHINGTON MUCH SPECULATION AROUSED BVE SYSTEM NEUTRALS BEING W BFUES "OLD GLORY" RESE Developments at Sea Over shadow Terriffic Battle in , r Central Poland. j IN THE BRITISH MIND England Hopes for Trouble Between Neutrals and Ger many Over Order Quiet Reigns in West i and in Egypt , Loudon. Feb. 6. Neutral opin ion of Germany's threat of a sub marine blockade of tHe British Islos. together with possible action bv the United States, Holland and the Scandinavian countries, today is competing with the big battle in Central Poland, for first place in public interest in England. The threat' itself has in no way'dis-fin-bed the sea-borne trade of the row n try. Steamers are running as usual, insurance rates remain as they were, and ship owners deelare that there will be no changes in sche-. 'Jules. The general belief here is that Hernia uy is not in a position to in terfere to any great extent ; with shipping, and the. possibility .of Germany becoming involved with' neutral countries over this action looms large in British minds. What effect the action of the captain of the Lusitania in flying the American flag wilL. have on the question is yet to be seen. ; The Lusitania crossed the Irish sea, ac cording to American passengers, witli American flags at her stern and fore-peak, but that fact is not yet known to the English public. fighting in Central Poland. i'f riie battle in Central Poland little tnvs has come through today from either Fet.rograd, Vienna or Berlin. It is tipiieved fighting continues and that if will be some days before a final de--i?ion is reached. If the Russian suc cess in crossing the Bzura river is strongly supported and pushedt it may shorten the engagement. From all accounts the Germans hurl tl meat masses against the Russian lines, and although they gained ground at some points they did not succeed in breaking through, and the Russians were able to take the offensive in imrts of the field. With the tremen '(ions concentration of artillery,: rifle fire aiifi bayonet work the losses must have been very great. One correspon dent at Petrograd places the German losses at 30,000. ;V In the Carpathians and in Bukowina fighting is going on. The: Rus sians with a strong force, are making V-sperate efforts to drive the Austrians J'rom Dukla and other passes, and, al though the snow iles deep in the moun ''lins the battles continue night and flay. - Mont; the western front, so far as f,fii'i;ii reports disclose, this has been one of the quietest days for weeks. The f tniei y. of course, has been busy, but HS if by mutual consent the armies hav refrained from infantry attacks. Tiu-re has been no further fighting i'Vypt. but statements from Turkish prisoners show the Turks brought a tt'-at number of boats across the des c't irnivTi by oxen. They were.some wl,rM surprised to find a strong force :i tins, them and were compelled to : ;,.ior when the troops got behind ii'isi ;-.,, hemmed them in. In some ? -. 1 110 Turks were allowed to launch r-;":: boats before the British opened fir'; 1 'l sank them. : ! ,' v-'-"' r'rey, addressing a meeting to id that War Secretary Kitchen '" AuRust asked him to appeal to tumor of Northumberland for five Gallons. Instead they raised 20 k? 1 1 (iERDlAN STATEMENT. ,,v" New French Attacks Repulsed Ac fording to Berlin Account.: H'':in. Feb. 6 (Wireless to SayvMe) foil. 'ig statement: , I i fi new Tfrenr-h dttafVn aeralnst H,. it,o.iS taken by the German: north ?, "'"s-?iges remained unsuccessful. A lin attack in the Argonne also " issians j'esterday attacked on the r","'st,. Russian frontier and south of ;nf "istula, against the German front, -Oil Hum in to the Bzura river, i r, ,-il attacks were repulsed. THe limns- made 1,000 prisoners and took -iachlne guns. i : -upe;ially from the British, but ;;" irom the French side, the allega 1 is repeated continuously that the ..' to commemorate the Emper- ",;tiH'tay, made attacks onva large i. ' ,lir'h were attended throughout e.- - reverses for the Germans. . All "Continued on Page Two.) 7 ? 0TmLLs,mSAMNuCCED In Line With Views of Young and Insurance Companies. STATEWIDE STOCK LAW v- Wovld be Provided by Pending BUI .Ex cept In Localities Voting Asainbt It Nearly l.OOO Bills Intro duced Thus Far. . (Special Star Telegram.) Raleigh," N. C, Feb. 6. Another chapter was added to the pending in surance legislation today by the in troduction of bills in the Senate by Senators Weaver and Miller that are designed to authorize the Stae Com missioner of Insurance to hear com plaints of excessive ' Are insurance rates and declare what should be the Just and reasonable rate, making pub lic record of the same, but not going as far as the pending Seawell bin in the House to empower the commission er to actually lower the rate. The Senate bills are in line with the recommendation of Commissioner Young and meet the concessions of in surance companies which insist that if the actual rate making power is taken by the State they will withdraw from North Carolina. The - Weaver bill amends a. number of other sections of the general Insurance laws,- specifies qualifications of agents to be licensed, provides for school instruction in fire prevention and for October 9th as "Fire Prevention Day." The- two bills are ' referred to the Senate committee on. insurance- arid will - b. heard Wednesday when -a rp isy til. tiM - iirnifi - ww r.iifirnii a. w w. jicii a. rw - ft writers Board will be here to discuss the whole situation as to insurance legislation. . The view is very strong that the Senate bills just introduced really represent the extent to which the Senate will probably go this ses sion in insurance rate legislation as contrasted with the Seawell bill which is the recommendation of the investi gating commission from the 1913 ses sion. . With .the session of the Legislature half over, there has been just 126 acts of this Legislature enrolled and duly ratified as laws and the bill numbers in the House have reached 748 and in the Senate 566. . An indirect qftate-wide stock law bill came in the . Senate today, introduced by . Senator Cohoon, of Pasquotank, providing that live stock be prohibited from running at large except in such territory as the people therein shall specifically vote to- allow such live stock at large. ' , The House defeated the Nash bill from the Senate -for the creation of arbitral courts composed of the clerk of court and two commissioners named by him to settle' differences out of court. Four representatives, Nettles, Swain, Denton and King, made statements in the House making it clear that they are not woman's suffragists and want ed the records to show that their vote against the Doughton motion indefi nitely postponing consideration of the Roberts equal suffrage bill was against cutting off debate and not as favoring equal suffrage. Excellent progress was made tbday in both houses in clearing local bills from the calendars. Senator Snow's . bill to forbid the shaving of heads of prisoners and to, prevent dressing them in what he terms convict uniforms furnished the sensation in the Senate today, practi cally a third of the membership con demning the "barbarous custom" of Wake county. Senators held up their hands in horror, the galleries applaud ed and speakers waxed eloquent as they jumped on the officers of Wake county responsible for the practice.. The bill, with two amendments, went through its second reading, but was carried oyer until Monday, in order to afford a more thorough study of the' mea'sure, which is State-wide in its application. According to senators, Wake is the only county following this custom.; 4: . HOUSE PROCEEDINGS. The House was convened at 10:30 o'clock by Speaker Wooten. There were presented petitions from the First Baptist church, Charlotte; Franklin, Randolph and Northampton couiities urging the enactment of the legislation asked for. by the State Anti-Saloon League to stop the ship ment of liquors for beverage' purposes. New Bills Introduced. ' The following new bills were intro duced: - Currie Prohibit the manufacture 'and sale of liquors within three miles of Cumberland county churches. This bill is aimed especially at wine mak ers who use their1 own grapes for the purpose.' Douglass Provide a recorder's court for Zebulon, Wake county. Allow .the town of Zebulon "to issue bonds for lights and streets. - , Grier Regulate the conveyance of real estate of certain corporations. Nettles Prevent cities and towns from taxing dairy cattle and products in Buncombe county. " Somers Amend the Caswell county road law. Bennett Regulate the width of wag on tires in Montgomery county. -:-- Mason Amend the road l law , for Jackson township, Northampton coun ty. ' : L sv!v " Denton Amend the Graham county school law r - . -f ' i Clayton '-Amend the Hyde ' county school -law relative to the county-sup- . (Continued on ; f age nr'ii; resentative of the General Fire Unftwr?1. Twelve Banks to Begin Clear ing House Operations- WITH A CENTRAL FUND Conference Between Federal Reserve Board, Governors of Several Banks and Reserve Agents at Washington. Washington, Feb." 6. Conferences between members of the Federal Re serve Board, governors of several of the Reserve banks, and some Reserve agents have developed deflnit plans for the extension of clearing house opera tions, by the 12 Regional Reserve banks. One feature of the plan, it was learned today, provides for the creation of a central fund of possibly 525,000,000 to be held in Washington to the credit of the Reserve banks, to take care of clearing operations be tween them. The result of the deliberations, which lasted several days, will be laid before the entire , Federal Reserve Board next Monday. It was believed tonight that they would be endorsed. ' It was understood to have been unanimously agreed in the conference thsft the time has arrived when the clearing functions of the 12 banks should be exercised as fully as possible. Actual development of the clearing system through the Reserve banks will be gradual, but members of the Reserve Board believe these banks will, in time, take the place contemplated In the Reserve Act and do practically all the clearing for mem ber banks. : - Central Fund in Washington. According to information tonight the central fund in "Washington is to be a gold fund '.made up of deposits from each of the .12 Reserve banks. Aa now contemplated ... each i .ba.n1t$v' tnigbjf -. - .. a - - v.. '- . funds in the central fund. It has been estimated that the hand ling of the central fund here will not entail any-great burden on the force of the Federal Reserve Board. It will be devoted exclusively to taking care of items between Federal Reserve banks themselves and will, have the practical result of setting up a clearing agency in Washington for the 12 banks. Bal ances probably will be adjusted only once a week or once a month and will be largely matters of bookkeeping. In connection with clearings within a district, the conference laid plans which will not force member banks to clear through their Reserve bank, but which it is hoped will prove attractive to bankers and show the advantages of general infra-district clearing. At first the plans contemplate clearances only for such banks as accept it but eventually it is believed that all banks will come in. STOCK YARDS III NORTH AND WEST MUST CLOSE Several Infected With Foot and Mouth Disease. Department of Agriculture Finds Dis ease in Yards at Chicago, Indian apolis, Louisville, Buffalo, and Other Cities. Washington, Feb. 6. After discov ery of foot and mouth infection in Chi cago, Indianapolis, Louisville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Jersey City, Pittsburg, Baltimore and Columbus, the Depart ment of Agriculture x today instructed its inspeptors to close the j'ards in those cities to interstate shipment of live stock after shipments in transit had been disposed of. Officials believe instead of a repeti tion of the recent quarantine over larg areas, disinfecting of the yards will suffice to stamp out the latest out break. Further conferences led officials to conclude that no attempt would be made to stop the entrance of cattle to the yards for immediate slaughter, ex cept insofar as the shipments came from other yards closed for disinfec tion. The time the yards will be closed is said to depend entirely upon the number of men put at work disinfect ing. Loss from .the foot and mouth dis ease thus far has aggregated $3,399, .110 the bureau of animal 'industry an nounced today in the agricultural out look. The outbreak, the most exten sive ever known in the United States, now seems to be under control, as a re sult of a. vigorous policy of eradication, the bureau says. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have., been more or less af fected since last October. i , There have: been slaughtered-46268 cattle; -47,735 swine, and 7,151 sheep. So far the losses have had no appre-. ciable general effect on the 'country's supply of meat and dairy animals. , Washington, Feb. 6. By provisions of the naval appropriation bill which passed the House yesterday and . use of the money i from sale of the old bat tleships Idaho and . Mississippi to Greece , the United States will have $7,705,000 more available for new war ships this -year than was authorized for ihebuilding' programme -yai 1914.? . Liner Lusitania Flew Ameri can Flag for Protection. ACROSS THE ATLANTIC Claiming the Transportation of Neu tral Passengers and Mails Gave Him Right to lTsef It, Cap tain HVlatS Flag; London, Feb. -6.--The British steamer Lusitania, of theCuinard Line, which sailed from Ne;3fork January 30 and arrived at Liverpool this afternoon, flew the America ,flag from the time she passed quarantine station until she entered the" Mersey. This is vouch ed for by American passengers who crossed on her. . ' The Lusitania . Received a wireless from thef Baltic, pfine White Star Line, that two submarines had been sighted from that vessel.f She captain in re ply to questionsbijne of the passen gers, declared he b,a4" a right to fly the flag of a neutral . cun.tr y for protec tion of neutral - passengers and mails which his ship was 'carrying. After being, delayed by heavy stpras, which raised seas 40k high and injur ed 11 passengers,, the Lusitania arrived off Queenstown late yesterday. She cruised off the Irish' port "for two hours and,, without; pick'Uigjup; a pilot,. as is usually done,.: proceeded for Liverpool at full speed, arriving, at the Mersey channel at .daybreak? with the Stars and Stripes still flying. -. Seivh7 Americans. According" to a- statement by Will Irwin, an Americaii writer, the Lusi tania carried... the regulation large American Sag afc her stern with a small American flagfand mail pennant at the forepeak. - Former United r, States Senator La Fayette Young, . ni&other passenger, while he did not personally see the fig flying, . said it was accepted . as a . fact bjr all on board, 'i'-' i ' - . . ..... ..IV .,v "fft W V111V.I. -'tlOI.J aWlU ulki.'Mi'&,yr l aU ' ' I 111 ifwW4a .?itia.T'!. auvites mitt' me usitania flew the American flag on entering Liverpool, willimake no for mal statement until the matter is pre sented in definite form. A prominent British official . said that inasmuch as the British government "grants ships of other nations the privilege of using the British flag to escape capture, it naturally feels that such privilege would be granted to its ships in a simi lar emergency. The British" merchant shipping act passed .in 1894 contains the following1 paragraph: "If a person uses the British flag and assumes the British national char acter on shipboard owned in whole or in part by persons unqualified to be British, the ship shall be. subject to forfeiture under this act unless the as sumption has been made for the pur pose of escaping capture by the enemy or by a foreign ship of wr in the ex ercise of some belligerent right." WASHINGTON'S POSITION No Official Reports But Trusts Incident Will Lead to Better Conditions. Washington, Feb. 6. Officials to night had received no official report of the use of the American flag by the Lusitania, but they indicated that inquiry might be made. Pending re ceipt of full informations, comment was reserved. It was regarded by some as -not un likely that the occurrence would fur nish a basis for discussing the en tire subject of the use of neutral flags by belligerent merchant men on ac count of charges to that effect made in the German admiralty's statement The rules of international law are clear in that each nation has the right to determine for Itself conditions under which its flag may be bestowed on a vessel. One recognized authority holds 'that the assumption of the flag of a foreign state without its authorization is considered as a violation of interna tional law as a device both fraudu lent arid injurious to the honor of the state. Both the state whose flag is wrongfully used and that in regard to which the use of the false flag is made have the right to demand the punish ment of the guilty persons. Examination of ttye statutes of the United States reveals that there is no law prohibiting misuse of the Ameri can flag by foreign vessels, though the State Department has in ; the past or dered its consuls always to communi cate full information as: to such inci dents. Upon the outbreak of war with Chile is 1879 Peru inquired of the United States what condition's must be com plied with in order that a merchant vessel might be considered as belong ing to the United States and under what conditions flag might be used. . The American legation in Peru sent a note in reply which-was supplement ed by a memorandum from the Secre tary of State, Mr. Evarts, who said that: "there is no prohibition of the use of the American flag by a "foreign ves sel beyond . the jurisdiction of the United States, or any penalty provided therefore." - IOWA OUTDISTANCED TEXAS Gains First Place as to Value of Total ' Crop Production Texas Third. . Washington; Feb. 6. Iowa has wrested from Texas the title of ban ner crop state, the thirteen principal crops grown there last year being, val ued at $351,450,000, according to the agricultural outlook issued today. Illi nois crops v were worth-" $319,656,000, while Texas L comes third with $288, 335,000. Decrease in the value of cot ton was the cause of the; smaller value, of Texas crops. Other states" crops values are: North Carolina, $124,918,000; -Tennessee $106,456,000; South Carolina, $101,- 873,0170; Virginia, ? 3,?,uuu; Georgia, $155,1700. Railroad Not to Remove Suits to Federal Courts. " BILLS TO BE DROPPED Result of Conference in Governor's Of fice Craig, Judges Allen, and Dan iels, Chairman Travis and Mr. Elliott Participate. (Special Star Telegram.) Raleigh, N. C, Feb. 6. The Atlantic Coast Line authorities having given assurances that there will be no fur ther removals of suits against the cor poration in this State to the Federal courts on the plea' that the corpora tion is a non-resident" Virginia corpo ration, the Allen bill in the House for the repeal of the act of the Legisla ture of 1S99 authorizing the consolida tion of the old Wilmington & Weldon Railroad Company with other lines in the formation of the Atlantic Coast Line will be withdrawn or tabled by consent; also the Gilliam bill in ,the Senate to the same effect and going to the further extent of directing the At torney General to sue for dismember ment and for receivers to wind up the railroad properties through sales as separate lines. . The agreement was reached in a con ference in the executive, office of Gov ernor Craig this afternoon, with Gxv ernorHCraig, Assistant General Counsel George B. Elliott, of the Atlantic Coast Line; Judge George Rountree, Judge Frank Daniels, Judge W. R. Al len and Chairman B. L. Travis, of the Corporation Commission, participating. Judge Daniels was chairman of the Senate committee on corporations in 1899 when the act was put through and Chairman Travis, of the Corporation Commission, was then a member of the Senate committee to whom the bill was referred for examination before being reported favorably. Judge W. R. Allen was chairman of the House committee that passed on the Wilmington & Wel don consolidation bill. s . President Kenly had assured; the Governor and State authorities--that th -Atlantic Coast Line would abide by r whatever view was. taken in the con ference today. . - The agreement was that there was no definite understanding that the At lantic Coast Line" would refrain from invoking the Federal court in suits, but Judge Daniels, Judge Allen and Mr. Travis thought the general impres sion at that time was that such would be the case. This view being taken, assurances were given byi Mr. Elliott for the Atlantic Coast Line that there will be no further removals of cases to Federal court and any that have been removed and are still pending will be remanded to the State courts for trial. The conference and agreement of this afternoon removes from the Legis lature the knotty problem of dealing with the pending legislation against the Atlantic Coast Line. Governor Craig wrote a letter to President Kenly setting out the result of the conference today. NEARLY HALF MILLION ADDED FOR CAPE FEAR $476,000 is Amount Appropri ated in Bill as it Stands. . Sam Rogers Likely to be Xnincil an Di rector of the Census- Hitch Oc' curs in Catling's Progress. Bickett in Washington. (Special Star Telegram.) Washington, D. C. Feb. 6. The fact that the Senate commerce coSnmittee had added nearly a half million dollars appropriation for the Cape Fear river above and below Wilmington was over-, looked in thjs correspondence some days ago. The fact is that the: bill as it now stands carries $205,000 for work below Wilmington and $271,006 on jthe upper Cape Fear. ' 'K The Postoftice Department admitted today that they would not be able to nominate, confirm and commission a postmaster to succeed Willis Briggs at Raleigh by February 16th, the date his commission expires. This may mean j that the much talked of charges I against Bart Gatling have arrived and that the department is" carefully con-, cealing them just as, it has all other matters pertaining to the department. As stated exclusively in these dis patches in last Monday's papers, Sam uel L. Rogers, campaign manager for Senator Simmons during the late sen atorial contest, is likely to be appoint ed Director of the Census to succeed .William J. Harris, who is slated for membership on the Trade Commission, Sen.ator Simmons called at the White House ioday to ask the President to name Mr. Rogers to this place. In the absence of the President,. Mr. Simmons ! took the matter up with Secretary Tu multy. It is believed Rogers will I land, t - ' Attorney General Bickett.r who was 1 here today looking after the Tennessee-i North Carolina: boundary case, recent ly decided in favor of North Carolina by the Supreme Court of.the United States, announced that the following had beeuv appointed a commission to. settle the dispute: Dr. - Joseph Hyde Pratt and D. B. Burnsv of North Caro lina and W. D. Hale, '.. of Tennessee. The commission' was .appointed - in ac-1 Sv; :(C?ntinued on :Page Tavo; ; Declares Waters Surrounding Great Britain and Ireland With in the .War Zone, and Warns Neutral Vessels to Stay Clear Does Not Include Seas Adjacent to Neu- tral Countries, as Was Yesterday Reported. STATE DEPARTMENT TO ASK FOR PARTICULARS Washington, Feb. 6. Germany's proclamation of a war zone in the wa ters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland does not as at first reported, -include any seas adjacent to neutral countries. The official text of the proclamation received today from Ambassador Ge rard reveals that only areas directly bordering .on the territorial waters of France and Great Britain are held to be in" the one where neutral ' vessels may be subject to the hazards of naval warfare. The original, wireless report stated that the waters north of the Shetland Islands, in theN eastern basin of the North sea, and for 30 nautical miles along the Dutch coast, also had been included in the zone. The official text says expressly that the routes of navigation around the north of the Shetland Islands in the eastern part of the North sea and in a strip 30 miles wide along the Dutch coast are "are not to the danger zone." State Department officials sent a message inquiring if there was not some error in translation" of the last phrase "not open to the danger zone," but they said later they had no doubt the particularization of these waters meant they were the suggested routes for neutral ships and that shipping to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Hol land woul dnq be affected. The Proclamation. The test of the proclamation, as re ceived at the State Department reads as follows: , "The- waters around Great Britain including the whole of the English channel are declared hereby to be in cluded withjifetthr zone of. . war and. that after February i& all enemy mer chant vessels encountered in these wa ters will be destroyed, even if it may not" be possible always to save their crews and passengers. "Within this war zone neutral ves sels are exposed to danger since, in view of the misuse of the neutral flags ordered by the government of Great Britain on January 31 and of the haz ards of naval warfare, neutral vessels cannot always be prevented from suf fering; from the attacks intended foV enemf ships. "The routes of navigation around the north of the Shetland Islands in the eastern part of the North sea and in a strip 30 miles wide along the Dutch coast are not open to the danger zone." Lansing Makes Statement. Acting Secretary Lansing in a state ment containing the proclamation said: "The German foreign office sent to the American ambassador a long mem orandum explanatory of this proclam ation." Officials are awaiting with much in terest the explanatory memorandum re ferred to, for it outlined measures which German naval commanders will take to verify the real character of vessels flying neutral flags and assures the American government that every possible effort will be made to save passengers and crews of vessels car rying contraband, it is believed -there will remain little ground for protest against Germany's action in advance of any specific' violation.. The German ' embassy today issued a statement declaring American ships laden with foodstuffs for the civilian population of German's enemies would not be molested and expressing hope that- Great Britain would, by seizing the American steamer Wilhelmina, car rying food supplies to Germany, make necessary the adoption of a different policy. i As the German proclamation' does hot prescribe a blockade, there .is no war rant for the sinking of any neutral merchant ship, in he view of many of ficials here; without first determining the character and destination of the vessel and taking off passengers and crew. While, high officials declined to in timate what their course would be, it was evident the American government would make no protest against desig nation of a "war zone" but would en deavor to" learn what protection would be afforded American ships which did pass through the danger lines. Officials read with interest unofficial reports that the British ship Lusitania had entere1 Liverpool flying an Ameri can flag. It was considered probable the entire subject of the use of neutral flags by belligerent merchant men might be discussed with' Germany and Great Britain as a result of Germany's charge that a secret British order had been issued permitting such use; of flags. WILLIAM BOTIAN DEAD Well Known Citizen of Raleigh Died Suddenly Last Night. (Special Star Telegram.) Raleigh, N. C, Feb. 6. William Boy land, one of Raleigh's best known cit izens, died suddenly late tonight in the 65th year of his age. While he had suffered some from Bright's disease the past few months, his death is a great surprise as Jwell as shock. : Mr. Boylan. was a tiatlve of Raleigh, was engaged, in the mercantile busi ness many years and later served a number of terms as councilman of Raleigh and was a man of public spirit and great popularity. He was presi dent and for a number of years chair man of the, house committee of the Capital club. - . He , leaves a large estate that, in cludes a big sHee of stock in the Uz zell ..Printing - Co., State , printers.' Mr. Boylan was a widower and leaves one daughter. - - J.. ... , GERMANY GIVES OUT TEXT OF MEMORANDUM Berlin, Feb. 6. (by Wireless) The German government today, gave out the text of the memorandum of the Imperiaf German government concern ing retaliation against the measures taken by England, in violation of in ternational law, to stop neutral sea commerce with Germany. It follows: "Since the beginning of the present war Great Britain has carried on a mercantile warfare against Germany in a way that defies all the principles of international law. It is true that the British government has announc ed in a number of decrees the London Declaration concerning naval warfare to be binding on its naval forces, but in reality she has renounced the dec laration in its most important particu lars although her own delegates at the London conference on naval warfare had recognized its conclusions to be valid as international law. "The British government has put a number of articles in the list of con traband which are not or, at most, are only indirectly useful for military purposes and therefore, according to the London Declaration as well as ac cording to the universally recognized rules of international law, may not be designated as contraband. She had further, actually abolished the distinc tion between absolute and relative contraband, inasmuch as she has sub jected to capture, all articles of rela tive contraband intended for Germany, without reference to the harbor in which they are to be unloaded er to the hostile or peaceful use to which: they' are to be put. "She does not even hesitate to.vio late the Paris Declaration as her naval forces haye seized . . on , neutral ships German property , that was not contra band ' in violation of her own decree concerning the London Declaration. She has further, through her navah forces, taken from neutral ships nu-' merous Germans liable to military ser vice and has made Of them prisoners of war. "Finally she has declared the entire North Sea to be an area of war, and it she has not made impossible the pas sage of neutral shipping through the sea between Scotland and Norway, has rendered it so difficult and so danger ous that 'she has to a certain extent effected a blockade of4 neutral coasts andmeutral ports, in violation of all in-' ternational law. "All these measures have the ob vious purpose, through illegal paraly zation of legitimate neutral commence not only to strike at the German mili tary strength, but also at the economic Hfe of Germany and finally through starvation, doom the entire population Of Germany- to destruction. "The neutral powers have generally i acquiesced in the steps taken by the British government, especially' have ! they not succeeded in inducing the British government to restore the Ger man individuals and property seized in violation of international law. In cer tain directions they have also aided the British measures which are irre concilable with the freedom of the sea, in that they have obviously, under the pressure of England, hindered by ex port and transit embargoes th6 transit of wares for peaceful purposes to Ger many. "The German government has in vain called the attention of neutral powers to the fact that it must face the ques tion of whether it can longer persevere in its hitherto strict observance of the rules of the London Declaration; if Great Britain were to continue its course and the neutral powers were to continue to acquiesce in these viola tions of neutrality, to the detriment of Germany. "For her violations of international law Great Britain pleads the vital in terests which the British Empire has at stake and the neutral powers seem to satisfy themselves with a theoreti cal protest. Therefore, in fact, they accept the vital interests of belliger ents as sufficient excuse for evey method of warfare. "Germany must now appeal to then same vital interests, to its regret. It therefore sees itself forced to mili tary measures aimed at England In re taliation against the English proced ure. Just as England has designated the area between Scotland and Norway as an area of war, so German'y now de clares all the waters surrounding Great Britain and Ireland, including the entire English channel as an area of war, and thus will proceed against the shipping of the enemy. For tbl purpose, beginning February 18th, 191 u, It will endeavor to destroy every ene my merchant ship that is found in this area of war, without it always being possible to avert the peril that thus threatens persons and cargoes. "Neutrals are- therefore warned against further, entrusting crews, pas sengers and wares to such ships. Their attention Is also called to the fact that it is advisable for their ships to avoid entering this area, for even though the German naval forces have Instruc tions to avoid violence to neutral ships, insofar as they are recognizable, in view of the misuse of neutral flags or dered by . the British government and the 'contingencies of naval warfare, their becoming victims of torpedoes directed against enemy ships cannot always be averted. "At the. name time it is specifically noted that shipping north of the Shet land Islands, in the eastern area oi the North Sea, and in a strip of at least 30 sea miles in width along The Nether lands coast is not imperilled. ."The German government gives snchi early notice of these' . measures " that (Continued on Page Three.) 5 I. - . ! k i 1 1 mm 1 : -,
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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