The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1915. A PAPER BLOCKADE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2379, 8 February 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1915. A PAPER BLOCKADE

The brazen pretence of the German Government to have established a blockade of the. British coasts by means of submarines has given a new turn' to the controversy regarding the rights, and duties of belligerents and neutrals.- The' English newspapers regard this latest German move as farcical and fantastic, and it is rightly viewed in British shipping circles as a mere "paper block-v ade." ' How, indeed, can it be anything else. Quite recently Captain Perseus, the naval critic . of the Berliner Tageblatt, frankly admitted that in spite of the success of the German submarines, "there has not yet occurred any significant weakening of the sea power of England as a result of the war." This means that Britain's command of the sea remains unshaken. The enemy's main fleet is still hiding in fortified harbours. A few ships have occasionally made desperate dashes into jthe North Sea, and daring sub : taarines have succeeded in sinking a number of our merchantmen; but it is absolutey ludicrous for Germany; on the strength of these sporadic I adventures, to claim to have placed the British coasts under blockade. In fact, the claim is so extravagant that it might well be accepted as a confession of despair. Finding that they a,re unable to discover any adequate method of retaliating against the tremendous and everincreasing economic pressure exerted by the British Navy, the Germans now seem to have lost the last vestiges of restraint, and to be hitting out recklessly and blindly, making little or no distinction between friend and foe, A considerable amount of damage may be done in this way; but in the long run it is sure to do more injury to Germany herself than to her enemies. Still, it is the obvious duty of the British Government to use every weapon permitted by the rules of civilised warfare to counteract the illegal and piratical devices of its unscrupulous foe. The term "paper blockade" _ referred to in our cable is a technical expression in international law. It signifies a blockade which is invalid because ineffective. According to Mr. F. T. Jane, the wellknown .naval authority, an "effective blockade" is established when a hostile fleet is off a harhour or coast in sufficient strength to_ prevent the ingress or egress of shipping. In other words, a blockade to be valid must be supported by the necessary material strength to make it effective. The "paper blockade" to which the Germans have now resorted bears a striking resemblance to one of the devices by which France in the days of Napoleon en: deavoured to counteract Britain s superior sea power The French Decree of Berlin issued in 1806 contained two articles which bear a remarkable family likeness to "the German Decree of Berlin" issued in 1915. The first states that "the i Britannic Islands are declared in . a state of blockade"; and the second that "all commerce and all correspondence with them is prohibited.", Of course, the "blockade" of 1806 only existed in the imagination of Napoleon, just as the German "blockade" of 1915 has no real existence outside the mind-of the Kaiser. The Napoleonic decree is specially interesting at the present moment in view of a celebrated pronouncement by Lord Stoavell which it evoked, and in which the resort to extraordinary measures against an enemy who refuses to be bound by_ the law of nations is plainly justified. In _ answer to the French decree, Britain issued ccrtain retaliatory orders, and in giving judgment in a case arising out of these orders, Lord Stowei.l said: These orders were intended and professed to ho retaliatory against France; without reference to that character they have not, and would not, have been defended; but in that character they have been justly, in my apprehension, deemed reconcilable with those rules of natural justico by which tho international comTUiinications of independent States are usually governed. Tho gross and systematic manner in which the Germans are violating "every law of. God' and man," to ..ouote fchf* wm:ds of tho Tntirfnn

Times, may compel Britain once again to meet the situation by fallI ing back on the principles of "naIfcural justice" referred to by Lord i Stoavell. | Although the authorities on international law tell us that a blockade must be effective in order to be valid, there does not seem to be any agreement as to the definition of effectiveness. It is, however,' clear beyond all rational doubt that the present German "blockade'' is utterly ineffective. Me. F. E. Smith states that in England and America a blockade is held to be sufficiently effective, provided that, under normal conditions, a breach of ; it would be unlikely to succeed, or at least very difficult. This is a reasonable and common-sense viow of the question. The Prize Courts of Britain and the United States have not insisted that the effectiveness of a blockade shall be absolutely constant. For instance, an accidental interruption occasioned by violent weather or fog would not deprive a blockade of its validity. The Continental standard of effectiveness is rather more exacting, and from the generally _ accepted Continental 1 point of view, tne German claim to" nave blockaded the "Britannic Isles" is even more ludicrously indefensible than when considered from the British and American standpoint. As to the effectiveness .of the British blockade of the German coast, one of the most convincing proofs is supplied by Germany herself. She is even now writhing under the terrible grip which the British Navy has placed on her throat. The very words in which the German Chancellor endeavours to justify his "paper blockade" sound like a cry of despair mingled with rage. "We are not going to die of famine," he declares. "Germany will use every opportunity to starve England in revenge for her starving Germany." Here we have the unwilling confession that our enemy's food supplies are failing. There have been many other indications of this, but none so significant as that contained in the Chancellor's outburst of futile anger. With reckless folly, he declares that "the neutral nations have not protested, and must take the consequences." But as * matter of fact the neutral nations are protesting most vigorously against Germany's latest defiance of the laws of war. Her rulers seem to be acting with the recklessness of men bereft of their wits. There, is an old saying that those whom the Gods intend to destroy they first drive mad.