A REAL BLOCKADE.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1917, Page 8

A REAL BLOCKADE.

AMERICA'S PLAN TO END THE WAR The following important statement has been made to me by a leading member of the Government (writes a Home correspondent). I asked him how far--the United States would go in enforcing the embargo against neutrals, and his answer was: "How far do the Allied Governments want us to go? That is what we are waiting to find out." He went on to explain that the position of the United States was different from that of all other liatlons, as the actions of the latter were to a certain extent circumscribed by international law, decisions of their own Courts, regard for the future, when conditions might bo reversed, and political and commercial considerations affecting the present state of affairs. "We are free from all these limitations," this officer said. "We are outside the scope of international law. because we are dealing with a purely domestic question. •Public law does not compel one nation to trade with another any niore than municipal law forces one man to sell his property to another. He may, if he cares to, and if he believes it is for his advantage or profit, but if he sees no profit in the transaction and is convinced that it would be distinctly to his'disadvantage, then he keeps his property and he has been guilty of no offence. "That is precisely our position. It is optional with whom we do business. We believe it would be injurious to us to sell certain commodities to Holland or Scandinavia, and, therefore, we decline to sell. There is no question involved of ultimate destination or enemy destination or anv other judicial niceties or violation of treaty rights or well-establish-ed principles of international law; we are simply doing with our own as we have a perfect right to do. We are only doing now what we have always done in time of peace and when we were in friendly relations with all the world. I refer to our tariff policy. Deliberately, to stop trade in certain goods or to restrict it as much as possible, we imposed prohibitory duties. That som'e nations resented, but we were strictly within our rights. Our position, again, is different, to that of other Allies, They, to a certain extent, are dependent upon supplies from some of the neutrals, and there are nolitiral and other considerations which it is not necessary for me to discuss But we need not a dollar's worth ofanything frqm any of the neutrals; that is. it would cause us no excessive hardship it the entire neutral trade was suspended during the war; nor need we have any fear of political consequences. Consequently we are in a position tq enforce the most rigid embargo ever known in history, and our nower will be exerted subject to the wishes of our allies."

The Washington Government, realises that it has in the embargo a weapon so death-dealing that against.'it Germany is powerless. It is more destructive even than the armies America is raising, or the navy co-operating with the Allied navies, or the great fleet of aeroplanes now about to be constructed, or the money which has been so generously placed to the credit tif the Allies. Prevent Germany fom getting food and other supplies from neutral sources, and the collrtpse of Germany is certain. This the Washington Government knows and therefore it stands ready to do its part unless it is prevented by the same policy which, from the beginning of, the war. has hampered the British navy, and mndn the blockade,of Gernlany a shant. The Washington Government has never understood this milk-and-water policy, and when it was neutral often wondered why Germany was treated with so much consideration, and whv such extreme tenderness was shown to neutrals. That is ii _ matter nf course, which no official will publicly discuss, but if the British Government is no longer contented with half measures, and renilv wants to ring Germany with a blockade that will make it impossible for a single pound of contraband to pass through the ring, it will find the Washington Government not only ready to co-operate but- earnest, in ifs determination to go to the extreme limit. There is no timidity here, no faltering, no fear of consequences. President Wilson has only one purpose, and that, is to bring the war to an end as quickly as possible. Will Downing street help him or hamper him?