It would be an impertinence for an English newspaper to
say anything which might look like interfering in the very slightest degree with a purely domestic American matter, As friends of America we cannot, however, refrain from two respectful comments. One concerns the great danger of complications which may arise if a neutral Government suddenly plunges into the shipping business and uses newly acquired enemy vessels for general commercial purposes, including the carrying of semi-contraband goods to enemy ports. Here we would once more invoke the useful analogy of the American Civil War. What would Americana have called our action if, when we could not get cotton for starving Lancashire, the British Government had bought a fleet of Confederate or other vessels and sent them under the Union Jack to break down the blockade of the Southern ports and bring back cotton? One can imagine what the Biglaw Papers would have bad to Bay upon "J. B.'s " theories of neutrality. Secondly, apart from international considerations, it seems to us most important that America should realize the enormous economic losses which must occur from this particular form of Government trading. It is preposterous to suggest that men like Senator Lodge and Senator Root are acting from partisan motives when they point out the economic dangers of the Shipping Bill.
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