We agree that there has been a great deal of
exaggeration as to the miraculous effect which would be produced by declaring cotton contraband. If such a step is likely to do good we believe that the Government will take it, for they are certainly aware of the grave consequences of allowing Germany to receive considerable quantities of what is nowa- days one of the chief elements in the manufacture of high explosives. There is, moreover, something to be said for declaring cotton contraband from the point Of view of meeting the complaints of the United States. It appears that the American Government are willing to put up with inconveni- ences and restraint of trade if they are assured that the action by a belligerent rests on historical precedent, but that they are very restive if an appeal to what they consider the proper precedent is not made. What apparently they Would prefer —as a mere matter of formalism, though it is not pretended that it would be of any advantage to the cotton industry— is that we should declare cotton contraband (as they them- selves in effect did in the case of China after the Boxer rebellion), and, for the rest, call into operation the doctrine (which they themselves of course employed) of "continuous voyage," so as to prevent the contraband from entering Germany through neutral countries.
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