e of an enemy
possessing the means and opportunity to make an effective defense by the
use of submarines, mines, and air craft; but it can hardly be maintained
that, whatever form of effective blockade may be made use of, it is
impossible to conform at least to the spirit and principles of the
established rules of war.

If the necessities of the case should seem to render it imperative that
the cordon of blockading vessels be extended across the approaches to
any neighboring neutral port or country, it would seem clear that it
would still be easily practicable to comply with the well-recognized and
reasonable prohibition of international law against the blockading of
neutral ports, by according free admission and exit to all lawful
traffic with neutral ports through the blockading cordon.

This traffic would, of course, include all outward-bound traffic from
the neutral country and all inward-bound traffic to the neutral country,
except contraband in transit to the enemy. Such procedure need not
conflict in any respect with the rights of the belligerent maintaining
the blockade, since the right would remain with the blockading vessels
to visit and search all ships either entering or leaving the neutral
territory which they were in fact, but not of right, investing.

The Government of the United States notes that in the Order in Council
his Majesty's Government give as their reason for entering upon a course
of action, which they are aware is without precedent in modern warfare,
the necessity they conceive themselves to have been placed under to
retaliate upon their enemies for measures of a similar nature, which the
latter have announced it their intention to adopt, and which they have
to some extent adopted, but the Government of the United States,
recalling the principles upon which his Majesty's Government have
hitherto been scrupulous to act, interprets this as merely a reason for
certain extraordinary activities on the part of his Majesty's naval
forces and not as an excuse for or prelude to any unlawful action.

If the course pursued by the present enemies of Great Britain should
prove to be in fact tainted by illegality and disregard of the
principles of war sanctioned by enlightened nations, it cannot be
supposed, and this Government does not for a moment suppose, that his
Majesty's Government would wish the same taint to attach to their own
actions or would cite such illegal acts as in any sense or degree a