dan, 7
Ir has been made clear by President Wilson that the American Note to Great Britain, was despatched to London in the interests of American trade. It is equally obvious that the views taken by the Washington Administration in the early days of the war of America's duties as a neutral have been modified in portant. particulars in the interests of trade and commerce. On December 7 ''a radical extension of the neutrality laws' of the United States was proposed by Senator Hitchcock, of Nebraska, a leading Democratic member of the Foreign Relations Committee. The Jill presented forbade the shipment of orris and aramunition to be used against countries with which the United States is at peace. At the same time Mr. Hitchcock submitted a resolution, which the nate passed without objection, calling upon the Department of Commerce for information as to shipments of arms and ammunition to Europe since the outbreak of war, the countries for which the shipments were destined and the amount of the ordinary trade arms in times of peace. Pre= sident Wilson's statement that rear embarrassment has been ed to the Government ecru shippers: concealed con-din non-contraband—cardoes, for instance, cotton," corroborates the inference made by Mr. Hitchcock. The Fill is closely related to one which the sime Senator introduced in the closing days of the last session to forbid the lending of money by American bankers to belligerent Powers, and both Bills in easentials embody the views taken by the Administration in August, when the State Department strongly discouraged certain New York banks from floating " loan for France.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.