The determination of the Allies to enforce the blockade of Germany to the greatest possible extent is being demonstrated by the manner in which the activities of their navies are being spread throughout the world, and the prosecution of blockade measures in the Pacific clearly show that they intend to leave no avenue of supply open for Germany. It is likely that as the months progress even greater efforts will be made in the Pacific to make sure that whatever relief reaches Germany through the Siberian back door will be reduced to a minimum. It is clear from the evidence which is already available that Russia has been making purchases of raw materials to be used chiefly in the prosecution of war, solely on behalf of Germany. Metals which Russia had never before bought from the United States have in recent months been purchased in surprisingly large quantities. It may be that Russia will claim that these have been rendered necessary by the wastage caused by her campaign against the Finns, but as Moscow did not have to purchase such goods for the purpose of originally building up her armaments, the only conclusion to be reached is that while she might be self-sufficient for her own purposes, when it comes to supplying Germany with much needed raw material it has to be bought elsewhere, and despite the fact that freight across the Pacific and haulage across Siberia adds very appreciably to the cost, the fact is that Germany's needs are so great that she has perforce to pay exceptionally heavily Óor them. What Russia hopes to make out of this traffic for herself is undoubtedly an-Other matter, but the chances are that the activities of the Allied naval units in the Pacific will have the effect of ultimately putting an end to this traffic. Obviously while both Russia and Germany would have to pay cash in the United States for their requirements, the effective stopping of this traffic to Germany strikes two blows simultaneously.
Germany loses her purchase money in the United States, and her cargoes at sea, and as that has been the case ever since the commencement of the war, the effect of the Allied blockade must already have been considerable. 1t has been claimed that because of the consideration which the Allies have been giving neutral countries abutting on Germany, considerable quantities of material have been getting into Germany. That the Allies are determined shall cease, for it is apparent that the neutrals engaged in this trade are in fact departing from their neutrality, and are assisting Germany in a manner which the Allies cannot and will not tolerate. If and when the tightening of the blockade comes more fully into force, it is to be expected that the neutrals will protest most vigorously, for they will be deprived what after all is a very profitable line of business for themselves. It is not difficult for the Allies to determine precisely what are the needs of a neutral with regard to those goods which have been declared contraband of war. Obviously if it imports more than it has done on the average during recent years the deduction must be that all excess is in fact destined for Germany.
Control over this can be exercised, and the neutral not deprived of such goods as are necessary to it, and while there may be some hardship arising out of the detention and delay of vessels, there need be no deprivation of goods which the neutral has every right to import. In this connection a general improvement of the blockade in the Near East may also be expected in the not too distant future. What the Allies will do to large supplies of oil reaching Germany across the Black Sea and up the Danube remains to be seen, but the traffic can be stopped and undoubtedly will be when it suits the Allied purpose to do so. The presence of large Allied forces in the Near East are ample guarantee that this can be done when it is deemed advisable, and though the blockade in this war is more difficult to carry out than it was twenty-five years ago, the Allies have the necessary strength to make it ultimately complete.
The difficulty of maintaining the blockade as effectively as it was during the last war is due to two important factors, the first being that with Russia friendly to Germany the task of economically encircling Germany is rendered all the harder, while the second is that certain of the neutrals have adopted an attitude of passive belligerency with which the Allies find it particularly difficult to deal. Those guilty of the latter appear to fail to realize that the Allies are fighting their batties, and that should they go down in defeat, the history of the past two years has clearly demonstrated what they would have to expect at the hands of a victorious Germany. They are not beng asked to depart from strict neutrality, but in fact to interpret it in a manner which shall confer no benefits upon either of the opponents. That they have been placed under considerable pressure by Germany is well known, but the recent internment of the German U-boat by the Norwegian Government is to be wi comed as some sort of a sign that Norway's attitude toward German pressure is not likely to remain so complacent as it has been up to the present. It still remains to be seen whether Norway will continue to permit Germany te make use of her territorial waters for the purpose of running the blockade and obtaining the valuable cargoes of iron ore which are shipped at Narvik. The entrance of the British naval units into the Skager Rak suggests that it is intended once and for all to put a stop to this particular leakage, and while it may cause very considerable heartburning, the fact remains that this war will have to be fought by precisely the totalitarian means which Germany herself is only too willing to use. That this may wreak hardship upon the neutrals is something which can only be regretted, but it is perhaps just as well to remind them that the sooner the Allies can bring this war to an end the better it will be for them. Their lot is not a particularly enviable one at the moment, but what would it be like if Germany were to emerge from this war victorious.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.