A scheme was proposed by President Hoover in 1929, whereby all food ships destined for civilian populations were to be declared free from interference in time of war. This scheme was very dully discussed by American lawyers, among owners, (American Journal of International Law, 1980) and the following are the most decisive arguments against i The scheme benefited the land powers only. li. Contraband Control should not permanently injure exporting states, but merely divert their exports in time of war. iii, It is difficult to define foodstuffs, and many foodstuffs may be used for specifically military purposes: og. fatty foods, can be used for propellents and starchy foods will provide alcohol) for fuel. iv. It is equally difficult to define the civil population of any country, and to distinguish it from that part of the population which plays an essentia] part in p country's wer effort. v. The proposal might be applied equally justly to other commodities, for instance fuel end hospital supplies. vi. There would be great practical difficulties in ensuring the immunity of food ships from attack, and in preventing the abuse of that immunity, once secured. issued to local authorities. Although part-time volunteers will not always lose wages as the result of absence from employment, local authorities are now authorized to compensate volunteers for any loss of remunerative time actually incurred, up to a maximum in respect of a working day, of 10s. for a man and 7s. for a woman. The Government, in their turn, will reimburse the local authorities, These decisions arise out of the review which the Home Office has been making of civil defence. The circular points out that:—If a proper state of p against air raids is to be ensured, a reduction in the present costs of maintaining whole-time paid personnel in the vulnerable areas depends largely upon local authorities being able to count upon the availability of unpaid need for their duction and business should not be interfered with unnecessarily by the withdrawal for civil defence duties of persons who would normally be at their work.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.