MEDITERRANEAN MENACE

A few weeks ago the U. S. was bristling with anger at Britain for her illegal seizures of mail, and for holding up the Manhattan days on end at Gibraltar. Now the Government finds itself faced with the German threat that American ships which touch at Gibraltar are "legal" prey for U-boats. More and more, this country is finding that even as efficient a Neutrality Act as the one now in force can open up a lot of holes under pressure. And yet, if the President and Secretary of State, in their administration of the Act, will be true to the spirit of its writers, they will do a much better job of keeping America out of danger abroad.

When the Act was passed, one of the main talking points of its partisans was the noble, self-sacrificing clause that swept profitable American shipping from the war zones. Many shipping companies lobbied desperately against this provision, but Congress spurned what it considered a mere selfish plea, and proudly passed the cash-and-carry law. But it left up to the President the job of designating the war zones, the areas where U. S. ships must not go. His execution of his duty has not lived up to the high moral stand of the framers of the Act. American ships are still allowed to enter the Mediterranean, where they must undergo inspection by the English at Gibraltar, and run the German risk both inside and outside that narrow strait. Both these conditions are crammed with possibilites for U. S. involvement.

Naturally the President cannot declare a war zone in any part of the high seas where the Germans or the English choose to make a threat. If this policy were followed, soon we would hardly dare to run a boat from New York to Savannah. But the Mediterranean is a different matter. Flanked by suez and Gibraltar, it rests well under the British thumb, and so is a natural operating area for German U-boats. This stretch of water is bound to bring trouble to any neutral who dabbles in it, and none that gets out of it could be accused of over-cautiousness, America, having no vital interests there, can and should pull its fingers out of this fire.