England and the Threat of Famine
One of the great reasons why England objects to the rules which the governments of earth are trying to formulate regarding war is that it may bring famine to her. For instance, Article 34 of what is called "The Declaration of London," signed by leading naval powers in 1908, decrees that "foodstuffs are liable to capture if they are consigned to a fortified place, or other place serving as a base for the armed forces of the enemy;" but it is declared that every port in England is just such a base as that, and must necessarily be, if England is to be protected. If such foodstuffs, therefore, would be considered contraband in war, and liable to seizure, an active enemy could soon reduce the whole island to famine conditions.