duties of the Royal Naval
Reserve was the task of mine sweeping. Over seven hundred mine-sweeping
vessels were constantly employed in keeping an area of 7,200 square
miles clear for shipping. These ships swept 15,000 square miles monthly,
and steamed over 1,100,000 miles in carrying out their duties.

It would be hard to overestimate the effect of the British blockade of
the German ports upon the fortunes of the war. The Germans for a long
time attempted, by the use of neutral ships, to obtain the necessary
supplies through Holland, Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland. Millions of
dollars' worth of food and munitions ultimately reached German hands.
The imports of all these nations were multiplied many times, but as the
time went on the blockade grew stricter and stricter until the Germans
felt the pinch. To conduct efficiently this blockade meant the use of
over 3,600 vessels which were added to the auxiliary patrol service.
Over 13,000 vessels were intercepted and examined by units of the
British navy employed on blockade channels.

The Germans protested with great vigor against this blockade, and
ultimately endeavored to counteract it by declaring unrestricted
submarine warfare. In fact, Great Britain had gone too far, and vigorous
protests from America followed her attempt to seize contraband goods in
American vessels.

The code of maritime law, adopted in the Declaration at Paris of 1856,
as well as the Declaration in London of 1909, had been framed in the
interests of unmaritime nations. The British plenipotentiaries had
agreed to these laws on the theory that in any war of the future Britain
would be neutral. The rights of neutrals had been greatly increased. A
blockade was difficult to enforce, for the right of a blockading power
to capture a blockade runner did not cover the whole period of her
voyage, and was confined to ships of the blockading force. A ship
carrying contraband could only be condemned if the contraband formed
more than half its cargo. A belligerent warship could destroy a neutral
vessel without taking it into a port for a judgment. The transfer of an
enemy vessel to a neutral flag was presumed to be valid, if effected
more than thirty days before the outbreak of war. Belligerents in
neutral vessels on the high seas were exempt from capture. The Emden
could justify its sinking of British ships, but the English were
handicapped in their endeavor to prevent neutral ships from carrying
supplies to