The times., 1898-04-28
Vessels on the High Seas When
War Is Declared.
THE CASE OF THE PANAMA
She Was Milking for IA EIocI.adcd
Port and Knew the Condition of
AGnirs-rrize Courts May BE De-
pended Ipon-Some Doubt About
the Buena Ventura.

/ apprehension as to the status Of the
Spanish ships captured in the vicinity of
/ Cuba and brought to Key West as prizes;
a misrepresentation caused by the procla-
nation OF the President granting ships of
the enemy until tn e2lst of May to get out
of our ports and granting those which
sailed to our ports prior to that date
permission to enter and unload and sail
unmolested to any port not bIockaded
A Times representative yesterday inter
viewed three of the leading members of
theSenate Committee On Foreign Relations
on this subject While each of these men,
ali well versed in international law. has
decided views on the subject they would
not permit themselves to be quoted for
I obvious reasons. Each. however, took
the ground that there was no possible
doubt concerning the validity of the seiz,
ure of any of the ships that have been
I captured with the possible exception of
the Buena Ventura. and that, il is claim
I ed by two of these senators. is a legal
subject for the prize court. In each case
these ships We're headed for a blockaded
port They We're on the high seas and
subject to capture as property of the
before the blockade was made effective,
bat not until after hostilities had begun.
/ Hostilities began the moment Minister
Woodford was handed his passports on
The 2lst of this month. The Government
OF Great Britain recognized that date in
its proclamation of neutrality.
The comfy that should exist between
nations. said one OF the best authorities
on International law in the Senate. can
not be ruthlessly set aside even by the
stern realities Of war. If. when war is
declared. there are ships Of the enemy
in cur ports we are bound TO give them
the right to depart. Ii would not do for
US TO give them this permission and then
set a ship Of war at the entrance to the
port to seize them when they are about
to leave. That would be a trick of
which nations could not be guilty These
ships came into our ports while there
were friendly relations between the two
governments and are entitled 10 depart
in the same manner to any port not
blockaded so long as they do not carry
contraband goods After they reach
such port and then continue their journey
they are subject TO seizure The proc
lamation Of the President simply gives
the ships Of the enemy this privilege but
il does not relieve them from the re-
sponsiblity that attach to an effort to
run a blockade.
Subjects for Seizure
I'm the same way the ships of the
enemy that are on the high seas are the
legitimate subjects for seizure by our own
. .lhfr Of h.
[ gin. If their time of sailing antedated
the commencement of the war and they
were bound for the United States they
may pursue their journey to the ports
1 Of the United States and discharge their
cargoes and leave at once. Under such
' circumstances such ships are entitled to
|, proceed to their destinations without him
drance on the part Of the men of war of
: the United States. The ships of the enc
my. however bound for ports not OF the
| United States are subject to capture
wherever they may be found IN this
class is each Of those which have been
carried TO Key West
The right of the United States to seize
the Panama has been questioned but,
in the opinion Of international law ex-
perts. there Is no doubt as to the Ie-
gality of this prize The Panama was
making for a blockaded port. She left
New York with the intention Of making
Havana. ii possible. before hostlitfes
broke out; she had fun knowledge of
the situation, and when she reached the
neghborhood Of Havana she knew that
the blockade had been established. In
attempting to enter the harbor she was
clearly violating all the principles of
international law as applied to blockades,
and was promptly seized for that viola
ton.
In his instruction to Mr.. Sartiges, in
1852 Mr.. Hunter Acting Secretary of
State, wrote: The rule requiring a no
tice of blockade applies. at the utmost,
only 10 vessels about entering block
AIDED port in ignorance OF the existence
of a blockade" but this referred solely
TO the vessels of neutrals and not bel
ligerents. In the prize cases reported in
the second Black reports the principle
IS asserted that 1T is settled rule that
"A vessel in blockaded port is presumed
TO have notice of a blockade as soon as
II commences"
The decisions Of the various courts ali
relate 10 the rights and duties Of ships
of a neutral nation seeking 10 run a
blockade or escape the embargo that
has been laid upon them The enemy has
no rights on the high seas or in the pres
ence Of his opponent except such rights
as are maintained by force Of arms. Only
wnen sailing to or from the ports of the
respective belIigerents in ignorance of the
fact that hostilities have broken out Is
there a deviation from the general prin-
ciple that the ships Of the enemy are
the legitimate prey of the ships Of war
Of the attacking party. On this ground
good lawyers say there rs 40 reason to
doubt the validity of the capture OF
the ships that have been seized.
spain Accepts the Doctrine.
Spain has accepted this doctrine by seiz-
. ing the Saranac. an American vessel.
bound from Australia for Manila in the
Philippine Islands, and will probably en-
phasize the doctrine by the capture Of
every American ship she can find on the
high seas. The subject of what is and
what is not a legal capture in such cases