The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-06

10 the fullest eXent, and It is only a
question of policy which would prevent
its exercise in any war which might
come along.
PRIVATEERING EXPENSIVE
The conditions of modern naval war
fare have leSSened the dcsirahiltY Of
priNateerng from the standpoint both
uf the privateer and the national gov
eminent The prizes worth capturing
now would be steamers, and for this
reason priVatCcrS would necessarily be
steamers also. The cost of steamers.
Of their maintenance and the difficulty
of obtaining coal abroad would render
privatecrinr very uncertain and eX
pensiVe, especially as the remunCratiNe
prizes would he the large, fast and
probably partially armed merchant
steamers without convoy. The dilliCul-
ty of capturing these and getting them
into port after CAPTURE would render
priVateering a very doubtful financial
venture, especially as without proper
adjudication and sale, which could only
be done in home port, the privatcer
would have no reCOmpcnse.
Non-COmmiSsioned vessels have a
right to resist when summoned To
surrender to public ships or privateers
of the enemy. The crews which make
such resistance have bellgerent privi-
leEcs, and it is a natural consequence
of the lcgitimatencss of their acts
that if they succeed in capturing their
assailants the capture is a good one
for the purpose of changing the owner
ship Of the property taken and of
making the enemy prisoners Of war.
NEUTRALS AND CONTRABAND.
This government has not yet Off
Cally prescribed a list of articles
which it will treat as COntraband of
war. Each government is competent
to prescribe it's own list for the guild
ance of its own authorities. Such list
is conclusive upon the government
| making it and upon all neutral ma
tions, in the absence of any disregard
| of treaty engagement and of interna-
tional law. Any grave disregard of
such a treaty obligation would per-
| haps provoke the intcrpOstion of any
| neutral state affected. Until such list
is prescribed the question whether ar
lltltS tdpluItu ttlt COnlTdDdllu Ol war
will be governed generally by the law
of nations, and specifically by the
treaty stipulations between the bel
| ligerent captor ana the neutral state
/ to whose subject the articles belong.
! International law gives no hard and
| fast rule for the determination of the
| question whether articles are contra
| band, except the general rule that all
| articles destined for an enemy's
use are COntraband. Many articles,
| such as provisions, coal, etc, are Of
| an equivocal character, and if des-
! tined for the enemy's use, are deemed
| contraband. 1t follows that if such
| lists should be prepared by the United
! States and Spain, they may be identi-
| cal or may be widely divergent, de-
! pending on the policy Of each govern
| ment. The action Of each govern
ment will bind only itself, and it's own
| prize courts and neutrals. The ques-
tion whether contraband or not might,
| therefore, depend on whether the
| Captor was American or Spanish And
! shippers i'm neutral vessels would not
| only consider the character Of the
! goods shipped, but whether destined
| for American or Spanish ports, and
| whether the goods are included in the
! list denounced as contraband by the
one or the other state.