The age-herald., 1898-11-19
DERELICTS AND
 THE TERESA

Island, one of the lesser islands in the Ba- hama group. British authorities at Nassau,
 late dispatches aver. have decided to claim the cruiser as a derelict, and wreckers from that city have been sent to Cat Island
 to save the vessel.
 Before the question of the present legal status of the Teresa, so far as it involves
 ownership by the American government
 can be ntelligently discussed, two facts
 must be kept prominently before the mind:
 First, that the Teresa is man-of-war tenn porarily resting in waters controlled by one foreign nation at peace with another; second, that at the time of its abandon
 ment on the high sea by it's American com
 mander 1t was still flying the American flag. That it was derelict in the legal acceptation of the phrase there can be lit- tie doubt. Sir Leoline Jenkns an author ity on that subject, thus defines a dere-
 lict Amy boat or vessel forsaken or found
 on the seas without any person in them"
 The condition of the Teresa when first dis
 covered on Cat Island answered these re-
 quirements accurately. These then being
 the facts given, the questions which arise
 out of them and will probably have to be
 settled by maritime court are the fol- lowing:
 The derelict, being in British waters, has
 British court jurisdiction over it. When
 abandoned in mid-ocean by its American
 crew, did the government of the United
 States give up ownership in the cruiser
 even though it's flag was still floating at
 the mast? Does the fact that the vessel is
 a man-of-war, and not a merchantmen,
 alter the conditions, and, if so, to what
 extent? Can the question of extra territo- Il, ,t1
 living person being on board when the ves-
 sel was stranded? And, finally, has the
 United States government the right, this
 vessel being a derelict to go into the wa ters of foreign nation and seek to recover
 that which it once abandoned?
 
 From the very earliest historical period to the present day the question of what
 shall be considered a wreck of the sea, and
 to whom such wreck shall be considered as belonging, has always been fruitful subject of discussion. The laws of the an-
 cient Rhodans made both ship and goods wrecked on their coasts seizable by the lord
 of the place, although the persons in them are saved and alive. The Romans, more l humane, expressly forbade any man to
 meddle with such goods or the wreck it.
 self. and made the plunderer return four fold the value of the things taken. Indeed, they expressly declared that the salvage of wrecks should remain the property Of the original owner without escheating to
 anybody for one year and day, after
 which they escheated to the exchequer.
 These enlightened provisions did not long survive the fall of the Roman Empire for | there is abundant evidence to show that
 during the middle ages it was a very com
 mon practice to confiscate both cargoes and wrecked vessels. The laws of Oleron furnish striking proof of the barbarism of | that age
 | By the common law of England the fiot- l sam and jetsam of the sea, if found in mid
 ocean, was the property of the finder; if found on shore it belonged to the king.
 The statute of Edward l., 4, known as the
 statute of Westminster provided concern ing wrecks of the sea, that where man,
 dog or cat escape quick out of ship, such ship shall not be adjudged wreck and further that Eff anyone can prove that l such were his goods within a year and day the same shall be restored to him." | This is the statute in force today, and as both England and this country act upon it, | the question of ownership of the Teresa, | in that light, need not be further consid- 1 cred.
 | Few. indeed, are the cases in which a merchantmen became derelict under cir cumstances similar to those of the Teresa, and there is absolutely no precedent in- volving a man-of-war. Some years ago the | Constitution, while returning from France | to this country with some exhibits which | had been shown at the exposition, stranded off the English coast. Tugs sent to the | rescue foated the man-of-war again, and | this country offered to pay $1,000 for the | assistance rendered. It was declined, and l suit brought in the admiralty court of England was thrown out of court on the very point of nonjurisdiction, the question of extra territorialty.
 The Constitution case differs from the Teresa in two material points; it was not a derelict and it was a true man-of-waf. That is, its peculiarly distinguishing char acterstc had never been abrogated But the Teresa was still flying it's stand ard when abandoned, and so long as it did so by fiction of international law it still
 remained American territory. If it be ob- jected to this that it was a wreck one can say, Yes, but so was the Maine in the har-
 bor of Havana, and so long as the flag loated the Maine remained American ter
 ritory. "The flying of the flag" says Wharton, defines territory on the high
 seas" How then, can Great Britain claim jurisdiction over the Teresa?
 The decisions of the admiralty courts in the cases of derelict merchantmen are all uniform. They remain the property of the original owner, a fair salvage alone going l to the men who save the derelict. This | principle ruled in the case of the schooner | Wells Burt found in midlake off Evanston, | H., in May, 1883; in the Manitoba aban- | doned in Lake Huron in October of that | year; in the Fairfield, derelict picked up l off Tybee lighthouse, Georgia, in 1886, and | score of others
 | Where, then, is Britains authority in | claiming the Teresa? The law is certainly | on this side But the expressions of the | Nassau authorities may be simply the echo | of desire on their part to earn a few
 more dollars by doing the wrecking them l selves.
 | The American nation is not a sentimental | nation, and yet every patriot devoutly l wishes the addition of the Teresa to our | list of fighting craft Tender recolections | cluster around that erstwhile famous cruiser. the pride of the Snanish naonla IT