The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-06-22

The Century Dictionary defines the right
OF search as the right claimed by one ma
ton to authorize the commanders of their
lawfully commissioned cruisers to enter pri-
Vate merchant vessels Of other nations met
with on high seas, to examine their papers
and cargo and to search for enemies prop
erty, articles contraband Of war, ETC."
war vessels, of course, are not searched,
one reason being that they are not engaged
IN conveying merchandise, and another that
they are considered as the direct representa-
tlVes OF the governments of neutral states,
and as such their integrity Is respected.
The right of search, Wharton's Digest Of
International Law says, cannot be Dues
TONED as belligerent right, "but search
must be conducted with as much regard to
the rights and safety Of the vessel detained
as is consistent with a thorough examina-
ton Of the character and voyage. Any de-
tention of the vessel beyond what is neces-
sary Is unlawful. as Is also any transgres-
sion of the bounds within which the exam
ination should be confined"
1t is not, according to the same authority
right Wantonly to vex and harrass
neutral commerce or to indulge the idle and
miSchievous curiosity of looking into neutral
trade or the assumption of a right to con-
trol 1t. 1t is a right growing out of and
ancfliary to the right Of capture and can
never exist except as means to that end"
A belligerent may exercise his right to de-
tain for examination over every vessel not
national vessel which he may come upon
on the seas that is outside the three mile
limit of the territory of neutral countries.
The right may of course be exercised in the
territorial waters of both belligerents. He
is within the law if he resorts to stratagem
and assumes the guise of friend in order
to make it easier for him to exercise his
right OF search; or he may appear, if he
peaSes, as an enemy. Having a government
contract for the transportation of mails, or
having mail on board does not relieve the
Sfn
the necessity of sending his papers on board
the cruiser if he is required to do So ION
the contrary, he is bound by that circum-
stance to strict performance of neutral
duties and to special respect for belgerent
rights. cruiser of one nation has right
to know the national character of any
strange ship he may meet at sea- but this
right is not a perfect one, and violation
cannot be punished by capture, or even by
detention"
The inquirng commander is required first
to show his colors. If the information he
requested is refused he may fire blank
cartridge and if still his desire for informa-
ton is ignored, he may fire shot across
the bows of the ship he wishes to halt, but
anything he does beyond this Is at his own
peril for the reason that a ships right to
pass on her course depends on what she is
not on what she may enormously be taken
for or suspected Of being.
Where the right to search a ship does
u
enforce it with all means at command I'm
case Of violent resistance to legitimate yisita-
tion," according to Wharton, the vessel so
resisting may be open to condemnation by
a prize court as a prize. But this is not
the case with mere attempt at flight and
there should be no condemnation of q
neutral vessel whose officers, having no rea-
sonable ground to believe in the existence
OF war, resisted search" This because the
right of search can be exercised only when
there is actual war; The search must be
under the direction of the commander Of
the belligerent ship, and conducted by an
officer in uniform. Formerly the belligerent
ship was compelled by the rules of war to
lie to at the distance Of a cannon shot
from the ship halted, but this requirement
has, under the necessity of modern condi-
tons, been modified so that the belligerent
now comes to "at a convenient distance /"
Then two or three officers put over in a
small boat to inspect the papers. etc. of the
other ship. A neutral ship isn't ordinarily
searched If sailing between two neutral
ports. A search must be based on probable
cause, although if it prove that there was no
cause. the arrest of the ship is not held to
have been a wrongful act. but wanton
capture without such cause subjects the
captor to damages"