The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1909-03-26
NAVAL WAR
CODE
LONDON CONFERENCE FOR
INFLATED DECLARATION
OF PRINCIPLES.
Will Be Guide for Government OF
International Prize Court to Be
Established at the Hague Sew
eral Changes of Importance
From Old Practice.

Washington, March 23.-The declar-
alton of principles regarding the law
If maritime war agreed upon by the
conference of the ten principal mari
time nations of the world, held in
London during the last winter and
known as the maritime conference,
we're made. publ, at the state depart
ment yesterday
The principles enunciated in the dec
laration are to act as guide for the
government of an international prize
court to be established at The Hague.
The American delegates are satisfied
the code contains much that will be of
great advantage in time of war. This
is especially the case with the articles
treating of contraband, the estimate
being made that under the head Of con-
ditional contraband exports approx
mating at this time 5000, 900, 600 a
year would be affected in the event of
war, and under the head of free contra
band exports approximating $500, OO0,-
900.
The essence of the declaration on
blockade is that it must be confined to
the ports and coasts belonging to or &C.
cupied by the army and that the block
ade to be binding must be effective.
The Anglo-American doctrine of no.
tice of blocka lie was adopted as against
the continental. This is that notice
through diplomatic channels of the es-
tablishment of such blockade is suffi-
Gent
Compromise on Contraband
A compromise was reached in the
matter of the doctrine of continuous
voyage, all parties making concessions,
but the main features of the Anglo
American doctrine that the ultimate
destination of the contraband shall
determine whether such cargo is sub
ject to seizure as cOntraband is retained
in thee ase Of absolute contraband, but
is given up in the case of conditional
contraband. On the question of con-
tranand, the conference adopted these
classifications Absolute, conditional,
not contraband.
Absolute contraband includes gener-
ally articles and implements of war
and that which may be used in war
Conditional contraband includes food
supplies, fodder and grain, clothing
suitable for military use, gold and sill
yer, coined and in bars, and paper rep
resenting money; airships and flying
machines; fuel. lubricants, powder and
explosives not especially designed for
war use, barbed wire, horse shoes and
shoeing outfits.
Articles which canont be declared
contraband of war include: Raw cot
ton, raw wool and other raw materials
of textile industries, natural and artifi-
cial fertilizers, comprising nitrates and
phosphates susceptible of use in agri-
culture; ores, chinaware and glass
ware, paper, agricultural machinery,
mahcinery used in mines, textile in
dustries and printing.
Article seven provides that any
person belonging to the armed forces
of the enemy and found Oh board a
neutral vessel may be made a prisoner
of war, even though there be no ground
for Selling the vessel.
To meet the situation arising during
the Russo-Japanese war, when neutral
vessels were seized by the Russians
and sunk on the high seas because she
had no nearby ports to which to take
them. the conference declared in arti-
Gle 48 that a neutral vessel which had
been seized cannot be destroyed by the
captor, but must be conducted into the
proper port in order that the validity
of the capture my be determined upon.
AS an exception to this rule it is de-
clared that a neutral vessel seized by
a belligerent and which is subject to
confiscation may be destroyed if the
observance of article 48 might jeopar l.
ize the safety of the war vessel or the
success of the operations in which the
latter is actually engaged.
The transfer of hostile vessel to a
neutral flag, when it takes place before
the beginning of hostilities, shall be
valid unless it be proven that the
transfer was made for the purpose of
escaping the consequences which would
follow because the vessel belonged to
the enemy.