The Washington herald., 1914-08-09
WHAT IS CONTRABAND?
,..,cr,I RuI. Laid Down hy Confer
crr- of London in I9OS.

~ r.,s- interest 20 Ae-2.csn shippers IS
+ he. .r.,>,.r" @: what cArsCeS NAY he
sale. 80. I'D to belLEe-e-is- Confusion
So. ,N.~-- n the definition o; cOEiTa2aEd
/ ca.,s- ....r thanks 70 the Conference o.
. I..,,....~ held N $3.50, certain genera!
lr,h.nl.tIes can he aid down
Arms. ammunition. exc. are known as
abs. AZ, ,uuIrAbanG" and arr liable
o.. S...zu-r when SHIPPED by a ne-tra. 10
the territory % a be lgerenL FcocstGfIs
And fuel. rlothirC. gold. vessels. railway
and telegraph equipment. ha-oons anu
living machines. and similar articles
which can be used in warfare. hui which
are not necessarily so used, are termed
conditional contraband.' They are sub
iect TO capture only i It IS shown that
the goods are destined for the use "
armed forces Finally there IS a consider
able number OF articles which cannot ne
regarded as contraband Of war under any
conditions The list OF goods exempt
from seizure comprises such products
as raw cotton and the other raw ma
terials of tn. textile industries, raw hides.
ores papcr. machinery. and furniture.
Thu, classification follows common sense
distinctions, is will be seen. the exempt
list comprising all those articles which
are not susceptible of use in war n
fortunately. there is some doubt 70
what extent these rules of the Declare
ton Of London will he binding IN Euro
pean war. This country has ratified these
rules, but some other countries have not,
and there may be nations which will de-
clare their own rules as TO contraoand.
varying in certain respects from the
above. The subject has been fruitful
source Of diplomatic wranGlinE IN the
past. and it is useless to expect complete
agreement in the future.
Under all precedents, contrahand goods
are liable to condemnation. and the YES
sci as well may be condemned II the con-
traband cargo forms more than half OF
the total cargo. reckOned either nv value,
weight, volume. or freight. Such ship
ments constitute no violation Of neutral
ity however. and there is no obligation
upon a neutral nation to prevent us
citizens from shipping 4 whole hnat.oad
of arms IL they desire to do so and care
to run the risk of COnhscation in the
event Of capture.
One moot problem relates to indirect
shipments. Generally speaking. commerce
between neutrals is undisiurbed by war.
But England originated the doctrine Of
continuous voyages" by which bC!l!S-
erent could look to the ultimate destinA-
ton OF a cargo. and IL that destination
was to be the territory of a belliGerent
the contender could at once treat the
shipment as contraband under the gener-
al TuleS. L ne CIduCtS AIt NLldL NAlA9 Nv
trine will prevail in future wars.
OF course. when a blockade has been
publicly declared and made actually ef-
fective. a different situation arises. Then
any running of the blockade subjects YES
sci and cargo to seizure, regardless OF the
nature OF the cargo or its detination
The doctrine of contraband has no appll-
cation to a blockade. and 1t IS alto
gether possible that a European strug-
gle would soon eliminate the question OF
contTaband. II the English and French
fleets prevail at sea, as their strength on
paper would forecast. there would De
prompt blockade OF the German and Aus
TRAN coasts which would entirely pre-
vent all shipments to those countries:
and, OF course, with the German fleet on
the high seas. shipments to the members
Of the Triple Entente would be in no
danger Of seizure as contraband--NeW
York Tribune.