Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-10

from London. also call your attention
/ 20 the official English blue book contain
ing correspondence and documents relat'
| Ing TO this conference, which Is supple.
mentary to the official proceedings. Here
| are the official views of the British
| Government as to the rules Of inter.
national Jaw upon the destruction OIL
| prizes:
1.-THE duty of a bclllgerent captor is
TO bring In, for adjudication by a prize
court, any merchant ship which he has
| seized Where this Is impossible. she
may. II she is an enemy ship, be de-
stroyed after removal Of the crew and
papers; II the nationality Of the ship
IS neutral, or ~ there is any doubt hs
to the nationality, she should be dis
missed, for her destruction cannot be
justified as between the neutral owner
and the captor by any necessity on the
part of n belligerent'
LORD GREY's COMMENT.
I'm the official letter Of Instructions
to the British delegates, Lord Grey fur
ther commented upon this rule:
at is recognized by the universally
acknowledged principles OF international
law that all prizes ought, II possible, to
bo brought into prize court and ought
not. generally npeakIng, to be destroyed
or otherwise dealt with prior to CON
demnatIon. 1t Is, however, generally nd-
mitted that In cases i'm which the captor
finds himself unable, without compromis-
Ing his own safety or affecting the sue
ceHE OF the military operation OH which
he is engaged, or owing to his distance
from any home port, to bring an encmy
merchant vessel in, he may destroy her,
after removing the passengers, crew and
papers, and that If It be established that
she Is in fact an enemy vessel, such de-
struction involves the captor in no la
bility'
80 much for the British view of inter-
national law It is more to the point,
however, to notice that Germany adopted
an Identical stand, Her view of the stua-
ton is expressed in three paragraphs of
her official memorandum, and which refer
not merely to destruction of neutral prizes
but to destruction of all prizes.
THE official statement Of the views of
Germany and of Great Britain, and which
OF course. accord with the views of the
United States, leaves little to be said. 1t
is the same view which Is taken by all
leading authorities on the subject, and
even without authorities to support It,
would represent the most elementary die
tateg OF humanity and civilized conduct.
The plea that the crime was excused by
to me ridiculous. Even taking the notice |
at its face value, American citizens had
no right to assume from II an intention
to commit murder on the high seas and
to destroy the lives of innocent citizens. |
At most, they were justified in taking It
az II notice that Germany would exercise
the exceptional privilege of destroying |
merchant vessels under the accepted con-
ditions Of international law and civilized |
society, The announcement gave no no |
tico of an intention to commit an act of |
murder on the high seas, and, even If II |
had, American citizens surely would have |
been justified in disreRardng ii as an idle |
threat to commit an unthinkable crime.
'As TO the arming OF the Lusitania and |
her possible convoy, there is no rule of |
international law which would in the
slightest degree make either of these facts
a justification for the outrage on Amer
lean citizens which has been committed
She was rot warship ut the time of her
destruction, but n merchantmen engaged
upon her usual route and entitled to the
protection which international law has
accorded to merchantmen from time i'm
memorial"