The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-04

I1Shed, governing neutral trade in time of war, with out limitation or impair ment by Orders in Council or other municipal legislation by the British | government, and will not recognize the validity of prize court proceedings talk ] en under restraints imposed by British municipal law in derogation of the rights of American citizens under in 1 ternati onal law.
 BRITISH ANSWER ON PRIZE COURT PRoOEDURE.
 Ambassador w. H. Page to the Sec retary of State:
 (Telegran.) American Embassy, London, July S1. 1915.
 have today received the following note from Sir Edward Greys: | Foreign Office, July 31, 1915.
 Your Excel1ency: CD I have the
 honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note. dated 16th inst, in which | you were good enough to conmuni- cate to me for the information of his Majesty's government the opinion held by the government of the United States that, in view of differences I which they understand to exist be- tween the two countries as to the, prin-
 cip1es of law applicable in cases be-
 fore the Prize Court they could not recognize the validity of proceedings | taken ms A4dJG HT1Ze SOnIL III l derogatton of the rights of citizens of 1 the United States.
 ! CD do not understand to what di- l yergence of views as to the principles l of law applicable in eases before the l Prize Court the government of the
 United States refers. for I am not l aware of any differences existing be- l tween the two countries as to the prin- ciples of law applicable in eases be- l fore such courts.
 | (S). British prize courts, according l to the ancient form of commission un- 1 cases which come before them, ac- I cording to the course of Admiralty
 and the law of nations and the sta tutes of rules and regulations for the
 time being in force in that behalf | As to the principles applied by the
 American prize courts. aI note that in the case of the Amy Warwick e Sprague, 1239 1t was held that prize l courts are subject to the instructions I of their own sovereign. In the ab- I sence of such instructions their juris- I diction and rules of decision are to be a ascertained by reference to the known 1 powers Of such tribunals and the prtn-. l ciples of which they are governed un- l der the public law and the practice T of nations It would appear, there I fore, that the principles applied by fl the prize courts of the two countries #l are Identical
 l Quotes Lord Stowe1. I. 4. As illustrating further the atti-
 tude adopted by the judges of British Il lprizes courts toward these two sources Of law, the municipal legislation of it's
 sovereign on the one hand and the
 pr ciHless of internal onaI Iawon the Il otherL should like to refer your Ez- cs1lenev to- aselassicaI passage in the judgment of Lord stowsH in She case
 
 Judge observed in the course. sof the discussion:
 A question has been stated: li What would be the duty of the
 court under Orders in Council Fl that were8 repugnant to the law of nations? It has been con Il tended on one side that the court s would at all events be bound to
 enforce the Orders in Council. on the other that the court would be bound to apply the rule of the law. of nations adapted to the particular case, in disregard of the Orders in Council. , This court is bound to adrninis- ter the law Of nations to the sub- jects of other countries in the different relations in which they | may be placed toward this coun- : : Is.t try and it's Government. That 1T is what others have right to de- mand for their subjects, and to complain if they receive it not This is it's unwritten law, evfdenc- ed in the course of it's decisions and collected from the common
 usage of civilized States. At the same time. it is strictly true that E by the Constitution of this coun- try the King in Council possesses 3 legislative rights over this court and has power to issue orders l and instructions, which it is bound to obey and enforce; and these constitute the written law of this court
 3 These two propositions that the court is bound to administer the law of nations and that it is ! bound to enforce the Kings Or 7 ders in Council, arc not at all in 3 consistent with each other, be- cause these orders and instruc- aj tions= are presumed to conform 3 themselves, under the given cir 2 cunstances, to the principles of I tits unwritten law. They are either directory applications Of
 those principles to the cases indi- g cated in thena-cases which, with g all the facts and, circumstances yI belonging to them and which con- . stitute their legal character, could = be but inperfectly known to the e court Itself; or they are positive e regulations consistent with these e principles, applying to matters s which require more exact and > definite rules than those general g principles are capable of furnish d ing.
 e The constitution of this court. d relatively to the legislative power n of ~the King in Council. is analo- h gous to that of the Courts of Com Il mon Law relatively to that of the -i Parliament of this Kingdom. al These courts have their unwrtt- y ten law, the approved reasons. e| principles of natural reason and ri justice they have likewise the - written or statute law in Acts of n Parliament, which are directory
 applications of the same princi-s
 pIes to particular subjects or pos-