Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-02
Officials Indicate 1t Will Super
sede Hague Convention in
Case of Prize Ship.
DEMAND MADE FOR LINER
BY BRITISH AMBASSADOR
Neutrality Board Meets and Consid-
ers Facts of the Situation-State
Department Undecided.

Gated today that if the Appam,
the British passenger liner which
was brought into Norfolk yester-
day by :. German prize crew, final
ly is to be held as prize, the
Prussian-American treaty Of 1928
is more likely to govern the case
than is The Hague convention.
This would mean that the Ap-
pam would be turned over to her
German captors, and in that case
some German officials expressed
the view that the prize crew,
rather than let her fall back into
the hands of the British, as would
seem inevitable if she left port,
might take the ship to the three
mile limit and sink her.
In case she is held to have be-
come a German fleet auxiliary she
will have the choice of leaving
port after certain time for sup
plies or repairs or interning for
the war, as have the Prinz Eitel
Friedrich and the Kronprinz Will
helm.
Provisions Of Original Treaty.
The original Prussian-American
treaty Of 1893 provided:
The vessels of war, public and pri-
vate, of both parties shall carry free
ly wheresoever they please the vessels
and effects taken from their enemies
without being obliged to pay any
duty charges or fees to officers of ad-
miralty. of the customs or any others;
nor shall such prizes be arrested,
searched or put under legal process when
they come to and enter the ports of the
other party, but may freely be carried
out again at any time by their captors
to the places expressed in their COM
missions which the commanding Off
Ger of such vessel shall be obliged
to show.
But. conformably to the treaties ex-
listing between the United States and
Great Britain. no vessel that shall have
made a prize upon British subjects
shall have a right to shelter in the
ports of the United States. but if forced
therein by tempest or any other danger
or accident of the sea. they shall be
obliged to depart as soon as possible -
This latter provision would have com
PEELED the departure of the Appam to
the almost certain fate of British
cruisers off the capes. but the treaty
expired by limitation In 1910 and when
it was renewed this latter provision
which removed British vessels from the
scope of the article was specifically
eliminated and the treaty of 1928.
which now is in force, gives German
prizes the right to come and go.
Asks for Return of Ship.
Sir Cecil Spring Rice, the British am
bassador. today formerly asked Secre-
tary Lansing for the release of the
Appam and return to her British own
ers under article 81 of The Hague con-
vention, which the British authorities
claim has superseded the Prussian-
American treaty. The Secretary took
the ambassadors argument under con-
sideration.
British officials here scout the theory
that the raider Moewe slipped through
the Kiel canal under Swedish coIors
and got out into the Atlantic. They
have a theory she is German mer-
chairman which got out of an Azores
port nearly year ago and has been
missing since. They have no theory as
to how she got her armament.
Secretary Lansing said early today
that the State Department had yet
made no decision of the attitude to-
ward the Appam.
Claimed as Prize of War.
Rear Admiral Beatty, commanding
the Norfolk navy yard, has reported
that Lieut.. Berg claims the ship is
prize of war. The German embassy
has not yet determined whether 1t will
claim the Appam is an auxiliary cruis-
er or a prize.
The formalities surrounding the release
OF passengers and other non -combatants
on the ship will be taken up today.
1t was made clear that the NAVY De-
partment would take no cognizahce of the
Appam until the State Department had
decided her status.
IL be ueClueO tndI ln6 vessel Is
an auxiliary cruiser liable to internment
it was said, the navy would provide
marine guard. This would not be done
however. until authorized by the State
Department, and until then the vessel is
not held to be within the province of the
navy
Neutrality Board Meets.
Early today the neutrality board, the
unofficial advisory body composed of
James Brown Scott. former solicitor of
the State Department. and Capts Knapp
and Oliver of the navy, had pre-
liminary meeting and considered what
facts have been gathered about the
Appam. Any conclusions it reaches
are not binding upon the State De-
partment. but are accepted as having
weight.
Officials pointed out today that the
case of the British collier Farm, cap
tured by the German cruiser Karlsruhe.
renamed the Odenwald, and finally in
termed in San Juan, Porto Rico, might
be regarded as somewhat similar
case. The British authorities contend
ed the Odenwald should be turned back
to her British owners in the status of a
prize, but the American government
held she had taken on the character of