Frederic' c. 'L'Ariége,' and 'L'Ami de Boston' c. 'La Bellone.' A neutral vessel with a neutral passport, but commanded by a captain born in the enemy's country, is a good prize, although he has been naturalised a neutral after the declaration of war; this is especially so when he has not been domiciled in neutral country, but when he has long resided in neutral country, he is regarded as neutral and the ship is safe; vide 'L'Acteon' c. 'Le Friendship,' 'L'Arms' c. 'La Mascarade,' and 'Le Ruby' c. 'Le Bougainville.' Bills of lading signed by the shippers, but not by the captain, are available to prove the neutral character of goods, if the captain has signed the duplicate, delivered to the shippers; vide 'La Constance' c. ‘Les Deux Amis,' 'La Louise-Auguste' c. ‘Le Bonaparte,' and 'L'Anna'; it was, also, held, in the same cases, that the want of the captain's signature to the duplicates in his own hands, was no cause of capture, as he could have signed them at any time. Where the charter-party does not contain a manifest of the cargo, the bills of lading are necessary to prove its neutral character; vide 'L'Anna.' Where there is no particular bill of lading for a part of the cargo, but the manifest has all the formalities required for bills of lading, it is to be regarded as a general bill of lading, and is sufficient to cover the whole cargo; vide 'Le Wilhelm' c. ‘Le Juste.'1 1 Pistoye et Duverdy, Des Prises, tit. vi. ch. ii. § 4; Dalloz, Réper toire, verb. Prises Maritimes, § 3; Pouget, Droit Maritime, tome i. pp. 423, et seq. The following list, extracted from Mr. Godfrey Lushington's excellent little Manual of Naval Prize Law,' specifies what are the various papers in addition to the Custom House clearance, the manifest of cargo, and the bills of lading which may usually be found on board the vessels of the principal Maritime States, viz. :— Austria. Scontrino ministeriale (certificate of registry). Patente sovrana (royal license). Giornale di navigazione (official log-book). Scartafaccio, giornale di navigazione cotidiano (ship's log-book). Ruolo dell' equipaggio (list of crew). Bill of health. Denmark. Royal passport, in Latin, with translation (available only for the voyage for which it is issued, unless renewed by attestation). Certificate of ownership. Build-brief. Admeasurement-brief. Burgher-brief (certificate that the master is a Danish subject). Muster-roll. § 22. Vessels of discovery, or of expeditions of exploration and survey, sent for the examination of unknown seas, islands, and coasts, are, by general consent, exempt from the Finland. Materbref (certificate of measurement). Belbref (certificate of build). Journalen (ship's log-book). Charter-party (if vessel is chartered). Folkpass (crew list). France. L'acte de francisation (i.e., certificate of nationality). Le congé (sailing license). Le journal timbré (stamped log-book signed by consul on clearance of vessel). Where a vessel, not on the register, becomes at a foreign port the property of persons qualified to be owners of a British vessel, the British consular officer there may grant a provisional certificate, to be in force for six months or until she arrives at some port where there is a British registrar; and this certificate is to contain the name of the vessel, the time and place of her purchase, and the names of her purchasers, the name of her master, and the best particulars as to her tonnage, build, and description that he is able to obtain. 17 and 18 Vict. c. 104, sec. 54. A pass with the force of a certificate within the time and limits mentioned therein, may be granted in the case of a British vessel before registry to proceed from any one port or place to any other, both being in Her Majesty's dominions. Ibid., sec. 98. Holland. Meetbrief (certificate of tonnage). Bijlbrief (certificate of ownership). Zeebrief (sailing license). Journal (ship's log-book). Charter-party (if vessel is chartered). Monster-rol (Muster-roll). contingencies of war, and therefore not liable to capture. Like the sacred vessel which the Athenians sent with their annual offerings to the temple of Delos, they are respected by Italy. Scontrino ministeriale (certificate of registry). Patente sovrana (royal license). Giornale di navigazione (official log-book). Scartafaccio, giornale di navigazione cotidiano (ship's log-book). Ruolo dell' equipaggio (list of crew). Bill of health. Bülbrev (certificate of build). Norway. Maalebrev (certificate of measurement). Journale (ship's log-book). Charter-party (if the vessel is chartered). Muster-roll or mandskabsliste, or volkelist (list of crew). Vessels purchased by Norwegian subjects in foreign ports are permitted for two years to sail without a bülbrev or maalebrev. Russia. L'acte de construction ou d'acquisition du navire (builder's certificate). La patente portant autorisation d'arborer le pavillon marchand Russe (certificate of nationality). Journal du capitaine (ship's log-book). Charter-party (if vessel is chartered). A passport from a chief magistrate or Commissioner of Customs. Bilbref (builder's certificate). Mätebref (certificate of measurement). Fribref (certificate of registry). Journalen (ship's log-book.) Charter-party (if vessel is chartered). Folkpass or sjemansrubla (muster-roll). Vessels purchased by Swedish subjects in foreign ports are permitted, on application to the Board of Commerce, to sail for one year without a fribref. Certificate of registry. United States. all nations, because their labours are intended for the benefit of all mankind.' Thus, when Captain Cook sailed from Plymouth, in 1776, in the ship 'Resolution,' accompanied by the 'Discovery,' M. de Sartine, the French Minister of Marine, dispatched a letter to the Admiralties and chambers of commerce throughout the kingdom, to be communicated to the owners and captains of vessels cruising as privateers or otherwise, directing them, in case they met at sea, to treat him and his vessels as neutrals and friends, provided that he, on his side, abstained from all hostility. This praiseworthy example has since been followed by all civilised powers toward vessels similarly employed. It is, however, usual and proper for the government sending out such expeditions, to give formal notice to other powers, describing the character and object of the expedition, the number of vessels employed, the nature of their armament, etc., in order that they may issue the proper instructions to their own vessels on the high seas. Such expeditions must confine themselves most strictly to the object in view; if they commit any act of hostility they forfeit their exemption from capture.2 § 23. Fishing-boats have, also, as a general rule, been exempted from the effects of hostilities. As early as 1521, while war was raging between Charles V. and Francis, ambassadors from these two sovereigns met at Calais, then English, and agreed, that, whereas the herring fishery was about to commence, the subjects of both belligerents engaged in this pursuit, should be safe and unmolested by the other party, 1 It has been the invariable practice of European powers to grant safe conducts to ships sent to explore the Arctic regions against being captured by ships of war on their return, in the event of war breaking out during such absence. And on the same principle the Vice-Admiralty Court of Halifax restored to the Academy of Arts in Philadelphia a case of Italian paintings and prints, captured on their passage to the United States by a British ship of war in 1812, 'in conformity to the law of nations, as practised by all civilised countries, and because the arts and sciences are admitted to form an exception to the severe rights of warfare.'-(Stewart, Vice-Ad. R. 482.) A case of books taken on board a prize vessel was restored by the United States to a literary institution of the hostile State, on the ground that it was not the subject of a commercial adventure. (The 'Amelia,' 4 Phil. 412.) Lord Howe considered that the custom of nations at war with each other did not justify an officer in wantonly throwing a casket of public money into the sea.-Lord Howe's Life, p. 479. 2 * Emerigon, Traité des Assurances, ch. xii. § 19. and should have leave to fish as in time of peace. In the war of 1800, the British and French Governments issued formal instructions exempting the fishing-boats of each other's subjects from seizure. This order was subsequently rescinded by the British Government, on the alleged ground that some French fishing-boats were equipped as gun-boats, and that some French fishermen, who had been prisoners in England, had violated their parole not to serve, and had gone to join the French fleet at Brest. Such excuses were evidently mere pretexts; and after some angry discussions had taken place on the subject, the British restriction was withdrawn, and the freedom of fishing was again allowed on both sides. French writers consider this exemption as an established principle of the modern law of war, and it has been so recognised in the French courts, which have restored such vessels when captured by French cruisers.1 § 24. Some have contended that the rule of exemption ought to extend to cases of shipwreck on a belligerent coast, to cases of forced refuge in a belligerent harbour by stress of weather, or want of provisions, and even to cases of entering such ports from ignorance of the war. There are exceptional cases where such exemption has been granted. Thus, when the English man-of-war, the Elizabeth,' had been forced by stress of weather, in 1746, to take refuge in the belligerent port of Havana, the captain offered to surrender himself to the Spanish governor as prisoner, and his vessel as a prize, but the latter refused to take advantage of his distress; on the contrary, he offered him every facility for repairing his 1 Wildman, Law of Nations, p. 152; Martens, Recueil, etc., tome vi. pp. 503, 515; De Cussy, Droit Maritime, liv. i. tit. iii. § 36; liv. ii., ch. xx.; Massé, Droit Commercial, liv. ii. tit. i. § 333. Henry VI. issued orders on the subject of fishing vessels in 1403 and 1406. Emerigon (c. iv. § 9) refers to ordinances of France and Holland, in favour of the protection of fishermen during war. Fishermen were included in the treaty between the United States and Prussia, in 1785, as a class of non-combatants not to be molested by either side. But such exceptions form a rule of comity only, and not of legal decision. Fishing vessels fall under the description of ships employed in the enemy's trade, and as such may be condemned as prize. (The 'Young Jacob,' Rob. 20.) The British Government, in 1810 (then at war with Denmark), having been informed that the inhabitants of the Feroe Islands and Iceland, part of the dominions of Denmark, were reduced to extreme misery, in consequence of the want of their accustomed supplies, ordered that they should not be disturbed by hostilities, but that they should be treated as neutrals. Moreover, a British Consul was appointed to Iceland. |