A SEIZED TRAWLER.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 511, 19 May 1909, Page 7

A SEIZED TRAWLER.

GERMAN ACTION. ACQUITTAL BUT NO COMPENSATION. •. PAYMENT FOR DAMAGE. (DI TllEajlAMl—lttESa ASSOCIATION— COPIBJOHT.) ; (Rec. May 18, 9.15 p.m.) ~-. London, May 18. , Replying in the House of Commons, to a question asked by Sir Geo. Doughty (Unionist member for Great Grimsby), the UnderSecretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr. T. M'Kinnon Wood, stated that tho Gorman Government was of opinion that the seizure, in May of last year, of the Grimsby trawler General in the' North Sea was justified, although, the [.captain of the trawler was acquitted by theGerman Court on tho charge.of illegal fishing. Germany also claimed that there was no ground for. compensation.; '.'■ Mr. Wood added that nothing further was possible in the circumstances.! There was no ground for arbitration, as Goj-many had paid for the damage done to tho trawler. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE .SEIZURE. .;'• .Last., year the .'Genera,! and several 'other British filing trawlers wero interfered .with. The Germans alleged-that they were fishing in German territorial waters. Tho territorial limit is three miles, and it has been suggested that much of the trouble is caused by differences in English and German charts, the Germans allying that' English trawlers' charts are '• obsolete. But it is alleged that in some cases British trawlers have been interfered with by German gunboats at a distance of nine miles: from the German coast. In tho case of the General, the German Court dismissed the charge "for want of evidence." The -. circumstances. are that in May, .while tho General was steaming to Ymuiden, she was, it was stated, peremptorily stopped by. tho German cruiser Zieten.. The trawler,' it is declared, was then sevenr miles off the German coast, with the gear stowed away, but, despite protestations; the: General was ordered to precede tho gunboat, to Cuxharen, and a German officer took charge : for navigation purposes. At Cuxhaven, after 24 .hours' detention, the skipper was released, without apology. The Germans declined to allow the skipper tp.ico his fish, the consequence being that a large portion went bad, and about .£IOO was lost in the sale of the catch at Ymuiden. ■ ■ . • The owners of the. trawler, Jeffs Brothers, of Grimbsy, complained to the Foreign Office on the ground of the illegal arrest of the General and 'the illegal arrest of the skipper, Mr. Cnmmer. That was a year ago. and the result—or lack : of result—is reported in today's cablegram.