CAPTURE AT SEA

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2220, 5 August 1914, Page 9

CAPTURE AT SEA

A REAL MENACE

WHAT ARMED MERCHANTMEN CAN DO

In. his mterestmg, monograpli on the subject of "Capture ot. Sea" (1913); Lord -Loreburn (ffie, distinguished' jurist and es-Lord Ohancellor) points out ■ that Internationar.Law allows a b'elli- • ■ gerent State; ih time of: war to capture ••and confiscate the merchant sliips l beJbngmg to private citizens of its enemy State, and whatever enemy merchandise they may contain, hut not neutral Bhips or any .merchandise they may contain ■unless there be some offence against neutrality. ."This.practice; ,, he observes, "has the sanction of long usage in tie past, and originated in the theory :■'■ that when nations'are; at war all their subjects are mutual enemies; and a species of private ;war can legitimately le waged between them. On- land, the theory was gradually discountenanced, though its traces remained'for a long time. At; sea it survived mucn longer :■. in. the sliapo of privateering, ■ a custopi vnaer whioh adventurers were-licensed ■ by a belligerent State to pry upon the commerce of ,'ts enemy. At Inst privateering was ■ abolished by tie Declaration of Paris in 1856, which almost all the Powers nave accepted. Vessels of war are still allowed to pursue this • practice. People in this country are apt to regard the danger of a naval i war in rather an incomplete way. Their apprehensions.are generally.directed towards invasion. '

The Createst World Carriers. "Wβ are not only the greatest naval Power; but also incomparably the greatest maritime State, using the sea far more \ than any other nation in the world. We are the greatest carrying nation on tho sea, and 'reap enormous parrying profits. If we were at war, and our merchant ships liable to cap.tiire, it requires no special wisdom to perceive that neutral merchants would prefer ..to place their goods for carriage in some neutral ship, for although their neutral merchandise would bo released if soized in our vessels, yet it' would bo released in a strange port, where there might be no market, after inevitable delay .and without compensation,. -If tho goods wero perishable tho loss might be total/British merchants also would prefer ,to load their, goods in.a neutral ship, but they would not .be able to take full advantage of this protection,, for the simple reason that there are not enough neutral merchant ships in the world to take over the carriage of our oversea trade-in addition to their own—we own about onnhalf of the. sea-going shipping of the world." Lord Loreburn goes on to suggest that 'there are only two .courses' open to us , : either the mercantile fleet must be transferred out , and. out to .some- neutral owners ( (which involvee also the transfer of our carrying trade), or fly the British flag and take all the risks of war, and tb.© latter course is

inevitable. Result, a rise in freights, added war, premiums, and.other items, and the burden of the increased cost will fall,on the consumer. Centeel Privateering. Although the old days of priyateeriug—whick frequently degenerate<Hnto out and out piraoy—are gone! there has been created something very similar, in the shape of armed merchantmen carrying the imprimatur of Government authority. In 1870. the Prussian Government offered ■ to respect private trading ships during the Franco-German War; but France refused to reciprocate. Prussia then appealed to German sailors and shipowners for a volunteer fleet under naval discipline, anexample which was followed,by the pther Powers. Russia established a volunteer fleet, , to consist of fast vessels, acting as .merchantmen in time of peace but becoming warships in time of war. France subsidises mailboats,. constructed «n plans sanctioned, by the French Admiralty, for incorporation in the navy in the event of war. Great Britain has agreements with several of the big shipping companies to provide armed merchantmen. An incident occurred in 1904, during the Russo-Japanese ■ War, which illustrates the use which may be made of this now departure. The Potersburg and Svolensk, belonging to tho Russian volunteer fleet, left the Black Sea, flying the flag of the, Russian mercantile.marine .(those straits-are closed to warships under various treaties), and parsed through the Suez Canal under the same flag. When they, reached the Red Sea, they hoisted the naval ensign, and the Petersburg, under the war flag, captured the P. and 0.. mailboat Malacca,' oh' a charge of carrying contraband, and either seized, or threatened to seize, other neutral ships, under great pressure by the British Government, they hauled down the flag arid restored their captures. The sequel to this, of course, was an international conference on the subject, and representatives of the leading foreign Powers asserted unequivooably their, right to make use of trading ships for purposes of war, admitting of course their obligation to fly the naval flag on these vessels, and place them under naval discipline; ■■'■•■ '■'■:■" No Blinking the Faot. lord ' Desart, the first British delegate to the Naval Conference, pointed out'the dangers. Neutral ships might sail in company -with; or be in port alongside of a vessel belonging to the volunteer fleet.of.a belligerent without suspecting.tier truo character Such a vessel'might act as a spy in comparative safety, frequent neutral ports, ceive supplies, or stay there for 'any period—a privilege denied to warships —follow, merchant ships at. sea and hoist her the psychological .moment; down again when the occasion prompted. The British delegates wholly failed to persuade or v convince the delegates of other great .Powers. There was not even absolute unani- ; I'inity in recognising the unlawfulness of effecting the conversion of merchantmen to naval vessels in neutral ports, "I say. that the enemy might do all these' things," declares Lord Loreburn solemnly, "and will do them if he, can, : - notwithstanding our protest against; the unlawfulness of such'.proceedings! No agreement , .was arrived at-at the conference to prohibit these things being done. The right of reconversion was left unrestricted, while the right to convert on the high seas, together with the right to acquire for conversion, any private ships of neutral individuals—without official knowledge of the Stater—were treated as legitimate, and will certainly take effect if we are. at war." : ■