CLAIMS AGAINST THE ENEMY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2976, 13 January 1917, Page 10

CLAIMS AGAINST THE ENEMY

* . 1 RECORDED IN HINGSWAY AND WHITEHALL * c THE PIRACY BILL f A lloyal Proclamation of September 7 last-required that claims by British subjects (including British companies) against enemy 'Gopernments should bo returned to the Directors of the 3 Foreign Claims Office at tho Foreign Office. Tlie nature of these claims is now more fully explained, says the London "Daily News" in a recent issue. They are for the. most part either 1 Claims for compensation ill respect of property belonging to British subjects which ihas been requisitioned, confiscated, or scques- ] trated by an enemy Government, or Claims for compensation iu respect of loss caused by the destruction of life or property on sea or land by acts contrary to the laws of war. . •■ 1 The mere fact that by reason of the ' war a British subject has suffered loss does not in itself afford a ground of ( claim. No claim can be registered, j for instance, for expenses incurred in leaving an enemy country on the outbreak of war, or for loss due to the fact that a British subject cannot trade with an enemy. Enemy Seouritics. Claims in respect of Government and municipal securities issued in enemy countries aro to be regarded as claims to property, and must be returned to the Public Trustee. Kingsway, and not to tho- Foreign Claims Office, unless the enemy Government has purported to -j . confiscate such securities. ' The fact that a claim is registered J in the Foreign Claims Office does not ' imply any undertaking on the part of tho Government to put forward such' . claim on tho termination of hostilities, or any assurance that the claim, if puD : forward, will be paid. Although it is as yet impossible to give even an approximate estimate of the full amount of claims which British subjects are making against their : enemies for adjustment when the war : is over, tlio books of account are being prepared by the Foreign Claims Office 1 and the Public Trustee, and the credit side of the ledger is bound to be a very heavy one. The information which is being accumulated in the official records cannot fail to be of groat value to the Government, and individuals and joint-stock companies are to render all possible assistance ''to the public authorities on--1 gaged in solving the problem of how much enemy subjects owe to Great 1 Britain. Requisitioned Property. When tho war broke out,: and a , "state of war" was formally declared, ! it gave to tho enemy Governments certain conditional rights. One was tho . right to requisition goods belonging tb "the enemy,'," subject to the liability of the requisitioning Government to pay i for the goods when the state, of war ' comes to an end. Whother in tho case' of detained mer- ■ chant ships thero exists tho obligation ;■ to maintain them in good repair is an open question. . 1 If a sequestrated business has .been • "improved" the owner would have no ' claim for compensation if ever fortu- • nate enough to be reinstated in his pro--5 perfcy. • Full compensation will bo demanded | for losses arising out of tho "Wrongful Acts" of the enemy, including tho in- ' discriminate sowing of miues and tho sinking-wTtliout-notice policy of German 1 submarines, and scores of claims have 1 already been filed. ; Insurance • companies and under- ; writers have filed very largo claims ' against Germany in respect of losses of J merchant vessels, and there are claims .' by the former for Tireniiunis duo from ! "iiemy insurance offices, as well as" for 1 losses under reinsurance treaties with such companies.