SUBMARINE PIRACY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17984, 9 January 1922, Page 5

SUBMARINE PIRACY.

NEW LAW OF NATIONS.

LIABILITY TO PUNISHMENT.

GENERAL APPLICATION. By Telegraph—Frees Copyright(Received 4.30 p.m.) A. and N.Z. WASHINGTON, Jan. G. An official communique issued by the Secretariat of the Washington Conference states ihafc tho Armaments Committee adopted, after a discussion, the following resolution The sanatory Powers, desiring to ensnre the enforcement of humane rules, arid the existing law declared by them in respect of attacks upon and the seizure and destruction of merchant ships, further declare that any person in the service of any Power who shall violate any of those rules, whether or not sucfa person is under the orders of a Governmental superior, shall be deemed to havo violated tho laws of war, and be liable to trial and punishmei'f as if for an act of piracy, and may be brought for trial before the civil or military authorities of any Power within whose jurisdiction ho may be found." Tho special representative of the Australian and New Zealand Press Association states that- quits an Australasian atmosphere was given to the proceedings of the committee. Mr. G. P. Pe?ice (Australia) succeeded in impressing the committee with the value of his amendment to give a general application to the provisions of the resolution on piracy, instead of making only officers of the signatory Powers liable to punishment. He pointed out that the Versailles Peace Conference condemned German actions as piracy, and this conference therefore could not do less.

As a further argument, he said that the Germans had adopted the view that some of the acts of their submarine officers were piratical, and had tried them at Leipzig. Sir John Salmond (New Zealand) pointed out that certain difficulties would occur in reading the resolutions as flhey stood. Upon his arguments the order of the resolutions was altered.

It should be observed that the resolution on piracy is numbered three, tfnus explaining Sir John Salmcnd's point. The Powers thereby declare all officers, not only submarine officers, guilty of piracy who infringe the rules, laid down in the first Root resolution.

Though the Armaments Committee is approaching the ei;d of its labours, one or two problems are still facing it. For instance, there is the ase of submarines foblockading purposes as raised by the French, whether they can be used as commerce-destroyers working in conjunction with surface vessels whi(& could take the passengers and crews of merchantmen before sinking them. Another question on which debate is likely is the arming of merchantmen. Though the British delegates have declared that they will oppose any restriction, it is probable that they will agree to limit in the guns on armqd merchantmen to six-inch calibre, in spite of the fact that several now liners have been built to take eight-inch guns.