The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1918. INTERNATIONAL LAW.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11609, 29 January 1916, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1918. INTERNATIONAL LAW.

f? Britain's geographical position and her unchallenged command; of the sea '' enable her to prevent any oversea sliip- ■- ping reaching a. German port on the •S'orth Sea. and the problem of making the blockade effective in the Baltic is under consideration. But, should the blockade! be made "effective," according to the international rules govern- ■ Mag blockade, contraband and condit- ' ional contraband would still) reach the i enemy through "neutral ports. In order to isolate the enemy Britain intends to exercise and possibly to ex.tend tho doctrine of '-ultimate destination/ 1 regarding shipments to licigh- ; "houring neutral States and lias asked \ '.the countries concerned to assist in distinguishing goods actually intended '' for ricutral consumption from goods ■'' ultimately destined .to reach the 7 onemy. Ifc is a difficult task in one 7-' way and an easy task in another. We iV have' the means for examining every f,K cargo shipped to a neutral State ad- \ jacent to Germany, and protest or 110 \ protest, we could carry out the work. That would be comparatively easy. \*i- But to interfere with neutral shipping to the extent proposed and at the same time Tetain tho goodwill of the neutral States is quite a different, and also a proposition. •V 1 Sir Edward Grey, when outlining the ■«%, position, claimed only ''tho utmost rigjhts recognised by international law *,■ in previous wars," and 111 so doing j showed how different are the methods of Britain to the methods of Germany. 1 Had Sir Edward desired he could have .'declared, as tho German .Chancellor) once declared, that "necessity knows r 310 laws.'' but, although tho traffio through neutral countries works '• against our interests; the Foreign Ministcr held fast to his determination to I* keep within the law. This regard for < tho interests of international law and: y the rights of neutrals will seem strange to the average German, for during the last few months he has been taught to i/ regard international law as a thing to f ■ be^, "is regarded whenever it clashes with actional interests. Thus I>r von £*■ Camp© presents the non-sanctity of 5 1 treaties as a high legal principle: 5 te The highest principle of Civil Law is } the observance of good faith," he says, "not so in International Law. Each ■ nation has the duty to preserve itself. ■/ That is its highest commandment. A nation which against its vital interest would, observe an international treaty * - would commit high treason against it- :• - self." ■ ■ ' %

v In.precisely the same way, Dr Scholz, ' a member of the Berlin Court of --'Appeal, proves in the " Deutsche Juristenzeitung" thai the rules of . jramanity imposed by international law _in naval warfare cannot apply . when they conflict with German neces- '' sity or German sea policy. Heto the r naked fact is covered up by legal : fictions which apply to all possible 1 emergencies. He says:—"Every Ger- , man submarine boat is justified, until the contrary has been proved in the j' individual case, to assume that every 7 British merchant ship is a fighting ship which, like a man-of- ■' war or an auxiliary cruiser, may bo ■ • sunk without warning, and in respect •, of which it must be deemed a mild ;" practice if the crow are not treated*.as , * pirates." Dr Scholz does not say how ; * the merchant _ vessel _ sunk without , warning could have discharged itself of .the burden of the required proof, f ' but that matters nothing so long as it • ,can be executed on suspicion and carry \ with it to the depths of the sea the proofs by which alone its guilt or in- ■ uoeence could be established. .irt;.::;- ■ 7 : ■' v «.

1 ' These are "the views of distinguished ; ' German jurists seeking by a perverted logic to make law out of anarchy. Were Germany in a position to blockade Britain the rights of the small ,s : neutral States would receive about as much consideration as did the rights of Belgium. It says a great deal for the British authorities thait, with power to do as they like as regards . sea-borne commerce they are determined, in the midst of a great conflict, to follow only legal courses, to consider with such • care the rights of the smaller States, in short to lay aside might in order to i comply with the requirements of international law. It is by these methods tkat we make the standard set Kv Germany look, poor in the eyes of the world.