DUTIES OF NEUTRALS
NORWEGIAN MINISTER’S VIEW CRITICISM BY BRITISH PRESS FORMER CASES RECALLED (Omcial Wireless) (Received Feb. 21, 11 a. m.) RUGBY, Feb. 20 The statement of Professor Koht, Norwegian Foreign Minister, in which he maintained that it was no part of international law for a neutral to inspect a belligerent warship and that he would have let the German ship Altmarck through even had he known that British prisoners were on board has led to further British editorials. The Daily Telegraph finds several precedents for the view that prisoners of war cannot be conveyed through the territorial waters of a neutral. A case in 1918 similar to the Altmarck is recalled, when a supply and prison ship used by a German raider ran aground on the Danish coast. Her German crew was interned and the British prisoners released by Denmark. Again in 1916, when a German prize crew brought the Appam, with 429 British victims, into harbour in Virginia, United States, the Government ordered their immediate release. The Daily Telegraph- cites the words of Mr Gerard, American Ambassador to Germany in ■ 1914, who says: “ The Germans had no more right to take prisoners through Norwegian watersirtoan to take them by train froniNlgMv York td San Francisco.” Fury of Nazis The Manchester Guardian says:— “ Germany's continuing fury over the loss of the Altmarck’s prisoners suggests that Germany is less concerned about a point of law than over the loss of ‘ face.’ This loss of prestige right under the neutral’s eyes comes at a time when Germany has loudly claimed to have the North Sea under control, which, if true, why did not an escort set out from Wilhelmshaven and bring the Altmarck in? “ The real reason for the Nazi anger lies in Germany’s old hope of terrorising neutrals, whom she seeks to destroy by forcing them to trade only with her.”
The Guardian considers that this reason is borne out by the Nazi ruling that Germany has the right to sink neutrals calling at British ports.
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Bibliographic details
Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21043, 21 February 1940, Page 7
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336DUTIES OF NEUTRALS Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21043, 21 February 1940, Page 7
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