III. GOVERNMENTAL LISTS. $1251. "6. The following things are considered contraband of war: "Portable arms and artillery, mounted or in detached pieces; ammunition for firearms, such as projectiles, fuses, balls, priming, cartridges, cartridge tubes, powder, saltpeter, sulphur; the material and ammunition of explosive instruments, such as mines, torpedoes, dynamite, pyroxylin, and other fulminating substances; the material of artillery, either for fortifications or for the field, such as carriages, caissons, cartridge chests, campaign forges, canteens, pontoons, etc.; objects of military equipment and dress, such as cartridge-boxes, knapsacks, armor, sappers implements, drums, saddles and harness, articles of military dress, tents, etc., and in general all objects destined to land or sea forces. "Such objects, when found on board neutral vessels and destined to an enemy port, may be seized and confiscated, save the quantity which is necessary for the ship on which the seizure is made. "7. The following acts are assimilated to contraband of war, and are forbidden to neutrals: The transportation of enemy troops, and that of dispatches and correspondence of the enemy, and the furniture of enemy ships of war. "Neutral ships taken in the commission of the offense of such contraband may, according to the circumstances, be seized and even confiscated." Translation of Russian Decree, relating to Privateering, Neutral Trade, 6. Sont réputés contrebande de guerre les objets suivants : 7. Sont assimilés à la contrebande de guerre les actes suivants, interdits Les navires neutres pris en flagrant délit de semblable contrebande peuvent être, selon les circonstances, saisis et même confisqués. "62. The list of Goods Absolutely Contraband comprises:"Arms of all kinds and machinery for manufacturing Arms. Ammunition and materials for Ammunition, including Lead, Sulphate of Potash, Muriate of Potash (Chloride of Potassium), Chlorate of Potash, and Nitrate of Soda. Gunpowder and its materials, Saltpetre and Brimstone; also Gun-Cotton. Military Equipments and Clothing. Military Stores. Naval Stores, such as Masts (Staadt Embden, 1 C. Rob. 27. Charlotte, 5 C. Rob. 305), Rudders, and ship Timber, Hemp (Gute Gesellschaft Michael, 4 C. Rob. 94. Apollo, 4 C. Rob. 161. Evert, 4 C. Rob. 354) and Cordage, Sail-cloth (Neptunus, 3 C. Rob. 108), Pitch and Tar (Jonge Tobias, 1 C. Rob. 329. Twee Juffrowen, 4 C. Rob. 242. Neptunus, 6 C. Rob. 408); Copper fit for sheathing Vessels (Charlotte, 5 C. Rob. 275); Marine Engines, and the component parts thereof, including Screw-Propellers, Saddle-Wheels, Cylinders, Cranks, Shafts, Boilers, Tubes for Boilers, Boiler-Plates, and FireBars; Marine Cement, and the materials used in the manufacture thereof, as Blue Lias and Portland Cement; Iron in any of the following forms-Anchors, Rivet-Iron, Angle-Iron, Round Bars of from 3 to of an inch diameter, Rivets, Strips of Iron, Sheet Plate-Iron exceeding of an inch, and Low Moor and Bowling Plates. "63. All Goods fit for purposes of war and peace alike, (not hereinbefore specified as Absolutely Contraband), on board a vessel which has a hostile destination, are Conditionally Contraband, that is, they are contraband only in case it may be presumed that they are intended to be used for purposes of war. This presumption arises when such hostile destination of the Vessel is either the Enemy's Fleet at Sea or a hostile Port used exclusively or mainly for Naval or Military Equipment (Jonge Margaretha, 1 C. Rob. 188. Peterhof, 5 Wallace, 58). "64. The list of Goods Conditionally Contraband comprises:-Provisions and Liquors fit for consumption of Army or Navy (Jonge Margaretha, 1 C. Rob. 191. Haabet, 2 C. Rob. 174. Edwards, 4 C. Rob. 68. Ranger, 6 C. Rob. 125). Money. Telegraphic Materials, such as Wire, Porous Cups, Platina, Sulphuric Acid, and Zinc (see Parliamentary Papers, North America, No. 14, 1863, p. 5). Materials for the construction of a Railway, as Iron Bars, Sleepers, &c. (see Lord Kingsdown's Speech in the House of Lords, May 26, 1861). Hay. Horses. Rosin (Nostra Signora de Begona, 5 C. Rob. 98). Tallow (Neptunus, 3 C. Rob. 108). Timber (Twende Brodre, 4 C. Rob. 33). Coals "65. It is part of the prerogative of the Crown during the war to extend or reduce the lists of Articles to be held Absolutely or Conditionally Contraband, subject, however, to any Treaty Engagements binding upon Great Britain. "66. If the Commander is satisfied that the Goods on board the Vessel are fit for purposes of peace exclusively, he should allow the Vessel to proceed on her course. Holland's Manual of Naval Prize Law (issued by authority of the Lord's The question of contraband did not become the subject of judicial controversy during the war with Spain, but it was dealt with in General Orders No. 492. Premising its definition with the explanation that "contraband of war comprehends only articles having a belligerent destination as to an enemy's port or fleet," the order specified certain articles as "absolutely contraband" and others as "conditionally contraband." The former were: "Ordnance; machine guns and their appliances, and the parts thereof; armor plate, and whatever pertains to the offensive and defensive armament of naval vessels; arms and instruments of iron, steel, brass, or copper, or of any other material, such arms and instruments being especially adapted for use in war by land or sea; torpedoes and their appurtenances; cases for mines, of whatever material; engineering and transport materials, such as gun carriages, caissons, cartridge boxes, campaigning forges, canteens, pontoons; ordnance stores; portable range finders; signal flags destined for naval use; ammunition and explosives of all kinds; machinery for the manufacture of arms and munitions of war; saltpeter; military accouterments and equipments of all sorts; horses." The "conditionally contraband" were: "Coal, when destined for a naval station, a port of call, or a ship or ships of the enemy; materials for the construction of railways or telegraphs, and money, when such materials or money are destined for the enemy's forces; provisions, when destined for an enemy's ship or ships, or for a place that is besieged." By the Spanish royal decree of April 23, 1898, contraband was defined as follows: "Cannon, machine guns, mortars, guns, all kinds of arms and firearms, bullets, bombs, grenades, fuses, cartridges, matches, powder, sulphur, saltpeter, dynamite and every kind of explosive; articles of equipment like uniforms, straps, saddles and artillery and cavalry harness; engines, for ships and their accessories, shafts, screws, boilers and other articles used in the construction, repair and arming of war-ships; and in general all warlike instruments, utensils, tools, and other articles, and whatever may hereafter be determined to be contraband." But for the last clause, which seemed to be capable of rendering the preceding specific enumeration nugatory, this paragraph would be open to little objection. Soon after its promulgation the operation of the decree was restricted, on the request of the Italian Government, by a special dispensation in favor of sulphur, which is obtained chiefly from Sicily. Proclamations and Decrees during the War with Spain, 85, 88, 93. "According to article 13 of the Regulations on Maritime Prizes,' articles considered as contraband of war are announced for general information in a special declaration. The following have been declared such in declarations: (a) All kinds of arms, both hand (portable) and artillery (ordnance), whether assembled or in parts; (b) ammunition, such as projectiles for cannon, fuses, bullets, capsules, cartridges, cartridge cases, powder, saltpeter, sulphur; (c) objects or accessories for making explosions, such as mines, dynamite, pyroxylene, and other explosive compositions; (d) artillery appliances, engineer and army vehicles, such as gun carriages and mounts, cartridge boxes or packs (small arms and ordnance), field forges, field kitchens, tool wagons, pontoons, bridge trestles, draft harness, etc.; (e) articles of troop equipment and dress, such as cartridge boxes and bags, knapsacks, bandoleers, breastplates, intrenching tools, drums, kettles, saddles, horse trappings, ready-made uniforms, tents, etc.; (f) naval vessels sailing to an enemy's port, even though under a neutral commercial flag, if by the construction of their hull, their interior arrangement, and other signs they are evidently built for war purposes and are going to the enemy's port for the purpose of being sold or turned over to the enemy; (g) generally speaking, all other objects directly intended for war, whether land or naval, if they are being transported at the cost of or with destination to the enemy. By the designation to the enemy' is meant transportation to his fleet, to one of his ports, or even to a neutral port if the latter, according to obvious and indisputable proofs, merely serves as an intermediate station to the enemy and as the final goal of all transportation. "The following acts are considered on a par with military contraband and involve the same consequences for a neutral vessel and cargo: (1) Conveyance of hostile troops, military detachments, and individual military persons, and (2) conveyance of enemy's dispatches— that is, business correspondence between hostile commanders and their agents stationed on a vessel or on territory belonging to or occupied by the enemy." Russian Special Instructions, Sept. 20, 1900, Appendix II., supplementing the Prize Regulations of March 27, 1895, For. Rel. 1904, 735, 747, 754. The enumeration here used as a basis for a list of contraband articles is that given in the enumeration of the ukase of the governing senate of May 12, 1877, on the occasion of the war between Russia and Turkey, printed on p. 477, Foreign Relations, 1877. (For. Rel. 1904, "VI. The following articles are considered as contraband of war: (1) Small arms of all kind, both portable and of artillery, whether mounted or in parts, as well as armor plate. "(2) Ammunition for firearms, such as shells, bomb fuses, bullets, caps, cartridges, cartridge tubes, powder, sulphur, saltpeter. "(3) Material and all kind of substances for making explosions, such as torpedoes, dynamite, pyroxilin, various fulminary substances, conductors, and all articles used for exploding mines and torpedoes. "(4) All material for the artillery, the engineer corps, and troop trains, such as gun carriages, limbers, cartridge and ammunition boxes, campaign forges, field kitchens, instrument wagons, pontoons, bridge trestles, barbed wire, harness for transport service, etc. "(5) Material for the equipment and clothing of troops, such as bandoliers, knapsacks, sword hilts, cuirasses, intrenching tools, harness, uniforms, tents, etc. "(6) Ships which are bound to an enemy's port, even if sailing under a neutral commercial flag, if their construction or internal arrangements or any other indication would show that they are built. for warlike purposes or for sale or destined to be handed to the enemy upon arriving at their destination. "(7) All kinds of ships' machinery or boilers, whether mounted or in parts. "(8) All kinds of fuel, such as coal, naphtha, alcohol, and such like. "(9) Telegraph, telephone, and railway material. "(10) In general, everything intended for warfare on land or sea, also rice, food stuffs, horses, beasts of burden, and others available for warlike purposes if they are transported for account of or intended for the enemy. "VII. The following actions, prohibited to neutrals, are considered as violating neutrality: The transport of the enemy's troops, its telegrams or correspondence, the supplying it of transport boats or war vessels. Vessels of neutrals found to be breaking any of these rules may be, according to circumstances, captured and confiscated. "VIII. The Imperial Government reserves the right to depart from the above decisions with regard to a neutral or hostile power which on its part does not observe them, as well as to take measures necessary to fit the circumstances of each individual case. "IX. The detailed rules which the military authorities are bound to observe during the war at sea are prescribed in the prize regulations sanctioned by His Majesty the Emperor on March 27, 1895, as as well as in special instructions approved by the council of the admiralty on September 20, 1900, relative to the detention, visitation, capture, the conveyance, and the delivery of ships and captured goods." Imperial Russian Order, February 14, 1904, For. Rel. 1904, 728; Monthly |