THE HONGKONG GOV" GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY, 23RD APRIL, 1898. 353
"(1) If forthwith upon a Proclamation of Neutrality being issued by Her Majesty he gives notice to the Secretary of State that he is building, causing to be built, or equipping such ship, and furnishes such particulars of the contract and of any matters relating to, or done, or to be done under the contract as may be required by the Secretary of State:
"(2) If he gives such security, and takes and permits to be taken such other measures, if any, as the Secretary of State may prescribe for insuring that such ship shall not be dispatched, delivered, or removed without the licence of Her Majesty until the termination of such war as aforesaid,
Where any ship is built by order of or on behalf of any foreign State when at war with a friendly State, or is delivered to or to the order of such foreign State, or any person who to the knowledge of the person building is an agent of such foreign State, or is paid for by such foreign State or such agent, and is employed in the military or naval service of such foreign State, such ship shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been built with a view to being so employed, and the burden shall lie on the builder of such ship of proving that he did not know that the ship was intended to be so employed in the military or naval service of such foreign State.
If any person within the dominions of Her Majesty, and without the licence of Her Majesty,- "By adding to the number of the guns, or by changing those on board for other guns, or by the addition of any equipment for war, increases or augments, or procures to be increased or augmented or is knowingly concerned in increasing or augmenting the warlike force of any ship which at the time of her being within the dominions of Her Majesty was a ship in the military or naval service of any foreign State at war with any friendly State,--
"Such person shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and shall be punishable by fine and imprisonment, or either of such punishments, at the discretion of the Court before which the offender is convicted; and imprisonment, if awarded, inay be either with or without hard labour.
"If any person, within the limits of Her Majesty's Dominions, and without the licence of Her Majesty-
"Prepares or fits out any naval or military expedition to proceed against the dominious of any friendly State, the following consequences shall ensue :
"(1.) Every person engaged in such preparation or fitting out, or assisting therein, or employed in any capacity in such expedition, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and shall be punish- able by fine and imprisonment, or either of such punishments, at the discretion of the Court before which the offender is convicted; and imprisonment, if awarded, may be either with or without hard labour.
"(2.) All ships and their equipments, and all arms and ammunitions of war, used in or forming part of such expedition, shall be forfeited to Her Majesty.
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Any person who aids, abets, counsels, or procures the commission of any offence against this Act shall be liable to be tried and punished as a principal offender.”
And whereas by the said Act it is further provided that ships built, commissioned, equipped, or dispatched in contravention of the said Act may be condemned and forfeited by Judgment of the Court of Admiralty; and that if the Secretary of State or chief executive authority is satisfied that there is a reasonable and probable cause for believing that a ship within Her Majesty's dominions has been or is being built, commissioned, or equipped contrary to the said Act, and is about to be taken beyond the limits of such dominions, or that a ship is about to be dispatched contrary to the Act, such Secretary of State, or chief executive authority, shall have power to issue a warrant author- ising the seizure and search of such ship and her (detention until she has been either condeinned or released by process of law: And whereas certain powers of seizure and detention are conferred by the said Act on certain local authorities:
Now, in order that none of Her Majesty's subjects in this Colony may unwarily render themselves liable to the penalties imposed by the said Statute, I do hereby warn all persons whatsoever within this Colony not to commit any act, matter, or thing whatsoever contrary to the provisions of the said Statute, upon pain of the several penalties by the said Statute imposed.
And I do, hereby, give notice that Her Majesty has been pleased to direct that during the con- tinuance of the present state of War, the following Rules shall be put in force in this Colony six days after the date of this Proclamation and shall be obeyed by all persons, namely:-
1. During the continuance of the present state of war, all ships of war of either belligerent are prohibited from making use of any port or roadstead in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands, or in any of Her Majesty's colonies or foreign possessions or dependencies, or of any waters subject to the territorial jurisdiction of the British Crown, as a station, or place of resort, for any warlike purpose, or for the purpose of obtaining any facilities for warlike equipment; and no ship of war of either belligerent shall hereafter be permitted to sail out of or leave any port, roadstead, or waters subject to British jurisdiction, from which any vessel of the other belligerent