[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.].
BELLIGERENTS IN NEUTRAL TERRITORY.
(No. 198.)
Sir,
CONFIDENTIAL
Enc. - No. A
The Marquess of Lansdowne to Sir C. MacDonald,
3682 618
[October 19.]
Foreign Office, October 19, 1904.
THE Japanese Minister questioned me to-day upon the subject of the intended treatment of the officers and crew of the "Barni." I informed him that the matter had been very carefully considered by His Majesty's Government, in consultation with the Law Officers of the Crown, and that the facts seemed to us to establish conclusively that the loss of the "Burni" was the consequence of the naval operations in progress between the belligerents, and that the vessel had been destroyed in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Japanese. In these circumstances we felt bound to intern the officers and crew until the end of the war, in accordance with the decision which had been announced to both belligerents.
I am, &c.
(Signed) LANSDOWNE