15317.
No. 90.
(CANADA.)
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O.8
Reference :-
885
MY LORD,
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL to FOREIGN OFFICE.
Royal Courts of Justice, August 10, 1895.
I was honoured with your Lordship's commands signified in Mr. Bertie's letter of the 18th ultimo, transmitting papers relative to the seizure of certain British sealing- vessels in Behring Sea by Russian cruisers during the sealing season of 1892.
In obedience to your Lordship's commands, I have taken the papers into my consideration, and have the honour to
Report-
That, in dealing with the questions enumerated at p. 3 of Mr. Bertie's letter, it will be well in the first instance to advert to certain general considerations which affect the question of claims for unlawful seizure. I would refer in the first place to the report of the Law Officers of the 14th March, 1888,* quoted in Paper N, which appears to me correctly to state some of the general principles applicable to such claims. prospective profits, or loss of catch, while I agree that the amount of prospective As regards profits eo nomine cannot be recovered upon the ground that their acquisition or earning may be prevented by other contingencies, it is, on the other hand, undoubtedly true that the loss of the earning power of the ships wrongfully seized may be taken into consideration, and general damages awarded in respect thereof; and in the assessment of such damages regard may be had to the average earnings of vessels similar in size and equipment, taking one season with another, and all considerations fairly bearing upon the question of the probability or improbability of such profits being earned.
2. If it be determined to frame the claims so as to include a claim for damages in rospect of the loss of the use of the vessels, interest on the capital invested ought not to be added.
3. No general answer can be given as to the period for which prospective loss may be taken into consideration. In each case the facts must be considered, the condition of the ship, her suitability for the employment, her probable life, and the contingencies to which the employment is liable. I think that, as pointed out in the Law Officers' Report of the 14th March, 1888,* to which I have already referred, the simplest way in which the claims can be framed in cases where the owners have been permanently deprived of a vessel is to claim for the value of the vessel and her equipment, together with a claim for interest thereon from the date of her seizure, and some sum in respect of loss of her employment during the season in which she was seized, with interest thereon from the approximate date of the termination of the season.
If the vessel has been restored to the owners after certain detention, the claim should be framed upon the basis of reasonable compensation for the loss occasioned by her non-employment during the period of detention. claims in cases in which the wrongful seizure is admitted, or it is intended to be main- The above considerations apply to tained that the seizure was wrongful. If it is determined to prefer claims for loss of the employment of the ships, items for wages, provisions, ammunition, and consumable stores must not be included in the claims, as such expenses would be incurred and articles used up in the employment of the ships. I desire to add one word upon the question of the merits, whether the seizures were justifiable or not. In considering the probable
truth of accounts differing, as in many of the cases in question they differ, in most material points, and in determining whether a claim in respect of any particular seizure should be pressed or not, it is, in my opinion, of the first importance to consider carefully whether there are admitted facts pointing to the guilt or innocence of any particular ship. In the absence of such facts, and where the allegations are, as in many of these cases, wholly conflicting, the only possible way of dealing with the cases is to agree to some Tribunal before which evidence can be taken, and the witnesses, if possible, cross- examined.
O 83965.-16. 25,-9/95.
No, 114 in Vol. IV.
14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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