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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

885/26

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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APPENDIX A.-REPORTS.

20. It should be mentioned that the accounts will in a number of cases be delayed for the determination of the procedure to be followed in the discharge of undertakings to the Prize Courts in connexion with ships or goods which have been requisitioned. In other instances it is understood that accounts are being delayed pending guidance as to how far, if at all, the accounts should be locally audited, and the Committee recommend that in such cases audit should be completed locally wherever possible.

21. With regard to the settlement with the Prize Courts in respect of ships or goods which have been requisitioned. the values of the undertakings in respect of seizures adjudged to the Navai Frize Fund will not in all cases correspond with the credits due to the Fund upon a strict interpretation of the provisions of the Naval Prize Act, 1918, whilst difficulty may be experienced in assessing the value at the date of delivery in instances where ships or goods have been delivered to the Crown without undertaking, eg, there may have been no market locally. Moreover, in cases where undertakings have been given by His Majesty's Govern- ment in respect of seizures adjudged to the Naval Prize Fund, it appears to be a matter for consideration whether the undertakings shall be fulfilled by pay- ment into Court or whether application will be made to the Courts concerned for the cancellation of the undertakings to enable payment to be made into the Naval Prize Fund direct in either event it is suggested that, wherever possible, the extent of the credit due to the Naval Prize Fund should be agreed upon between the Departments or Governments concerned before applica- tion is made to the Court, since the Court would no doubt be willing to endorse a value so agreed in cases where payment into Court is decided upon and where the value agreed between the parties differed from a value pre- viously fixed by the Court. Furthermore, the Orders for requisition or delivery to the Crown have in some instances been obtained solely for the purpose of securing a better market for the sale of the ship or cargo; this is especially the case in regard to cargo, and if in those instances where cargo adjudged to the Naval Prize Fund has been transported for sale the credit to the Fund is taken as the proceeds less expenses then the question of a freight deduction will arise. The Committee are in interested in this question of freight in connexion with the transport of prize cargo prize tonnage under their own control as well as in connexion with the settlement of claims which have been made upon them by the Ministry of Shipping in respect of prize cargo transported in requisitioned tonnage. In this connexion the Committee would observe that the freight charged for prize cargo brought to this country for sale would presumably be paid from the Naval Prize Fund for the benefit of the Imperial Exchequer in cases where prize or requisitioned tonnage is employed, whereas the freight earned by prize ships wili go to the Imperial Exchequer and not to the Naval Prize Fund. With regard to the rate of freight, where chargeable, to be borne by prize cargo conveyed in prize or requisitioned tonnage, some importance may be attached to the question whether the cargo has been sold at market rates or at a price controlled or fixed by His Majesty's Government.

22. The Committee recommend that consideration should be given to the matters referred to in the preceding paragraph as soon as practicable, and it may also be thought desirable that guidance should be given as to the manner in which the accounts should be drawn up in causes where ships or goods are delivered to the Crown without payment into Court, that is to say whether the accounts in such causes should be confined to actual receipts and expenditure and disregard credits not realized.

23. The Committee desire to call attention to one further matter in connexion with their own accounts. A scheme was arranged by the Committee in January, 1915, for the insurance against fire of all cargo dealt with in Oversea Prize Courts, and the arrangement with the insurance brokers provided for the Committee to receive a commission of ten per cent. of the premiums. As this commission has been drawn in all cases, it is perhaps for consideration whether such share of the commission as is attributable to cargo adjudged to the Naval Prize Fund should be made over to the Fund, in other words whether such cargo is to bear only the net sums paid to the insurance companies. A profit of some £800 has been realized on account of commission up to the 31st March last, and it is thought that this figure will be con- siderably augmented before the transactions under the scheme are closed. It should be said that many hundreds of items would need to be examined to arrive at

APPENDIX A.-REPORTS.

13

the proportion of the commission which is attributable to cargo adjudged to the Naval Prize Fund, and in the circumstances the Committee are disposed to suggest that the Imperial Exchequer might retain this commission as a set-off against relieving the Naval Prize Fund of any charge in respect of expenditure on telegrams (see paragraph 5 supra).

EDMOND J. W. SLADE,

G. JONES.

Acting Secretary. 14th January, 1919.

4386

Annexure to (1).

for the Committee.

OVERSEA PRIZE DISPOSAL COMMITTEE to TREASURY.

Downing Street, 14th January, 1919.

SIB,

I AM directed by the Committee to transmit to you, to be laid before the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, the accompanying further report in reply to your letter of the 10th July, 1916,* concerning various outstanding financial questions affecting matters of prize.

It will be seen that the Committee, in order that they might have a definite basis on which to proceed, have assumed, for the purposes of this report, that the Oversea Governments have no interest, as of right, in any prize or earnings of prize, whether Droit of the Crown or Droit of Admiralty.

While, however, they have, for reasons of convenience, adopted this assump- tion, the Committee have not attempted to discuss the fundamental questions that it raises, and in this connexion they desire me to explain, with reference to the footnote to paragraph 18 of their Sixth Interim Report,† that, on further con- sideration, they have felt that the discussion of these questions would involve considerations of policy which are hardly within their competence.

They desire me to say that they are nevertheless ready to place on record their reasons for the view expressed in paragraph 18 of their Sixth Interim Report if their lordships should deem this desirable.

4443

(2)

I am, &c..

G. JONES.

ELEVENTH REPORT OF THE OVERSEA PRIZE DISPOSAL COMMITTEE. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR LORDSHIPS,

IN presenting a report intended as their Final Report the Committee desire in the first place to explain the special circumstances which lead them to think this desirable at the present time, in spite of the fact that all the business resulting from their operations cannot yet be said to be completed.

2. The Committee, after carefully considering the position, are of opinion that the settlement of the matters now outstanding, while it may take some considerable time, will not necessarily require the continued existence of the Committee, at least as at present constituted. Moreover, two of their number have resigned their official positions in order to take up other employment, and are consequently desirous of being freed from their Committee work as soon as may be practicable. In these circumstances the Committee apprehend that Your Lordships may welcome an opportunity of reviewing the position and considering whether it would not now be advisable to dissolve the existing Committee and to assign to some other authority the winding up of the matters within the Committee's sphere of activity which are not yet closed. The matters immediately in question are referred to below, and, pending an expression of the views of Your Lordships as to the future of the Committee, the Secretary is being authorized to dispose of current matters of detail and to convene further meetings of the Committee only if special circumstances should require this course. He has further been empowered to arrange for the transfer of his records as and when this may be necessary.

No. 8, Appendix D in Miscellaneous No. 323, + Appendix A in Miscellaneous No. 323.