CO885-24 — Page 165

MINUTES.

5

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

LTCO. 885

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAM NOT TO

4

4

MINUTES.

THE SECOND MEETING of the Committee was held at the Colonial Office on Tuesday, 24th November, 1914, at 3.15 p.m.

The following members were present :-

VICE-ADMIRAL SIR È. J. W. SLADE, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman).

MR. W. J. EVANS, Admiralty.

MR. G. L. BARSTOW, C.B., Treasury.

MR. G. ROPER, Board of Trade.

MR. H. W. MALKIN, Foreign Office.

MR. C. B. L. TENNYSON, Colonial Office.

MR. T. H. HOLT, Crown Agents.

MR. R. A. WISEMAN (Secretary).

1. Prize Fund. The Chairman informed the Committee that this question

was being raised by the Admiralty in a letter to the Treasury.

2. General Policy in regard to the Disposal of Ships with Cargo on Board.—

It was decided that the following procedure should be adopted in regard to these ships:-

(a) Instructions should first of all be issued as to the release of the goods

from the jurisdiction of the Oversea Prize Court.

(b) Shipping companies should be invited to make a firm offer for taking the ship on to its port of destination. It is not proposed to ask for competitive tenders for this service as it is of a special character, and, it was thought, could be dealt with better by asking selected firms to

offer.

(c) Representatives of those interested in the cargo should be required to lodge the money in this country to cover the full amount of the estimated expenses. When the ship is re-delivered an account would be taken and the balance, if any, returned to the cargo owners pro rata. (d) When the cargo arrives at the port of destination it should be put into Government warehouses. Before delivery each consignee should sign a bond to pay his share of the expenses and to accept the cargo in the condition in which it is delivered. He will also be required to sign a guarantee of indemnity to the Government.

In order to estimate the amount which would have to be paid by each consignee it would first be necessary to ascertain how much of the original freight had been The remainder paid in advance before the vessel was taken over by the Government.

of the freight would then have to be collected, and the balance of expenses would be met by taking a general average over the whole cargo delivered. In the event of cargo owners raising any objection, they should be informed that the alternative is for their goods to be disembarked at the port where the ship is at present held up.

In order to facilitate dealing with enemy cargo at the port where the ship is detained it was suggested that a new rule should be added to the existing Prize Court rules to allow the cargo to be released on the application of the Admiralty without the giving of a guarantee of indemnity to the Court. It will, however, be necessary for the Admiralty to insure the cargo and to lodge an undertaking with the Court to pay over the proceeds of sale if the cargo is sold, or the insured value in case of loss.

In making the necessary arrangements it should be made quite clear that the Government were taking no responsibility for the cargo.

The point was also raised as to how it would be possible to meet the expense if the value of the cargo, as appraised by the Court at the port where the ship was detained, exceeded the proceeds of the sale at the port of destination, if the cargo had to be sold there. The question would not, however, arise if the rules were amended in the manner suggested.

3. As regards the ships held up at Cape Town, it was decided to ask a representative of the Federal Steam Navigation Company to appear before the Committee at the next meeting. It was decided to take a similar course of action in regard to the ships detained at Alexandria, and as regards the steamship

Frisia," detained at Hong Kong.

"

4. In reply to a question from Mr. Tennyson, the Committee stated that they had no objection to the Governor of Ceylon being allowed to proceed as he wished in regard to certain ships held up in the Colony.

5. The question of the "Leda," held up at Bermuda, was left over for consideration at a subsequent meeting.

It

6. The Committee stated that they would be willing to hear Sir George Reid, who, it was understood, desired to make representations as to the necessity for passing an Act to give concurrent jurisdiction to Oversea Prize Courts. was thought better, however, to ask Sir George Reid to appear at a later date, which could be fixed at a subsequent meeting.

THE THIRD MEETING of the Committee was held at the Colonial Office on Thursday, 26th November, 1914, at 3.15 p.m.

The following members were present :-

1.

VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. J. W. SLADE, K.C.I.E., K.C.V.O. (Chairman). MR. W. J. EVANS, Admiralty.

MR. G. L. BARSTOW, C.B., Treasury.

MR. G. ROPER, Board of Trade. MR. H. W. MALKIN, Foreign Office. MR. L. D. WAKELY, India Office. MR. C. B. TENNYSON, Colonial Office.

MR. T. H. HOLT, Crown Agents.

MR. R. A. WISEMAN (Secretary).

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed with the addition

of the following words to the paragraph dealing with the amendment of the Prize Court Rules: It will, however, be necessary for the Admiralty to insure the cargo and to lodge an undertaking with the Court to pay over the proceeds of sale if the cargo is sold, or the insured value in case of loss."

The Chairman explained that he proposed that the cost of this insurance should fall upon the cargo owners.

2. Mr. Allen Hughes, Chairman of the Federal Steam Navigation Company, and Mr. William Richards appeared before the Committee to deal with the ques- tion of the "Birkenfels," the Hamm," and the "Apolda," held up at Capetown. Subsequently Mr. J. M. Dick appeared on behalf of the London Chamber of Com- merce to deal with the "Barenfels," the "Gutenfels," the "Lauterfels," and, the Werdenfels," detained at Alexandria. A transcript of the proceedings will be found in the volume of Minutes of Evidence (Miscellaneous No. 313).

3. Mr. Tennyson made a statement regarding the "Fürth," which had been despatched to the United Kingdom by the Governor of Ceylon. It was agreed that the Admiralty should take over the charge of this vessel on her arrival.

4. Mr. Tennyson stated that there was a difficulty in moving the "Schnee- fels" from Gibraltar to the United States of America, owing to the uncertainty as to whether there was any enemy cargo on board in which the Prize Fund might be interested. The persons interested in half of the cargo had not made any claims before the Court, although their attention had long since been called to, the necessity of doing so.

The Chairman thought that it would be sufficient for the present if particu- lars were obtained by Messrs. Waltons as to the position of certain firms with German names, a list of which had already been made out. It could be decided at a subsequent meeting how far the evidence furnished in regard to them was sufficient, and whether the difficulty could be met by making an arrangement with regard to the consignments in which the firms mentioned were interested before the " Schneefels " was allowed to leave Gibraltar.

}