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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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Reference :-

TMC.O. 885

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

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MINUTES.

Messrs. Grahams and Company had managed this and other ships satisfactorily for the Committee.

11. S.5. "Emir."-The Committee considered a letter, received from the Assistant Paymaster-General, calling attention to discrepancies in the amount of the maize ex this steamer as given in the contract and the Port of London Authority's statement. It was decided that, having regard to the length of time which had elapsed between the original shipment of the cargo and its discharge in London, and to the number of times that it had been shifted, a loss of 10 per cent. was not excessive.

12. Sale of Small Sailing Vessels at Malta.-The Committee considered a despatch which had been received in the Colonial Office from the Governor of Malta with regard to the conditions of sale of two small sailing vessels condemned in the Colony. They recommended that a reference should be made to the Foreign Office on the question of whether neutral, and especially Greek, subjects should be admitted to bid.

13. Lloyd's Register.-The Committee decided that a copy of the new edition of this should be purchased.

Pyrin." The Committee approved the action of the Secretary in asking the Transport Department whether they wished to take over this vessel.

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5.3.

II. APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A.-REPORTS.

No. 1.

FIRST INTERIM REPORT OF THE OVERSEA PRIZE DISPOSAL COMMITTEE.

THE Committee appointed by Treasury minute of 11th November, 1914, "to report in what classes of cases it is expedient that prize ships captured or detained at ports outside the United Kingdom should be moved for sale or disposal to other ports or should be chartered for purposes of trade, and to make the necessary arrangements in such cases as are remitted to them by the Departments concerned in the administration of the territories where the prize ships are detained," beg to submit the following report upon the first part of their reference.

A fundamental question arises at the outset in connexion with prize ships in oversea ports, viz., whether the nett proceeds of the sale of ships and cargoes and any other profits arising in respect of them are to be paid ultimately into one general prize fund or into separate funds for each Dependency, Dominion, or Colony.

We believe that this question has not yet been authoritatively settled, and it is doubtless not within the terms of our reference. It is convenient, however, to assume for the purposes of our investigation that one prize fund, and not several, will be established and that India, the Dominions and Colonies will not retain a separate and exclusive interest in the ships captured by the Naval Forces of the Crown and brought into their ports.

Should it be decided that separate prize funds are to be established, then it would follow that the questions of the disposal and management of enemy ships captured and brought into oversea ports should be dealt with by the local Government in each case.

We venture to hope, however, that the establishment of a single Imperial prize fund will be recognized as generally preferable.

If this course be adopted it would be desirable to make arrangements with the Government of India and the Governments of the self-governing Dominions in regard to the control of the movements of the prize ships in their hands, the pro- vision of funds for the payment of necessary expenses, and the accounting for the proceeds, if any.

APPENDIX A.-REPORTS.

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The same questions arise in the case of detained ships which are not liable to condemnation as prize, and the above remarks will apply, mutatis mutandis, to these cases.

A list of prizes and detained ships in oversea ports is appended* showing, so far as is at present known, the name and gross tonnage of each ship.

I. Prize Ships.

The first class of ships with which we have to deal is that of prize ships which have been or are going to be condemned. In most cases they are lying at ports abroad where there would be very little chance of selling them to advantage, and, therefore, it appears to us that the best procedure, generally speaking, will be to bring them to the United Kingdom for sale. Since the proceeds of the sale of these ships will go into the prize fund, it appears that the pre- liminary expense of bringing them home should be borne by that fund, and it is obvious that, in order to keep expenses down, the ships should be moved as soon as possible after they have been condemned, and not be allowed to lie idle in the ports where they are running up expenses and earning nothing.

The question as to whether the ships shall be sold at once on arrival in England must depend, to a great extent, on the state of the market at the time. If a large number of ships are on the market in consequence of the decisions of the Prize Court in London, it might be inadvisable to add to the number and so run the risk of knocking the market down. It may, therefore, be as well to charter these ships, or some of them, in a similar manner to that hereinafter proposed for detained vessels, so as to spread the sale of ships over as long a time as may be thought advisable. The freight earned by the ships should, we suggest, be paid into the prize fund and be disposed of at the end of the war with that fund as may be decided by His Majesty's Government. In some cases these ships have no cargo In others, where there is cargo, on board and can, therefore, be dealt with at once. it may be necessary to send the ships on to their destination. Each case, however, must be dealt with on its merits.

II. Detained Ships.

So far as we are aware, the policy of His Majesty's Government in regard to detained ships, whether in the United Kingdom or at oversea ports, has not yet been laid down Under the Hague Convention No. VI., of 1907, such ships have to be returned to their owners at the end of the war, but they may be requisitioned on payment of compensation. The effect of this rule appears to be that the original ownership is in abeyance during the period of the war and that that of the State may be substituted by the process of requisition. On peace being signed, the Apart original ownership is revived and the property or its value is returned. from the above, there is neither rule nor precedent to show in what manner the ships should be treated during detention. Although they are condemned to detention under prize law and are in the jurisdiction of Prize Courts, yet, as ships and cargoes are liable to be returned to the enemy owner at the end of the war, they are not prize in the true meaning of the term.

If our contention that the rights of the original owner are in abeyance for the period of the war is correct, then there can be no legal objection to the employment of the ships in the manner explained below. The profits resulting from such employ- ment would not be returnable to the original owner with the ships, and could be set off against expenses or dealt with in any other way that the Government may direct.

It is evident from the investigations of the Committee that considerable expenditure will accumulate in connexion with them for port dues, unkeep, etc., For instance, the charges on the ships at the Cape already amount to considerably over £1,000 a ship so far as they have been reported to us.

It is, of course, possible that it may be decided that such charges can be But this would imply as a recovered from the enemy owner at the end of the war. corollary that British owners of ships detained in enemy ports would be liable for charges accumulating on their ships while so detained. If, however, such charges are accepted as a liability of the captor during the war, then they must be defrayed either from the prize fund or from public funds generally. Whether it would be justifiable to impose on the prize fund charges in respect of these ships is a question * It has not been thought necessary to reprint this list for the purpose of this volume.

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