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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :--

C.O. 885

24 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

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APPENDIX A.-REPORTS.

of policy which is not for this Committee. But if the ultimate liability for these expenses is to fall on any public fund, the desirability of making some use of the ships themselves which would enable that liability to be met is obvious.

There is a further point to be considered, which is that to charter these ships in the general trade of the country might lower the freight market to an appreciable extent and so reduce the profits of the shipowners, whose point of view cannot be overlooked. It appears to us, however, that in practice it is improbable that it will have this effect to any large extent. The amount of tonnage which has been with- drawn for various reasons is in excess of the amount which would be put on the market if all these ships should be brought into use, and so long as offers to charter detained ships at reasonably high rates are forthcoming it can hardly be argued that the supply of tonnage is being increased in excess of the demand.

In order to bring the ships into use in the general trade, it will be necessary, in some cases, to arrange that they shall complete the voyage on which they had started before the commencement of the war and deliver their non-enemy cargo at the various ports for which it is documented. There seems to be no reason why enemy cargo should not be discharged at any British port at which accommodation is available for its safe custody.

There is no department of Government that has the machinery for working these vessels in the ordinary trade, and we suggest, therefore, that one method of bringing them into use would be to charter them to some firm, or firms, who would be willing to take them, run them, and pay the Government for their use, insuring them fully against all risks. Since it is impossible to say how long the war may last, it would not be advisable to charter a ship for any lengthy period, and we would propose that no charter should exceed six months. Before the ships can be chartered there are certain charges which will have to be defrayed. For instance, there are the dock dues already incurred, there are necessary charges for overhauling and putting these ships into seaworthy condition, and We would suggest other costs incidental to their chartering and management.

that these expenses should be chargeable to an account to be opened by His Majesty's Government for the upkeep and maintenance of the detained ships, all moneys earned by these ships to be credited to this account. It is hoped that, as a result, there may be a substantial credit balance at the end of the war.

If this course be approved it may be found convenient to follow the same course with regard to ships detained in this country.

Another possible method of dealing with detained ships is to sell them outright and to lodge the proceeds with the Court, to be returned to the owner at the con- clusion of peace. The Convention states that if the ship is requisitioned compensa- tion must be paid, and it therefore seems to follow that the owner could not complain of such a sale if a reasonable value for the ship is returned to him at the end of the In many ways this would be the simpler method of proceeding, if it were to be found practicable. If this course were adopted the position of detained ships, so far as the disposal of them is concerned, would be identical with that of prize ships, and the same considerations would apply to both cases in this respect.

war.

III.-General Procedure.

The sanction of the Treasury has already been obtained for the employment of Messrs. Waltons & Company as solicitors, and, if our recommendations are approved, it will be necessary to employ a shipping firm, or firms, to undertake the large amount of technical and clerical work which will be involved.

IV. Recommendations.

To sum up, we recommend :

(a) That we may be authorized to deal with ships condemned by oversea Prize Courts for which we think no suitable market can be found at the port of adjudica- tion, by removing and selling them either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, or by chartering them for a limited period, and that we may be authorized to meet the necessary expenses by drawing upon the prize fund or such other fund as may be placed at our disposal by His Majesty's Government.

(b) That we may be authorized to deal with ships ordered by oversea Prize Courts to be detained in accordance with Hague Convention No. VI., of 1907, by chartering them for a period not longer than six months, and that an account may be opened from which we may be authorized to meet the necessary expenses.

APPENDIX A.--REPORTS.

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(c) That our authority may extend, where necessary, to enable us to make arrangements for the completion of the voyage in the course of which the ship concerned has been captured or detained, and the delivery of the cargo to, or for the benefit of. the persons entitled thereto.

(d) That we may be authorized to employ as agents such shipping firm or firms as we may consider desirable.

R. A. WISEMAN,

Secretary.

24th December, 1914.

23

SIR,

E. J. W. SLADE.

G. L. BARSTOW. W. J. EVANS. T. H. HOLT. H. W. MALKIN.

GARNHAM ROPER.

C. B. L. TENNYSON. L. D. WAKELEY.

ANNEXURE A TO No. 1.

OVERSEA PRIZE DISPOSAL COMMITTEE to TREASURY.

Downing Street, 24th December, 1914.

I AM directed by the Oversea Prize Disposal Committee to transmit to you,

for the consideration of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, their report upon the first portion of their terms of reference.

2. The Committee's recommendations are summarized at the conclusion of their report, and I am to request that I may be favoured with their lordships' directions in regard to them.

3. Enclosed with the report will be found a list of prizes and detained ships which have been taken into oversea ports.

4.

You will observe that in paragraph 5 of the section of the report dealing with detained ships a comparison is made between the tonnage of the ships which have been taken up by the military departments for transport purposes and the combined tonnage of all prize and detained ships in oversea ports which can be utilized in the manner suggested by the report. According to a statement furnished by the Admiralty this total tonnage, taken up for transport as above stated, is 4,101,321. A reference to the list referred to in paragraph 3 will show the position with regard to this tonnage available for use in the manner suggested in the report, which, of course, makes no reference to vessels in the United Kingdom. In this connexion it may be observed that vessels stated in the list to have been temporarily delivered to the Admiralty have already been requisitioned by the Crown for transport or some other purpose, and will not, therefore, be available for some considerable time-at least for the purpose contemplated by the report. It will also be seen that many vessels have been requisitioned by the Indian Government, and the same remarks apply to these vessels and to the "Professor Woermann" (Sierra Leone) and " Rufidji" (Cape Town), which have been taken up for transport by the Government of the Union of South Africa. It is probable that one or two other large vessels mentioned in the list may shortly be requisi- tioned for similar purposes.

5. With reference to the last paragraph of the section of the report headed "Detained Ships," the Committee are informed that certain communications have passed between the Foreign Office and the German Government, through the medium of the United States Government, on the subject of the treatment to be accorded to detained ships. The Committee venture to suggest that, if the policy indicated in that paragraph is considered to be otherwise practicable, the Foreign Office. should have an opportunity of considering whether there is anything in the corres- pondence referred to which would make the adoption of the policy undesirable. The Committee hope, however, that this point may be reserved for separate con- sideration, and that it will not prevent their lordships from authorizing them

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*It has not been thought necessary to reprint the list for the purpose of this volume.