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MEMORANDUM BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE,

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of Cardiff coal, or actually engaged in taking such a cargo on board. In any case, should there be good reason to suspect any vessel in British waters of being in a position answering to any of the conditions set out in articles 45 and 46 of the Declaration of London, she would have to be warned not to leave so long as those conditions subsist, and should she attempt, notwithstanding such warning, to depart, she would be liable to be seized and taken before a prize court. If the court were to hold the charges to be proved, it is difficult to see how, in view of the unequivocably hostile character of the proceedings which constitute the offence, the vessel could claim any privileged treatment on the ground that the acts complained of were initiated before the actual outbreak of war.

Arrest and Remoral of Passengers.

20. Apart from measures which may be taken against the ship herself, it is of course open to the governinent, in virtue of the general jurisdiction of the British courts within the national frontiers, to arrest and remove from on board any neutral merchant-vessel whilst in territorial waters, any persons not in the enjoyment of diplomatic or other immunity, whom it may be thought proper to take into custody, or to prevent from leaving the country.

"Droit de Prince,”

21. It may be important at the very outbreak of war, and also at some particular later stage, to keep absolutely secret arrangements and preparations being made, in commercial ports, or even inland, for military or naval purposes, which would be frustrated or adversely affected by untimely warnings reaching the enemy through direct or indirect channels. A strict and rapidly established censorship over telegraphic messages and printed publications is the natural safeguard to be adopted for this purpose, and another sub-committee is dealing with this subject. But in certain contingencies, notably in the case of operations partaking of the nature of a surprise, such measures would not suffice, if merchant-ships were allowed freely to depart from national ports and to carry and disseminate intelligence whether conveyed by written or printed messages, or through the agency of passengers or crews.

22. It may therefore be imperative for a time to prevent the sailings of any vessels, or to prescribe strict conditions as to the course of their voyages. This sub- committee is not concerned with British ships. Nor is it necessary to consider in the present connection the case of enemy ships, whose departure, if allowed at all, would he subject to such conditions as may be specified in the proclamation granting days of

grace.

23. The temporary detention of neutral vessels in such circumstances as have been indicated is a right which has from time to time been exercised by belligerents, and which is known to international law as the "Droit de Prince.' It must, however, be emphasized that the occasions on which the right has been resorted to have been rare; that the detention has not usually been for more than short periods, nor enforced against more than a small number of vessels at a time; and that any unduly extended application to neutral shipping of exceptional measures not founded on any conventional agreement is always likely to provoke opposition and remonstrance in quarters where it is particularly desirable to cultivate a spirit of sympathy and friendliness. If exercised at all, the "Droit de Prince " would have to be accompanied by the payment of liberal compensation.

Diversion of Cross-Channel Packet Services.

24. It seems a question for consideration, as arising indirectly out of the terms of reference to this sub-committee, whether and to what extent it may be desirable in case of war to divert the ordinary cross-channel services from ports in close proximity to naval harbours and bases, such as Sheerness, Harwich, and Dover.

VI. NEUTRAL VESSELS AT SEA UNAWARE OF THE OUTBREAK OF War. 25. Merchant-vessels encountered on the high seas under a neutral flag are liable to capture (and destruction) under certain conditions-most of them defined in the

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