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MEMORANDUM BY THE FOREIGN OFFICE.

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VIII.--CONTRABAND.

32. Contraband may be found on board enemy or neutral vessels.

Contraband on Enemy Ships in Port.

33. No obligation can be held to be imposed on a country to allow an enemy ship in its ports at the time of the outbreak of war to carry away contraband.

34. If the contraband is neutral property, its free exit cannot be claimed either under article 3 of the Declaration of Paris of 1856, which provides that “neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under euemy's flag"; or under the Days of Grace convention (see Appendix VIII); or under article 43 of the Declaration of London (quoted in § 41, below), which applies not to vessels found in port, but encountered on the high seas whilst in ignorance of the outbreak of war, and which moreover provides that, in the case of such vessels, contraband found on board may be condemned on payment of compensation.

35. If the contraband is enemy property, it is true that the convention of 1907, declaring the grant of Days of Grace to be desirable, contains no words specifically excepting contraband from the operation of such grant, but it would be so unreason- able to accord more lenient treatment to enemy property than to neutral property that the exception must be taken as implied.

36. Assuming the contraband, whether enemy or neutral property, to have been shipped before the outbreak of war, its presence on board would be no sufficient reason for excluding the ship from the benefits of a Days of Grace proclamation she would merely be required, by a proviso in such proclamation, to unship it.

37. Similarly, if an enemy vessel is permitted by a proclamation to complete her loading before sailing, a prohibition should be inserted in it against the shipment of contraband. There is, however, no obligation, nor indeed any reason, to allow an enemy vessel to ship any cargo at all after the outbreak of war.

38. If in defiance of the requirements or prohibitions of a proclamation granting days of grace contraband were either retained or shipped, the offending vessel would rightly be excluded from its benefits.

Contraband on Enemy Vessel at Sea unaware of Outbreak of War.

39. The position and proper treatment of an enemy merchant-vessel encountered on the high seas while still ignorant of the outbreak of war are not affected by the presence of contraband on board. As already pointed out (see §§ 10 and 11, above), the vessel would be liable to capture and sequestration. The contraband, if enemy property, would as such also be subject to sequestration under article 4 of the Days of Grace convention; if it were neutral property, the prize courts would, under article 43 of the Declaration of London (see § 41, below), restore it to the owner, unless the belligerent chose to requisition it on payment of the value. In no case would it be condemned outright.

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Contraband on Neutral Vessels in Port.

40. Neutral vessels found within territorial waters on the outbreak of war would have to submit to the same restrictions as regards sailing with contraband on board as enemy vessels to whom days of grace are allowed. Such ships should receive a warning not to ship contraband, or to unship it if already on board. Failure to comply would expose the vessel to being seized and brought before a prize court in the ordinary way on a charge of carrying contraband.

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