This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906 Excerpt: ...his loss both in men and in munitions of war. To bring the war to an end may imply crippling his material resources, his trade, and his manufactures. To capture at sea raw materials used in the manufacturing industry of a belligerent State, or products on the sale of which its prosperity, and therefore its taxable ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906 Excerpt: ...his loss both in men and in munitions of war. To bring the war to an end may imply crippling his material resources, his trade, and his manufactures. To capture at sea raw materials used in the manufacturing industry of a belligerent State, or products on the sale of which its prosperity, and therefore its taxable sources, depend, may be viewed as one of the least cruel objects which the belligerents pursue. Moreover, to capture the merchant vessels which carry these goods, and even to keep the seamen navigating them prisoners, is to prevent the employment of the ships by the enemy as transports or cruisers, and the repairing, from among the seamen of the mercantile marine, of losses of men in the official navy. The assimilation of private property at sea to private property on land, it is seen, would mean that the State to which the captured vessels belonged should indemnify the ship and cargo owners for their loss, which, be it observed in passing, is not only a matter of international law, but is also a question of domestic regulation. In naval war, however, the circumstances are not exactly the same. After the outbreak of war, every shipowner and shipper belonging to a belligerent State knows the risk he incurs in sending ships or goods across sea. He has, moreover, the option of keeping ship or cargo in port, or of paying war rates of insurance, or again the shipper has the option of sending his goods under the protection of a neutral flag. If he exposes his ship or cargo to the risks of capture, it is that he has calcu lated the chances of escape, and chosen to run the risks. To indemnify him for losses incurred might be to relieve the shipowner or shipper from the consequences of his want of foresight and caution. Whether it is expedient for England ...
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