perous than he was at the
beginning. Such is assuredly the teaching of history, and although vast
changes have taken place alike in respect of the methods, opportunities,
implements, and international conventions of naval war and in respect of
the conditions, volume, and national importance of maritime commerce,
yet I think it can be shown that the sum total of these changes has made
on the whole rather for the advantage of the superior belligerent than
otherwise. In the first place privateering--formerly a very effective
weapon in the hands of the weaker belligerent--is now abolished. It is
true that the Declaration of Paris, which recorded and ratified its
abolition, has not been formally accepted by all the naval Powers of the
world; but it is also true that since its promulgation no naval Power
has sought to revive privateering. It is indeed held by some that the
right claimed by certain maritime Powers to convert merchant ships of
their own nationality into warships by arming and commissioning them on
the high seas is, or may be, equivalent to the revival of privateering
in its most dangerous and aggressive form. But those who argue thus
appear to overlook the fact that this process of conversion on the high
seas is by the Seventh Convention of the Second Hague Conference hedged
round with a series of restrictions which differentiate the warship thus
improvised very sharply from the privateer of the past. The following
are the leading provisions of this Convention:--

1. A merchant ship converted into a warship cannot have the rights and
duties appertaining to vessels having that status unless it is under the
direct authority, immediate control, and responsibility of the Power the
flag of which it flies.

2. Merchant ships converted into warships must bear the external marks
which distinguish the warships of their nationality.

3. The commander must be in the service of the State and duly
commissioned by the proper authorities. His name must figure on the list
of the officers of the fighting fleet.

4. The crew must be subject to military discipline.

5. Every merchant ship converted into a warship is bound to observe in
its operations the laws and customs of war.

6. A belligerent who converts a merchant ship into a warship must, as
soon as possible, announce such conversion in the list of its warships.

This Convention has been accepted and ratified by all the great maritime
Powers. It is true that it give