is doctrine--the supposed right that a
power possesses to capture the merchandise of private individuals who
belong to an enemy country in times of war--we shall perhaps feel some
surprise that a principle which is not admitted in land warfare should
still prevail at sea. According to the more benevolent notions of
conducting a campaign suggested, and indeed enforced by Hague Conventions
and such like, an army has no right to steal the food of a country which
it has invaded. It must pay for what it takes. Well-conducted armies, as a
matter of fact, behave in this fashion: the necessity of paying for what
they take is very strictly enforced by responsible officers. Why,
therefore, at sea an opposite state of affairs should prevail is really
not easy to understand. Most of the enemy's merchant ships which have been
captured in the recent war belong to private individuals, or private
companies. But they are taken, subject to the decision of Prize Courts, as
part of the spoils of a successful maritime power. I am aware that the
question is an exceedingly controversial one, and that Great Britain has
hitherto been very firm, or, perhaps, I might be allowed to say, obstinate
in upholding the law of capture at sea. But I also know that a great many
competent lawyers and politicians do not believe in the validity of such a
principle, and would not be sorry to have it abolished.[13] At all events,
it is clear enough that if it were abolished one of the main arguments for
keeping up a strong navy would fall to the ground. We should then require
no patrol of cruisers in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, and in the
Mediterranean. One thing at least is certain, that if we can ever arrive
at a time when a real Concert of Europe prevails, one of the first things
which it must take in hand is a thorough examination of the extent of
defensive force which a nation requires as a minimum for the preservation
of its independence and liberty.

[13] Notably Lord Loreburn, in his _Capture at Sea_ (Methuen).

TRADE IN ARMAMENTS

Certainly one crying evil exists which ought to be dealt with promptly and
effectively in accordance with the dictates of common sense as well as
common morality. I refer to the trade in armaments carried on by private
companies, whose only interest it is to foment, or perhaps actually to
produce, war scares in order that munitions of war may be greedily
purchased. A notorious example is furnished by the great works at E