rance from 1888 to the opening of
the present war showed that search in port was not contemplated by the
government of any of these countries.

Great Britain had contended that the American objection to search at
sea was inconsistent with American practice during the Civil War.
Secretary Lansing held that the British view of the American sea
policy of that period was based on a misconception:

"Irregularities there may have been at the beginning of that war, but
a careful search of the records of this Government as to the practice
of its commanders shows conclusively that there were no instances when
vessels were brought into port for search prior to instituting prize
court proceedings, or that captures were made upon other grounds than,
in the words of the American note of November 7, 1914, evidence found
on the ship under investigation and not upon circumstances ascertained
from external sources."

Great Britain justified bringing vessels to port for search because of
the size and seaworthiness of modern carriers and the difficulty of
uncovering at sea the real transaction owing to the intricacy of
modern trade operations. The United States submitted that such
commercial transactions were essentially no more complex and disguised
than in previous wars, during which the practice of obtaining evidence
in port to determine whether a vessel should be held for prize-court
proceedings was not adopted. As to the effect of size and
seaworthiness of merchant vessels upon search at sea, a board of naval
experts reported:

"The facilities for boarding and inspection of modern ships are in
fact greater than in former times, and no difference, so far as the
necessities of the case are concerned, can be seen between the search
of a ship of a thousand tons and one of twenty thousand tons, except
possibly a difference in time, for the purpose of establishing fully
the character of her cargo and the nature of her service and
destination."

The new British practice, which required search at port instead of
search at sea, in order that extrinsic evidence might be sought (i. e.,
evidence other than that derived from an examination of the ship
at sea), had this effect:

"Innocent vessels or cargoes are now seized and detained on mere
suspicion while efforts are made to obtain evidence from extraneous
sources to justify the detention and the commencement of prize
proceedings. The effect of this new procedure is to subject traders t