secretary
of state, to Messrs Kamer & Co., 19th of February 1889). The British
manual of naval prize law sums up the cases in which a blockade, validly
instituted, ceases to be effectively maintained, as follows:--(1) If the
blockading force abandons its position, unless the abandonment be merely
temporary or caused by stress of weather, or (2) if it be driven away by
the enemy, or (3) if it be negligent in its duties, or (4) if it be
partial in the execution of its duties towards one ship rather than
another, or towards the ships of one nation rather than those of
another. These cases, however, are based on decisions of the British
admiralty court and cannot be relied on absolutely as a statement of
international law.

As regards notice the following American instructions vere given to
blockading officers in June 1898:--

"Neutral vessels are entitled to notification of a blockade before
they can be made prize for its attempted violation. The character of
this notification is not material. It may be actual, as by a vessel of
the blockading force, or _constructive, as by a proclamation of the
government maintaining the blockade, or by common notoriety_. If a
neutral vessel can be shown to have had notice of the blockade in any
way, she is good prize, and should be sent in for adjudication; but
should formal notice not have been given, _the rule of constructive
knowledge arising from notoriety_ should be construed in a manner
liberal to the neutral.

"Vessels appearing before a blockaded port, having sailed without
notification, are entitled to actual notice by a blockading vessel.
They should be boarded by an officer, who should enter in the ship's
log the fact of such notice, such entry to include the name of the
blockading vessel giving notice, the extent of the blockade, the date
and place, verified by his official signature. The vessel is then to
be set free; and should she again attempt to enter the same or any
other blockaded port as to which she has had notice, she is good
prize. Should it appear from a vessel's clearance that she sailed
after notice of blockade had been communicated to the country of her
port of departure, or _after the fact of blockade had, by a fair
presumption, become commonly known_ at that port, she should be sent
in as a prize."

The passages in italics are not in accordance with the views held by
other states, which do not recognize the b