ps were of the general character of
foodstuffs, chiefly flour, canned meats, and other food materials.
Lumber, hardware and various miscellaneous articles generally considered
innocent in character were also included. There was a consignment of
lubricating oil to the Netherlands South African Railway, the latter
company held to be the property of the Transvaal Government, and a like
consignment to the Lorenzo Marques Railway, a Portuguese concern. At
first the seizures which occurred at points between Cape Colony and
Delagoa Bay were supposed to have been made on account of contraband.
Later Great Britain declared that the ships had been seized because of
the violation of a municipal ordinance forbidding British subjects to
trade with the enemy. The _Mashona, Beatrice_ and _Sabine_ were British
ships sailing under the English flag. The _Maria_ was a Dutch vessel
sailing under the flag of Holland, but was supposed by the English
authorities to have been under charter to an English firm. In the latter
case the ship would have been liable to the English law, but for the
mistake the owners of the ship as well as the owners of the cargo were
indemnified by the English Government. The seizure of the cargoes of the
British ships was declared to have been merely an unavoidable incident
of the seizure of the alleged guilty ships. Compensation was made to
American shippers by the purchase of the goods. The consignment of oil
to the Netherlands South African Railway was confiscated as enemy's
property.

The views of Great Britain and the United States were divergent with
reference to the principle of treating foodstuffs as contraband. Rather
as an _obiter dictum_ the former declared: "Foodstuffs with a hostile
destination can be considered contraband of war only if they are
supplies for the enemy's forces. It is not sufficient that they are
capable of being so used; it must be shown that this was in fact their
destination at the time of the seizure."[60]

[Footnote 60: For. Rel., 1900, p. 555.]

The United States declared that the validity of the right to seize goods
on the ground of contraband could not be recognized "under any
belligerent right of capture of provisions and other goods shipped by
American citizens in the ordinary course of trade to a neutral
port."[61]

[Footnote 61: For. Rel., 1900, p. 540.]

England declared: "Her Majesty's Government have not admitted liability
in respect of any claims for loss or damage