Extracts from a Proclamation by the President of the United States, August 22, 18701 Whereas a state of war unhappily exists between France on the one side and the North German Confederation and its allies on the other side; and Whereas the United States are on terms of friendship and amity with all the contending powers and with the persons inhabiting their several dominions; and Whereas great numbers of the citizens of the United States reside within the territories or dominions of each of the said belligerents and carry on commerce, trade, or other business or pursuits therein, protected by the faith of treaties; and Whereas great numbers of the subjects or citizens of each of the said belligerents reside within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States and carry on commerce, trade, or other business or pursuits therein; and Whereas the laws of the United States, without interfering with the free expression of opinion and sympathy, or with the open manufacture or sale of arms or munitions of war, nevertheless impose upon all persons who may be within their territory and jurisdiction the duty of an impartial neutrality during the existence of the contest: Now, therefore, I, Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, in order to preserve the neutrality of the United States and of their citizens and of persons within their territory and jurisdiction, and to enforce their laws, and in order that all persons, being warned of the general tenor of the laws and treaties of the United States in this behalf and of the law of nations, may thus be prevented from an unintentional violation of the same, do hereby declare and proclaim that by the act passed on the 20th day of April, A. D. 1818, commonly known as the "neutrality law," the following Acts are forbidden to be done, under severe penalties, within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, to wit: And I do further declare and proclaim that by the nineteenth article of the treaty of amity and commerce which was concluded between 1VII Richardson: Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 86. His Majesty the King of Prussia and the United States of America on the 11th day of July, A. D. 1799, which article was revived by the treaty of May 1, A. D. 1828, between the same parties, and is still in force, it was agreed that "the vessels of war, public and private, of both parties shall carry freely, wheresoever they please, the vessels and effects taken from their enemies, without being obliged to pay any duties, charges, or fees to officers of admiralty, of the customs, or any others; nor shall such prizes be arrested, searched, or put under legal process when they come to and enter the ports of the other party, but may freely be carried out again at any time by their captors to the places expressed in their commissions, which the commanding officer of such vessel shall be obliged to show." And I do further declare and proclaim that it has been officially communicated to the Government of the United States by the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the North German Confederation at Washington that private property on the high seas will be exempted from seizure by the ships of His Majesty the King of Prussia, without regard to reciprocity. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 22d day of August, A. D. 1870. and of the Independence of the United States of America the ninetyfifth. By the President: HAMILTON FISH. Secretary of State. [Seal.] U. S. GRANT. No 1446.] Case of the William P. Frye1 The Secretary of State to Ambassador Gerard [Telegram] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 31, 1915. You are instructed to present the following note to the German Foreign Office: Under instructions from my Government I have the honor to present a claim for $228,059.54, with interest from January 28, 1915, against the German Government on behalf of the owners and captain of the American sailing vessel William P. Frye for damages suffered by them on account of the destruction of that vessel on the high seas by the German armed cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich, on January 28, 1915. The facts upon which this claim arises and by reason of which the German Government is held responsible by the Government of the United States for the attendant loss and damages are briefly as follows: The William P. Frye, a steel sailing vessel of 3,374 tons gross tonnage, owned by American citizens and sailing under the United States flag and register, cleared from Seattle, Wash., November 4, 1914, under charter to M. H. Houser, of Portland, Oreg., bound for Queenstown, Falmouth, or Plymouth for orders, with a cargo consisting solely of 186,950 bushels of wheat owned by the aforesaid Houser and consigned "unto order or to its assigns," all of which appears from the ship's papers which were taken from the vessel at the time of her destruction by the commander of the German cruiser. On January 27, 1915, the Prinz Eitel Friedrich encountered the Frye on the high seas, compelled her to stop, and sent on board an armed boarding party, who took possession. After an examination of the ship's papers the commander of the cruiser directed that the cargo be thrown overboard, but subsequently decided to destroy the vessel, and on the following morning, by his order, the Frye was sunk. The claim of the owners and captain consists of the following items: 1Official Print of the Department of State. Value of ship, equipment, and outfit... $150,000.00 Actual freight as per freight list, 5034 1000/2240 tons at 32-6-£8180-19-6 at $4.86 Traveling and other expenses of Capt. Kiehne and Arthur Total 39,759.54 500.00 300.00 37,500.00 $228,059.54 By direction of my Government, I have the honor to request that full reparation be made by the German Government for the destruction of the William P. Frye by the German cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich. No. 1984.] Ambassador Gerard to the Secretary of State BRYAN. AMERICAN EMBASSY, The following is translation of the reply of the Foreign Office to my note of April 3: GERMAN FOREIGN OFFICE, The undersigned has the honor to make reply to the note of His Excellency, Mr. James W. Gerard, Ambassador, the United States of America, dated the 3d instant, foreign office No. 2892, relative to claims for damages for the sinking of the American merchant vessel William P. Frye by the German auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich. According to the reports which have reached the German Government the commander of the Prinz Eitel Friedrich stopped the William P. Frye on the high seas January 27, 1915, and searched her. He found on board a cargo of wheat consigned to Queenstown, Falmouth, or Plymouth to order. After he had first tried to remove the cargo from the William P. Frye he took the ship's papers and her crew on board and sank ship. It results from these facts that the German commander acted quite in accordance with the principles of international law as laid down in the Declaration of London and the German prize ordinance. The ports of Queenstown, Falmouth, and Plymouth, whither the ship visited was bound, are strongly fortified English coast places, which, moreover, serve as bases for the British naval forces. The cargo of wheat being food or foodstuffs, was conditional contraband within the meaning of article 24, No. 1, of the Declaration of London, and article 23, No. 1, of the German prize ordinance, and was therefore to be considered as destined for the armed forces of the enemy, pursuant to articles 33 and 34 of the Declaration of London and articles 32 and 33 of the German prize ordinance, and to be treated as contraband pending proof of the contrary. This proof was certainly not capable of being adduced at the time of the visiting of the vessel, since the cargo papers read to order. This, however, furnished the conditions under which, pursuant to article 49 of the Declaration of London and article 113 of the German prize ordinance the sinking of the ship was permissible, since it was not possible for the auxiliary cruiser to take the prize into a German port without involving danger to its own security or the success of its operations. The duties devolving upon the cruiser before destruction of the ship, pursuant to article 50 of the Declaration of London and article 116 of the German prize ordinance, were fulfilled by the cruiser in that it took on board all the persons found on the sailing vessel, as well as the ship's papers. The legality of the measures taken by the German commander is furthermore subject to examination by the German prize court pursuant to article 51 of the Declaration of London and section 1, No. 2, of the German Code of Prize Procedure. These prize proceedings will be instituted before the prize court at Hamburg as soon as the ship's papers are received and will comprise the settlement of questions whether the destruction of the cargo and the ship was necessary within the meaning of article 49 of the Declaration of London; whether the property sunk was liable to capture; and whether, or to what extent, indemnity is to be awarded the owners. In the trial the owners of ship and cargo would be at liberty, pursuant to article 34, paragraph 3, of the Declaration of London, to adduce proof that the cargo of wheat had an innocent destination and did not, therefore, have the character of contraband. If such proof is not adduced, the German Government would not be liable for any compensation whatever, according to the general principles of international law. However, the legal situation is somewhat different in the light of the special stipulations applicable to the relations between Germany and the United States since article 13 of the Prussian-American treaty of friendship and commerce of July 11, 1799, taken in connection with article 12 of Prussian-American treaty of commerce and navigation of May 1, 1828, provides that contraband belonging to the subjects or citizens of either party can not be confiscated by the other in any case but only detained or used in consideration of payment of the full value of the same. On the ground of this treaty stipulation which is as a matter of course binding on the German prize court the American owners of ship and cargo would receive compensation even if the court should declare the cargo of wheat to be contraband. Nevertheless the approaching prize proceedings are not rendered superfluous since the competent prize court must examine into the legality of the |