PART 2. 1864-1913.

Prize distribution in Great Britain at present is authorized by two permanent acts passed in 1864. The first of these acts known as the "Naval agency and distribution act of 1864"[1] provides that all salvage, bounty and prize money be distributed according to proclamation or order in council and that the shares in which such distribution shall occur be determined in the same manner. Pursuant to this act a proclamation was issued August 3, 1886[2] providing that the whole of prizes legally adjudicated be for the benefit of officers and seamen making the capture and that the flag officers receive one-thirtieth of the proceeds and the captain one-tenth. The remainder is to be divided equally among eleven grades of officers and seamen. This rule has been superseded by an Order in Council of September 17, 1900[3] shortly after the outbreak of the South African war. It provides that only ships within sight so as to cause intimidation of the enemy are to share in prize money as joint captors. All bounty, salvage and prize money received for any action are to be in general divided in the same manner. The flag officer is to receive one-thirtieth of the prize but no share of bounty, unless actually present at the capture. The captain in actual command receives one-tenth. The remainder is divided among eleven grades of officers and men as before.

The other act now in force regulating prize matter is the "Naval Prize Act of 1864".[4] It provides for prize courts and prescribes their procedure, these matters however have been amended by "the prize courts act of 1894".[5] In joint captures by land and naval forces prize courts have jurisdiction. In cases of the infraction of municipal or international law all proceeds of the prize go to the government, notwithstanding any grant that may have been made to the captors. Ships taken as prize by any ship other than a regular ship of war enure solely to the government. This provision effectually abolishes privateering. Recaptured ships are to be returned to the original owner if an English subject on payment of from one-eighth to one-fourth salvage unless they have been fitted out by the enemy as ships of war when they will be considered good prize. If prize bounty is granted in any war by proclamation the officers and crew actually present at the taking or destroying of any armed ship of the enemy are entitled to bounty calculated at the rate of five pounds for each person on board the enemy's ship at the beginning of the engagement. The saving clause of the act states that "nothing in this act shall give to the officers and crew of any of her majesty's ships of war any right or claim in or to any ship or goods taken as prize or the proceeds thereof, it being the intent of this act that such officers and crews shall consent to take only such interest (if any) in the proceeds of prizes as may be from time to time granted to them by the crown." The principle that original title to all prize vests in the crown is thus distinctly asserted.

Perhaps the best exposition of the present rules for the conduct of prizes and the distribution of the proceeds from them is contained in the instructions to naval officers which have been authoritatively issued in England, based on the statutes and orders mentioned. Such a code was prepared by Mr. Godfrey Lushington in 1866[6] and revised by Prof. T. E. Holland in 1888.[7] It contains the following provisions[8] bearing on bounty, prize salvage and prize money.

"247--When any ship or vessel shall be captured or detained her hatches are to be securely fastened and sealed and her lading and furniture and in general everything on board are to be carefully secured from embezzlement. The officers placed in charge of her shall prevent anything from being taken out of her until she has been tried and sentence shall have been passed on her in a court of prize.

"250--If any ship or vessel shall be taken acting as a ship of war or privateer without having a commission duly authorizing her to do so, a full report of all particulars is at once to be made to the admiralty.

"252--The ship to which a prize strikes her flag is the actual captor. Other ships may be held by the prize court to share as joint captors on the ground either of association or cooperation with the actual captor.

"253--If ships are associated or cooperating together a capture made by one enures to the benefit of all.

"255--Ships being in sight of the prize as also of the captor under circumstances to cause intimidation to the prize and encouragement to the captor are held to be cooperating with the actual captor.

"259--In the case of captures made jointly by British and allied ships of war the duties of the respective commanders are usually regulated by treaty.

"263--Upon adjudication the prize court will order the vessel and cargo to be restored to their respective owners upon payment by them of prize salvage.

"266--The prize salvage which will be awarded to the recaptors for the recapture of any British vessel before she has been carried into an enemy's port is one-eighth part of the value of the prize or in case the recapture has been made under circumstances of special difficulty or danger a sum not exceeding one-fourth part of the value.

"267--If however the vessel has before her recapture been set forth or used by the enemy as a ship of war, then upon recapture the original owner is not entitled to restitution, but both vessel and cargo will be condemned as lawful prize to the recaptor.

"269--It may happen that an enemy vessel which has been captured by a British cruiser is afterwards lost to an enemy's cruiser and finally recaptured by another British cruiser. The commander effecting such a recapture should send in the vessel for adjudication and the original captors are not entitled to restitution, but both vessel and cargo would be condemned as lawful prize to the recaptors.

"270--If a commander recapture from the enemy a neutral vessel which would not have been liable to condemnation in the prize court of the enemy he is not entitled to salvage and should without delay and without taking ransom, set her free to prosecute her voyage.

"271--If a commander recapture from the enemy an allied vessel his duty is generally regulated by treaty. In default of treaty regulations he will send her into a British port for adjudication and the prize court will award salvage or not according as the prize court of the ally would or would not have awarded salvage to an allied ship for recapturing a British vessel."

_NOTES._