亨利-梅因：国际法Lecture 5

f coal， refused to admit its being necessarily contraband； but in the war of 1870 the English Government declined to allow British coal to be carried to a French fleet

that was lying in the North Sea. The most vehement of the disputes has been， perhaps， that about provisions. At the end of the last century， when the great war of the Revolution had beam， English statesmen believed the French population to be on the point of starvation； and that the French were suffering great distress from scarcity of food is now most fully established. The English Government therefore seized all ships bound to a French port which were laden with provisions. As their enemy was believed by them to be on the point of abandoning the contest through want of provisions， they refused to allow the stock of provisions to be increased. Just at the same moment the United States had become the great neutral Power enjoying the advantages of the carrying trade， and the Government of the United States issued a series of vehement protests against the assumption of the contraband character of provisions in any circumstances. It is probable that in future provisions will only be contraband when destined for a port in which an enemy's fleet is lying. The point on which I desire to fix your attention is that the test of articles which are contraband of war is not yet settled.

　　The other portion of the older law which is not affected by the Declaration of Paris is Blockade. Blockade is defined as the interruption by a belligerent of access to a place， or to territory， which is in possession of an enemy. Blockade is probably confined to maritime hostilities； but it has considerable external resemblance to a siege by land， and the law of the one acting by land has visibly affected the law of the other acting by sea. But as a matter of fact the objects of blockade and siege are not the same. The aim of a siege is the capture of a strong place or town beset. The aim of a blockade is to put stress on the population of a port， or on the population behind it， through denying it communication， commercial or otherwise， with the rest of the world accessible to it only by sea. This it effects by the rules of International Law， which permit blockading ships to capture ships of the other belligerent which attempt to enter the blockaded port， or to come out of it， or which may reasonably be suspected of having this intention.

　　There are two main conditions of the capture of neutral vessels by a blockading squadron. One is that they must be warned of the existence of the blockade. The mode of giving this notice required by law varies in different countries. France and certain other countries give notice to each ship individually， their cruisers stopping it， and seeing that the stoppage is notified on the ship's papers. England and the United States make public notice in their own territory， and communicate the fact of the blockade to foreign Powers. Under modern circumstances， where information is conveyed over the civilised world by newspapers and the electric telegraph， it certainly seems that the English and American practice is sufficient. It is hardly possible that there should be ignorance nowadays of the existence of an established blockade.

　　The second condition is that mentioned in the Declaration of Paris： the blockade must be effective； that is， it must be maintained by a naval force strong enough to prevent access to the blockaded coast. It is the act of secretly evading a force on the whole adequate which constitutes the offense that subjects a neutral ship to capture —— what is called 'running the blockade.' The stress laid on the sufficiency of the blockade is a legacy from the last century. Hardly any country has not been at some time or other accused of establishing what is called a 'paper blockade；' that is to say， publicly announcing the blockade of a particular portion of the coast， but not supporting it by a sufficient force of ships. It is justly thought that such a blockade gives the maximum of annoyance to honest neutrals， but allows a maximum number of dishonest neutral adventurers to penetra

te the line. Nothing can justify the absolute interdiction of a portion of the coast to neutral commerce except a method likely on the whole to secure that end. A blockade must as a general rule be continuously maintained， but an exception is allowed in the case of ships driven away by storm and stress of weather

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