Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/27

 PKIVY COUNCIL PRIZE 19 cal, black berry, two-celled, with one or two seeds in each cell. It belongs to the same fam- ily with the olive, to which it is closely related. The privet is largely used in Europe for orna- mental hedges, and was early in the century planted as a hedge in this country; but while Privet (Ligustrum vulgare). it has many qualities which adapt it to the pur- pose, it is here subject to a sudden blight or dis- ease which has caused it to be abandoned. In the older states it has become thoroughly natu- ralized through the agency of birds. Planted in a shady place, it is a pleasing ornamental shrub, but if exposed to the full sun at noon, its flowers wither in a day; it grows well in the drip of deciduous trees, and is especially useful near the sea, where few ornamental plants flourish. The wood of the privet is hard and close-grained, and when of sufficient size serves for turning. The leaves and bark are bitter, and the smaller twigs are used in some parts of Europe for tanning leather. The young slender branches and shoots are em- ployed like osiers for basket making and as rithes. The berries afford a rose color which used in tinting maps and prints, and- dye reen if alum is used as a mordant ; they are Iso eaten by several kinds of birds. A green- sh oil fit for lamps or to make soap is extract- " from them by pressure. There are several varieties, such as the white-, yellow-, and green- berried, the narrow-leaved, and the variegated leaved. It is readily propagated by cuttings by seeds. The Japan privet (L. Japonicum) las large, thick, shining, evergreen leaves, hich are broader than in the common species, id larger, pure white, slightly fragrant flow- ers. This and a variegated form of it are charming greenhouse shrubs in the northern states, but grow in the open air at the south. PRIVY COUNCIL. See COUNCIL. PRIZE, any property captured in virtue of the rights of war. A difference exists in prac- ice between war on land and on the sea in respect to private property. At sea all the property of every citizen of a belligerent country is liable to capture ; but on land it is customary to respect private property. There is, however, no absolute rule on this subject, and in the late civil war both parties passed acts for the confiscation of enemy's property captured on land. Cotton in particular, being the chief resource of the Confederate States, was deemed to be peculiarly a proper subject of capture, and the acts of congress providing therefor were sustained and enforced by the courts. The general rights of a belligerent are to make captures by his public armed ves- sels of war, to grant commissions to private persons for the same object, and to establish tribunals of prize for the purpose of examin- ing into all maritime captures, and of judicially deciding upon their validity. .By the declara- tion of war all the citizens of the belligerent countries respectively become enemies, and the citizens of one country may seize any property of the other that they may meet with at sea. Property so seized belongs to the sovereign of the country, and not to the captors, unless it is given to them as an act of grace on the part of their sovereign. For this reason, and also that the government of the country may have the power to limit and control the ope- rations of the war, commissions are usually granted by the government to private persons, authorizing them to make such captures, and after adjudication by a competent tribunal they are entitled to the proceeds of the prizes thus taken. (See PEIVATEEE.) It is obviously necessary that when a capture has been made there should be some tribunal with authority to pass upon the validity of the capture, and to pronounce a decree of condemnation or ac- quittal. It is therefore the right and duty of the government of a country, on the declara- tion of war, to establish tribunals of prize ; and it is then responsible to all foreign nations for the correctness of the decisions therein made. So far as the property in question is concerned, the sentence of the prize court is conclusive upon all the world. If the sentence is one of condemnation, the title of the former owner is divested, and all nations are bound to respect the new title acquired under it. But to give the decision of the court this effect, it must appear conclusively that the court had jurisdiction over the property in question. The court must be established in the country of the captor, or in that of his ally in the war, but it is not necessary that the prize should be brought within a port of one of these coun- tries. It is the practice of Great Britain and of the United States to adjudicate upon captures which have been carried into a neutral port. The next question to be considered is: Who are enemies, and what property is liable to capture ? For this purpose not only the native- born citizens of the belligerent are considered as enemies, but all persons who have their domicile in the hostile country ; and the citi-