Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/30

 22 PRIZE PRIZE MONEY adjudication, and her own master and crew are not bound to do this. If the vessel is given up to them, and they pursue their original course against the wish of the captors, this is not a rescue. But if the neutral crew undertake and promise to navigate the vessel to the desired port for adjudication, and the vessel is given up to them for this purpose, and they violate their promise and take the vessel into their own hands for their own purposes, this is an unlaw- ful rescue. Generally a cargo is considered as liable to condemnation if any act has been committed by the master which subjects the ship to condemnation. But the cargo is not liable to condemnation if it is the property of a person other than the owner of the ship, and its owner was not cognizant of the intended violation. If, however, the owner of the car- go gave the master discretionary power, he is liable for his acts ; or if the cargo was loaded after notification of a blockade, the parties having full knowledge of the fact. Resistance to the right of search, the rescue or recapture of the ship by the master and crew, and the fraudulent suppression or spoliation of papers, affect the owner of the cargo as well as the owner of the ship. The principal grounds for condemning a ship as prize, where the ques- tion of nationality is in dispute, are : 1, the entire want of the necessary papers ; 2, their destruction ; 3, their material alteration or fal- sification ; 4, the time when the papers were made out, as whether before or after the war, is often material ; 5, next in importance is the conduct of the master and officers; 6, their prevarication or evident falsehood in the pre- liminary proof; 7, their refusal or inability to give a good account of the ship and cargo ; 8, the domicile of the master and officers. The spoliation of papers, by which is meant, not merely their total destruction, but such falsifi- cation as makes them useless or worse as evi- dence, is a circumstance of grave suspicion, though it is open to explanation. Possession by an enemy is presumptive proof, though not conclusive, of hostile character. Ships are pre- sumed to belong to the country under whose flag they sail ; and it has been thought that this presumption should be conclusive as against the person using the flag. In joint captures all public ships of war in sight are presumed to assist, and therefore they are entitled to share in the proceeds ; and this presumption extends to all the ships of a squadron united by au- thority for a specific purpose, as for a blockade for example, although not actually in sight ; but it does not apply to privateers, because they are not obliged to capture all vessels they meet, as are vessels of war. Revenue cutters, as they are generally employed to protect the revenue, and have no special injunction to capture enemy's vessels, come under the same rule as privateers in this respect. Every ship is expected to have on board the necessary papers to establish her nationality ; and these are the papers which the law of her own country requires as evidence of that character. The same rule applies to cargoes. The sale of a ship or cargo under a decree of admiralty, founded on condemnation as prize, is valid and binding upon all courts and parties, unless it is shown to be vitiated by fraud. But where an attempt is made to establish a revolutionary government, which fails, the adjudications of its prize courts and the sales based upon them will not be recognized, as was held in the case of the late Confederate States. PRIZE MONEY. The distribution of prize money, or of the proceeds of the sale of ships or goods adjudged by courts of admiralty to be good prize, is carefully regulated by statutes of the United States. The 10th section of the act of June 30, 1864, provides as follows : " The net proceeds of all property condemned as prize shall, when the prize was of superior or of equal force to the vessel or vessels making the capture, be decreed to the captors ; and when of inferior force, one half shall be de- creed to the United States and the other half to the captors : provided that, in case of pri- vateers and letters of marque, the whole shall be decreed to the captors, unless it shall be otherwise provided in the commissions issued to such vessels. All prize money adjudged to the captors shall be distributed in the follow- ing proportions, namely: 1. To the command- ing officer of a fleet or squadron, one twentieth part of all prize money awarded to any ves- sel under his immediate command. 2. To the commanding officer of a division of a fleet or squadron, on duty under the orders of the commander-in-chief of such fleet or squadron, a sum equal to one fiftieth part of any prize money awarded to a vessel of such division for a capture made while under his command, the said fiftieth part to be deducted from the moiety due to the United States, if there bo such moiety, otherwise from the amount awarded to the captors: provided that such fiftieth part shall not be in addition to any share which may be due to the commander of the division, and which he may elect to re- ceive as commander of a single ship making or assisting in the capture. 3. To the fleet cap- tain, one hundredth part of all prize money awarded to any vessel or vessels of the fleet or squadron in which he is serving, except in case where the capture is made by the vessel on board of which he is serving at the time of such capture, and in such case he shall share in proportion to his pay with the other officers and men on board such vessel, as is herein- after provided. 4. To the commander of a single ship, one tenth part of all the prize money awarded to the ship under his com- mand, if such ship at the time of the capture was under the command of the commanding officer of a fleet or squadron, or a division, and three twentieths if his ship was acting inde- pendently of such superior officer. 5. After the foregoing deductions, the residue shall be distributed and proportioned among all others