Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/816

* SEAKCH. 'i'38 the hoisting of tlic neutral flag and a heaving to, otherwise the helligeront cruiser is justified in re- sorting to force to compel obedience. The dis- tiince at which the searching vessel sliall remain while the scarcli party is on hoard is usually stated to be "not within the range of a cannon Bhot." The search party is limited to an olUcer, a boat's crew, and one or two persons to assist in the work of conduoling the search. If the ves- sel's documents indicate neutral origin and desti- nation it is allowed to |)roceod:. if lliey are fraudulent or indicate hostile destination search is made for contraband articles, and if any be found the shii) is <lcclared a good prize and sent into port for condenuiation SEARCH WARRANT. ever, was seldom exercised, since at this time the slave trade had become virtually extinct. A good account of the negotiations may be found in Schuyler, American Diplomacy (New York, 1880). SEARCH LIGHT. The electric search light consists of an electric arc mounted in the focus of a parabolic mirror. The mirror receives the rays which diverge from the lamp and by virtue of the properties of a parabola retlects them in a direction parallel to the axis. The search-light casing consists of a thin metal cylinder, black- ened inside to prevent interference of liplit by reflection, from IS to 72 inches in diameter and ,_ j^ _ of slightly greater length. It is supported on To prevent the annoyances incident to the right trunnions" or pivots to give it motion in the of .search, governments Iiave sometimes arranged with one another that the presence of a public armed vessel with a fleet of neutral merchant vessels shall be regarded as sulficient evidence that they are engaged in a lawful trade. Slany neutrals', among them the United States, have even claimed this as a right of international law without the necessity of sanction by treaty, but others, like England,' deny the right. In addition to the belligerent right of search, a similar usage vertical plane, and the arms carrying the pivots are secured to a pivoted horizontal plate wliicb permits lateral movement. The feeding in the lam]) is generally automatic, though hand feed is also provided. The light may be trained by hand or by a search-light conti'oller located at a distance from the light. If reliable in its operation the controller is to be preferred, as it is dillicult for the operator to see objects illuminated bv the rays when he is too near the ■with respect to foreign vessels is permissible in light. The earliest practicable search lights were the following cases: to search vessels within the territorial waters of a State as a means of exe- cuting revenue laws; to .search vessels on the high seas on suspicion of piracy; to search mer- chant vessels on the high seas for the purpose of ascertaining their nationality. In general, European nations have conceded the reciprocal right of detention and visitation of their vessels suspected of being engaged in the slave trade. Prior to the Yar of 1812 the British Govern- ment took advantage of the right of search to exercise what it regarded as its right of impress- ment (q.v. ). For many years in connection with the suppression of the slave trade Great Britain endeavored to obtain the consent of the other maritime powers to a qualified right of search in time of peace. Before the year 1820 the British Government had succeeded in making treaties to this eti'ect with Denmark, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Similar concessions concerning the right of search in time of peace were obtained by Great Britain from France in 1831-33, from Denmark and Sardinia in 1834, from the Hanse Towns and Tuscany in 1837, from Naples in 1838, and from Haiti iii 1839. In 1841 a treaty con- ceding mutually a qualified right of search for the purpose of suppressing the .slave trade was negotiated between Great Britain, Austria, Rus- sia, Prussia, and France, but France, largely in- fluenced by Lewis Cass, then United States Jlin- ister at Paris, refused to ratify this quintuple treaty. Throtighout this period the Britiish Gov- ernment made repeated but uniformly unsuccess- ful efforts to obtain a recognition of the right of search from the United States Government, and in the progress of the negotiations endeavored to distinguish between the right of search and designed by a Frenchman, M. Jlangin. In the earliest models the carbons of the lamps were nearly vertical, but in more recent types thej' are horizontal, as this arrangement permits the crater formed in the carbon to give its full bril- liance to reflection and prevents irregular feed- ing from displacing the incandescent arc from the optical axis of the mirror. See CoAST Defense. SEARCH OF TITLE. In law, a search in the various public offices where instruments W'hich may afleet the title to real estate are re- corded, in order to determine whether a person has a good record title to real property. If there have been any proceedings involving the transfer or division of the property, such as a partition, the searcher must look up the records of the proceedings and determine whether they were regular, and whether they included all neces- sary parties, etc. The memoranduna of the re- sults of the search is called an 'abstract of title.' A search for conveyances and mortgages is always made for twenty years back, as that is the period requii-ed to gain title by adver.se pos- session, and many persons require a complete chain of title from the original grant by the Government to the date of the conveyance. An attorney who searches a title for a client is re- sponsible to the client for any damages which may result from a defective title, if the defect was a matter of record and the attorne.y failed to find and report it. See Abstract of Title; Recording of Deeds; Records, Public, etc. ; and consult the authori- ties referred to under Abstract of Title and Real Property. SEARCH WARRANT. A warrant or man- the right of visit, though the United States ncA-cr date of a court of competent jurisdiction, usually assented to the distinction. On April 7. 18fi2, a magistrate's court, addressed usually to the during the Civil War, Secretary of State Seward, sheriff or a constable, requiring him to search evidently desiring to conciliate the British Gov- a house or place named in the warrant for prop- ernmcnt, signed a treaty for the suppression of the erty alleged to have been stolen. The warrant re- slave trade, which provided, among other things, quires the officer serving it to seize the property that the United States and Great Britain should if found and the person named in the warrant have a mutual right of search. The right, how- and to bring both before the court issuing the