17. The neutrality of Brazil is not held to be affected by the mere passage through the territorial waters of its coast of warships or prizes belonging to the belligerents.

18. When warships belonging to the belligerents are present simultaneously in a Brazilian port or roadstead, a period of not less than twenty-four hours must elapse between the departure of the ship belonging to one belligerent and the departure of the ship belonging to the other, if both are propelled by

steam.

If the first vessel to depart is a sailing ship and the second a steamship, the latter may not leave till three days after.

The order of departure of steamships is determined by the order of arrival, unless the ship which arrived first is so cir-. cumstanced that an extension of its stay is permissible.

A belligerent warship may not leave the Brazilian port in which she is lying until after the departure of a merchant-ship flying the flag of its adversary, the above-mentioned intervals being observed according as the merchant vessel is a steamship or sailing-ship.

19. If notwithstanding the notification by the competent local authority a belligerent ship of war does not leave a Brazilian port where she is not entitled to remain, the Federal Government will take such measures as it considers necessary to render the ship incapable of taking the sea during the war.

(a.) The commanding officer of a warship flying the flag of a Power which has ratified the Thirteenth Hague Convention of the 17th October, 1907,* or which has adhered to the same, must facilitate the execution of such measures.

(b.) Should the commanding officer of the belligerent ship not comply with the notification made to him on any unjustifiable grounds, or because he belongs to a country which has not bound itself by those and other clauses of the above-mentioned Thirteenth Hague Convention, the Federal Government will instruct its naval and military authorities to employ force in order to prevent Brazilian neutrality being compromised.

(c.) When a belligerent ship is detained in Brazil, the officers and crew shall likewise be detained.

(d.) The officers and crew thus detained may be kept either on another vessel or on land, and may be subjected to such measures of restriction as it may appear necessary to impose upon them. A sufficient number of men for looking after the vessel must, however, always be left on board. The officers may be left at liberty on giving their written word of honour not to quit the place in Brazilian territory indicated to them without the permission of the Minister of Marine.

20. Prizes taken by a belligerent may be brought into a Brazilian port only on account of unseaworthiness, stress of weather, or want of fuel or victuals, or, further, in the case provided for in the following Article 21.

* Vol. C, page 418.

The prize must leave as soon as the circumstances which justified its entrance are at an end. If it does not do so, the Brazilian authority will order the captain of the prize to leave at once, and if not obeyed without delay will employ the means at its disposal to release it with its officers and crew, and to intern the prize crew.

A prize brought into a Brazilian port under circumstances other than the four conditions laid down in the beginning of the present Article will similarly be released.

21. Prizes may be allowed to enter Brazilian ports, whether escorted or not, when they are brought there to be sequestrated pending the decision of a competent Prize Court.

The prize may be sent by order of the local authority to another Brazilian port.

If the prize is convoyed by a warship, the officers and prize crew may go on board the warship.

If the prize is not under convoy, the prize crew are left at liberty.

22. Warships of the belligerents which when pursued by the enemy take refuge in a Brazilian port in order to avoid imminent attack will be detained there until they disarm. They will, however, be permitted to depart, if their commanding officers give an undertaking to take no further part in hostilities.

23. No prize may be sold in Brazil until the validity of the capture has been confirmed by the competent Courts of the captor's country, nor may the latter dispose in Brazil of any objects taken from the prize which he may have on board.

24. The commanding officers of naval forces or of warships of any of the belligerent Powers that may enter Brazilian ports in order to effect repairs or to ship victuals and fuel, will be requested to give a written declaration that they will not capture merchant vessels flying the flag of their adversary even outside Brazilian territorial waters, if met within the waters comprised between the 30' of longitude W. of Greenwich and latitudes 4° 30" N. and 30° S., should such merchant vessels have left port with cargo shipped in Brazilian ports, or should they bear any manifest of cargo destined for ports of Brazil.

25. None of the belligerents will be allowed to ship in Brazilian ports goods that have arrived directly for the belligerents in vessels of any nationality whatever, as this would indicate that the belligerent ship had not put into the Brazilian port owing to an unforeseen necessity, but with the intention of cruising in the proximity of the coast. To tolerate this abuse would be tantamount to allowing Brazilian ports to serve as a base of operations for the belligerents.

26. Ships of the belligerent Powers admitted into the ports and roadsteads of Brazil must remain at the points which are indicated to them by the local authority, and must preserve complete tranquillity and absolute peace as regards all ships that

may be present there, even warships or vessels equipped for war belonging to another belligerent Power.

27. The military, naval, fiscal, and police authorities shall exercise the greatest vigilance to prevent any breach of the preceding provisions in the ports and territorial waters of the Republic.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Rio de Janeiro, August 4,

1914.

FREDERICO AFFONSO DE CARVALIIO.

DECREE of the Chilean Government imposing Restrictions on the Shipment of Fuel by Vessels of Belligerent Nations in Chilean Ports.-Santiago, December 15, 1914.

(Translation.) [No. 2009.]

WHEREAS Convention XIII of The Hague, relating to the rights and duties of neutral Powers in the event of war, establishes in Article XIX that belligerent warships may supply themselves with fuel in neutral ports to an extent sufficient to enable them to reach the nearest port of their country, and adds in Article XX that the said warships may not renew their supply of fuel in a port of the same Power before the lapse of three months; and

Whereas this and other dispositions of the Convention cited manifest the primary purpose of preventing neutral Powers from co-operating directly or indirectly in the action of the belligerents and of removing warships from neutral ports by allowing them only such elements as are necessary to enable them to reach the coast of the country to which they belong; and

Whereas the application of these rules in the ports of the Republic in producing results clearly contrary to the spirit of all the dispositions of the said Convention because, owing to the great distance between our coasts and the belligerent countries, the supply of coal furnishable to their warships is very considerable, and because the said warships have profited by the facility to continue their warlike operations in American waters instead of proceeding to the coasts of their own country; and

Whereas the dispositions cited thus tend in practice to encourage naval warfare in the Pacific, contrary to the desire and the interests of Chile; and

Whereas for the same reason the consequences of the European conflict are becoming more serious in our country, since in addition to the disturbance of her international commerce and her economic and industrial life she must endure the anxieties consequent upon the fulfilment of her duties as a neutral and Vol. C, page 448.

upon the watching of our long coastline, which absorb the energy of our maritime authorities and entail upon the Treasury expenditure of no inconsiderable magnitude; and

Whereas the said Convention XIII in the fifth of the consideranda which precede its provisions, reserves to the signatory countries the faculty of modifying their rules in the course of a war when experience acquired demonstrates the necessity of so doing in order to safeguard their rights; and

Whereas the difficulties occasioned by the application of Article XIX would be greatly diminished if the rule regarding the delivery to warships of the coal necessary to enable them to reach a port of their nation were replaced by a rule to supply in every case no more fuel than may be sufficient to allow them to reach the nearest port of the nearest neutral country; and

Whereas the warships supplied to such limited extent could not venture upon warlike operations save by running the risk of becoming motionless upon the high seas; and

Whereas the circumstance that our country is a producer of coal induces belligerent vessels to supply themselves with that fuel at our ports in preference to ports of countries which are not in the same position (a consideration which entails upon the Government of Chile more particularly the moral obligation to prevent the improper use in future of supplies of coal in her ports); and

Whereas it is necessary to adopt for cases of breaches of neutrality by merchant vessels a penalty which by its severity shall oblige the shipping companies to take a direct interest in the strict fulfilment of the rules prescribed by the Government, and also necessary to decide upon some measure for the diminution as far as possible of the burden imposed upon the State by the necessity of watching the vessels interned at ports of the Republic for violations of neutrality or voluntarily detained by their owners;

I decree:

1. That hereafter the supplies of coal which may be furnished to warships of the belligerent nations at Chilean ports shall be reduced to the quantity necessary to enable them to reach the nearest coaling port of the neighbouring nation.

2. That in the event of the violation by a merchant ship of any of the rules bearing upon the observance of neutrality adopted by the Government of the Republic, no fuel shall be supplied in Chilean ports to any vessel of the company to which the ship so offending may belong.

3. That the vessels interned by order of the Government by reasons of violations of neutrality, and also those whose owners state their intention to maintain them in Chilean ports until the end of the war, shall be concentrated in such Chilean ports as in each case the administrative authority may determine.

4. That the quantity of coal which may be supplied in ports of the Republic to merchant vessels be limited to the capacity of

their ordinary bunkers unless they desire to sail direct to European ports, in which case they may be supplied with the quantity of coal necessary for the voyage, provided always that the company to which they may belong furnish a sufficient guarantee in the opinion of the Government that the fuel shall be used exclusively in effecting such voyage.

The foregoing provisions shall apply throughout the territory of the Republic, reckoning from the 1st January next.

Let it be noted, communicated, published, and inserted in the "Boletin de las Leyes y Decretos del Gobierno."

Santiago, December 15, 1914.

MANUEL SALINAS.

BARROS LUCO.

DECREE of the President of China relative to the Observance of Neutrality during the European War.-Peking, August 6, 1914.

(Translation.)

WHEREAS We are happily at peace with all Sovereigns, Powers, and States;

And whereas a state of war unhappily exists between AustriaHungary and Serbia, thereby involving many other European Powers in a state of war;

And whereas by faith of Treaties of Friendship and Commerce we are on terms of friendship and amicable intercourse with each of the Powers;

And whereas the aforesaid unhappy state of war will seriously affect the commerce of the Far East;

And whereas great numbers of our citizens reside and carry on commerce and possess property and establishments and enjoy protection, together with various rights and privileges, within the dominions of each of the aforesaid Powers;

And whereas we, being desirous of maintaining the peace of the Far East and of preserving to our citizens the blessings of peace, which now they happily enjoy, are firmly purposed and determined to maintain a strict and impartial neutrality in the aforesaid state of war unhappily existing between the aforesaid Powers:

I, the President, therefore specially issue the enjoined regulations for the strict observance of neutrality by all our citizens, in accordance with the existing laws and statutes, and the laws of nations in relation thereto.

The Field-Marshals and Governors-General of all the provinces are hereby ordered to instruct their subordinates diligently and faithfully to follow the precepts laid down in the international law, and to maintain the friendship with all the Powers with whom we are happily at peace.