follows:
"As an exception, a neutral vessel captured by a belligerent ship, and
which would be liable to condemnation, may be destroyed if the
observance of Article 48 would involve danger to the ship of war or to
the success of the operations in which she is at the time engaged."
The next article provided the following safeguards: "Before the
destruction the persons on board must be placed in safety, and all the
ship's papers and other documents which those interested consider
relevant for the decision as to the validity of the capture must be
taken on board the ship of war."

The Declaration of London was freely criticised for recognizing an
unlimited discretionary right on the part of a captor to destroy a
neutral prize. Under all the circumstances the main grievance against
Germany was not that she destroyed prizes at sea, but that she utterly
ignored the restrictions imposed upon this right and the rules designed
to safeguard human life.

Germany sought to justify her submarine policy on the ground (1) that
the American manufacture and sale of munitions of war was one-sided and
therefore unneutral, and (2) that the United States had practically
acquiesced in what she considered the unlawful efforts of Great Britain
to cut off the food supply of Germany. The subject of the munitions
trade was brought to the attention of the United States by Germany in a
note of April 4, 1915. While not denying the legality of the trade in
munitions under ordinary circumstances the contentions of the German
Government were that the situation in the present war differed from
that of any previous war; that the recognition of the trade in the past
had sprung from the necessity of protecting existing industries, while
in the present war an entirely new industry had been created in the
United States; and it concluded with the following statement which was
the real point of the note: "This industry is actually delivering goods
to the enemies of Germany. The theoretical willingness to supply
Germany also, if shipments were possible, does not alter the case. If
it is the will of the American people that there should be a true
neutrality, the United States will find means of preventing this
one-sided supply of arms or at least of utilizing it to protect
legitimate trade with Germany, especially that in food stuffs." To
this note Secretary Bryan replied that "Any change in its own laws of
neutrality during the progress of the war which