Great Britain to restore the goods to their
_bona fide_ neutral owners or to the neutral consignees. Although the
permission had been given to the owners to come and take their goods at
the ports of detention, short of the original port of destination, this
permission could not be considered as discharging the obligation to
restore the goods. The representative of the United States insisted that
nothing short of delivery at their port of consignment would fulfill the
English obligation in a commercial sense such as to give the goods the
value intended. It was clearly shown that under the application of the
English municipal law the goods in question became as inaccessible to
their owners for all the purposes of their commercial adventure "as if
they had been landed on a rock in mid-ocean."[37] In his criticism of
the English position, Mr. Choate said: "The discharge from the vessel
and landing short of the port of destination and failure to deliver at
that port, constitute wrongful acts as against all owners of innocent
cargoes."[38] And he pointed out the inconsistency of the position since
it was not claimed that any but British subjects could be guilty of any
violation of the English prohibition against trading with the enemy. He
was accordingly instructed to insist that the obligation rested upon the
British Government to indemnify the neutral owners and make good to them
all damages and loss sustained by the treatment to which they had been
subjected.

[Footnote 37: For. Rel., 1900, p. 585; Choate to Salisbury, Feb. 6,
1900.]

[Footnote 38: For. Rel., 1900, p. 586.]

The United States was ready to admit that there might have been cause
for the seizure and detention for the purpose of examination before a
prize court upon the suspicion of trading with the enemy. But the
decision of the judges seemed to indicate that such a suspicion was not
founded upon facts which could be produced before the courts. The
vessels were released upon the ground that they had not in fact traded
with the enemy nor intended to do so except with the express or implied
permission of the British Government. In view of the causes put forward
for the seizures and of the reasons stated by the authorities for the
subsequent release of the ships it would seem that the cargoes, "except
in so far as contraband might have been involved would have the same
status as though found aboard British ships trading between neutral
ports where there was