rafts had been returned unpaid and others were expected in due course,
and whether paid or not they would finally have to be lifted by the
shippers from the United States, since they were the final recourse.[52]
All delay tended to reduce the value of the goods, which were
perishable, on account of the climate and because of Cape Colony duties
and loss of market.

[Footnote 51: For. Rel., 1900, p. 582; Toomey to Hay, Jan. 23, 1900.]

[Footnote 52: For. Rel., 1900, p. 540; Hay to Choate, Jan. 10, 1900.]

The offer was made by several of the American shippers to sell to Great
Britain for the value of the goods at the port of original destination
at the time they would have arrived there had the voyage not been
interrupted. And the American representative urged that it would be
advisable for all American shippers who were interested to agree to sell
upon the same terms with a view to securing an arrangement which would
include all neutral American property. He suggested that where the title
to property was doubtful both shipper and buyer might unite in the sale,
since this course was preferable to incurring questions as between
consignors and consignees in the prize courts.[53]

[Footnote 53: For. Rel., 1900, p. 551; Choate to Hay, Jan. 12, 1900.]

The English Government had naturally been unwilling to buy at current
prices for the reason that prices were doubled at Delagoa Bay after the
seizures, but it was considered that the price there on the day of the
seizures was not unreasonable. Great Britain was willing to buy, but
emphasized the point that the alleged owners must prove their title to
ownership beyond a doubt as an essential condition of the arrangement,
since the Government could not incur the risk of paying one man only to
have another appear later and prove that he was the real owner. Fears
were expressed that the question of ownership would cause trouble,
although the regular shipping documents by which the goods had gotten
into the ships, it was thought, should be sufficient proof provided the
joint consent of consignors and consignees could be secured.[54]

[Footnote 54: For. Rel., 1900, pp. 553, 554, 579]

The English view had been that the whole cargo was included in the libel
for trading with the enemy declared against the ship, but the plea of
the American owners was heard, that the rules of prize procedure should
not be so rigorously enforced in the present instances, since such an
interpretation