Lord Salisbury
said: "It must be distinctly understood that these payments are made
purely _ex gratia_ and having regard to the special circumstances of
this particular case. No liability is admitted by Her Majesty's
Government either to purchase the goods or to compensate ... for the
losses or for the expenses ... incurred."[58] The view held by the
English statesman was that Great Britain's concession in these cases
should not serve as a precedent in the future.

[Footnote 58: For. Rel., 1900, p. 618; Salisbury to Choate, July 20,
1900, with reference to the _Beatrice_.]

The attitude which Great Britain had assumed with reference to the
different seizures was generally considered a menace to neutral
commercial interests should the British position be accepted as a
precedent for similar cases that might occur. The danger of such a
precedent had been realized by Secretary Hay and throughout the
negotiations he had dwelt upon the fact that while the protection of
American interests was the end immediately sought, the principles which
underlay the disposition of the particular cases were of the greater
importance.

Lord Roseberry, too, called attention to the danger of the precedent
should England determine to treat foodstuffs in general as contraband of
war. It was pointed out, however, that in the seizures of foodstuffs
near Delagoa Bay the question of contraband did not necessarily arise,
since all trade with the enemy, even in articles the most innocent, was
forbidden under heavy penalty. The seizure of certain classes of
foodstuffs as of a contraband character did not of necessity involve the
principle of treating all foodstuffs as contraband of war. The English
view was that it had long been recognized that a belligerent might
discriminate between foodstuffs obviously intended for the commissariat
of an army in the field and foodstuffs which might be properly imported
for the use of the non-combatant population.

The consensus of opinion, however, seems to be that while there may be
reasonable ground for including tinned or canned meats and the like in
the former category, flour naturally belongs to the latter class, and it
has been pointed out that neither the British Government nor any other
has the power of treating what it pleases as contraband without
reference to the prize court, with which alone the decision rests. The
prize courts of all countries have held at different times that
foodstuffs under cer