Determination of the products and articles which the Republic does not consider contraband of war and the risk of which will be at the account of those interested. October 20, 1914. In view of [Registro Nacional, 1914, p. 509.] MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, Montevideo, October 20, 1914. 1. Article 18 of Convention v of The Hague, 1907, which refers to the supplying of belligerents; 2. Articles 22, 23, 24, 28, 29 (chapter ii) of the Declaration of London of 1909 on the classification of contraband of war and the exceptions; and the provisions of the same chapter ii and of chapter iii on the confiscation of goods and ships and unneutral service; 3. Article 14 of the decree of August 7, 1914, which contains the declaration of contraband of war; and article 141, paragraph 1, of the penal code; 4. That it is possible to authorize commerce with the belligerents in articles which the legislature of the Republic does not consider contraband of war even if they are among those which the Declaration of London considers absolute or conditional contraband; 5. That the commerce to which the preceding sentence refers ought to be carried on in all cases at the account of and at the risk of the merchants, contractors, and purchasers, thus excluding all responsibility of the State in case of confiscation. The President of the Republic decrees: ARTICLE 1. The sale is declared legal of supplies of forage and grain suitable for the feeding of animals, of garments, textiles, and footwear, of tanned hides, of horses and mules, of herds of cattle, sheep, and hogs on foot, even if they have been purchased for the armies at war. ART. 2. According to articles 28 and 29 of the Declaration of London, the following articles are not considered contraband of war: Wool and raw material of the textile industry as well as yarns, oil seeds, rawhides, and horns; manures for agricultural purposes; minerals, earths, clays, lime, chalk, stone, marble, bricks, tiles; soaps, paints, colors, and materials used in their manufacture, and varnishes; paper and material prepared for its manufacture; feathers of all kinds, hairs, and bristles; articles of household furniture and decorations; office furniture and accessories; articles and materials serving exclusively for the care of the sick and wounded (subject, however, to the right of requisition on payment of value in case they are destined to the territory of an enemy or territory occupied by him or by his forces); articles and materials intended for the use of the vessel in which Rules as to War Vessels. 115 they are found as well as those for the use of her crew and passengers during the voyage. ART. 3. The charterer should take account of the risk according to the provisions of chapters ii and iii of the Declaration of London, and especially of the fact that the neutral vessel is considered subject to confiscation when it is loaded in whole by a belligerent Government. ART. 4. In case of confiscation of cargoes or vessels coming from the Republic, as in other risks and conflicts which may be presented to the shippers and consignors, they will be considered according to the rules of the relevant legislation in force before the departure of the vessel from the Uruguayan port, and in this case, when once the voyage has begun, residence excludes all intervention of a diplomatic character by Uruguay. ART. 5. Let it be communicated, inserted, and published. BATLLE Y ORDOÑEZ. New maritime rules to be observed in reference to belligerent vessels of war. December 14, 1914.1 In view of [Registro Nacional, 1914; 582.] MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, 1. Articles 12 and 15 of the decree of August 7, 1914, and the decree of September 8, 1914, which refer to merchant vessels and to the conditions and formalities for recognizing this character, to the effects of sojourn in the ports of the Republic to take on supplies, etc.; 2. The opportunity of completing and defining the rules which serve to determine with entire impartiality the character of vessels and the observance of the principles and the rules of neutrality; 3. The authoritative precedents in the rules issued by the United States of America and other American countries; 4. The situation of the ports of the Republic in reference to the great lines of navigation, their situation as furnishers on a great scale of coal and general supplies for the marine, the distances to the ports of neighboring countries frequently entered, and other peculiar circumstances; The President of the Republic decrees: ARTICLE 1. With the object of preventing the ports of the Republic from being used as bases of operations for belligerent warships the following rules will be observed: 1 Similar to United States regulation, September 19, 1914. See p. 91. (a) It is presumed that a base of operations may exist whenever fuel and supplies for vessels are laden in a port more than once in a period of three months since the commencement of the war or during it, either directly or by the intermediary of aux iliary vessels attached to the belligerent fleet or by the means of merchant vessels of belligerent or neutral nationality which act as auxiliaries. (b) The simple rumor that a vessel laden with fuel or naval supplies with the intention of delivering its cargo to a belligerent warship on the high seas, when it does not rest on direct or indirect evidence, does not impose on the neutral authorities the duty of detaining the merchant vessel with the object of making an inquiry, unless it is known that this vessel has previously transported provisions for a belligerent warship. (c) When there is indirect evidence which confirms the rumor or the suspicion that the merchant vessel has the intention of supplying a belligerent warship with fuel or other supplies on the high seas, the suspected vessel will be detained until its intention can be proved. This procedure ought to be followed especially when it is known or a strong suspicion exists that a belligerent warship is at sea just outside of the port where the merchant vessel takes a cargo which might be used for naval supplies; when the merchant vessel is of the nationality of the belligerent to which the warship belongs, the presence of which on the coast is well known; when a merchant vessel which, in its preceding voyage between a Uruguayan port and a neutral port, has reached its port of destination without having on board the cargo of naval supplies taken in the port of departure and desires to take similar cargo; when agents of a belligerent Government purchase the fuel or other provisions and they are loaded on a merchant vessel which does not clear for a port of a belligerent country but for a neighboring neutral port; and when agents of a belligerent Government take passage on board a merchant vessel which carries a cargo of fuel or other provisions and which is cleared for a neighboring neutral port. (d) When a merchant vessel laden with fuel or other naval supplies wishes to depart under circumstances giving grounds for strong suspicion that it intends to carry the fuel or supplies to a belligerent warship, it will not be detained for that fact alone if the case is isolated and if neither the merchant vessel nor the warship to which the supplies are supposed to be destined have previously loaded similar supplies since the beginning of the war or within the period of three months. (e) For judging whether a belligerent wishes to convert neutral territory into a base of naval operations, it is necessary to take account as an essential idea of the repeated departure from the territory of an auxiliary vessel of a belligerent fleet, or of a merchant vessel in the service of a belligerent, laden with fuel or other naval supplies. Sojourn of Vessels. 117 (f) It is not necessary to detain or forbid the loading of a merchant vessel which, having previously taken a cargo of naval supplies in a port of the Republic or a neutral port, has carried them to its destination even when it is a question of an identical cargo and, indeed, when the neutral port of destination might serve as a base of belligerent operations. (g) The duty of forbidding an act contrary to neutrality is incumbent exclusively on the neutral country whose territory is used as a base; and even if the supplies are transported directly to a naval base established on the territory of a belligerent or on territory under belligerent authority, the Uruguayan authorities are not obliged by any duty of neutrality to limit their cargoes or to detain the vessels or to forbid the trade in any other manner. ART. 2. Merchant vessels flying the flag of a belligerent country, which are in the ports of the Republic from being compelled to interrupt their voyage because of the state of war, or which arrive at these ports in order to adjust themselves to the state of war, can not depart even if there exists no ground for suspecting that they have the intention of violating neutrality (as prescribed by art. 1) without a declaration of the consular representative of the country in question indicating the ports of call and the port of destination and certifying that the voyage has a purely commercial object. ART. 3. Whenever a merchant vessel has left or leaves a port of the Republic and it is proved that it has not followed the itinerary declared by the consul, it can not carry on operations in any port and it can enter only to remain at the place the authorities assign to it until the end of the war, without prejudice to measures relating to the false declaration of the consul or to the fault of the owner or the captain. ART. 4. To prevent the clandestine departure of merchant vessels in port the authorities will observe the following provisions: (a) Not to permit vessels to begin loading supplies before making the declarations and guaranties provided in article 2. (b) To require them to discharge all fuel and provisions which are not strictly necessary for the requirements of their sojourn in port. (c) To assign them an anchorage which permits the best surveillance. (d) To take all other measures of precaution (such as preventing the operation of machinery) without prejudice to the security and the good conservation of the vessel. ART. 5. The provisions of the present decree will apply to merchant vessels which are in the ports of the Republic at the date of the decree and to those which arrive up to the end of the war. ART. 6. Let it be communicated, inserted, and published. BATLLE Y ORDOÑEZ. BALTASAR BRUM. JUAN BERNASSA Y JEREZ. Regulations relative to the supply of coal which belligerent vessels of war can take in the ports of the Republic. December 15, 1914. In view of [Registro Nacional, 1914, p. 585.] MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, Montevideo, December 15, 1914. 1. Articles 5 and 19 of convention xiii of The Hague, 1907; 2. The proposal of the Government of the Republic of Chile1 relative to the adoption of certain rules proper to better guarantee neutrality, a proposal which merits the approval of this government and which it has taken into account in another decree of the present date; The President of the Republic decrees: ARTICLE 1. Belligerent vessels of war can supply themselves in the ports of the Republic with coal only to the extent necessary to gain the first coaling station of a state near to Uruguay. ART. 2. The authorities will take into account in determining the maximum cargo of fuel the normal consumption of the vessel in reference to its speed and to the distance to the nearest port toward which it is bound. ART. 3. Paragraph 2 of article 8 of the decree of August 7, 1914, is modified by the present decree. ART. 4. Let it be communicated, inserted, and published. BATLLE Y ORDOÑEZ. BALTASAR BRUM. JUAN BERNASSA Y JEREZ. Limitation of the time of sojourn of belligerent vessels of war in the ports, roadsteads, or waters of the national jurisdiction. December 15, 1914. In view of [Registro Nacional, 1914, p. 585.] MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, 1. Article 12 of convention xiii of The Hague, 1907, concerning the time of sojourn of belligerent warships in neutral ports, roadsteads, or waters, and article 5 and others of the decree of August 7, 1914, which considers the time of sojourn; 2. The opportunity of putting the provisions in force in the Republic in harmony with those of other countries, in particular the American countries, which have limited to 24 hours the normal time of sojourn of these vessels; 1 See decree of Chile, December 15, 1914, p. 22. |