Words at any rate capable of this construction may, no doubt, be quoted from one of Lord Stowell's judgments, now more than a century old; but many things have happened, notably the invention of railways, since the days of that great Judge.

The United States cases, decided in the sixties (as Dr.Baty thinks, "on a demonstrably false analogy"), in which certain ships were held to be engaged in the carriage of contraband, although their destination was a neutral port, were substantially approved of by Great Britain.

Their principle wast adopted by Italy, in the _Doelwijk_, in 1896, and was supported by Great Britain in the correspondence upon this subject which took place with Germany in 1900.

It was endorsed, after prolonged discussion, by the Institut de Droit International in 1896.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, T.E.HOLLAND.
Oxford, July 11 (1904).
_( Unqualified Captors)_ Among the objections raised by the British Government to the capture by the Russian ship _Peterburg_ in the Red Sea, on July 13, 1904, of the P.and O.ss._Malacca_, for carriage of contraband were (1) that the so-called contraband consisted of government ammunition for the use of the British fleet in Chinese waters; and (2) what was more serious, that the capturing vessel, which belonged to the Russian volunteer fleet, after issuing from the Black Sea under the commercial flag had subsequently, and without touching at any Russian port, brought up guns from her hold, and had proceeded to exercise belligerent rights under the Russian naval flag.

In consequence of the protest of the British Government, and to close the incident, the _Malacca_ was released at Algiers, after a purely formal examination, on July 27, and Russia agreed to instruct the officers of her volunteer fleet not to make any similar captures.
The question of the legitimacy of the transformation on the high seas into a ship-of-war of a vessel which has previously been sailing under the commercial flag was much discussed at The Hague Conference of 1907, but without result.