File No. 300.115/165
The Consul General at London (Skinner) to the Secretary of State
London, September 3, 1914, 7 p.m.
[Received 7:30 p.m.]
[Telegram]
President Admiralty division prize court writes:
Writs are issued when it is shown that ship or goods should be condemned as lawful prize. Prize court will sit only in London for [the] United Kingdom. Owners of cargo alleged to be property neutrals, if they satisfy procurator general by the shipping, documents that such cargo is neutral property, will obtain his consent to cargo being released and marshal will at once act on such consent. In compliance with your request American owners of cargo shall have one month further time in which to enter appearance and court should be prepared on special grounds to enlarge this time. The procurator general has already in many cases consented to release before an appearance has been entered.
Procurator general has agreed with me to note my informal protests as to vessels taken to ports in British Isles and give me opportunity to appoint solicitor for absent owners if such have not entered appearance within tune limit agreed. Following courts authorized act as prize courts under Prize Courts Act 1894:
Supreme Court in Gibraltar; Colombo for Ceylon; Mauritius; Singapore for Straits Settlements; Hongkong; Sydney for New South Wales; Melbourne for Victoria; Adelaide for South Australia; Perth or Albany for Western Australia; Hobart for Tasmania; Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch for New Zealand; St. John’s for Newfoundland; Stanley for Falkland Islands; Brisbane for Queensland; Kingston or Port Royal for Jamaica; Simon’s Bay or Cape Town for Cape of Good Hope; Sierre Leone; Bombay; Durban for Natal; Suva for Fiji; Nassau for Bahamas; Georgetown for British Guiana; Belize for Honduras; Port of Spain for Trinidad; Antigua for Leeward Islands; commercial court in Malta; exchequer court or local judges in Admiralty in Halifax, Victoria, Quebec, Charlottetown and St. John for Canada; court of general assizes for Bermuda; royal court of St. Lucia for Windward Islands; residents court for Aden; high court of judicature, Fort William, for Calcutta; and chief court for Lower Burma.
The towns named indicate places at which it would be convenient court sit and colonies have been so informed but decision as to place of sitting rests with colony.