Sone time ago we noticed the proceedings at meetings on the Continent of the Association for the Reform and Coditication of the-Law of Nations. The Association held its Conference for this Year in London, which was attended by eminent jurists, legislators, merchants and others of most of the nations of the world. When we find such men as Mr. Justice Butt, Sir Travers Tis, Judge Peabody and Mr. Dudley Field of New York, and a host of others bearing more or less notable names, meeting for the discussion of the differences in the laws of nations and how they can best be reconciled, we may be sure that the Association which brings them together is one of mark, although its decisions carry no official or legal authority. It is true that a large number of those who were it on the first day had evidently come for the purpose of supporting Mr. Richards' motion in favour of the substitution of international arbitration in place of war. But the greater part of the conference was composed of men of sober views, who discussed the papers which were read in a judicial and businesslike frame of mind. Without following all the proceedings of the conference we shall notice those parts of its deliberations in which merchants and shipowners generally are interested. The first of those subjects was the question, proposed by Admiral Colom! Jnder what cirenmstances is it justifiable to destroy shipping property at sea? The Admiral said that the first thought which suggested itself to the naval mind on observing shipping property in danger at sea, was the salvage, therefore it was extremely unlikely that such property would be destroyed if there was any reasonable hope of salving it. There, however, existed reasonable fears in the mercantile world that great dangers existed to navigation from derelicts drifting about on the ocean. On this point, Mr. George Brown, representing the GlasgowShipowners' Association, had something alarming to say. He asserted that there were far more derelicts in the Atlantic Ocean than icebergs, and more vessels destroyed by them than by the latter. Men-of-war, he added, were few, and generally confined to our coasts, but many of our great steamers met the derelicts all over the ocean. They considered that the master of every merchant vessel which met with a dere-het at sea should should be held justi-fable in destroying her, if he thought her a danger to navigation, Admiral Colomb thought that running into a dere-het might have been the fate of many of the missing ships that were never heard of and he read the text of an Order which the Admiralty is about to issue on the subject. It is:—"Should any of her Majesty's ships fall in with any waterlogged vessel abandoned at sea, and constituting a danger to navigation, the same shawld be examined; and unless it appears that the cargo is composed of such large balks of timber as to be of themselves a danger if released to float, or unless the position of the wreck is such as to make it probable that she may be presently towed into port, every effort should be made to sink or otherwise destroy her." The Conference adopted a vote of thanks to the Admiralty, with the rider that "the public interest be still furthered by the discretion of naval officers being less fettered, as proposed in the order."
The Conference afterwards discussed the bill of lading question which was introduced by Dr. Sieveking, President of the Hanseatic Court of Appeal. He gave a sketch of the previous proceedings of the Association when this subject was before it in Liverpool and Hamburg. At Liverpool, the form of Dill of lading adopted accepted the "act of God, perils of the sea, fire, barratry of the master and crew, enemies, pirates, and thieves, arrest and restraint of princes, rules and people, collisions, stranding and other accidents of navigation, even when occasioned by the negligence, default, or error in judgment of the pilot, master, mariners, or other servants of the shipowners." The bill of lading adopted at Hamburg contained the following clause:—'The shipowner shall be responsible that his vessel is properly equipped, manned, provisioned, and fitted out in all respects seaworthy and capable of performing her intended voyage, and for the stowage and right delivery of the goods. He shall also be responsible for the barratry, faults, and negligence, but not for errors in judgment of the master, officers, and crew." The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, however, protested against this clause as too hard upon shipowners, and since that time a bill of lading has been approved by the Chambers of Commerce of Hamburg and Bremen, and between this bill of lading and the Liverpool one there was great similarity. Eventually a resolution in the following terms was carried unanimously, amid cheering "'hat the following principle adopted by the Conference of this association held at Liverpool in 1882 be now confirmed and adopted as the basis of discussion. That the principle of the common form of bill should be this:—that the shipowner, whether by steam or sailing ship, should be liable for the faults of his servants in all matters relating to the ordinary course of the voyage, such as the stowage and right delivery of the cargo and other matters of this kind but on the other hand the shipowner should be exempt from liability for every thing which comes under the head of accidents of navigation, even though the loss from these may be indirectly attribut table to some fault or neglect of the crew." The prevention of collisions at sea was afterwards very fully discussed and a small Committee was appointed to consider the best way of preventing them. In the course of the discussion on this subject Mr. Gray Hill, of Liverpool, said that he had been frequently at sea, but he had never been at sea for 24 hours without, coming across vessels without any lights all. "When a disaster occurred the fact was carefully concealed." It is evident from such results as a near agreement having been arrived at between the terms of the Liverpool bill of lading and those of the Hamburg one, as well as from the character of the proceedings at this Conference, that the Association is doing good, by the interchange of views between able men of different nationalities, and by thus acquainting each other with the legal system and mercantile customs prevailing in their countries.
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Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.