Page:Handbook of maritime rights.djvu/39

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25

CHAPTER IV.


The Right of Capture.


The right of capturing enemies' goods on the high seas (which, as we have seen, is often improperly called the right of search) may be classed under three heads.

(1.) Where ship and cargo both belong to the enemy.

(2.) Where the ship belongs to the enemy and the cargo to a neutral.

(3.) Where the ship belongs to a neutral and the cargo to the enemy.

The first case has never yet given rise to any dispute, both ship and cargo being of course liable to confiscation although a theory, which we shall have to examine later on, has been lately started to exempt all private property at sea from capture.