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Show GERMANY TO PAY FOR SINKING OF STEAMER FRYE Upholds Action of Com mander of Prinz Eitel in Destroying American Vessel LIABILITY COMES UNDER OLD TREATY German Government Re quires, However, That j the Facts Be Es tabhshed "WASHINGTON Apr 1 8 Germany a intention to compensate the owners of the An encan sh p "Will am P Frye sunk on the h gh seas with her cargo of heat by tjie commerce raider Pr nzj E tel Fnedr ch -was formally commum cated to the- Un ted States go eminent today Embassador Cerard cabled a ; note handed b m by the Berl n fore gn : off ce in reply to the recent American i commun cat on eubm tt ng a claim for an indemn ty of $& 059 24 on behalf j of the Trye s owners The foro gn of j f ce upholds w thout qual f cat on the j legal ty under internat onal law of the raider a act on in s nkmg the Irye and bases the 1 ab hty of the German gov eminent to pay ndemnity solely on the old Pru 6 an Amer can treat es of 1 69 and 1"8 wh ch pro de that contraband j belong ng to the subjects or c tizens of e ther party cannot be conf seated by the other and may be detained or used only n cons dera on of pavment of the full alue Tn view of th s st pulataon the note says of course the Ajnencan owners must be compensated for the r loss. It is pointed out however that the case of necessity must j,o into a prize court in! order that quest ons of ownership cargo j dest nat on etc may be formally es tabl hed Germany s Position The German pos t on s that the Frye s cargo of wheat was contraband because it was cons gned for orders to Queenstoun which is declared to be a fortif ed port of Great Br ta n No notice is taken of the fact that since the wheat was sold en route to Brit sh c t zens the Un ted States filed a cla m for the ressel owners onlj th s question be ng left for de elopment n the prize court Off c als hero were somewhat sur pr sed at the nature of the German note because of the bearing t may hae upon negot at ons now m progress be tween "Washington and London over the virtual blockade of Germany and Aus tria declared by the all es. The United States has n sis ted that upon the bel 1 gerent se z ng a cargo cons gned to o der rested the burden of proof that the goods were dest ned for armed forces of an enemy The Gem an note was dated pril 4 one day after Embassador Gerard pre sented the request for indemn tj Text of Reply The reply was handed by the foregn! off ce at Be lin; to Embassador Gerard who cabled t today to the state de partment It follows The unders gned has t e onor to make r p y to the no e of s exce lency Mr James Ge ard embas sador of the Ln ted States of An er 1 a da e e rd nst fore gn of fice number 2892 elat ve to c a ms for damages for the s nk ng of the Ameri can me chant et e Will am P Frye by the Ge man aux ary cru ser Prinz kite Fr ediich Accord ng to the reports wh ch ha e reached the German go ernment the commander of t e P oz C tel Fr ed rich s opped the "V am P Frye o the h gh seas Ja uary 7 191a and searched ,1 er He found on board a ca go of xhea.t cons gned to Queens own Fa n outh or P ymouth o or der After he had fi st t ed to re ' mo e the ca go from t e W am P I Frje he took the s ps pape s and i her crew on boa d and sank the sh p Act Upheld as Legal It resu s om these facts tl a the Ge man commander acted qu e ln acco dance w t the prlnc p es of n te nat ona aw as ad down n he Dec a a on of London and the Ger man p ze o d nance. The po s of Queenstown Falmou h and P j mouth w h the e sh p v s ted wae bound a e strong y fort fled Engl sh po s wh ch moreover serve as bases for the naval forces The cargo of wheat be g food or foodstuffs was condl t o al cont aband w hin the mean Ing of artl e 24 No 1 of the Dec ara on of London and art ce 3 No 1 of the Ge man p ze o d nance and was therefore to be cons de ed as destlna ed for the armed forces of the enemy purs ant to ar clcs 33 and 34 of t e Dec a atlon of London and a t cles 3 and 33 of the Gem an prize ord nance and to be trea ed as contraband pend Ing proof of the contrary Th s proof was e ta n no capa ble of be ng adduced at the t n e of the Is t ng of the essel s nee a cargo pape s ead o o dfr Th & owe er furn shed e cond ona un der w pu sua t to ar c e 49 of the Dec a at on of London a d art c e 113 of e Ger nan pr ze o d na ce the 6 nk nB of he 8 p was pe m s sab e s nee was ot poss b e for the aux ar r ser o ake the pr ze f into a German po t w thout n o Ing (Continued on Page Two I GERMANY 10 PAY FOR SIII OF FRYE (Continued from Page One) danger to its own secur ty or the success of its operat ons The dut es devolv ng upon the cru ser before de s ruction of the s ip pursuant- to ar t cle 50 of the Dec aratlon of London and art cle 116 of tl e German pr ze ordinance were f ulfl ed by tl e cry ser in that it tooc on boa d all the per sons found on the sal ng vessel as well as the ships papers Pnze Court Invoked The legality of the n easures taken by the German commander is further more subject to examinat on by the German prize court pursuant to ar tide 51 of the Dec aratlon of London and section 1 No 2 of the German code of pr ze procedure These pr ze proceedings will be nstituted before the pr ze court at Hamburg as soon as the sh p s papers are rece ed and will comp se the sett ement of the due to wl ether t e destruct on of the cargo and tl e sh p was necessary with n t e mean ng of artic e 49 of t e Dec aratlon of London whether the property su k was labe to cap ure and whether or to what extent n demnitv s to be awarded the owne s In the t nal the owners of sh p a d cargo wou d be at 1 bertv pursua t to article 34 paragraph 3 of the Dec lara ion of London to adduce proof that the cargo of wheat had an In nocnt destinat on a d d d not t ere fore a e the character of contra ba d If sue proof is not adduced the Gern an go ernment would not be llab e for any con pensat on what e er accord ng o the general prln clples of inter ational law Comes Under Treaty However the legal s tuation is somewhat d fferent n tl e 1 ght of the special st pu ations app cab e to the relations between Germany and the United S ates s nee art cle 13 of the Pruss an An erlcan trea j of friend ship and commerce of July 11 1799 taken in connection with article 12 of tl e Pru s an Amer can t eaty of commerce and na gat on of May 1 1S28 provides that contraband be longing to the s abject or citizens of e ther party cannot be confl cated by the other In anv case but only de talned or used in cons deration of payment of the fu 1 alue of the same O the ground of this treaty st p ulation wh ch s as a matter of cour e b nd ng on the German pr ze court he American owners of sh p and car go would eceive con pensat on even If the court should dec are the cargo of n 1 eat to -be contraband Neve the ess the approach ng pr ze proceed Ings are ot rendered superfluous since the competent prize court must examine nto the leal ty of the cap ure and dest uction and a so p o nounce upon the stand ng of the c a mants and the amou t of nden n tv T e unders gnd begs to suggest that tl e embassador br g the abo e to the knowledge of h s government and ava s himself et cetera (S gned) JAGOW April 4 191d |