PRIZE SALVAGE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2238, 26 August 1914, Page 6

PRIZE SALVAGE

The capture; of private property at •sea in time of war and the prize salvage and the right of naval officers and seamen to share in the proceeds of caphired ships and cargoes, are a survival from mediaeval times, when there was no organised national navy, and when .maritime war was carried on by private vessels on behalf of tho Sovereign. Payment for services rendered against an enemy in that distant, age took the shape-of a grant by the Crown of tho whole or part of the captured property. The earliest recorded grants are of the year 1242; the master and crew of a King's ship, and tho men of Oleron and Bayonno in their own ships, were granted one-half of their prizes. In 1295 the masters of some Bayonne ships agreed with, their crews to share their prizes equally, with a provision that the wounded should be first recompensed out of the,common fund. In 1319 Edward il granted to some East Coast ships that sailed with him. against tho Scots the whble of their prizes. In 1325 the King's share of captures made by the) Portsmen was one-fourth, and in this case the' grant was declared to be made by the ,Portsmen to the King. In tho next year, 1326, the King granted to the admiral his share of prizes captured by the fleet, and in 1387' private men-of-war> were granted tho wliole of their prizes. It is on the practice of the j 3th and 14th centuries that the existing custom in this 20th century rests. I'nzo salvage—that is a reward for the recapture of a British from a belligerent —rests on ffib same foundation. The private shipowner at one time had to bo paid in some way for this particular work.

Very few details have been allowed to' filter through regarding the landing of the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium, but according to an authority who dealt with the subject recently it is probable that the majority from tho debarking ports entrained to such a position as will enable them to form the link between the French and the Belgians. Tlio total strength is about 172,000, wliich includes the lines of communication troops. The "Army Annual" .contains a detailed table giving the strength of the different units. An infantry division is about 20,000 strong, and lias 54 18-pouuder field guns (the same as tho newer New Zealand field guns), 12 new 5-inch howitzers, 4 heavy artillery 60-pounders, and 24 machine guns. There are to be six infantry divisions. The former arrangement of one great cavalry division, stronger than a Continental cavalry corps, 7500, has been Tecast as two independent cavalry divisions, with a total of about 11,000, with 30 horse guns. Tho Expeditionary Forco is partjcularly well equipped. The men aro long-service men, and Lord Roberts considers them to be equal to twice their number, of Continental [troops