THE WAR IN EUROPE.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2304, 24 September 1870, Page 2

THE WAR IN EUROPE.

ENGIvV D’S NEUTRALITY. French war vessels Lave already made tlieir appearance in Australian porta, and on both occasions have created considerable uneasiness on account of the local authorities not being in a position to state whit line of action they were called upon to take under the circumstances. In Melbourne the difficulty appears to have been, according to the Argut, that the Victorian Government had no official cognisance of the outbreak of the war, and therefore was not strictly Justified in refusing to allow the Snrcoeuf to bo coaled. At the time of that vessel’s stay in Hobson’s Bay the Californian mail had not arrived at Sydney. By it, we believe, was forwarded intimation to the various Australian Governors of England's neutrality. The following is a Copy of a letter addressed by Lord Granville, Minister of Foreign

“ I. During the continuance of the present state of war all ships of war of either belligerent arc prohibited from making use of any port or roadstead in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or in the Channel Islands, or in any of Her Majesty’s colonics or foreign possessions or dependencies, or of any waters subject to the territorial jurisdiction of the British Crown, as a station <r place of resort for any warlike purpose, c r for the purpose of obtaining any facilities of warlike equipment ; and no ship of war of either belligerent shall hereafter he permitted to sail out of or leave any port, roadstead, or waters subject to British jurisdiction, from which any vessel of the other belligerent (whether the same shall be a ship cf of war or a merchant ship) shall have previously departed, until after the expiration of at least 2-1 hours from the departure of such last mentioned vessel beyond the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty, “2. If any ship of war of cither belligerent shall, after the rime when this order shall bp first notilied and put in force in the United Kingdom and in the Channel Islands, and in the several colonics and foreign possessions and dependencies of her Majesty respectively, enter any port, roadstead, or waters belonging to her Majesty, eiih r in the United Kingdom or in the Channel Islands, or in any of her Majesty’s colonies or foreign possessions or depend'nc'cs, such vessel shall he required to depart and to put to sea within 2*l hours after her entrance into such p irt, roadstead, or waters, except in case of stress of weather, or of her requiring provisions or things necessary for the subsistence of her crews or repairs ; in either of which cases the authorities of the port, or of the nearest port (as the case may be), shall require her to put to sea as soon as possible after the expiration of such period of 24 hours, without permitting her to take iq supplies beyond what may be necessary for immediate use; and no such vessel vthich mav have been allowed to remain within British waters for the purpose of repair shall continue in any such port, roadstead, cy waters for a longer period than 24 horns after her necessary repairs shall have been completed. Provided, nevertheless, that in all cases that in which there shall be any vessel (whether ship of war or merchant ships) of the said belligerent parties in the same port, roadstead, or waters within the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty, there shall be an interval of not less than 24 hours between the departure therefrom of any such vessel (whether ship of war or merchant ship) of the one belligerent, and the subsequent departure therefrom of any ship of war of the other bell geront; and the time hereby limited for the departure rf such ships of war respectively shall always, in cate of necessity, be extended so far as may b§ requisite for giving effect to this proviso, but no further or otherwise. “3. No ship of war of either belligerent shall hereafter be permitted, while in any port, roadstead, or waters subject to the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty, to take in any supplies, except provisions and such other things as may be requisite for the subsistence of her crew, and except so much coal only as may be sufficient to carry such vessel to the nearest port of her own country, or to some nearer dcstiuat on, anp no coal shall again be supplied to any such ship of war in the same or any other port, roadstead, or waters, subject to the territorial jurisdiction of Hpr Majesty, without (special pernpsion, until after the expiration of three months from the time when sneh coal mav have been last supplied to her within British waters as aforesaid, “Armed ships of ci her party are interdicted from carrying priz s made by than into the port"!, harbours, roadsteads, or water* of the United Kingdom, or any of Her Majesty’s colonies or possessions abroad.”