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provide a part of it. The custom of seizing the goods of persons who had been shipwrecked, and of confiscating them as the property of the lord on whose manor they were thrown, seems to have been universal; 2 and in some European countries the laws even permitted the inhabitants of maritime provinces to reduce to servitude people who were shipwrecked on their coast. The sea laws of Oléron, which probably date from the twelfth century, tell us that in many places shipwrecked sailors meet with people more inhuman, barbarous, and cruel than mad dogs, who slaughter those unhappy mariners in order to obtain possession of their money, clothes, and other property. In the latter part of the Middle Ages attempts were incessantly made by sovereigns and councils to abolish this ancient right, so far as Christian sailors were concerned, whereas the robbing of shipwrecked infidels was not prohibited. But for a long time these endeavours were far from being successful; and it was even argued that, as shipwrecks were punishments sent by God, it was impious to be merciful to the victims.s

The readiness with which wars are waged, and the destruction of property held legitimate in warfare, are other instances of the little regard felt for the proprietary rights of foreigners. Grotius maintained that "such ravage is tolerable as in a short time reduces the enemy to seek peace";" and in the practice of his time devastation was

See Marshall, International Vanities, p. 291 sq.

Da Cange, Glossarium ad scriptores mediæ et infimæ Latinitatis, iv. 22 sq. Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles V. i. 395.

Du Cange, op. cit. iv. 23 sq. Cleffelius, Antiquitates Germanorum potissimum septentrionalium, x. 4, p. 32. Dreyer, Specimen juris publici Lubecensis, p. excii. Potgiesser, Comtentarii juris Germanici de statu serverum, i. I. 17, p. 18 sq.

Ancient Sea-Laws of Oleron, art. 30, p. 11.

Du Cange, op. cit. iv. 24 sqq. Pardessus, Collection de lois maritimes,

von

ii. p. cxv. sqq.; iii. p. clxxix.
Eicken, Geschichte und System der
mittelalterlichen Weltanschauung, p.
569 sqq.
Constitutiones Neapolitan
sive Sicula, i. 28. Concilium Komanum
IV. A.D. 1078 (Labbe-Mansi, Sacro-
rum Conciliorum collectio, xx. 505 sq.).

6 Laurent, Études sur l'histoire de l'humanité, vii. 323, 413 n. 3. von Eicken, op. cit. p. 570.

7 Pardessus, op. cit. ii. p. cxv. Laurent, op. cit. vii. 314. Marshall, International Vanities, pp. 287, 295.

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von Eicken, op. cit. p. 570 sq. Grotius, De jure belli et pacis, iii. 12. I. 3.

constantly used independently of any immediate military advantage accruing from it. In the eighteenth century the alliance of devastation with strategical objects became more close, but it was still regarded as an independent means of attack by Wolff,2 Vattel, and others; and even at the beginning of the nineteenth century instances of devastation of a not necessary kind occasionally occurred. In later days opinion has decisively laid down that the measure of permissible devastation is to be found in the strict necessities of war. Yet there is an exception to this rule: during the siege of a fortified town custom still permits the houses of the town itself to be bombarded, with a view to inducing the commandant to surrender on account of the misery suffered by the inhabitants. Under the old customs of war a belligerent possessed a right to seize and appropriate all property belonging to a hostile state or its subjects, of whatever kind it might be and in any place where acts of war were permissible. Subsequently this extreme right has been tempered by usage, and in a few directions it has disappeared. Thus the principle proclaimed, but not always acted on, by the Revolutionary Government of France, that private property should be respected on a hostile as on a friendly soil,10 is favoured by present opinion and usage," and pillage by the soldiers of an invading army is expressly forbidden.12 At the same time there is unfortunately no doubt

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1 Hall, Treatise on International Law, p. 533.

2 Wolff, Jus Gentium, §823, p. 300. 3 Vattel, Le droit des gens, iii. 9. 167, vol. ii. 76 sq.

4 Hall, op. cit. p. 533 sq.

5 Ibid. p. 534 sq.

Ibid. p. 535. Bluntschli, Le droit international, § 663, p. 385. Heffter, Das europäische Völkerrecht, § 125, p. 262. Wheaton, Elements of International Law, p. 473. Conférence de Bruxelles, art. 13, g. Conférence internationale de la paix, La Haye 1899, Règlement concernant les lois et coutumes de la guerre sur terre,' art. 23 g, pt. i. 245.

7 Hall, op. cit. p. 536 sq.

8 Grotius, op. cit. iii. 6. 2. Hall,

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Conférence de Bruxelles, art. 38. Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, art. 37. Conférence de La Haye,

Règlement concernant la guerre sur terre,' art. 46, pt. i. 248. Hall, op. cit. p. 441. Geffken, in Heffter, op. cit. § 140, p. 297, n. 5.

12 Conférence de Bruxelles, art. 39. Instructions of the United States, art. 44. Conférence de La Haye, ‘Règlement concernant la guerre sur terre,' art. 28, 47, pt. i. 246, 248.

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that in all wars pillage does continue with impunity; and we sometimes hear of a captured town being sacked, and the houses of the inhabitants being plundered, on the plea that it was impossible for the general to restrain his soldiers. Moreover, private property taken from the enemy on the field of battle, in the operations of a siege, or in the storming of a place which refuses to capitulate, is usually regarded as legitimate spoils of war. Military contributions and requisitions are levied upon the inhabitants of the hostile territory. And whilst the progress of civilisation has slowly tended to soften the extreme severity of the operations of war by land, it still remains unrelaxed in respect to maritime warfare, the private property of the enemy taken at sea or afloat in port being indiscriminately liable to capture and confiscation. In justification of this it is said that the object of maritime wars is the destruction of the enemy's commerce and navigation, and that this object. can only be attained by the seizure of private property."

Not only does the respect in which the right of property is held vary according to the status of the owner, but in many instances certain persons are deemed incapable of possessing such a right.

The father's power over his children may imply that the latter, even when grown-up, have no property of their own, the father having a right to the disposal of their earnings. This is the case among some African peoples," and the

1 Maine, International Law, p. 199. Halleck, International Law, ii. 73,

note.

Halleck, op. cit. ii. 32. If we may believe Garcilasso de la Vega First Part of the Royal Commentaries of the Yncas, i. 151) the officers of the Incas in ancient Peru were more humane, never allowing the pillage of a captured town.

Halleck, op. cit. ii. 73 sq. Wheaton, sp. cit. p. 467.

Wheaton, op. cit. p. 467. Hall, ep. cit. p. 427 sqq. Conférence de La Haye, Règlement concernant la guerre sur terre, art. 49, 52, pt. i. 248.

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Wheaton, op. cit. p. 483. Twiss,

Law of Nations, p. 141. Heffter, op. cit. § 137, p. 287. Hall, op. cit. p. 443 sqq.

Sarbah, Fanti Customary Laws, p. 51. Kraft, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 285 (Wapokomo). Munzinger, Ueber die Sitten und das Recht der Bogos, p. 36. Among the Barea and Kunáma a man's earnings belong to his father until he builds a house for himself, that is, until he marries (Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 477). Among the Basutos parents can deprive their sons of their earnings at pleasure (Endemann, Mittheilungen über die Sotho-Neger,' in Zeitschr. f. Ethnol. vi. 39).

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Kandhs of India. In the Laws of Manu, the mythical legislator of the Hindus, it is said, "A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declared to have no property; the wealth they earn is acquired for him to whom they belong." But according to the standard commentators this only means that the persons mentioned are unable to dispose of their property independently; and it is expressly stipulated that property acquired by learning belongs exclusively to the person to whom it was given, and so also the gift of a friend. In Rome the peculium, or separate property, allowed to a son, was originally subject to the authority of the house-father, should he choose to exercise such authority; and it was only by very late legislation that sons were secured the independent holding of their peculium. Even now it is the law in many European countries that, during the minority of a child, the father or mother has the usufruct of its property, with the exception of certain kinds of property expressly specified."

Among some uncivilised peoples women are said to be incapable of holding property; but this is certainly not the rule among savage tribes, not even among the very lowest. When Mr. Snow wished to buy a canoe from some Fuegians, his request was refused on the ground that the object in question belonged to an old woman, who would not part with it; and among the blacks of Australia Mr. Curr has often heard husbands ask permission of their wives to take something out of their bags." There are instances in which the property owned by a

1 Macpherson, Memorials of Service in India, p. 62.

2 Laws of Manu, viii. 416. Sce also Narada, v. 41.

3 Buehler, in his translation of the Laws of Manu, Sacred Books of the East, xxv. 326, n. 416.

Laws of Manu, ix. 206.

5 Hunter, Exposition of Roman Law, p. 292 sqq. Maine, Dissertations on Early Law and Custom, p. 252. Girard, Manuel élémentaire de droit romain, pp. 135, 138 sqq.

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6 Bridel, Le droit des femmes et le mariage, p. 156.

7 Nassau, Fetichism in West Africa, p. 13 (tribes of the Cameroons). Marshall, A Phrenologist amongst the Todas,

P. 206. Waitz, Anthropologie der

Naturvölker, iii. 129 (some Indian tribes of North America).

8 Snow, Wild Tribes of Tierra del Fuego,' in Jour. Ethn. Soc. London, N.S. i. 264.

9 Curr, The Australian Race, i. 66.

woman is by marriage transferred to her husband; 1 but more commonly, it seems, the wife remains mistress of her own property during the existence of the marriage relation." Among many savages considerable proprietary privileges are granted to the female sex. We have seen that the household goods are frequently regarded as the special property of the wife. Among the Navahos of New Mexico everything, except horses and cattle, practically belongs to the married women. Among the Kafirs of Natal, "when a man takes his first wife, all the cows he possesses are regarded as her property," and the husband can, theoretically, neither sell nor otherwise dispose of them without his wife's consent. The Mandans of North America have a custom that all the horses which a young man steals or captures in war belong to his sisters." Among the Koch of India, we are told, "the men are so gallant as to have made over all property to the women." As regards woman's right of ownership nations of a higher culture compare unfavourably with many savages. In Japan the husband formerly had full rights over the property of his wife. We have already noticed the disabilities in point of ownership to which women were once subject in India; but the development of the stridhana, or peculium of the female members of a family, shows that they gradually became less dependent on their husbands in

Mason, in Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, Axvii. pt. ii. 142 (Karens). Sumner, Jour. Anthr. Inst. xxxi. 94 (Jakuts). Post, Studien zur Entwicklungsge hichte des Familienrechts, p. 291.

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172 (Gold Coast natives). Ellis, Tshispeaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, p. 298. Sarbah, Fanti Customary Laws, p. 5. Lang, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 223 (Washambala). Burton, Lake Regions of Central Africa, ii. 25 (Wanyamwezi). Post, Entwicklungsgeschichte des Familienrechts, p.

292 sqq.

Supra, i. 637 sqq.

2 von den Steinen, Unter den Naturtelkern Zentral-Brasiliens, p. 330 (Baka:ri). Morgan, League of the Iroquois, p. 326. Lala, Philippine hlands, p. 91. 3 Hagen, Unter den Papua's, pp. 226, 243 (Papuans of Begadjim, Kaiser Wilhelm Land). Aubary, Die Palau-Inseln in der Sudsee, in Jour. des Museum Godef froy, iv. 54. Katzel, History of Manin, i. 279 (various South Sea Islanders). Kingsley, West African Studies, p. 373. Bosman, op. cit. p.

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4 Mindeleff, Navaho Houses,' in Ann. Rep Bur. Ethn. xvii, 485. 5 Shooter, Kafirs of Natal, p. 84. 6 Wied-Neuwied, Travels in the Interior of North America, p. 350. 7 Buchanan, quoted by Hodgson, Miscellaneous Essays, i. 110.

8 Rein, Japan, p. 424.

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