42 MOORE— CONTRABAND OF WAR. [February 2, 



forced during the war with Spain,'"' but the President, by a procla- 

 mation of October 14, 1905, prohibited, without limitation or excep- 

 tion, till it should be otherwise ordered, the export of arms and 

 munitions of war to the Dominican Republic. This prohibition, as 

 the proclamation recites, was established for what appeared to the 

 President to be " good and sufficient reasons." It was not founded 

 upon any legal obligation. The fact that the American supervision 

 of the Dominican customs administration had then in effect begun 

 furnished a special justification for preventing acts that tended to 

 disturb the public peace of the island. Nevertheless, the interest of 

 the United States in the collection of the Dominican customs can 

 hardly be considered as more important than its interest in the ad- 

 justment and preservation of the rights of neutral commerce in time 

 of war, or as rendering proper in the former case a precaution which 

 would not be admissible in the latter. It is not, however, my pur- 

 pose to lay undue stress upon the method of dealing with absolute 

 contraband; nor do I wish to intimate that the general abolition of 

 conditional contraband should await the adoption of further meas- 

 ures in respect of absolute contraband. 



APPENDIX. 



Note A. 



Treaty of Commerce between the United States and Italy, February 26, 1871, 



Articles XII. and XV. 



Art. XII. The high contracting parties agree that, in the unfortunate 

 event of a war between them, the private property of their respective citizens 

 and subjects, with the exception of contraband of war, shall be exempt from 

 capture or seizure, on the high seas or elsewhere, by the armed vessels or by 

 the military forces of either party; it being understood that this exemption 

 shall not extend to vessels and their cargoes which may attempt to enter a 

 port blockaded by the naval forces of either party. 



Art. XV. The liberty of navigation and commerce secured to neutrals 

 by the stipulations of this treaty shall extend to all kinds of merchandise, 

 excepting those only which are distinguished by the name of contraband of 

 war. And, in order to remove all causes of doubt and misunderstanding 

 upon this subject, the contracting parties expressly agree and declare that 

 the following articles, and no others, shall be considered as comprehended 

 under this denomination : 



'" Moore, " Digest of International Law," VII., 194. 



