8 



The National Geographic Magazine 



to the Transvaal War ; owing to the fact 

 that the cables to South Africa are under 

 the control of England, and the establish- 

 ment by her of a war censorship, France 

 is absolutely dependent upon England not 

 only for news from the Transvaal, but 

 also for communication with her own 

 colony of Madagascar, and her South Af- 

 rica possessions. The importance of this 

 subject has led her Colonial Commission 

 to recommend recently the immediate con- 

 struction of submarine cables, joining 

 France with Senegal, Madagascar, and 

 Tonkin, the latter connecting with the 

 Danish company's cables. Indeed, the 

 plan ultimately involves an estimated ex- 

 penditure of $25,000,000 and includes a 

 complete colonial cable system. 



THE MILITARY CONTROL OF SUB- 

 MARINE CABLES IN TIME OF WAR. 



The International Convention for the 

 Protection of Submarine Cables, which 

 met at Paris in 1884, made no provision 

 defining the rights and immunities ■ of 

 cable property in time of war. 



In addition to incorporating an article 

 in the convention stipulating that this 

 convention shall in no wise affect the lib- 

 erty of belligerents. Lord Lyons, the Brit- 

 ish delegate, submitted the following 

 declaration at the moment of signing the 

 convention : " Her Majesty's Government 

 understands Article XV in this sense, 

 that in time of war, a belligerent, a signa- 

 tory of the convention, shall be free to act 

 in regard to submarine cables, as if the 

 convention did not exist." 



M. Leopold Orben, in the name of the 

 Belgian Government, also submitted the 

 following declaration : 



" The Belgian Government, through 

 its delegates to the conference, has main- 

 tained that the convention has no effect 

 upon the rights of belligerent powers. 

 Those rights would be neither more or 

 less extensive after the signature than 

 they are now. The mention inserted in 

 Article XV, although absolutely useless 

 in the opinion of the Belgian Govern- 



ment, would not, however, justify a refus- 

 al on its part to unite in a work the ex- 

 pediency of which is indisputable." 



Before the Spanish-American War 

 there were few examples of damages done 

 to submarine cables by belligerents. 



As has been pointed out, Article XV 

 of the Convention of Paris, of 1884, for 

 the Protection of Submarine Cables, sub- 

 scribed to by twenty-six nations, specifi- 

 cally states that " The stipulations of this 

 convention shall in no wise affect the lib- 

 erty of belligerents." In consequence, 

 the question as to what, if any, special pro- 

 tection was to be accorded submarine 

 cables in time of war, remained theoret- 

 ical until the Spanish-American War of 

 1898, when a practical rule of action was 

 outlined by General A. W. Greely, Chief 

 Signal Officer of the United States Army. 



Upon the declaration of war. General 

 Greely, upon whom by law devolved the 

 operation of military telegraph lines and 

 cables, was called into the national coun- 

 cil for his opinion as to the line of action 

 best calculated to subserve the legitimate 

 rights of commerce and industry, while 

 conserving the military interests of the 

 United States. He took the view that, in- 

 asmuch as postal communications were 

 forbidden between belligerents, prohibi- 

 tive orders should be issued against such 

 telegraphic correspondence as might 

 benefit the public enemy, pointing out that 

 telegrams, by their secrecy and rapidity, 

 produce military results much more im- 

 portant and injurious than are possible 

 by the use of the mail. 



General Greely advised that cable op- 

 erations should continue over the in- 

 ternational cables between Havana and 

 Florida, of course under strict military 

 censorship, and his firm stand prevented 

 any interruptions of this cable system. 

 By his orders Captain R. E. Thompson, 

 Signal Corps, United States Army, took 

 military possession of the Key West tele- 

 graph office on April 23, 1898, and cut 

 the cables so that Jacksonville could no 

 longer work with Havana. Domestic and 



