"The Government of the republic, therefore, reserves to itself the right
of bringing into a French or allied port any ship carrying a cargo
presumed to be of German origin, destination, or ownership, but it will
not go to the length of seizing any neutral ship except in case of
contraband. The discharged cargo shall not be confiscated. In the event
of a neutral proving his lawful ownership of merchandise destined to
Germany, he shall be entirely free to dispose of same, subject to
certain conditions. In case the owner of the goods is a German, they
shall simply be sequestrated during the war.

"Merchandise of enemy origin shall only be sequestrated when it is at
the same time the property of an enemy. Merchandise belonging to
neutrals shall be held at the disposal of its owner to be returned to
the port of departure.

"As your Excellency will observe, these measures, while depriving the
enemy of important resources, respect the rights of neutrals and will
not in any way jeopardize private property, as even the enemy owner will
only suffer from the suspension of the enjoyment of his rights during
the term of hostilities.

"The Government of the republic, being desirous of allowing neutrals
every facility to enforce their claims, (here occurred an undecipherable
group of words,) give the prize court, an independent tribunal,
cognizance of these questions, and in order to give the neutrals as
little trouble as possible it has specified that the prize court shall
give sentence within eight days, counting from the date on which the
case shall have been brought before it.