The Panama
Headline: Court upheld capture and condemnation of a Spanish mail steamship carrying arms and U.S. mail, allowing seizure of the ship and weapons and denying a temporary government exemption to protect it.
Holding:
- Confirms armed enemy merchant ships can be seized and condemned.
- Permits the Navy to take weapons from captured enemy ships for use.
- Limits mail-ship protection when arms or wartime government contracts exist.
Summary
Background
The case involves the steamship Panama, owned by a Barcelona shipping company and operating as a royal mail ship between New York, Havana, and Mexican ports. On April 25, during the war with Spain, the U.S. warship Mangrove captured the Panama about twenty-five miles from Havana. The Panama had U.S. mail, passengers, general cargo, and a significant armament aboard, which had been placed under a long-standing contract with the Spanish Government requiring the ship to carry guns and small arms and permitting the government to take the ship and use it in war.
Reasoning
The Court considered whether the President’s temporary proclamation exempted the Panama from capture. The Justices held that carrying mounted guns, rifles, ammunition, and a contract that allowed the Spanish Government to appropriate and strengthen the ship for war made the vessel subject to seizure. The Court explained that a mail ship carrying government-directed armament intended or capable of wartime use is not the kind of peaceful commercial vessel the proclamation protected. The presence of United States mail and a pre-capture clearance did not prevent a lawful seizure when the ship was enemy property and liable for hostile use.
Real world impact
The ruling affirms that merchant ships owned by an enemy, especially those armed under a government contract or liable to be used by that government, may be captured and condemned. The District Court’s condemnation and the Navy’s taking of the ship’s guns were approved. The decision is final here, but it rests on the specific facts about armament and the wartime contract.
Dissents or concurrances
One Justice, Peckham, dissented; the opinion does not detail his reasons here, but his disagreement is noted.
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