“ Its exportation to the United States might well be considered an 'aid' to Spain's enemy. No one appears to have suggested that the United States concede the same exemption. On the one hand, it might be urged that it would please the government and people of Italy to grant the request, but, on the other hand, in the case of merchandise so highly contraband, neither the Italian government nor people could justly take offense if Spain should insist on exercising the rights which international law accords to every belligerent. ”

“ The place, the season,-the opportunity and means at hand, the interests of other persons concerned in the adventure and whom it might be unfair to delay for the sake of the part of the cargo in peril; in short, all circumstances affecting risk, trouble, delay, and inconvenience must be taken into account.' I am of opinion that the course taken by the captain in landing the goods and landing them in safe custody was a proper discharge of his duty. It was said that the master was not an agent for the shippers, because they had protested against the discharge of the goods. ”

“ Inasmuch as the master, where the contract was made in time of peace, could properly decline to carry forward a cargo which by the subsequent breaking out of war had become contraband, we fail to see why he should not have the right to land such contraband cargo, with all proper precautions as to safekeeping, thus leaving his ship free to discharge its obligations to innocent cargo without risk or delay by reason of an actual arrest, which would be caused only by the presence of such contraband cargo. ”

“ He thus expressed himself: 'The sulphur being generally regarded as contraband of war, and also within the express terms of the Spanish proclamation, a voyage through the Mediterranean, past the coast of Spain and through the Straits of Gibraltar, would presumably be pecuniarily dangerous to the cargo, even though the vessel, as a neutral, might not be liable to condemnation as prize. In case of seizure, however, the shipowner would suffer from the considerable delay incident to the seizure, though she were ultimately released. ”

“ Mere good faith will not excuse him, if his decision turns out to have been wrong, but the result is not always a true criterion whether a man pursued a prudent course or not. Holladay v. Kennard, 12 Wall. 254, 20 L. ed. 390.
Applying these principles to the facts of the present case, we have to inquire whether the conduct of the master of the Styria showed a reasonable exercise of judgment, having regard to the rights of the owners of the vessel and those of the several owners of cargo. ”

“ The Spanish proclamation of April 23, declaring sulphur to be contraband, had not been withdrawn, and it is evident that the master had no right, in justice to the other cargo owners, to make a longer delay. A perishable cargo of fruit was awaiting the vessel at Palermo, and no one could foretell what the result of the negotiations would be. The master and the ship cannot reasonably be charged with knowledge of subsequent events. ”

“ The good faith of the master and his reasonable exercise of discretion must be considered and determined in the light of the facts in each particular case. The term 'discretion' implies the absence of a hard-and-fast rule. ”

“ There were at the time Chinese war vessels in and around the port of Hong Kong, and it was found that if the master had attempted to sail thence with the plaintiff's goods on board there would have been danger of their being seized and confiscated. The master cabled to his owners for advice, and they instructed him to land the cargo at Hong Kong. ”

“ Courts, in passing upon such questions, should endeavor to put themselves in the position of the actors in the transaction, and not be ready to find that the course actually pursued was blameworthy because the results were unfortunate; what those concerned have a right to demand of a master, when confronted with unexpected emergencies, is not an infallible, but a deliberate and considerate, judgment. ”

“ I thought it must be contraband.' We should have some doubts as to the efficiency of a master for international commerce who did not know that sulphur was contraband of war. It certainly should be a safe assumption for the master of a neutral vessel to make that he cannot carry such cargo to the ports of one belligerent without risking its seizure by the other ”

“ Jenkins [1896] 2 Q. B. 326, the plaintiff's goods, which were dynamite and contraband of war, had been placed upon a general ship of the defendant for carriage from London to Yokohama, a bill of lading containing similar clauses with those in the case of the Styria. The ship also contained noncontraband goods belonging to other shippers. In the course of the voyage she arrived at Hong Kong, and while there war was declared between China and Japan. ”