m 
 
 ^ D 
 
British Emergency Legislation During 
 the Present War 
 
 By LUDWIK EHRLICH 
 
 (Reprinted from California Law Review of September, 1917) 
 

 (3^*' 
 
 COPYRIGHT. 1917 
 By LUDWIK EHRLICH 
 
British Emergency Legislation During 
 the Present War' 
 
 IF THERE were any need of proving that England did not 
 provoke or desire the present war, no proof could be more 
 conclusive than the general state of unpreparedness when the 
 war was actually declared. The number of measures which had 
 to be taken immediately at the outbreak of the war, though 
 large in itself, is small as compared with the additions which 
 experience proved to be necessary in order that the war might 
 be prosecuted to a successful finish. The need for new measures 
 arose, first, as the government became aware of the insufficiency 
 of the existing rules ; and secondly, as modern warfare brought 
 with it the necessity of providing for new emergencies. 
 
 Under the old common law- there had, at the outbreak of the 
 war, existed rules which gave the King, or, in other words, 
 the government, a certain amount of power. Here might be 
 mentioned the right to require, in case of sudden invasion or dan- 
 gerous rebellion, the personal services of every man capable of bear- 
 ing arms, the right to regulate intercourse between British and for- 
 eign subjects, to exclude, or place restrictions upon, aliens, to 
 restrain subjects from leaving the country or to recall them from 
 abroad, to place an embargo upon shipping, to make proclama- 
 tions to a certain extent for the trial of civilians by court-martial, 
 to enter private land in order to erect fortifications, etc. 
 Statutes passed during the nineteenth century had also con- 
 ferred upon the government compulsory powers. But, at the out- 
 break of the present war, it proved necessary to build up a prac- 
 tically new system of emergency legislation. That was done 
 first of all by statutes.^ Statutes, however, could only confer 
 general powers, and the working out of details was left to procla- 
 
 1 A lecture delivered at the University of California on April 20, 1917. 
 Some later developments are referred to in the foot-notes. 
 
 - Cf. Halsbury, Laws of England, vi. p. 444, s. v. Constitutional Law. 
 
 3 These statutes can be found in the general collections of British 
 statutes (the official collection "Public General Acts," or "Law Reports : The 
 Public General Statutes," or "Law Journal Reports : The Public General 
 Acts", or "Law Times: Statutes"). A collection, under the title Manual of 
 Emergency Legislation, was published in September, 1914, with, so far 
 as the writer knows, four supplements (to August 31, 1915) : it includes 
 
 366S64 
 
434 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 mations or Orders in Council made by the King, (corresponding to 
 the proclamations of the President of the United States), or even to 
 orders of certain other authorities, such as departments of govern- 
 ment, e. g. the Board of Trade, the Home Secretary, the Secre- 
 tary for Scotland, or the "Competent Military Authority" under 
 the Defence of the Realm Regulations. 
 
 It might be useful to discuss the statutes and other rules 
 enacted during the war under the following heads: (a) Organiza- 
 tion of Forces, (b) Supplies for the Forces, (c) Prevention of 
 Demoralization and Maintenance of Order, (d) Protection of 
 the Country, (e) Weakening of the Economic Power of the 
 Enemy. (f) Strengthening of the Economic Power of the 
 Country. 
 
 Of course only the most important and characteristic enact- 
 ments can be referred to here and financial measures will have to 
 be left out almost entirely. 
 
 Organization of the Forces. 
 The first steps to be taken were the making of decrees calling 
 out the reserve and otherwise providing for the use of all exist- 
 ing forces of the Crown. The original British army, as it existed 
 at the outbreak of the war, proved very small indeed in com- 
 parison with the forces which have since been organized and sent 
 to the front. Apart from the voluntary recruits, it was found 
 necessary in 1915 to take stock of the available resources of man- 
 power, in order to know both how many men were still available 
 in the case of the passing of compulsory service acts, and how 
 many men and women, trained for any kind of work other than 
 military work and willing to serve the government in the present 
 emergency, could be had in case of necessity. Consequently, the 
 National Registration Act, enacted on July 15, 1915, provided for 
 the establishment of a register of all persons, male and female, 
 between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five, except those already 
 serving in the army or navy. Every person resident in Great 
 Britain (the Act does not apply to Ireland, except parts of Ulster) 
 was required to fill up a form stating his or her name, residence, 
 age, whether single or married, the number of dependents, occupa- 
 
 statutes, proclamations and other orders. A third edition of the Defence 
 of the Realm Manual is revised to February 28, 1917. A monthly collection 
 of Defence of the Realm Acts and Regulations has also been published by 
 authority. 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 435 
 
 tion, if any, and the employer's business, nationality, whether the 
 work done by the person in question was for or under a govern- 
 ment department, whether the person was skilled in, and able and 
 willing to perform, any work other than the work at which he or 
 she was at the time employed. It was also provided that any change 
 of address of every person so registered should be communicated 
 to the proper official, and that newcomers were to register within 
 four weeks. Whether the National Registration Act has worked 
 satisfactorily or not has been a somewhat debated question. It 
 has certainly supplied the government with a large amount of 
 important information. 
 
 When there came need of an army greater than that which 
 could be furnished by voluntary recruiting, compulsory military 
 service had to be introduced. The first Military Service Act, 
 1916, which received the royal assent on January 27, 1916, pro- 
 vided that every male British subject who on August 15, 1915, 
 was ordinarily resident in Great Britain (the Act did not apply 
 to Ireland) and had attained the age of eighteen years, and had 
 not attained the age of forty-one, and on November 2, 1915, was 
 unmarried or was a widower without any child dependent on 
 Eim, should, unless he was within the exceptions, or had attained 
 the age of forty-one before the appointed date, be deemed as 
 from the appointed date to have been duly enlisted in the regular 
 forces for general service with the colors or in the reserve 
 for the period of the war, and to have been forthwith trans- 
 ferred to the reserve. The burden of proof that the act did not 
 apply to any individual rested on him. 
 
 There were established local tribunals, appeal tribunals, and a 
 central tribunal, for granting certificates of exemption on the 
 ground that it was expedient in the national interest that the 
 applicant should continue his present work, or take up some 
 special work, or continue his education, or on the ground that 
 serious hardship would ensue for the man, owing to his excep- 
 tional financial or business obligations or domestic position, or on 
 the ground of ill health or infirmity, or of a conscientious objec- 
 tion to the undertaking of combatant service. The certificates 
 might be absolute, conditional or temporary; they might also be 
 granted by government departments to men employed by them or 
 for them ; certificates are always reviewable and revocable. 
 
 The first Military Service Act provoked a certain amount of 
 confusion because the tribunals in different parts of the country, 
 
436 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 undoubtedly animated by very patriotic motives, could not be 
 expected to interpret the quite new rules and regulations in the 
 same way, and, consequently, in some places exemptions would be 
 granted under circumstances under which in other places they 
 had been refused. The. government issued a great number of sup- 
 plementary rules intended to simplify proceedings and to remove 
 misunderstandings. 
 
 Very largely under the pressure of public opinion, another 
 Military Service Act, the Military Service Act, 1916 (Session 2), 
 enacted on May 25, 1916, extended^the principle of the first Act 
 from British subjects who had not been married at a certain date 
 to all male British subjects who at any time since August 14, 1915, 
 had been, or for the time being were, ordinarily resident in Great 
 Britain (the Act does not apply to Ireland), and had attained the 
 age of eighteen years and had not attained the age of forty-one, 
 unless they were within the exceptions. It was also provided 
 that the Reserve and Territorial forces should remain with the 
 colors until the end of the war. 
 
 In order to review the exemptions which might appear no 
 longer justifiable, owing to the progress of the war, the more 
 pressing need of men and the necessity of reducing the standard of 
 requirements, there was then passed the Military Service (Review 
 of Exceptions) Act, 1917. It applies to men who had been dis- 
 charged or rejected or had been declared unfit for foreign 
 service, and, with certain exceptions, requires such men to pre- 
 sent themselves upon summons for re-examination. 
 
 The Military Service Acts apply, of course, only to men of 
 what is considered military age. Men above or below that age, 
 or men prevented by slight physical defects or by the nature of 
 their employment at home from joining the army and going to the 
 front, have practically since the beginning of the war been keen 
 on helping in the release of troops for service at the front and also 
 on helping in the organization of defense troops for the very remote, 
 but not quite impossible, event of invasion by the enemy. The 
 volunteer corps had already proved efficient organizations when 
 -the Volunteer Act, 1916 (enacted on December 22, 1916) pro- 
 vided that agreements entered into by members of volunteer corps 
 to attend drills or undergo training or undertake military duties 
 should be enforced by military courts and that such members 
 during the training, drill, or performance of the military duties 
 should be subject to military law. This Act is intended to organize 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 437 
 
 the volunteers on a military basis, give them ofificial recognition 
 and enable the government to count upon their assistance in cases 
 of need. 
 
 The creation of an enormous new army made very acute the 
 problems of separation allowances for the wives and children of 
 soldiers, whether volunteers or conscripts, of pensions for the 
 dependents of men killed or permanently disabled in the war, and 
 of pensions for disabled men themselves. Separation allowances 
 have been paid very liberally. The underlying principle was that 
 the government would pay wives and children of the soldiers 
 several times the sum which the soldier himself was to give out of 
 his pay. The rules as to separation allowances and pensions have 
 been changed several times, and in addition there was passed in 
 the course of 1915 the Naval and Military War Pensions, etc., 
 Act, 1915. Under that act a committee was formed, called the 
 Statutory Committee of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation. 
 Subordinated to that Committee were local committees. The 
 object of the committees was to decide questions of fact as to war 
 pensions, and to make supplementary grants where grants out of 
 public funds would prove inadequate. Such grants were to 
 include the supplementing of pensions, separation allowances and 
 other government grants. The committees were also to make 
 grants or separation allowances where no grants or separation 
 allowances from the government were payable at all, and out of 
 their funds they were to make advances on pensions, grants, or 
 separation allowances due at a later date from the government. 
 The committees were to make provisions for disabled officers and 
 men after they had left the service, including provisions for their 
 health, training and employment. The local committees were to 
 help the central committee and to exercise a certain amount of 
 discretion in distributing funds. An important function seems to 
 have been to collect funds from the public in order to strengthen 
 the financial power of the Committee. In the course of 1916 a 
 special ministry, the Ministry of Pensions, was created in order 
 to regulate on a uniform basis the payment of pensions, etc.* 
 
 The Courts (Emergency Powers) (Amendment) Act, 1916, 
 enacted on May 17, 1916, was meant to protect the financial affairs 
 
 * The Statutory Committee, which was for a time subordinated to the 
 Ministry of Pensions, has now ceased to exist. 
 
438 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 of officers and men of the British forces. It was realized that, 
 while they were fighting, it was not fair to let their debts be 
 collected without regard to the fact that such collection might 
 result in the ruin of the officers and men and their families. Under 
 the Act no execution or other enforcement of judgment can be 
 had against an officer or man of the British forces for a sum of 
 money due and payable in pursuance of a contract, whether made 
 before or after the outbreak of the war, except by special per- 
 mission of a competent court, which has absolute discretion, after 
 considering all the circumstances of the case and the position of 
 the parties, to stay the execution. No distress may be levied, no 
 right of re-entry, foreclosure, no other means of enforcing pay- 
 ment or recovery may be used against an officer or man without a 
 similar application to a competent court which has the same dis- 
 cretion. Likewise a bankruptcy petition can be proceeded upon 
 only upon an application which is again decided upon by the 
 court according to its absolute discretion.^ 
 
 On the other hand, any officer or man who is tenant of any 
 premises under a tenancy from year to year, or for any longer 
 period, may apply to the proper court for leave to determine the 
 tenancy and the court may, in its absolute discretion, after con- 
 sidering all the circumstances of the case and the position of all 
 the parties, by order authorize the applicant to determine the 
 tenancy by such notice and upon such conditions as the court 
 thinks fit. 
 
 Supplies for the Forces. 
 
 One of the first steps taken by the government at the outbreak 
 of the war (August 4, 1914), was the assumption of control over 
 all the railroads of Great Britain. That step was obviously neces- 
 sary, and because of strikes and other difficulties, it had to be 
 followed by the taking over of coal mines two years later, in 
 November, 1916. In December, 1916, shipping was placed under 
 a new minister, the Shipping GDntroller, who has the function of 
 monopolizing the control of shipping. 
 
 The organization of the huge armies rested for the first two 
 
 •^ This part of the Act corresponds with the Courts (Emergency 
 Powers) Act, 1914, which is mentioned below. But in the case of 
 officers and men of the forces the unfavorable position need not have 
 arisen by reason of circumstances attributable directly or indirectly to the 
 present war. The following part, which deals with determination of 
 tenancy, has no application at all in the case of civilian tenants. 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 439 
 
 years in the hands of Lord Kitchener, but it was found early in the 
 war that the supply of munitions had to be much greater than was 
 originally anticipated, and consequently it was considered neces- 
 sary to establish a special Ministry of Munitions, at the head of 
 which stood for a time the greatest organizing genius of con- 
 temporary Britain, Mr. Lloyd George. The Ministry of Munitions 
 was created by an act dated June 9, 1915. Its existence is to 
 cease, at the latest, twelve months after the conclusion of the 
 present war. Very soon after the creation of the Ministry, an 
 act called the Munitions of War Act, 1915, was passed in order 
 to facilitate more efficient organization of the munition supply. 
 Under that act it was provided that no lock-out or strike could 
 take place as a result of disputes as to wages, hours of work, or 
 otherwise as to terms or conditions of, or affecting, employment on 
 the manufacture or repair of arms, munitions, ships, vehicles, air- 
 craft or other articles required for use in war, or of metals, 
 machines or tools required for that manufacture, or on any other 
 work, if the King by proclamation had made the Act applicable 
 because in the King's opinion the dispute was directly or indi- 
 rectly prejudicial to the manufacture, transport or supply of muni- 
 tions of war. It was provided that such disputes were to be 
 reported to the Board of Trade, which might refer them to an 
 arbitrator or court of arbitrators agreed upon by the parties or 
 fixed by the Board of Trade, or both. Strikes or lock-outs would 
 become lawful only if such dispute were not so referred for settle- 
 ment within twenty-one days after having been reported to the 
 Board of Trade. 
 
 By the same Act the Minister of Munitions was authorized to 
 declare that an establishment in which munitions were manufac- 
 tured was a "controlled establishment," and in such cases he was 
 authorized to limit the profits, suspend rules as to limitations of 
 output, and make other regulations ; the owner of the establish- 
 ment would be deemed to have consented to the restricting rules 
 set out in the Act. By "munitions" are meant practically all 
 articles necessary for the successful prosecution of the war. 
 
 Munitions tribunals were established, composed of chairmen 
 appointed by the Minister of Munitions and of men chosen by the 
 Minister from panels representing in equal numbers the employers 
 and employees. The tribunals were put in charge of "all ofiFences 
 and matters" under the Act. 
 
 Under the emergency legislation the Government has come to 
 
440 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 be, directly or indirectly, an employer of labor on an unprece- 
 dented scale. Both workmen and employers have been put under 
 much restraint. The Trade Unions have indeed agreed volun- 
 tarily to have many of their rules suspended, but on the other 
 hand it was realized that the new conditions, the entry into the 
 factories of vast hosts of untrained and unorganized workmen, 
 necessitated state rules under which the health and the general 
 position of the workmen could be cared for properly. Many 
 measures have had to be taken to insure that the workmen will 
 be properly paid, properly fed, and otherwise cared for. Examples 
 of such measures will be found, among others, in the Police, Fac- 
 tories, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916, which enables 
 the Home Secretary to make far-reaching rules as to most of these 
 subjects and which makes the application of such rules sometimes 
 dependent upon a request of the workers themselves or of a pro- 
 portion or number of them. 
 
 The increasing size of the army, the heavy casualties calling 
 for new men to fill the gaps, the munition works established on an 
 unprecedented scale, the necessity of building up British agri- 
 culture to provide an increased food supply, not only because of 
 the submarine danger, but also because the existing tonnage is 
 needed for transportation of troops and munitions, all this 
 resulted in a necessity for the government to use all available 
 hands. Everybody could help — men and women, old and young. 
 Many women, and many men above military age or unfit for 
 military service, ofifered their services to the government; the 
 question was, how to use their hands or their brains in the best 
 way. "For the purpose of making the best use of all persons, 
 whether men or women, able to work in any industry, occupation, 
 or service," the Ministry of National Service was created by the 
 Ministry of National Service Act, 1917. The Act provided, how- 
 ever, that no Order in Council or regulation should authorize the 
 compulsory employment or transfer of any person in or to any 
 industry, occupation, or service, or should impose any penalty for 
 any breach of a voluntary agreement made by any person with 
 the Minister of National Service, whose official title is Director- 
 General of National Service.® 
 
 6 The Billeting of Civilians Act, 1917, (enacted on May 24, 1917) 
 is an interesting illustration of the way in which workers far away 
 from the battlefield have to be taken care of in the interest of modern 
 warfare. A Central Billeting Board (on which at least two seats are 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 441 
 
 Maintenance of Order and Prevention of Demoralization. 
 
 It is obvious that the strain of the war must have resulted in 
 many difficulties, so far as the work of the courts of law, among 
 other things, was concerned. One of the chief complaints has been 
 that, while every hand was needed for war service, many citizens 
 had to spend their time on juries, the work of which could be 
 accomplished by fewer men. Without changing the general rule 
 as to petty juries,^ the Grand Juries (Suspension) Act, 1917, 
 directs that no grand juries shall henceforth be summoned, but 
 that where a person has been committed for trial or where the 
 consent or direction in writing of a judge of the High Court of 
 Justice or of the Attorney-General or Solicitor-General for the pre- 
 sentment of an indictment has been given, an indictment may be 
 presented without having been found by a grand jury. This act 
 does not extend to Scotland or Ireland, and is to remain in force 
 only during the continuance of the present war and six months 
 after the termination of the war.* 
 
 It was found necessary to provide a larger number of con- 
 stables to supervise certain buildings of public importance, and, 
 apart from that, many policemen had volunteered for service 
 with the colors and had to be replaced. Under the Statute of 
 1831, special constables (civilians who offered their services for 
 police work during certain hours of the day or night) were used 
 
 reserved for women) is to take charge of the question of billeting civilians, 
 wherever any Government department certify that the carrying on 
 of any work is of national importance for the purposes of the present 
 Avar and necessitates the provision of accommodation in any locality for 
 persons employed on that work (which may be munitions work or 
 any other kind of work). The Act prescribes in detail how the Board 
 shall form local committees and make regulations for them, it makes 
 it compulsory for the occupier of any premises within a locality where 
 the Act is in operation to give to the local committee any information 
 reasonably required of him, to provide (if required to do so under 
 the Act) billets, attendance, and meals or food for the persons bil- 
 leted; the Act also lays down rules as to the settlement of disputes, 
 as to the behavior of persons billeted, and as to compensation and 
 other payments due to the occupier of the premises. The Act, fur- 
 thermore, contains rules as to cases in which billeting can not take 
 place without the consent of the occupier of the premises. The Act 
 does not extend to Ireland. 
 
 ^ As to the possibility of trying persons by court-martial for alleged 
 offences against the Defence of the Realm Acts and Regulations, see 
 below. 
 
 8 The Coroners (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1917, placed on the 
 Statute Book in May, 1917, likewise as a temporary measure, lowers the 
 number of persons who are summoned to serve as jurors at a coroner's 
 inquest, from between twelve and twenty-three to between seven and eleven. 
 
442 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 to fill the need of policemen. Men above military age or men 
 otherwise prevented from serving with the colors offered their 
 services in large numbers; the Special Constables Act, 1914, 
 together with Orders in Council based on it and relating to special 
 constables, organized this force which appears to have worked 
 very satisfactorily. 
 
 One of the great difficulties which the government had to 
 face since the early stages of the war was the question of liquor 
 traffic. Wives of soldiers, especially of those coming from the 
 poorest classes of society, found themselves in regular receipt of 
 sums of money larger than had ever been earned by their hus- 
 bands in peace time. It was found that they, and also the 
 munition workers, who are paid very liberally, would sometimes 
 spend their pay, at least in part, on liquor, with the result not 
 only that their pay was wasted, but that their working ability 
 was weakened. Under the Defence of the Realm (Amendment 
 No. 3) Act, 1915, Orders in Council were made establishing the 
 Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic). The Board w^as 
 invested with the power of closing licensed premises and clubs, 
 of regulating the hours during which such premises or clubs might 
 be open at all, or might be open for the sale or supply of intoxi- 
 cants, of prohibiting such sale or supply on any premises or in 
 clubs, of imposing restrictions or conditions, and generally of 
 regulating the introduction and transport of intoxicants. The 
 Board was also authorized to monopolize the sale and supply of 
 intoxicants, to establish refreshment rooms, to acquire premises 
 by compulsion. The Board issued regulations for each of twelve 
 specified areas, and each contravention of the regulations was to 
 be punished with imprisonment with or without hard labor for six 
 months, and (or) a fine of one hundred pounds. 
 
 Steps have been taken to prevent the disorganization which 
 usually results from political struggles. With millions of 
 voters fighting "somewhere in France," with the local party 
 organizations either asleep or hardly able to undertake political 
 fights without diverting attention from some important war work, 
 parliamentary elections so far as possible, and even local elections, 
 have had to be postponed. The revision of the parliamentary 
 register was at first postponed, and afterwards, in 1916, not, 
 indeed, ordered, but allowed. The life of Parliament has been 
 repeatedly prolonged (each time for seven or eight months), by 
 statutes without which the present Parliament would have termi- 
 
V 
 
 BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 443 
 
 nated some fifteen months ago,® and which have provided similarly 
 for the postponement of local elections (Elections and Registration 
 Act, 1915; Parliament and Registration Act, 1916; Parliament 
 and Local Elections Act, 1916).^° 
 
 During the war numerous changes have occurred in the per- 
 sonnel of the government, many ministers having either resigned 
 or changed departments. As nearly all ministers who are mem- 
 bers of the House of Commons, as soon as they accept a new 
 office of profit under the Crown, automatically lose their seats, 
 several acts were passed (Re-election of Ministers Act, 1915; 
 Re-election of Ministers Act, 1916; Re-election of Ministers 
 (No. 2) Act, 1916), temporarily suspending the operation of 
 this rule, so as to enable the ministers to retain their seats and 
 avoid the necessity of a by-election. 
 
 The British public has been very generous whenever appeals 
 were made to it to contribute funds or gifts in kind, either for 
 British or for Allied charitable purposes. As it appeared that 
 the generosity of the public was sometimes taken advantage of by 
 impostors, the War Charities Act, 1916, laid down rules as to 
 the registration of war charities and their supervision. 
 
 Protection of the Country. 
 
 At the outbreak of the war a statute called Aliens Restriction 
 Act, 1914, authorized the King to make regulations by Order 
 in Council for restricting the landing, embarkation, or residence 
 of aliens in certain areas, or the movements generally of all 
 aliens or classes of aliens, for registration of aliens and for other 
 measures necessary for the exercise of what might be called 
 aliens' police. Under that act Orders in Council were first made 
 requiring the registration of all alien enemies, that is, subjects of 
 enemy states. Alien enemies were forbidden to travel beyond five 
 miles from their registered address without permit. They were 
 required to notify the police whenever they were about to change 
 their address. Later the duty of registration was extended to all 
 persons, whether aliens or not, coming to boarding-houses, lodging 
 houses, hotels and inns of any description, but such registration, 
 apart from the case of alien enemies who had also to register with 
 the police, meant only the duty of filling up certain forms which 
 
 9 This was in April, 1917. 
 
 10 Cp. Parliament and Local Elections Act, 1917. 
 
444 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 were to be kept by the landlord. The duty of registration with 
 the police was extended, by request of the Belgian government, to 
 Belgian refugees, in order to prevent abuses of English hos- 
 pitality by enemy agents. Finally, rules were made requiring all 
 aliens to register with the police of the district in which they 
 resided (apart from registering at the boarding-houses, hotels, 
 etc.), and to carry identity books issued by the police, containing 
 a photograph and personal description of the alien, and statements 
 as to nationality of his wife and parents, as to any near relations 
 serving with or against the allies, and other details. 
 
 From the very first, there was specified a number of "pro- 
 hibited areas," in which no aliens could reside without registering 
 with the police, while alien enemies could reside there only by 
 special permission of the local police, granted in exceptional cases. 
 Alien enemies were forbidden to have in their possession firearms, 
 or other weapons, ammunition, explosives, petroleum and other 
 inflammable liquids in quantities exceeding three gallons, any 
 signalling apparatus, motor cars, motor-cycles, motor-boats, yachts, 
 air-craft, telephones, cameras, military or naval maps or hand- 
 books, and cipher codes. Restrictions were placed on the circula- 
 tion among alien enemies of newspapers in enemy language, and 
 also on the carrying on of any banking business by alien enemies. 
 
 It was the policy of the government at first not to intern alien 
 enemies excepting when they were either actually suspected, or 
 destitute. Later on, about the middle of 1915, general internment 
 was decided upon. Internment was to extend only to males of 
 military age; all other alien enemies of both sexes were to be 
 deported. But Advisory Committees, presided over by judges of 
 the High Court, were appointed to make recommendations to the 
 Home Secretary upon applications for exemption. The policy 
 of the Advisory Committees has been to grant exemptions to 
 people who could prove that their remaining at liberty in the 
 country was in the public interest, for instance, because of the 
 character of the work in which they were engaged, or else 
 because they were proved to be heartily in favor of the Allies. 
 The Committees also usually recommended for exemption men 
 who were supporting British-bom wives and large families and 
 who could establish their claims to be perfectly harmless. But, 
 above all other exemptions, it has been the policy of the govern- 
 ment to grant exemptions to men who, while technically the sub- 
 jects of the enemy, were, by reason of their nationality, con- 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 445 
 
 sidered friendly and not enemy aliens. To this category belong 
 the Bohemians, Slovenes, Serbs and Croats who are technically 
 subjects of Austria or Hungary, Poles who are technically sub- 
 jects of Austria or Germany, Alsatians, Danes from Schleswig, 
 and subjects of Turkey such as Armenians and Greeks. In most 
 of these cases the government favored the establishment of com- 
 mittees, e. g., the Polish Information Committee and the Southern 
 Slav Committee, which were to report to the Advisory Committee 
 whether the claim of any applicant to be a member of the given 
 nation was justified or not. Thousands of exemptions were 
 granted on the ground of such reports. 
 
 Another important group of acts is the Defence of the 
 Realm Acts. The rules enacted in the early part of the war 
 were consolidated in the Defence of the Realm Consolidation 
 Act, 1914, under which the King in council was empowered to 
 make regulations during the present war for securing the public 
 safety and the defence of the realm. He was at first empowered to 
 authorize by such regulations the trial by court-martial, or 
 in the case of minor oflfenses, by courts of summary jurisdiction, 
 of persons committing offences against the Defence of the Realm 
 Regulations. The trial by court-martial was to proceed as if the 
 defendant were a person subject to military law and had, on 
 active service, committed a military offence. The death penalty 
 was threatened when it would be proved that the offence had been 
 committed with the intention of assisting the enemy. The pro- 
 vision as to the trial of British civilians by court-martial aroused 
 opposition in the House of Lords, especially on the part of a 
 prominent judge, Lord Parmoor. Finally, the government intro- 
 duced a bill which was passed as the Defence of the Realm 
 (Amendment) Act, 1915. By that Act, British subjects who 
 were civilians were given the right to claim a trial by civil court 
 with a jury. The courts were given the power of excluding the 
 public from any part of the hearing whenever that was asked for by 
 the prosecution in the interests of national safety. In the event of 
 invasion or other special military emergency arising out of the pres- 
 ent war, the King was empowered to suspend by proclamation the 
 right of civilians to demand a civil court with a jury, either gen- 
 erally or in any specific area. The Defence of the Realm Acts also 
 authorized the Admiralty and War Council to require that there 
 should be placed at their disposal the whole or any part of the out- 
 put of any factory or workshop in which arms, ammunition or war- 
 
446 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 like stores or equipment, or any articles required for the production 
 thereof, were manufactured. The Admiratly and War Council 
 were even authorized to take possession of, and use for naval or 
 military service, any such factory or workshop, or any plant thereof. 
 
 Under the Defence of the Realm Acts, regulations have been 
 issued, the main body of which is represented by the Defence of 
 the Realm (Consolidation) Regulations, 1914. The underlying 
 principle was that the ordinary avocations of life and the enjoy- 
 ment of property would be interfered with as little as might be 
 permitted by the exigencies of the measures required to be taken 
 for securing the public safety and the defence of the realm. 
 Ordinary civil cases were to be dealt with by the civil tribunals 
 in the ordinary course of law. 
 
 Competent naval or military authorities were authorized, for 
 securing the public safety or the defence of the realm, to take 
 possession of movable or immovable property of any description, 
 to use land for training, to stop up roads, to require the removal 
 of movables from any area, to take possession of, or requisition the 
 output, of factories manufacturing arms, munitions, etc., to require 
 the extinguishment of lights, to require inhabitants to remain 
 indoors and to remove suspects from specified areas. It was for- 
 bidden without lawful authority to collect, record, publish 
 or communicate, or attempt to elicit, any information with 
 respect to the movement, numbers, description, condition, or dis- 
 position of any of the British or allied forces, ships, or war 
 materials, or with respect to the plans or conduct or supposed 
 plans or conduct of any naval or military operations by such 
 forces or ships, or with respect to any works or measures under- 
 taken for or connected with or intended for the fortification or 
 defence of any place, or any other information intended to be 
 communicated to the enemy, or of such a nature as was calcu- 
 lated to be, or might be, directly or indirectly useful to the enemy. 
 It was prohibited to have in one's possession, or to carry, or to 
 liberate any carrier or homing pigeons, to possess a wireless tele- 
 graphic apparatus, or to buy, or sell, or control one, or to trans- 
 mit otherwise than through the post, or receive or to have in one's 
 possession for such transmission or conveyance, any letter or 
 written message to or from the United Kingdom. It was prohibited 
 without lawful authority, to be in possession of any searchlight, 
 semaphore or other apparatus intended for signalling, whether 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 447 
 
 visual or otherwise, or to display, erect, or use any signal, or dis- 
 play lights, or use fireworks which might serve as a signal, guide, 
 or landmark. It was likewise prohibited to spread false reports, 
 or make false statements, or spread any reports or make any state- 
 m.ents, whether by word or mouth, or in writing or in any news- 
 paper, periodical, book, circular or other printed publications, 
 likely to cause disaffection to the King, or to interfere with the 
 success of the forces by land or by sea, or to prejudice the King's 
 relations with foreign powers, or to spread reports or make state- 
 ments likely to prejudice the recruiting, training, discipline, or admin- 
 istration of any of the forces. Other rules relate to the possession 
 or carrying of arms, inflammable articles, injury to railroads or 
 military works, etc. Provision was likewise made against supply- 
 ing intoxicants, including sedatives, narcotics or stimulants, to 
 members of armed forces for the purpose of eliciting information 
 to be communicated to the enemy or for any purpose calculated 
 to assist the enemy, or with the intent of making members of the 
 armed forces drunk, or less capable of the efficient discharge of 
 their duties. 
 
 Further regulations (e. g. June 10, 1915; July 6, 1915; 
 July 28, 1915) gave the Home Secretary and the Secretary 
 for Scotland powers for regulating lighting. On the recommenda- 
 tion of a competent naval or military authority, or an advisory 
 committee, the Secretary was empowered to intern, or prohibit to 
 leave an area, or to enter an area, or otherwise to subject to 
 restrictions, any person (whether British subject or otherwise) in 
 view of his hostile origin or associations, whenever it might be 
 expedient for securing the public safety or the defence of the 
 realm. Penalties were imposed upon people who had been in com- 
 munication, or had attempted to communicate, with a spy, unless 
 it were proved that they did not know and had no reason to know 
 that such person was a spy. Penalties were also imposed upon 
 people wearing, without authority, naval, military, police, or other 
 official, uniforms, decorations, medals, or badges, or any of them 
 so nearly resembling the official ones as to be calculated to deceive, 
 on persons supplying such uniforms, decorations, medals, badges, 
 or representing themselves to be authorized to wear them, as well 
 as on persons tampering with passports, certificates, etc. New 
 regulations are constantly being issued as need arises. Their con- 
 travention is a contravention of the Defence of the Realm Acts. 
 
448 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 Weakening of the Economic Power of the Enemy. 
 The rules as to naval prizes under international law made it 
 necessary to establish, at an early stage of the war, prize courts 
 according to statutes which had been previously in existence. The 
 work of the prize courts has also been regulated by statutes and 
 ordinances during the war. The institution of naval prizes tends, 
 of course, to weaken the economic power of the enemy. But the 
 most important rule under the common law has been the rule pro- 
 hibiting trading with the enemy, — in other words, prohibiting any 
 commercial intercourse, not as in former ages with subjects of an 
 enemy state or sovereign, but with all persons of whatever 
 nationality or of whatever allegiance residing on enemy territory 
 or on territory in enemy occupation. This territorial, instead of 
 personal, principle has been extended so far as to exclude terri- 
 tory which had been taken by the allied forces from the enemy, 
 while on the other hand, "enemy territory" includes, e. g. 
 those parts of Belgium which are in German occupation. The 
 original proclamation as to trading with the enemy issued at 
 the outbreak of the war reminded British subjects and residents 
 of the British empire of their duty not to trade with the enemy. 
 It has been followed by Trading with the Enemy Amendment 
 Acts, 1914, 1915, 1916. Those acts not only defined and 
 extended the duties of residents of Great Britain not to trade 
 with the enemy, but they also made provision for the admin- 
 istration of enemy property in the United Kingdom. The policy 
 of the British government has been not to interfere with the 
 property of alien enemies resident in Great Britain, but to place 
 in the hands of a custodian property of persons residing or carry- 
 ing on business on enemy territory. In 1916, however, a statute 
 authorized the winding up of businesses carried on for, or under 
 the control of, enemy subjects. Enemy banks which had branches 
 in England, for instance the German Bank, the Dresden Bank, etc., 
 were given permission to carry on their business only in so far as 
 that was necessary to complete transactions entered into before the 
 war and to fulfill obligations toward British subjects and neutrals. 
 Later on, the principle of forbidding commercial intercourse with 
 the enemy was extended to intercourse with firms residing in 
 neutral countries but being really enemy firms or transacting busi- 
 ness with, or acting as agents of, firms on enemy territory (Trad- 
 ing with the Enemy (Extension of Powers) Act, 1915.) The famous 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 449 
 
 "black list" was but a list of firms in neutral countries with which, 
 because of their enemy nationality or association, "all persons or 
 bodies of persons resident, carrying on business, or being, in the 
 United Kingdom" were forbidden to transact business. 
 
 The Registration of Business Names Act, 1916, was passed 
 for the purpose of compelling the registration of firms not trad- 
 ing under the names of their partners, or of men not trading 
 under their own names, or trading under changed names. Power 
 was given to the proper authorities to prohibit the use of the word 
 "British" in the name of the firm, where such word would give 
 a wrong impression as to the nationality of the firm or the 
 merchant.^^ 
 
 Strengthening the Economic Power of the Country. 
 
 The modern war is a war not only of soldiers but also of 
 bankers. It was realized in England at the outbreak of the war 
 that the catastrophe which had come suddenly would result in an 
 economic upheaval. Consequently, steps were at once taken to 
 preserve the economic balance by closing the banks for a few 
 days and by passing the Postponement of Payments Act, 1914, 
 which enabled the King to issue proclamations authorizing the 
 postponement of payment of bills of exchange, or of any negotiable 
 instruments, or of other payments in pursuance of any contract 
 (the postponement authorized by the several proclamations issued 
 under this Act terminated on November 4, 1914). In order to 
 strengthen the financial position of the empire, it was also con- 
 sidered necessary to concentrate gold in the Bank of England and 
 to issue treasury notes for ten shillings and twenty shillings as 
 well as to make postal orders legal tender for a time. All these 
 steps, with the exception of the concentration of gold and the intro- 
 duction of treasury notes, were of a strictly temporary character 
 and hardly survived the year 1914. 
 
 On the other hand, it was soon realized that the war would 
 afifect very many business men and also many poor men or men 
 depending on scant incomes which would diminish because of the 
 turmoil. The Courts (Emergency Powers) Act of August 31, 
 1914, provides that if the proper court is of opinion that time 
 should be given to a debtor under a life or endowment policy 
 
 1^ See a note by Sir Frederick Pollock in the Law Quarterly Re- 
 view, April, 1917, p. 115, on this statute, which is only in part a war 
 measure. 
 
450 CALIFORNIA LAW REVIEW 
 
 not over twenty-five pounds, the premiums of which are payable 
 at not longer than monthly intervals, and have been paid for at 
 least two years immediately preceding the outbreak of the war, and 
 if inability to pay is due to circumstances arising directly or indi- 
 rectly out of the present war, the court may, in its absolute discre- 
 tion, after considering all the circumstances of the case and the 
 position of all the parties, stay execution or defer the operation of 
 all remedies ordinarily at the disposal of the creditor, for such a 
 time and under such conditions as the court may direct. Similarly, 
 where a bankruptcy petition has been presented against any debtor 
 and the debtor proves to the satisfaction of the court that his 
 inability to pay is due to circumstances attributable directly or indi- 
 rectly to the present war, the court may stay the proceedings for 
 such time and subject to such conditions as it may direct. The 
 same Act was made applicable to all proceedings for the recovery 
 of possession of small tenements as if they were in all cases pro- 
 ceedings for the payment or recovery of a sum of money due and 
 payable on account of rent.^- 
 
 The Increase of Rent and Mortgage Interest (War Restric- 
 tions) Act, 1915, which (like the act just mentioned) is to be in 
 force for the period of the war and for six months thereafter, 
 and applies mainly to small and medium-sized dwelling-houses, 
 makes irrecoverable any increase in rent (except where otherwise an 
 injustice would follow, e. g., if the landlord had incurred expendi- 
 ture in improvements; in this latter case, the increase can only 
 amount to six per cent, per annum on the amount so expended), 
 or in interest on mortgages, on such dwelling-houses, and as long 
 as the tenant or the mortgagor complies with the agreement in 
 accordance with the Act, no order for recovery of possession or 
 for the ejectment of the tenant can be obtained and no mortgage 
 may be called in except under special circumstances which the 
 court has to take into consideration. Rents paid by the tenant 
 contrary to the Act (e. g., if the landlord refuses otherwise to 
 renew the agreement) are recoverable or can be deducted.^" 
 
 An interesting effort to save not only individual energ}^ but 
 also the stocks of coal, was the Summer Time Act, 1916, under 
 
 12 The Courts (Emergency Powers) (No. 2) Act, 1916, was in- 
 tended to broaden the scope of the Act of 1914 and prevent some 
 hardships. As to the Courts (Emergency Powers) (Amendment) Act, 
 1916, which relates to officers and men, see above. 
 
 13 The details of the Act must be omitted in this exposition. 
 
BRITISH EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 451 
 
 which, on an appointed spring day, all clocks were set back one 
 hour, and were advanced again one hour on October 1. This 
 daylight saving measure has certainly helped, to some extent, to 
 promote the purposes of national economy, and has been adopted 
 again in the current year. 
 
 The progress of the war has made it necessary to impose 
 restrictions on the consumption of food-stuffs. One of the first 
 restrictions was contained in the Output of Beer (Restriction) 
 Act, 1916, amended by the Output of Beer (Restriction) Amend- 
 ment Act, 1916. Under those acts the output of brewers is now 
 limited, it seems, to 70 per cent, of their previous output, thus reduc- 
 ing the amount of foodstuffs used for the production of beer. At 
 the end of 1916 and since the beginning of 1917 rules have also 
 been laid down limiting the number and prices of meals in res- 
 taurants and otherwise designed to prevent waste. 
 
 Ludwik Ehrlich. 
 University of California, 
 Berkeley, California. 
 
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