Part 28

In 1826 and 1827 Great Britain as well as the United States asserted that blockades in order to be binding must be effective. This became gradually the recognized view, and when in 1856 the powers represented at the congress of Paris inserted in the declaration there adopted that "blockades in order to be binding must be effective, that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of an enemy," they were merely enunciating a rule which neutral states had already become too powerful to allow belligerents to disregard.

Blockade is universally admitted to be a belligerent right to which under international law neutrals are obliged to submit. It is now also universally admitted that the above-quoted rule of the Declaration of Paris forms part of international law, independently of the declaration. Being, however, exclusively a belligerent right, it cannot be exercised except by a belligerent force. Even a _de facto_ belligerent has the right to institute a blockade binding on neutrals if it has the means of making it effective, though the force opposed to it may treat the _de facto_ belligerent as rebels.

It is also admitted that, being exclusively a belligerent right, it cannot be exercised in time of peace, but there has been some inconsistency in practice (see PACIFIC BLOCKADE) which will probably lead governments, in order to avoid protests of neutral powers against belligerent rights being exercised in mere coercive proceedings, to exercise all the rights of belligerents and carry on _de facto_ war to entitle them to use violence against neutral infringers. This was done in the case of the blockade of Venezuela by Great Britain, Germany and Italy in 1902-1903.

The points upon which controversy still arises are as to what constitutes an "effective" blockade and what a sufficient notice of blockade to warrant the penalties of violation, viz. confiscation of the ship and of the cargo unless the evidence demonstrates the innocence of the cargo owners. A blockade to be effective must be maintained by a sufficient force to prevent the entrance of neutral vessels into the blockaded port or ports, and it must be duly proclaimed. Subject to these principles being complied with, "the question of the legitimacy and effectiveness of a blockade is one of fact to be determined in each case upon the evidence presented" (Thomas F. Bayard, American secretary of state, to Messrs Kamer & Co., 19th of February 1889). The British manual of naval prize law sums up the cases in which a blockade, validly instituted, ceases to be effectively maintained, as follows:--(1) If the blockading force abandons its position, unless the abandonment be merely temporary or caused by stress of weather, or (2) if it be driven away by the enemy, or (3) if it be negligent in its duties, or (4) if it be

## partial in the execution of its duties towards one ship rather than

another, or towards the ships of one nation rather than those of another. These cases, however, are based on decisions of the British admiralty court and cannot be relied on absolutely as a statement of international law.

As regards notice the following American instructions vere given to blockading officers in June 1898:--

"Neutral vessels are entitled to notification of a blockade before they can be made prize for its attempted violation. The character of this notification is not material. It may be actual, as by a vessel of the blockading force, or _constructive, as by a proclamation of the government maintaining the blockade, or by common notoriety_. If a neutral vessel can be shown to have had notice of the blockade in any way, she is good prize, and should be sent in for adjudication; but should formal notice not have been given, _the rule of constructive knowledge arising from notoriety_ should be construed in a manner liberal to the neutral.

"Vessels appearing before a blockaded port, having sailed without notification, are entitled to actual notice by a blockading vessel. They should be boarded by an officer, who should enter in the ship's log the fact of such notice, such entry to include the name of the blockading vessel giving notice, the extent of the blockade, the date and place, verified by his official signature. The vessel is then to be set free; and should she again attempt to enter the same or any other blockaded port as to which she has had notice, she is good prize. Should it appear from a vessel's clearance that she sailed after notice of blockade had been communicated to the country of her port of departure, or _after the fact of blockade had, by a fair presumption, become commonly known_ at that port, she should be sent in as a prize."

The passages in italics are not in accordance with the views held by other states, which do not recognize the binding character of a diplomatic notification or of constructive notice from notoriety.

The subject was brought up at the second Hague Conference (1907). The Italian and Mexican delegations submitted projects, but after a declaration by the British delegate in charge of the subject (Sir E. Satow) that blockade not having been included in the Russian programme, his government had given him no instructions upon it, the subject, at his suggestion, was dropped. A _Voeu_, however, was adopted in favour of formulating rules on all branches of the laws and customs of naval war, and a convention was agreed to for the establishment of an international Prize Court (see PRIZE). Under Art. 7 of the latter convention the Court was to apply the "rules of international law," and in their absence the "general principles of justice and equity." As soon as possible after the close of the second Hague Conference the British government took steps to call a special conference of the maritime powers, which sat from December 4, 1908 to February 26, 1909. Among the subjects dealt with was Blockade, the rules relating to which are as follow:--

Art. 1. A blockade must not extend beyond the ports and coasts belonging to or occupied by the enemy.

Art. 2. In accordance with the Declaration of Paris of 1856, a blockade, in order to be binding, must be effective--that is to say, it must be maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the enemy coastline.

Art. 3. The question whether a blockade is effective is a question of fact.

Art. 4. A blockade is not regarded as raised if the blockading force is temporarily withdrawn on account of stress of weather.

Art. 5. A blockade must be applied impartially to the ships of all nations.

Art. 6. The commander of a blockading force may give permission to a warship to enter, and subsequently to leave, a blockaded port.

Art. 7. In circumstances of distress, acknowledged by an officer of the blockading force, a neutral vessel may enter a place under blockade and subsequently leave it, provided that she has neither discharged nor shipped any cargo there.

Art. 8. A blockade, in order to be binding, must be declared in accordance with Article 9, and notified in accordance with Articles 11 and 16.

Art. 9. A declaration of blockade is made either by the blockading power or by the naval authorities acting in its name. It specifies (1) the date when the blockade begins; (2) the geographical limits of the coastline under blockade; (3) the period within which neutral vessels may come out.

Art. 10. If the operations of the blockading power, or of the naval authorities acting in its name, do not tally with the particulars, which, in accordance with Article 9 (1) and (2), must be inserted in the declaration of blockade, the declaration is void, and a new declaration is necessary in order to make the blockade operative.

Art. 11. A declaration of blockade is notified: (1) to neutral powers, by the blockading power by means of a communication addressed to the governments direct, or to their representatives accredited to it; (2) to the local authorities, by the officer commanding the blockading force. The local authorities will, in turn, inform the foreign consular officers at the port or on the coastline under blockade as soon as possible.

Art. 12. The rules as to declaration and notification of blockade apply to cases where the limits of a blockade are extended, or where a blockade is re-established after having been raised.

Art. 13. The voluntary raising of a blockade, as also any restriction in the limits of a blockade, must be notified in the manner prescribed by Article 11.

Art. 14. The liability of a neutral vessel to capture for breach of blockade is contingent on her knowledge, actual or presumptive, of the blockade.

Art. 15. Failing proof to the contrary, knowledge of the blockade is presumed if the vessel left a neutral port subsequently to the notification of the blockade to the power to which such port belongs, provided that such notification was made in sufficient time.

Art. 16. If a vessel approaching a blockaded port has no knowledge, actual or presumptive, of the blockade, the notification must be made to the vessel itself by an officer of one of the ships of the blockading force. This notification should be entered in the vessel's logbook, and must state the day and hour, and the geographical position of the vessel at the time. If through the negligence of the officer commanding the blockading force no declaration of blockade has been notified to the local authorities, or if in the declaration, as notified, no period has been mentioned within which neutral vessels may come out, a neutral vessel coming out of the blockaded port must be allowed to pass free.

Art. 17. Neutral vessels may not be captured for breach of blockade except within the area of operations of the warships detailed to render the blockade effective.

Art. 18. The blockading forces must not bar access to neutral ports or coasts.

Art. 19. Whatever may be the ulterior destination of a vessel or of her cargo, she cannot be captured for breach of blockade, if, at the moment, she is on her way to a non-blockaded port.

Art. 20. A vessel which has broken blockade outwards, or which has attempted to break blockade inwards, is liable to capture so long as she is pursued by a ship of the blockading force. If the pursuit is abandoned, or if the blockade is raised, her capture can no longer be effected.

Art. 21. A vessel found guilty of breach of blockade is liable to condemnation. The cargo is also condemned, unless it is proved that at the time of the shipment of the goods the shipper neither knew nor could have known of the intention to break the blockade. (T. Ba.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] John Marshall, secretary of state, to Rufus King, minister to England, 20th of September 1800, Am. State Papers, Class I, For. Rel. II, No. 181, J.B. Moore, _Digest of International Law_, vii. 788.

[2] James Madison, secretary of state, to Mr Thornton, 27th of October 1803, 14 MS. Dom. Let. 215. Moore, _Digest of International Law_, vii. 789.

BLOCKHOUSE, in fortification, a small roofed work serving as a fortified post for a small garrison. The word, common since 1500, is of uncertain origin, and was applied to what is now called a _fort d'arret_, a detached fort blocking the access to a landing, channel, pass, bridge or defile. The modern blockhouse is a building, sometimes of two storeys, which is loopholed on all sides, and not infrequently, in the case of two-storey blockhouses, provided with a _machicoulis_ gallery. Blockhouses are built of wood, brick, stone, corrugated iron or any material available. During the South African War (1899-1902) they were often sent from England to the front in ready-made sections.

BLOEMAERT, ABRAHAM (1564-1651), Dutch painter and engraver, was born at Gorinchem, the son of an architect. He was first a pupil of Gerrit Splinter (pupil of Frans Floris) and of Joos de Beer, at Utrecht. He then spent three years in Paris, studying under several masters, and on his return to his native country received further training from Hieronymus Francken. In 1591 he went to Amsterdam, and four years later settled finally at Utrecht, where he became dean of the Gild of St Luke. He excelled more as a colourist than as a draughtsman, was extremely productive, and painted and etched historical and allegorical pictures, landscapes, still-life, animal pictures and flower pieces. Among his pupils are his four sons, Hendrick, Frederick, Cornelis and Adriaan (all of whom achieved considerable reputation as painters or engravers), the two Honthorsts and Jacob G. Cuyp.

BLOEMEN, JAN FRANS VAN (1662-1740), Flemish painter, was born at Antwerp, and studied and lived in Italy. At Rome he was styled Orizonte, on account of his painting of distance in his landscapes, which are reminiscent of Gaspard Poussin and much admired. His brothers Pieter (1657-1719), styled Standaart (from his military pictures), and Norbert (1670-1746), were also well-known painters.

BLOEMFONTEIN, capital of the Orange Free State, in 29 deg. 8' S., 26 deg. 18' E. It is situated on the open veld, surrounded by a few low kopjes, 4518 ft. above the sea, 105 m. by rail E. by S. of Kimberley, 750 N.E. by E. of Cape Town, 450 N. by E. of Port Elizabeth, and 257 S.W. of Johannesburg.

Bloemfontein is a very pleasant town, regularly laid out with streets running at right angles and a large central market square. Many of the houses are surrounded by large wooded gardens. Through the town runs the Bloemspruit. After a disastrous flood in 1904 the course of this spring was straightened and six stone bridges placed across it. There are several fine public buildings, mostly built of red brick and a fine-grained white stone quarried in the neighbourhood. The Raadzaal, a building in the Renaissance style, faces Market Square. Formerly the meeting-place of the Orange Free State Raad, it is now the seat of the provincial council. In front of the old Raadzaal (used as law courts) is a statue of President Brand. In Douglas Street is an unpretentious building used in turn as a church, a raadzaal, a court-house and a museum. In it was signed (1854) the convention which recognized the independence of the Free State Boers (see ORANGE FREE STATE: _History_). Among the churches the most important, architecturally, are the Dutch Reformed, a building with two spires, and the Anglican cathedral, which has a fine interior. The chief educational establishment is Grey University College, built 1906-1908 at a cost of L125,000. It stands in grounds of 300 acres, a mile and a half from the town. In the town is the original Grey College, founded in 1856 by Sir George Grey, when governor of Cape Colony. The post and telegraph office in Market Square is one of the finest buildings in the town. The public library is housed in a handsome building in Warden Street. Opposite it is the new national museum.

Bloemfontein possesses few manufactures, but is the trading centre of the province. Having a dry healthy climate, it is a favourite residential town and a resort for invalids, being recommended especially for pulmonary disease. The mean maximum temperature is 76.7 deg. Fahr., the mean minimum 45.8 deg.; the mean annual rainfall about 24 in. There is an excellent water-supply, obtained partly from Bloemspruit, but principally from the Modder river at Sanna's Post, 22 m. to the east, and from reservoirs at Moches Dam and Magdepoort.

The population in 1904 was 33,883, of whom, including the garrison of 3487, 15,501 were white, compared with a white population of 2077 in 1890. The coloured inhabitants are mostly Bechuana and Basuto. Most of the whites are of British origin, and English is the common language of all, including the Dutch.

The _spruit_ or spring which gives its name to the town was called after one of the emigrant farmers, Jan Bloem. The town dates from 1846, in which year Major H.D. Warden, then British resident north of the Orange, selected the site as the seat of his administration. When in 1854 independence was conferred on the country the town was chosen by the Boers as the seat of government. It became noted for the intelligence of its citizens, and for the educational advantages it offered at the time when education among the Boers was thought of very lightly. In 1892 the railway connecting it with Cape Town and Johannesburg was completed. During the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 it was occupied by the British under Lord Roberts without resistance (13th of March 1900), fourteen days after the surrender of General Cronje at Paardeberg. In Market Square on the 28th of the following May the annexation of the Orange Free State to the British dominions was proclaimed. In 1907 the first session of the first parliament elected under the constitution granting the colony self-government was held in Bloemfontein. In 1910 when the colony became a province of the Union of South Africa under its old designation of Orange Free State, Bloemfontein was chosen as the seat of the Supreme Court of South Africa. Its growth as a business centre after the close of the war in 1902 was very marked. The rateable value increased from L709,000 in 1901 to L2,400,000 in 1905.

BLOET, ROBERT (d. 1123), English bishop, was chancellor to William I. and Rufus. From the latter he received the see of Lincoln (1093) in succession to Remigius. His private character was indifferent; but he administered his see with skill and prudence, built largely, and kept a magnificent household, which served as a training-school even for the sons of nobles. Bloet was active in assisting Henry I. during the rebellion of 1102, and became that monarch's justiciar. Latterly, however, he fell out of favour, and, although he had been very rich, was impoverished by the fines which the king extorted from him. Perhaps his wealth was his chief offence in the king's eyes; for he was in attendance on Henry when seized with his last illness. He was the patron of the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, whom he advanced to an archdeaconry.

Henry of Huntingdon and W. Malmesbury (_De Gestis Pontificum_) are original authorities. See E.A. Freeman's _William Rufus_; Sir James Ramsay, _The Foundations of England_, vol. ii. (H. W. C. D.)

BLOIS, LOUIS DE (1506-1566), Flemish mystical writer, generally known under the name of BLOSIUS, was born in October 1506 at the chateau of Donstienne, near Liege, of an illustrious family to which several crowned heads were allied. He was educated at the court of the Netherlands with the future emperor Charles V. of Germany, who remained to the last his staunch friend. At the age of fourteen he received the Benedictine habit in the monastery of Liessics in Hainaut, of which he became abbot in 1530. Charles V. pressed in vain upon him the archbishopric of Cambrai, but Blosius studiously exerted himself in the reform of his monastery and in the composition of devotional works. He died at his monastery on the 7th of January 1566.

Blosius's works, which were written in Latin, have been translated into almost every European language, and have appealed not only to Roman Catholics, but to many English laymen of note, such as W.E. Gladstone and Lord Coleridge. The best editions of his collected works are the first edition by J. Frojus (Louvain, 1568), and the Cologne reprints (1572, 1587). His best-known works are:--the _Institutio Spiritualis_ (Eng. trans., _A Book of Spiritual Instruction_, London, 1900); _Consolatio Pusillanimium_ (Eng. trans., _Comfort for the Faint-Hearted_, London, 1903); _Sacellum Animae Fidelis_ (Eng. trans., _The Sanctuary of the Faithful Soul_, London, 1905); all these three works were translated and edited by Father Bertrand Wilberforce, O.P., and have been reprinted several times; and especially _Speculum Monachorum_ (French trans. by Felicite de Lamennais, Paris, 1809; Eng. trans., Paris, 1676; re-edited by Lord Coleridge, London, 1871, 1872, and inserted in "Paternoster" series, 1901).

See Georges de Blois, _Louis de Blois, un Benedictin au XVI^eme siecle_ (Paris, 1875), Eng. trans. by Lady Lovat (London, 1878, &c.).

BLOIS, a town of central France, capital of the department of Loir-et-Cher, 35 m. S.W. of Orleans, on the Orleans railway between that city and Tours. Pop. (1906) 18,457. Situated in a thickly-wooded district on the right bank of the Loire, it covers the summits and slopes of two eminences between which runs the principal thoroughfare of the town named after the philosopher Denis Papin. A bridge of the 18th century from which it presents the appearance of an amphitheatre, unites Blois with the suburb of Vienne on the left bank of the river. The streets of the higher and older part of the town are narrow and tortuous, and in places so steep that means of ascent is provided by flights of steps. The famous chateau of the family of Orleans (see ARCHITECTURE: _Renaissance Architecture in France_), a fine example of Renaissance architecture, stands on the more westerly of the two hills. It consists of three main wings, and a fourth and smaller wing, and is built round a courtyard. The most interesting portion is the north-west wing, which was erected by Francis I., and contains the room where Henry, duke of Guise, was assassinated by order of Henry III. The striking feature of the interior facade is the celebrated spiral staircase tower, the bays of which, with their beautifully sculptured balustrades, project into the courtyard (see ARCHITECTURE, Plate VIII. fig. 84). The north-east wing, in which is the entrance to the castle, was built by Louis XII. and is called after him; it contains picture-galleries and a museum. Opposite is the Gaston wing, erected by Gaston, duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIII., which contains a majestic domed staircase. In the north corner of the courtyard is the Salle des Etats, which, together with the donjon in the west corner, survives from the 13th century. Of the churches of Blois, the cathedral of St Louis, a building of the end of the 17th century, but in Gothic style, is surpassed in interest by St Nicolas, once the church of the abbey of St Laumer, and dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. The picturesqueness of the town is enhanced by many old mansions, the chief of which is the Renaissance Hotel d'Alluye, and by numerous fountains, among which that named after Louis XII. is of very graceful design. The prefecture, the law court, the corn-market and the fine stud-buildings are among the chief modern buildings.

Blois is the seat of a bishop, a prefect, and a court of assizes. It has a tribunal of first instance, a tribunal of commerce, a board of trade arbitration, a branch of the Bank of France, a communal college and training-colleges. The town is a market for the agricultural and pastoral regions of Beauce and Sologne, and has a considerable trade in grain, the wines of the Loire valley, and in horses and other live-stock. It manufactures boots and shoes, biscuits, chocolate, upholstering materials, furniture, machinery and earthenware, and has vinegar-works, breweries, leather-works and foundries.