The act was offered in order to permit of the appeal of prize cases to the international prize court provided for by the Hague conference of 1907. The section in question[8] authorized the admiralty to give prize money on estimated value even when the prize was liberated by the court. The object of this section was evidently to insure reward to the captors in case of a possible undue liberality on the part of the international prize court, and would seem to imply a certain lack of confidence in that court. This bill was lost with little discussion. However, the provision indicates that the element favoring prize money is ready to push its interests in legislation. If the war right of capturing private enemy property at sea were abandoned the chance of getting prize money would automatically disappear except in the comparatively rare cases of contraband and breach of blockade. Is the naval sentiment in favor of prize money strong enough to keep England from falling in with other nations in this movement toward abolishing the right of capture at sea? It does not seem likely. The selfish, personal desires of a small portion of the population can not be sufficient to sway the policy of a great nation like England if broader considerations demand a change. England's resistance to the movement for abolishing the right to capture private property at sea can be traced to other causes. John Stuart Mill once called the right to attack commerce "our chief defensive weapon."[9] Phillimore, Twiss, Westlake, and Lorimer all favored the retention of the right. It is idle to suppose that these men had no stronger reason for their stand than that it permitted seamen to get prize money. From the standpoint of military science there has been in the past justification for the retention of this right by England, and many sincerely believe that even now England must retain it as a military defense. In the vote on the American proposition for abolishing this right of capture taken at the Second Hague conference[10] the prize money laws of the different countries apparently had no effect on their vote. Italy and Sweden who give prize money as well as the United States and Germany who do not favored the resolution. On the other hand, Japan who has never given prize money voted against the proposal as also did Great Britain, France and Russia who have always given it. It should be remembered that the United States advocated the abolition of the right to capture private property at sea for a century before she abolished prize money. Italy also has consistently advocated that policy since 1870 though she still gives prize money.[11] It does not seem that the local law of prize money has any great effect on the countries attitude on the question of the right to capture private property at sea.