The Maria’s cargo included a consignment of lubricating oil as well as a miscellaneous consignment of light hardware.  Part of the cargo was seized and part merely “detained.”  The consignment to the Netherlands South African Railway, a thousand cases of lubricating oil, eighty-four cases of picks, twenty cases of handles, was seized as enemy’s property, since there was sufficient evidence, it was thought, to show that these goods belonged to the railway company, the consignees, and not to the New York shippers, the consignors.  This opinion was held on the ground that the Netherlands South African Railway was owned by the South African Republic.

All of the Delagoa Bay cargo including the flour and other foodstuffs was landed and the Maria put to sea.  But on November 3 the authorities at Durban were instructed by the British Foreign Office that foodstuffs were not to be treated as contraband, and the captain of the British cruiser Philomel warned the customs that the flour should no longer be detained.  It was released and measures were at once taken for reshipping it on the British steamer Matabele, when it seems for the first time to have occurred to the customs authorities that the flour might thus find its way to Pretoria by means of an English ship.  According to the official report:  “It was then provisionally detained again.  But on it being found that the flour was bona fide a part of the Maria’s cargo the agents and all parties concerned were told that no further restrictions would be placed on the shipment, but it was at the same time pointed out that the flour was going direct to the enemy.  The Governor’s proclamation against trading with the enemy was then studied in connection with the above-mentioned permission, with the result that agents, shippers, and shipowners all refused to ship or carry the flour and nobody would have anything to do with it,” although no objection was made by the naval authorities to the cargo being forwarded to its destination.[10]

[Footnote 10:  For.  Rel., 1900, p. 575.]

For the detention of the Maria her owners, upon the protest of the Netherlands Government, were awarded L126 sterling as indemnity.  The consignment of flour “detained” at Durban was purchased by the English Government at the price it would have brought at Delagoa Bay on November 2, the day on which it would presumably have reached there had no interruption occurred.[11]

[Footnote 11:  For.  Rel., 1900, p. 610.]

It was pointed out in the report upon the case that the Maria was undoubtedly a Dutch ship and that her agents had introduced an element of confusion in the dealings with her by speaking of her as belonging to a British company.  It was therefore admitted that possibly some of the goods were removed on the erroneous supposition that she was a British ship and could not lawfully carry them.  Had she been a Dutch ship leased by a British firm her liability would appear to have been as great as if she had been a vessel owned by British subjects.  Had she belonged to a British company she would have been a British ship, and it would have been unlawful for her to carry for the enemy.