Note 544 — Chapter II · THE OPEN SEA
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The four exceptions mentioned in the text above are based on universally recognised customary rules of the Law of Nations. It is, of course, possible for several States to enter into treaty agreements according to which their men-of-war acquire certain powers over each other's merchantmen on the Open Sea. According to such agreements, which are, however, not universal, the following additional exceptions may be enumerated:—
(1) In the interest of the suppression of the slave trade, the signatory Powers of the General Act of the Brussels Conference of 1890 to which all the larger maritime Powers belong, have, by articles 20-65, stipulated that their men-of-war shall have the power, in certain parts of the Open Sea where slave traffic still continues, to stop every suspect vessel under 500 tons.
(2) In the interest of the Fisheries in the North Sea, special cruisers of the littoral Powers control all fishing vessels and bumboats. See below, §§ 282 and 283.
(3) In the interest of Transatlantic telegraph cables, men-of-war of the signatory Powers of the treaty for the protection of such cables have certain powers over merchantmen. (See below, § 287.)