PASSPORT. A passport or safe conduct in time of war is a document granted by a belligerent power to protect persons and property from the operation of hostilities. In the case of the ship of a neutral power, the passport is a requisition by the Government of the neutral state to suffer the vesse! to pass freely with her crew, cargo, passengers, <fcc., without molestation by the belligerents. The requisition, when issued by the civil authorities of the port from which the vessel is fitted out, is called a sea-letter. But the terms passport and sea-letter are often used indiscriminately. A form of sea-letter (liters, salvi conductus) is appended to the treaty of the Pyrenees, 1659. The passport is frequently mentioned in treaties, e.g., the treaty of Copenhagen, 1670, between Great Britain and Denmark. The violation of a passport, or safe conduct, is a grave breach of international law. The offence in the United States is punishable by fine and imprisonment where the passport or safe conduct is granted under the authority of the United States (Act of Congress, April 30, 1790). In time of peace a passport is still necessary for foreigners travelling in certain countries, and is always useful, even when not necessary, as a ready means of proving identity. It is usually granted by the foreign office of a state, or by its diplomatic agents abroad. Passports granted in England are subject to a stamp duty of sixpence. They may be granted to naturalized as well as natural-born British subjects. Sweden was the first country to abolish passports in time of peace, and Russia is one of the last to retain them. They are demandable from foreigners in England on their arrival from abroad by 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 11, § 3; but this provision is not enforced in practice.