Matters like the freedom of the seas ( as regards Dutch shipping ), the principle of " free ship, free goods " ( the inviolability of neutral shipping in time of war ), and the restriction of the concept of contraband, had to wait till the Treaty of Breda ( 1667 ) and the Treaty of Westminster ( 1674 ).
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However, beginning in the 17th century, the Dutch Republic, the dominant European carrier, championed a different rule, known as " a free ship [ makes ] free goods . " This meant that even enemy goods, always excepting contraband, were inviolate in neutral bottoms, but sometimes the corollary of the rule was that neutral goods carried by enemy ships could be confiscated.
