BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES

La Liberté des Mers. Le Blocus de l'Allemagne. La Guerre SousMarine. By Dr. R. de Villeneuve Trans. Paris: A. Pedone. 1917. pp. 103.

Though the exact date is not mentioned, this book seems to have been written but a few weeks prior to the entry of the United States into the great European conflict. One would conclude from the author's introduction that his purpose was to discuss the "freedom of the seas" in order to determine how far the doctrine in its heretofore generally accepted significance does or does not conform to the sense in which it has been employed in Germany by Bethmann-Hollweg and others. But the author, while sensing a divergence, does not greatly enlighten us upon its nature or probable causes. He leads us through a brief history of attempted preemptions of parts of the seas in past times, in peace and war, and discusses the developments of the rules of blockade and contraband down to and including the Second Hague Conference and the Declaration of London. He then outlines chronologically the steps taken in the present war for the blockade of the enemy by the various belligerents and discusses in the light of previously accepted international law the British Orders in Council and the proclamations of the German Government.

His conclusions condemn the German submarine warfare conducted against neutrals and belligerents alike as simple piracy. This leads him to consider the official attitude of the United States, the one powerful neutral yet remaining at the time. He condemns the successive notes of President Wilson, however laudable in motive, upon the sinking of the Lusitania and the Sussex, because based too generally upon the undefined principles of justice and humanity rather than upon the precise texts and accepted rules of international law.

The purely legal questions are discussed with clarity and understanding, but unfortunately the author leads his argument into a general indictment against the United States for its failure to participate on the side of the Allies. This part of the book is considerably marred by some

glaring inaccuracies. One wonders, for example, where the author could have derived the information that among 18,000 newspapers and periodicals published annually in the United States, about one-third are published in the German language. Perhaps if he had waited a few weeks longer, his divagations upon "Le peuple américain" (p. 98) might have been more generous.

ARTHUR K. KUHN.

Resolutions of the Institute of International Law dealing with the Law of Nations. With an Historical Introduction and Explanatory Notes. Collected and translated by the Division of International Law of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, under the supervision of and edited by James Brown Scott, Director. New York: Oxford University Press. 1916. pp. xlv, 265.

The nature and influence of the Institute of International Law are such as to render it of utmost importance that the fruits of its labors be brought within the reach of all who claim an interest in the growth and evolution of the law of nations. Inasmuch as copies of the proceedings of that body are not numerous, and hence not generally to be found on the shelves of American libraries, the Carnegie Endowment has performed a distinct service for American lawyers, teachers, and students, in making generally available the texts, and that in English, of the several resolutions of the Institute. The function of the compilation is something more than to serve as an agency in popularizing international law, and of encouraging a wider study of it. It is rather to bring home to those working in that field a better means of observing what a unique body of scientific men, representative of all enlightened states, and possessed of ripe learning and large experience in dealing with foreign affairs, deems to be the requirements of international justice. The weight of their conclusions has already been felt by statesmen and jurists, a circumstance which the editor has dwelt upon at length in his interesting preface. They deserve, however, to be much more widely examined and discussed by intelligent and competent opinion, a body of which exists in America as elsewhere. The present volume offers such an opportunity. It may prove, moreover, the means of producing broader and more thorough study of the Oxford Manual of Naval War adopted by the Institute in 1913, a document

which, by reason of occurrences of the present war, merits close examination.

The compilation contains, in addition to an historical introduction (translated from the Tableau général issued in 1894), the constitution and by-laws of the Institute, a list of members and associates thereof, past and present, and the several resolutions of the Institute dealing with the law of nations. There is added an appendix of fifty-four pages containing the original project and report of Mr. Goldschmidt of June 20, 1874, on International Arbitral Procedure, supplementary observations by him of July 30, 1875, relative to the Regulations for International Tribunals, Mr. Fauchille's project of a Convention Respecting Aërial Law, of 1911, the Code on Aircraft in War proposed by Mr. von Bar, and the Regulations Governing the Relations between the Carnegie Endowment and the Institute, as well as an index.

Preliminary to the text of each resolution, the editor has given a brief but useful sketch of the history thereof in the various sessions of the Institute, with full references to the Annuaire.

It is believed that in work of this character, that is, in giving broader circulation to documents relative to international law and emanating from authoritative sources, this Division of the Carnegie Endowment renders its finest public service. It is fortunate that the significance of it has not been lost sight of by the Director and his staff.

CHARLES CHENEY HYDE.

The Destruction of Merchant Ships under International Law. By Sir Frederick Smith. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company. 1917. pp. 110.

The author of more than one valuable treatise on international law, and now holding the office of Attorney-General of Great Britain, · has undertaken to set forth in brief compass the law upon a subject which, together with contraband and blockade, has been the very center of belligerent and neutral controversy in the present war, and which has been the immediate occasion of forcing the greatest of the neutral nations to abandon its neutrality and to resort to that force of arms which is the ultimate arbiter of violated law. If it be thought that under such circumstances further discussion of the law might have been left to a period of calmer judgments, the author anticipates our

objection with the suggestion that his presentation of the question may "enable those who suffer from the present Reign of Terror to understand and formulate their legal grievance" in the hope of a day of retribution to come.

The subject is arranged under the headings of enemy merchantmen and neutral merchantmen, which enables the author to present the case of neutral ships with the force of an a fortiori argument. In neither case is the question limited to the destruction of ships after peaceful capture, but, in addition, the author discusses the necessity of visit and search and the penalties of resistance thereto. In the case of enemy merchantmen it is shown that, on the one hand, belligerent warships may not dispense with visit and search, and, on the other hand, the merchantmen have the right to evade search and to defend themselves against attack, subject, of course, to the exercise of the full force of the enemy to bring them to submission. This right of resistance, which includes the right of the merchantman to carry a defensive armament, raises the issue of the attack upon merchant ships by submarines without warning, and the conclusion reached by the author is that the danger to the submarine of exposing itself to attack, by following the normal procedure of visit and search, and the lack of facilities for the safe removal of passengers, do not justify the submarine in violating existing law.

No better summary of the law within this limited field could be given, and the nationality and official position of the author would never be suspected from the impartial way in which the issues are handled. The volume still leaves, however, several questions unsettled. It is marked by a tendency to cling to the old law without sufficient consideration of the changed circumstances of modern wars. For example, the author's conclusion that "the use of submarines against commerce must necessarily remain illegal until international law has made express provision for their employment" is a stern verdict, though one to which the United States has also given its approval. Was there not room to consider whether the circumstances of naval wars before the abolition of privateering had not so completely changed as to render illogical the carrying of armament by merchantmen for defensive purposes? Likewise the conclusions reached with regard to the destruction of neutral merchantmen are not altogether convincing. It is doubtful whether there was any "customary law" to fall back upon when the provisions of the Declaration of London remained unratified. The practice of the

past, especially at a time when there was no great temptation to destroy neutral ships, cannot be said to constitute a law in the face of the express repudiation by Russia, Germany, and other Powers of the rule of nondestruction at the Second Hague Conference and the London Naval Conference. Customary law rests upon implied consent, which must yield before express dissent.

The volume contains references to the judicial cases in point, including a dozen or more of the cases that have arisen during the present war, while the references in the footnotes to the literature of the questions discussed will prove of use to the student in pursuing the subject further.

C. G. FENWICK.

Official Diplomatic Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the European War. With photographic reproductions of official editions of the documents (Blue, White, Yellow, etc., books) published by the Governments of Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, and Serbia, - Introduction, Daily Summaries, Cross-references and Foot-notes by Edmond von Mach, A.B., A.M., Ph.D. (Harvard). New York: The Macmillan Company. 1916. pp. xxii, 608, with appendix.

In his very interesting and suggestive introduction, Dr. von Mach discusses the value of the various multi-colored diplomatic books published at the outbreak of the war and reaches the conclusion, with which the reviewer is in agreement, that "by a judicious comparison of all . . . an impartial observer may come very near to understanding the truth." He states his "wish to prepare a serviceable source book, not for partisans, but for scholars and intelligent readers," observing that "he has cracked the nut, as it were, that the kernel of truth might lie revealed," and that "his greatest reward therefore will be if scholars agree that he has succeeded in keeping prejudice out of the book, being fair to all and preparing that most necessary of all helps to a scholar, a reliable source book." To keep prejudice out of any book dealing with the diplomatic documents relating to the war, or any review of any book dealing with these documents, is a most difficult task. Entirely aside from national bias, no intelligent man can study these documents carefully enough to justify his writing about them without coming to some very definite conclusions one way or the other,