The New York herald., 1873-10-21
NO MORE WAR, NEVER!
David Dudley Fields Millennium-International
Affairs All Nicely Settled and Mankind at
Once To Begin q New Era, Known
as the Year OF Our Field.
From the pail Mail Gazette, Oct. OIL


other day by Mr. Dudley Field at the Social Science
Congress, at Norwich, are likely to do more harm
than good TO the prospects OF codifcation at least
In this country. His paper was intended to give
an outline OF the provisions OF q draft Code OF In
ternational Law which Mr. Field had prepared in
the course OF the last seven years, and which, 1t
appears, is to be taken into consideration at a
meeting OF persons interested in the subject
which is to be held tomorrow at Brussels. The
plan OF the code is stupendous. 1t is divided
into two booKs-one relating to peace and
the other to war. The first book upon
peace is further divided into two parts-public in
ternatlonal law reat ting to peace, which comprises
the rights OF independent nations inter Sc in time
OF peace, and private international law during
peace. Public international law not only includes
the matters commonly treated OF under that head,
but shipping, imports. quarantine, railways, tel
egraphs, postal service. patents, trade marks,
copyrights, money, weights and measures longi-
tude time and sea signals" Mr.. Field incidentally
remarks that he would give universal copyright,
adopt Greenwich longitude and the French system
or weights and measures. and ''as to money
would have a uniform coinage OF certain pieces OF
gold which should pass current In every country"
AS to the first part OF this section Of the code it
appears to us that all that the Brussels committee
can possibly hope or even try to do will be to bring
out one more treatise on the principles
OF international law, OF which one would be In
enough. AS to the shipping, imports quarantine,
railways, telegraphs," &C., how can any rational
man really believe that the whole world will dele
gate 10 any committee whatever the duty OF legis-
lating upon an enormous mass OF subjects, each OF
which depends upon Its own principles which
havetO be applied to Infinitely various sets OF CIR
cumstances and TO all manner OF conflicting inter.
ests? Take, Tor instance the one subject OF copy
rights. II would, no doubt, be very pleasant Tor
the United States but who can reasonably suppose
that single step towards such q result would be
made by declaration on the part OF knot of
theorists at Brussels that the arrangement would
be desraDe2 Ii every part OF the domestic legisa-
tion OF every nation which has any relation to the
interests OF the members OF any other nation is to
be treated as branch of International law, that
head Will be made to include almost every branch
OF municipal law. Are we IN England for instance,
to get the consent OF the Brussels Committee, or to
reler to It's code whenever we want TO legislate
about copyright, merchant shipping or electric
telegraphsY
The concluding part OF the first book of the new
code is devoted TO provisions intended for the
preservation OF the peace.n These provisions are
~ simultaneous reduction OF the enormous arma-
ments which now weigh upon Europe; ~ pro-
vision that specific notice OF causes of complaint
and specific calm for redress shall precede actual
declarations OF war; (3) If no redress, high COM
mission OF i've is to be appointed to try 70 conci-
ate the partes and ii this lails-(4 high tribunal
award is to be final. The dlflcultes not to
say the impossbilitles, OF such proposals are so
OBVIOUS that 1t Is almost lutile to notice them.
Perhaps as good demonstration OF their utility
as could be gwen is to apply them to the present
to it. they viii beyond all doubt make an effort to
reconquer Alsace and Lorraine from Germany. II
there is restoration of the Comte de Chanlbord,
he Will in all human probability do what he can to
support Don Carlos and TO bring back the Pope.
What amount OF influence are the High Commits
sion, the High Court OF Arbitration and the rule
about disarmament likely TO exercise over these
passions and their results? Mr.. Field, however,
has his arguments on the other side. He thinks
that the OF the United States affords proof OF
the possibility not merely of establishing system
Of International law as theory, but OF giving it
manner, which is characteristic Of Amen-
cans, the population which the different
OF tine Waen a 70 IN
pied as this country it will have S5,0000OO inhab-
tants. California, under similar circumstances,
will have o5ooo,ooo These States, and many
others, obey one central government, they sue and
are sued, and they not only obey, but are COM
peeG TO H1ey My saoa hos gapd
The answer is so plain that IL seems almost absurd
to give it, IL is this The nations OF Enrope can
not form one nation because their habits, their
creeds their Institutions. their national charac-
ters-a their most characteristic features In
has nothing to do with the question. cheese is
bigger than its mites, but though you can cut the
cheese into slices you cannot roll two
ugal or Belgium and Holland into one
body corporate would be far harder task than to
parcel out North America INTO states winch are
each with its own vestry or town council 1t Is as
Idle to argue that we can have supreme Court
the United States, it would be to argue that the
United states could be ruled by viceroy and
council Of six persons appointed by the Queeu, be-
cause that lQrm OF government exists III British
India, which Is OF the same size as the United
states and far more populous. 1t must also be OBJ
served that in order to make the argument com-
plete Mr. dudley Field ought to carry IL out to its
iull extent. When the southern States objected to
the course taken by by the Northern states ties
construction OF the written document which
contained the terms OF union they
not by an international code or a court OF arbi-
tration or a hign commission OF conclIation, but
by horse, foot and artillery, employed on scale
and with q degree OF perslStency surpassed In no
war of our time II the great European union
which Mr.. Field wishes to form Is to be supported
ultimately by means Of this sort we know where
we are and What we nave to expect. we are asked
to establish a universal empire, with an army
drawn from all the world to support 1t. This pro-
posal IS definite and ineligible encngh. but 1t Is
not very likely to be accepted on the iaith Of
committee OF jurists who have Its code in their
hands. Alter the provisions n Tor the maintenance
national law. Upon this we need say only
that II Mr.. Field likes TO write another treatise
treated by more than one well known
writer he can do so; but there is no need TO make
flourish OF trumpets about It and TO call It
national law is simply part OF the municipal law
OF each nation by which the members OF other ma
tions are affected. Book the Second OF the Code
relates to war; II treats OF begerents. neutrals,
blockades and other familiar subjects. Nor do we
see that At makes any very important addition to
what is already known upon these matters. 1t ap-
pears that ..tne bombardment or delenceless places
Is absolutely prohibited" and that 1.-THE absolute
right Of nation TO remain Neutral while Others
are at war Is asserted In the strongest terms.n
We nave no great faith in the utility OF either
OF these decorations. IL Q. powerful army
wishes to lombard unfortifed town Tor any
reason 1t will probably not be prevented from
doing so by prohibition contained In an unau-
thoritative code. The right OF neutrals to remain
neutral Is doubted by no one; but 1t Is equally
clear that particular cases the belligerents will
always be able TO say to neutral upon one
ground or another, You must either join US or we
Shall attack you. The power OF one country to de-
clare war against another Is one OF those powers
which can never be taken away, except by the
abolition OF national independence, itself. The
real truth about all these schemes OF international
codes the substitution oil arbitration for war and
the like is that they oil schemes Tor the estab
lishment Of O universal empire, into which all exist
ing nations are to be melted down. We do not look
with any sort OF satisfaction on such prospect.
Law and lawyers are excellent III their way and in
their proper place, but IL Is not their place TO
leRislate Tor the whole human race in its most i'm
portant affairs, to set limits TO ambition and TO
2