, 1873-11-30

IL econA 10 Qe nutH0IltRtlFolg Aulouuccu t4Ias
sn agreement .hns con reached betwoen our
Government and that Of Spain regarding tho
Virgnius affair, by uhioh war viii certainly DO
avoided. It is to bo hopod that tho terms ot
aettlernent are such rs We can lire up to IN our
dealings with foreign nations hereafter, 80 thai, |
/ IL re should DO in tho same plight tlct Spain Is
now, our hauds would not bo unnecessarily tied. |
Wo will assume thatarch settlement has been |
mado.
When re look back at the events Of tile past
throe wce1ts, howovor, and 500 how narrowly wo
| hayo escaped that maximum Of human ills, Il
war, we aro moro than ever impressed with tho
necessity Of code OF International lnw, to DO
drawn up and ratified by treaty., defining tho
| more common rights of belligorent ind neutral
Powers. stop in this direction was recently
taken by tho holding Of convention ut Drus:-
| aols to promote tho settlement Of international
disputes by arbitration, when they can
/ not be sottlod by negotiation. Tho SET
tlomont Of tho differences boswson Groat Britain
md tho Unitcd States, which grew out Of our
| late Civil War; las furnished 9 practical preco-
| dent for this form OF procedure, There we're
| claims fof damages on both sides,-on tho part
| of tho Americans for damages done by Hlnps~of-
war fitted out in British ports, and Oh tho part
Of the English for damages arising Out of acts
committed against tho property or persons Of
British subjects resident or doing business in
this country. In the ono case, tho Unftod Statos
recovered s15, 900, 600, and, in the other, Great
Britain recovered nearly e2,ooo.o00.' Though
there is some, disposition in England to complain
Of tho difference as excessive, tho result las been
an avoidance OF war, which could not have
beon avcrted fifty yeara ago under. simi-
| lar circumstances, and probably q bot
ter fcoling between tho people Of. tho two
Governments. The purpose Of the Drussols
Conference wns to induce recognition of arbi-
tration as mode Of sett1emont among all tho
civilized nations Of tho world; and, considering
tho progress that has been made toward thisond
In tho last twenty-f y-flvo years, which comprehendH
pretty much all the time the question las beon
agitatod it ia not extravagant to hopo that this
system will 40 fur prevail in the futuro as to
avert Unnecessary warfare, though it can proba-
bly, novor supplaut altogether resort to ar1ns.
But, whether arbitration receives full rccogni-
tion III the laws Of nations or not, g oodidoation
of the admitted principles Of international law,
undertaken by some Of tho leading minds of
civilized nations, and formally adopted In tho
: shape Of q general treaty, would spare many Of
] / the complications which now harass diplomacy,
and frequently betray nations into wars. TINT
might hayo been avoided, il the technical points
Of tho disputo had beon thoroughly understood
= before thero Was timo to work up hostile feol.
: ing. How vaguo and liable to miaappre-
. honsion tho principles Of international law
t aro at present was we'll aAoun in tho
o Trent affair, in which not only navy onlcor
Q committed serious mistake, Which he would
: hayo avoided it there had been Code, but IN
. which the American Government WAS betrayed
+ into an untenable position that It was forced to
7 Virginius affair Is q later illustration Of the
II vaguensss OF international law as It now stands
d Whatever tho final decision In the affair may DO,
:; tho doctors hare disagreed, and, oven II spait
has mado certain concessions to us 1t will ueycl
d DO known whothor sle did 10 because we were
i At all events, wo might have boon led tntt
j. war with Spain for no othcr reaaou thar
% because thoro were sorious doubts o. to til.
teonuical right OF tho Spanish authorities to aot
% In tue manner IN Which thoy did act. There Il
no doubt in the mind OF any one who has famll
x isrzed himself with tho case that tho Vlrgnu1
10 MAS alibustering ship on hostile expedition
t. against Spanish authority, and eIther tho prop
E erty or in tho employ Of the Cuban lnsurgonts
70 Under tho prosont statua Of international laW
10 Spain may claim to deal with the captured &C
Ut coraing to ier own hws, which appear to II
d. tn ha '11arbhrot1s ....'.-s'..''
N II tho laws Of nations relating to tho rights 0
10 bolgoronts, tho duty Of noutrale, tue condition
Id Of bollIgerenoy, the status Of blockade, til
q" seizurs Of. vessols, tho troatment OF prisono,
OF thus captured. etc., could 10 reduced and ayf
as tomatized into simple, plafn, and unamblguou
tS codo, tic rcai1lt would ha more bone
II acial to tho world ut largo than the codcatlo
~ of laws las been for those Staten Which Aas
beeu wise enough to adopt this aystcm.
8, would not bo uecessary that an tho remote M
o. contingent difrereacos that may arise botwoe
ot natlona should become part Of auch a codc. 1t
w not differences Of this kind that usually load
war, or, II thoy do, thoy are Of sel1sh an
In wicked naturo which no code could rega1at
,e, But ii the plain principles involved in into
ls- national comfy and likely to be csied into O.
lot ercise Whenever those is d war In, any part
Tar tue .g.obo, should 10 colilod and agreed
[ch among tho c1yil!zod Powers such code ne'
,us not exceed tho size Of IN ordinary Hchooi toz
yer book. International law would then be- In
ig- form to bs mastered at tue Army and M
tho schools; and 'by everyone who ensors tue dipl
matto service. It Ia obvious that such CO.
,ne would do mitch to diminish the ignorant infra
tho tlons and 10 Iona ignorant constructions Of l.
ou. tornatlonal law and the suggestion Ia tho me
inv practical thing to whiqh tue peaoo Hoolotlss u