The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-21
Lord RusseII's Address,

huSSGAis AuuFeHss
"Mr. President-My first words must be
in acknowledgment Of the honor done me
by inviting me to address you on this
interesting occasion. You are a congress
of lawyers of the United States met to-
gether to take counsel, in no narrow
spirit, on questions affecting the inter-
ests of your profession; to consider nee
essary amendments in the law which
experience and time develop; and to exam
inc the current of judicial decision, and
of legislation, state and federal, and
whittier that current tends. ], on the
other hand, come from the judicial bench
of a distant land, and yet / do not feel
that | am a stranger amongst you nor
do you, 1 think regard me as a stranger
Though we represent political communi-
ties which differ widely in many respects.
in the structure of their constitutions
and otherwise, we yet have many things
in common.
eve speak the same language; we ad-
minister laws based on the same juridical
conceptions; we are coheirs in the rich
traditions of political freedom long estab-
lished, and we enjoy in common a litera-
ture the noblest and the purest the world
has known-an accumulated store of CEN
tures to which you on your part have
made generous contribution. Beyond this
the unseen crimson thread" of kinship
stretching from the mother islands to
your great continent, unites US, and re-
minds us always that we belong to the
same, though a mixed, racial family
Indeed, the spectacle which we, to-day,
present is unique. We represent the great
English-speaking ommunities-communi
ties occupying a large space Of the sur
face of the earth-made up of races
wherein the blood of Celt and Saxon,
of Dane and Norman. of Pict and Scot,
are mingled and fused into an aggregate
hell bV %
a common speech-combining at once ter
ritorial dominion, political influence and
intellectual force greater than history re-
cords in the case Of any other people
This consideration is prominent amongst
those which suggest the theme on which
I desire to address you-namely, Inter
national Law"
He briefly outlined some of the necessf-
ties for international law, and the proper
understanding of each others law by Diff
ferent nations, calling attention especially
to the extended territory and commerce Of
this country and England, and the result
ing frequent contact with each other. The
term international law" he said, was crit
icised as inapplicable to a loose bundle of
more or less confused rules to which ma
tions more or less conform.
strictly speaking, international Law
is an inexact expression and il is ant to
mislead if its inexactness is not kept in
mind Law implies IaWgiVer and a trib-
unal capable of enforcing 1t and coercing
its transgressors."
But even in societies in which the-ma-
ehinery exists for the making of law in the
Austinlan sense, rules or customs grow
up which are laws in every real sense of
the word, as for example. the law mer-
chant Under later developments of ar
bitrary power laws may be regarded as the
command of a superior with a coercive
power in Austin's sense: Quod placuit prin-
cipi legis vigorem habet. In stages later
still, as government becomes more frank
ly democratic, resting broadly on the pop