Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-06
International Law.
republic


that there is no such thing as inter
national law. This could be asserted
With more truth than one could say
hat Great Britain is without a constr
.ution. Just as there is no Wfl,lch
constitution for Great Britain and the
Interpretation of her laws depends en-
.irely upon precedents, so with inter-
rational law. That is, right under IN
.ernational law is what some nation
has done and has been allowed to 90
without successful dispute by other nd
lions. This makes precedent, ana
under international law it is held that
| nation may continue to do the same
hing or any other nation may initiate
he action But it must be understood
hat such principle of international
aw may be reversed should any ma
ion be strong enough to make new
PRECEDENT and successfully maintain II
Back of these precedents there is. to
be sure, an ethical basis. The right OF
night is pre-eminent but in latter days
he increasing acceptance Of the doc
trine of the brotherhood of man has
ed to what might be called civiliZa-
ion of the civilized nations. This gives
IN ethical foundation. and it is due to
his that under international law it is
forbidden to poison wells or use pol
5oned weapons, to kill the wounded III
order to save the expense of mantle
nance of prisoners, and the abolition OF
similar abuses which fiourished not so
many years ago.
international law exists chiefly in
books. 1t is a hobby of lawyers. and
there have been many treatises writ
ten upon it. These have been based
chiefly upon the precedents that have
been set There is no other chance for
a code. for few universal treaties exist,
the nearest approach to such con-
vention being that under which the
Red Cross Society acts in time of war.
Special treaties between several
countries can bind only the countries
concerned. The man who writes books
on international law is therefore forced
to use many sources for the formation
of his code The treaties are the chief
basis. and when the siGncrs include the
greatest powers, as for instance the
privateering convention of 1886, the in
ternational lawyer assumes that is
binding upon all. Other material is
found in procamations Of war or of
peace, in letters of instruction to am
haSsadors and the reports of these OFF,
cials, and acts. either of sovereigns OF
parliaments. in matters relating tn
their intercourse with foreign nations.
All international state papers are
therefore used. as any of them may
furnish precedent for similar action
at some future Kline. and writer's on in
tcrnatiOnal law have as their guiding
principle the maxim that whatever has
been done once upon a time may he re-
pcated. Thus the Monroe doctrine is
a part of international law. because
our President made the declaration
and we have always been willing to
maintain it, while no nation has ever
been able to combat it. our interVen-
ton in Cuba is similarly justified.
Should Spain defeat the United States
there would be an end 10 both doc
trines
The United States, by The way. has
made a great deal of international law
during it's existence. That is because We
have way of making precedents in
stead of following them. And on this
tional law are based upon our state
papers. 1t is also true that valuable
material for the international lawyer is
found in the decisions of courts of ar
bitration. The United States has been
the foremost nation for arbitration.
having submitted more cases to that
tribunal than any other sovereign
power during the same length of time.
These cases have been of great service
to the international lawyer.
In time of peace the decisions of the sc
tribunals are likely to form the basis
of future decisions by other tribunals.
and they are universally cited by law
yerS on one side or the other before
boards of arbitration as justification ar
eXtenuation. Hence whenever any case
arises between nations that can be re-
ferred to arbitration the lawyers VINO
compose the court, are likely to decide
according TO the views of the inter
prefers of international law.
But in time of war there in differ
ence Then the men who have charge
of the settlement of the difficulty are
Soldiers-not lawyers. They are apt to
be governed in their actions. not by
W hit somebody else ulu IN similar ClH
cumStances but by what it is to their
advantage to do in the condition under
consideration. Hence in time of war
international law becomes a very elias
tic code, about which the lawyers dog
Matte while the soldiers pay little at
tention to it.
There is hardly n principle. hoWeV AZ
we'll accepted by the schoomen, thai
has not been violated during the past
hundred years Thus it is well under
stood that by the law of nations private
property of non combatants is invo-
late. but their property suffers at the
hands of troops in every war. and eX-
pedlency is the only Justification The
lives of prisoners are supposed to ID"
safe after capture. but frequently they
nave been shot. Open towns and vii
lagos are supposed to be immune from
Commandment. Yet England has again
and again used her ships to lombard
open towns of savage nations even dur
ing the last decade. The aid of savages
may not be invoked in warfare between
civilized powers. yet in 1872 Great
Britain armed the Indians and melted
them to attack us. Neutral govern
mentS are forbidden to aid and comfort
either party TO a war vet PORTUGAL t1