The record-union., 1899-10-21
SUzERAINTY.
TERM NO LONGER POSSESSES
ITS FORMER MEANING.
Its Limitations and Responsible
ities-UucIe Sam as
Suzerain.

| Suzera1n.
| AS the entire trouble between Great
Britain and the Transvaal, which be-
fore this article appears in print may
develop into sanguinary war, originates
with England's claim to suzeralnty,
some notes on the subject of this little
understood word may be of interest.
! The subject is likely to prove all the
! more timely since the United states
has recently established its suzeralnty
over the Sulu Sultanate in the Philip
pine Islands, and may possibly IN the
| long run put an end to the imbrogllo at
Manila by conceding to the F1llplnos
autonomy under American suzera1nty.
Strangely enough, scarcely line or
explanation as to the meaning OF the
term suzerainty is to be found in any
of the encyclopedias and similar works
of reference This is all the more to
| be regretted, as the modern interpre-
| tation of the word is different from that
! which it bore in old times. In the
middle ages it was employed to denote
| a certain condition of feudalism, and
| to describe the control exercised over
the petty aristocracy by the great no.
| bles, and over the latter by their SOW
ereign, whereas it's modern use may be
said to be restricted to the relation of
semi independent States TO the para
mount Power
There are at the present moment a
number of countries which are subject
! to suzerains, even though the submis-
sion to the latter is not officially ad-
/ I'D No.1- Inf1
| Bulgaria and Egypt are under the suz-
erainty of the Sublime Porte. Tunis and
| its Bey, as we'll as the Kingdom of
| Cambodia and the Empire of AMMAN,
are obliged to bow to the suzerainty Of
| France. All the sOvereignS of the
semi-independent States Of India, as
we'll as the Sultans of Johore, of Zan-
zibar and of Muscat, and the Ameer
Of Afghanstan are obliged to defer to
| Queen Victoria as their suzerain; and
although the sovereign States consti-
tuting the confederation known as the
German Empire profess to be allies
rather than vassals of the Kaiser, ther e
is not the smallest doubt that Prussia
| occupies toward them the relation of a
| suzerain Power. Until the war of 1876,
both Roumania and Servia We're subject
| to the suzerainty of Turkey, from
| which, however, they were liberated
| by the terms of the treaty concluded
and signed at the Congress of Berlin
| in 1873; and Great Britain has for the
last sixteen years claimed suzerain
rights over the Transvaal Republic, a
| pretension which is resisted by the Bo-
ers, who may possibly go to war about
| the matter.
TWO CATEGORIES OF SUB
SUZERAIN STATES.
Countries subject to suzerainty may
be divided into two categories, namely,
those which are the object of a declared
protectorate, such as, for instance, the
Sultanate of Sulu, the principality of
Bulgaria, and the semi sovereign Sta tes
of India; while in the second class are
those which, although not the subject
of publicly proclaimed protectorate,
are nevertheless in a certain condition
Of subordination with regard to some
paramount Power. Among these may
be mentioned Bavaria, Saxony, Wur-
temberg and the other non-Prussian
States of the German Empire, Afghan
istan and the Transvaal. 1t is true
that this contention is denied by many
of the natives of Southern Germany
who are resident in the United States
as it is by the Beers and the Afghans.
But from the moment that a State is
subject in the conduct of it's interna-
tional relations TO the supervision and
veto of foreign Power, it becomes
subject to the latter's suzerainty. II
is perfectly true that the word suzer-
| does in Ia
vention concluded between the Boer
Government and Great Britain away
back in 1884, any more than 1t does in
the treaties binding Afghanistan to
England and the South German States
TO Prussia. But the Boer convention
does expressly stipulate that the Trans
vaal Republic shall carry on no rela-
tions with foreign Governments save
through English official channels, and
that no treaty can be concluded by the
Boer Republic without England's pre-
-vlous sanction and consent. In fact
the convention of 1884 expressly states:
NO treaty or engagement with any
state or nation other than the Orange
Free State, nor any native tribes, east
or Wests shall be valid until approved
by her majesty or her successors" This
! condition Of affairs was recognized by
the foreign Powers last June when they
declined to admit the Transvaal to the
congress at The Hague, on the ground
tnat the Boer Republic was subject to
British suzerainty
THE CRITERION OF SUZERAINTY.
I Inc fact Of the matter is, that from
the very moment when a State aban-
dons, either voluntarily or summarily,
the direction or the control of it's for
elgn and international relations to some
other Power, the latter becomes it's
suzerain, no matter whether the latter
word IS used or not to designate the
condition of affairs. Now England ac-
cordlng to the terms of the convention
OF 1854, has a right to the control of
the foreign relations of the Transvaal,
While IN the same way the South Ger
man allies of Prussia have aban-
doned to the Kaiser and to the De-
partment of Foreign Affairs at Berlin
the duty of representing them diplo-
matlcally abroad. Thus, Emperor Will
Jams ambassador at the Court of ST.
James and of the Quirinal are intrusted
with the interests of all the non -Prus-
sian sovereign States in Germany, while
IL Bulgaria still retains an envoy of her
own at ST. Petersburg it is due to fam
lily relations between the two reigning
I houses rather than to any political con-
sideration.
RESPONSIBILTTRY OF SUZERAIN.
Now. from the moment that a para
mount Power assumes the charge and