Arizona republican., 1905-06-19
PHOENIX. ARIZONA. JUNE. 1s. 1905
New Conditions Require New Laws

+bo+ ranairs to warships in neutral harbors during the progress of host1l- ities must be limited to damages from wind and wava. and must not include ranoirs to injuries inflicted by a bel leerent. is based upon good sense and justice.
 Suppose for instance that we were engaged in a war with Spain and that a Spanish fleet had come across the ocAan and had encountered an Amer ican fleet and had been seriously in iured in battle but had escaped to a Canadian harbor. It would be obvi- ously unfair and unfriendly to permit those ships to be repaired and put Tn good condition and then allow them to sally forth to prey upon our commerce or raid our coasts or resume their fight with our ships.
 But it is claimed that the ruling or President Roosevelt is something new in international law and that no pre- cedent for it can be found. If that is true. 1t is a sufficient answer to say that new conditions demand new
 
 laws.
 It is a fact that the present war is being fought under conditions that never before prevailed among belliger- ants. Who before has equalled Rojest- vensky's feat of taking a fleet of twen- ty battleships half way around the world, coaling them and provisioning them from accompanying supply ships and fighting a battle 13.OOO miles from departure? That the experiment re- suited disastrously does not affect its novelty.
 The use of wireless telearaphy in di- recting the scouting operations and in arraying the lines of battle is also an other novelty that is unprecedented.
 The ships are larger than they were in former years; the ships are faster. they have greater radius of action.
 With all these changes in the con- ditions of naval warfare it is not sur prising that there should be some changes in the rules of neutrality
 Beside that, international law is not a body of fixed enactments. That law" is merely the consensus of na- tional opinion, the momentary ar engagement of principles and prece- dents that may at any time be disre- garded or modified.
 Every nation reserves to itself wide latitude in dealing with questions of international law. and what is to the advantage of one nation, may be very much to the disadvantage of an other nation.
 It has suited France, for instance, to give a very liberal interpretation to the rights of belligerents in neutral ports, and so long as these rules are impartially applied to all nations, they are not likely to be made cause of war or a ground for damage claim before a court of arbitration.
 Germany, having few colonies, would undoubtedly like an interpreta- ton of belligerent rights in neutral harbors that would give her ships the widest possible range of effective ac- tion, and would enable her to supply by friendly diplomacy her lack of CO., loniaI ports and coaling stations. No one could fairly. blame Germany for following the French rulings in neu- trality matters and doing whatever is fair and reasonable to make prevalent such an interpretation of the rights of belligerents and neutrals.
 The United States, on the other hand, and Great Britain for somewhat different reasons, are interested in re- -iorn4 nf fc in neutral ports, and in restricting the cruising operations of foreign fleets. It would be to our interest if no Euro pean power had a foothold on the American continent, and it is a wise policy for us to do what we can to limit the opportunities for coaling and repairs on this side of the Allan tic.
 But the discussions of the reason ableness and the wisdom of President Roosevelt's ruling should not lead us to admit that 1t is novel. Are we to believe that in former years or past centuries a sailing ship had a right 10 secure new masts and spars and sails in a neutral port and to repair damages caused by the gun fire of an enemy? It does not look reasonable that this should be the case, and 1t will require more than the unsupport- ed declaration of Russian sympathiz- CTS that President Roosevelt's ruling is without precedent, before we are ready to believe it..