The Washington herald., 1915-05-30

onment. his wife smusgled him out of
prison in a box and he fled his distracted
country In his refuge in a little French
town he gathered together the wise rules
of justice which had governed enlight-
ened nations in their relations with one
another in war and peace and reasserted
them. He made no pretence to any orig
inal discovery. but announced that he
drew his conclusions from the law Of
nature. which he insisted was unalter-
of man an a social being.
Grotius published his treatise in
Paris in 1925. When more than two
centuries had passed, the nations met
in the same city in 1866 to draw up
the Declaration of Paris. That was
the first international parliament
which assembled as law-making
body to enact international law into
written statutes. II marked the OPEN
ing of new epoch. the end of which
is yet beyond the vision of men.
The Declaration of Paris, which was
confined to maritime rules alone, was
followed by the Geneva convention of
1854. which limited it's legislation to
provisions for the protection of the
wounded in battle. Then and there the
red cross of mercy was set up as a
shield for the helpless and the
stricken. Next came the Declaration of
parprShnru ,;,.
the technical limits at which the
necessities of war ought to give place
to the requirements of humanity"
This was followed in 1874 by the Dec
laration of Brussels to a like end.
At The Hague.
Finally. at the call of the Car, the
nations assembled for the first time
at The Hague in 1899 They met there
again in 1907 at the suggestion of
President Roosevelt. and that latest
meeting was followed by the Declara-
ton of London in 1909.
1t is true The Hague has become a
jest in the midst of war whose red
tide flows almost to the walls of the
Palace of Peace. But it is by no means
certain that the nations will not yer
he glad TO seek sanctuary there.
Americans rccollcct the helplessness
of the congress which. after the rev.
olution. first sought to bind together
the thirteen independent colonies in
continental union. The utter failure
of that primary effort brought re-
proach on the very word continental.
eral Constitution. many had so lit
tie faith and interest in the efforts
to create the United States that it
was difficult for time to induce some
men to leave their local legislatures
and occupy their seats in the Ma
tonal Congress. Let us wait a while
and see who laughs last on the sub
ject of The Hague
Many of the statutes enacted are
void in this war because they have
not been ratified by all the parties to
the conflict. But notifications Of even
so innocent a convention as the Gem
eva Red Cross were slow Although it
was presented to the nations in 1864.
many withheld their formal approval
for several years. The United States.
for example, did not sign the agree
ment until 1882.
In any case. the. various declara-
lions and conventions do not make
the law; they only define 1t. And In
ternational law gains no added force
by being put on paper. A nations
bond is no better than its word. It
Is equally free to break both.
In time of war the obligation rests
on neutral nations to uphold the
principles Of international law. But
for them 1t would be torn to shreds