The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-24


sing, E1ihu Root and Dr. James Brown
Scott and adopted in executive session
by the American Institute of 1nterna-
ttona1 Law at its recent convention
held here under the auspices of the
Pan-Amerfcan Scientific Congress, was
made public today by DR. Scott, pres1-
dent of the Institute
rs Although the Declaration lacks the
formal ratification of the FL American
republics and therefore is not an off,
ciaI document, its trainers believe that
III correctly sets forth the official views
Of all the American commemorative
Before the Institute was called upon
to consider it. the declaration was
submitted to and approved by the
chief authorities on international law
in the South American republics, in
Guiding Ambassador Suarez and Dr.
Alexandra Alvarez of Chile. 1t was
unanimously adopted Jan. by the
Institute whose membership of 1O5
is made up of five experts on interna-
tiona1 law from each of the FL Amer
q lean republics.
The Declaration, it is said, embodies
the Institutes conception of only ele-
mental national rights and will be
further considered at the next. meet
ing of the Institute in Havana next
year 1t contains five primary sec
lions which were fashioned with the
4 Omitted states Declaration of indie
which read as follows:
81 Every nation has the right to
3 exist, to protest and to conserve It's
existence; but this right neither i'm
plies the right nor justifies the act OF
the state to protect itself or to con-
serve its existence by the commission
of unlawful acts against innocent and
unofrending states.
4sII. Every nation has the right to
independence in the sense that it has
a right to the pursuit of happiness and
Is free to develop itself without inter-
ference or control from other states,
provided that in so doing it does not
Interfere with or violate the Just
rights of other states.
Fiji. Every nation as in law and
before law the equal of every other
state composing the society of nations,
and all states have the right to claim,
and. according to the Declaration of
Independence of the United States, to
assume, among the powers Of the
earth, the separate and equal station
TO which the laws of nature and of
natures God entitle them
ssTv. Every nation has the right to
territory within defined boundaries
over this territory, and all persons
whether native or foreign found
therein.
~. Every nation entitled tos a right
by the law of nations is entitled to
have that right respected and protect
ed by all other nations for right and.
duty are correlative. and the right of
one is the duty of all to observe.
The preamble to the resolution emf
bodying the declaration reads as fol-
lows:
whereas. The municipal law Of
civilized nations recognizes and pro-
/ tects the right to life, the right to
I liberty, to which tfes Declaration of
INDEPENDENCE of the United States
adds the right to the pursuit Of hap
piness, the right to legal equality, the
right to property, and the right to the
enjoyment of the aforesaid rights ere
atfng a duty on the party of the citi-
zens or subjects of each nation to OBJ
serve them; and
whereas, These fundamental
rights, thus universally recognized are
familiar to the peoples of all civilized
countries, and
whereas, These fundamental
rights can be stated in terms of inter
national law and can be applied to. the
relations of the members of the So
oiety of nations, one with another, just
as they have been applied in the rela-
tions of the citizens or subjects of the
states forming the Society on Nations;
and
whereas, These fundamental rights
of national Jurisprudence, namely. the
right to life, the right to liberty, the
right to the pursuit of happiness, the
right to equality before the law. the
right to property, and the right to the
observance thereof are, stated in
terms of international law, the right
Of the nation to exist and to protect
and to conserve it's existence; the right
Of independence and the freedom to
develop itself without interference or
control from other nations, the right
of equality in law and before law; the
right to territory with in defined
boundaries and to exclusive jurisdic-
ton; and the right to the Observance
of those fundamental rights;
Therefore, The American Institute
of International Law unanimously
adopts at its first session, held in the
City of Washington, in the United
States of America. on the sixth day of
january. 1915, in connection with and
under the auspices of the Second Pan
American Scientific Congress. the fol-
lowing five articles, together with the
commentary thereon, to be known as
The Declaration OF the Rights of Ma
tons"
Then follow the articles of the
Declaration.
porting the various articles of the
Declaration supplement the Declare
ton itself. Some of these, it is I'M
derstood, were made by DIR. Scott af-
ter exhaustive research and were ap-
proved by other members Of the In
stitute. After the first article of the
Declaration. asserting the right of a
nation to exist. to protect and to con
serve its existence, there appears this
paragraph:
This right is and is to be under
stood in the sense in which the right
to life is understo God in national law
according to which it is ur lawf..! for
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