Union of Sovereign States. Federal and Confederate Union. $25. may at any time cease to exist, in which case the protectorate becomes superfluous and thus revocable as having no more any raison d'être. On the other hand, the vassalage of a Tributary State is, in most cases, the result of former conquest or of a treaty made to avoid invasion, by which the right of conquest is waived in favour of that of tribute. The latter thus always implies dependency, irrespective of the amount of freedom which may de facto be left to the vassal in course of time and irrespective of the question how far the tie of dependency may eventually have been relaxed. Tributary obligations or relations of vassalage, being interwoven with the history of the Tributary State concerned and bound up with the natural conditions of things, cannot ordinarily be departed from, without consent of the Suzerain. * Another essential difference subsisting between a Tributary State and a Protected State is that the Executive Government of the former is subject to investiture by the Suzerain, which is never the case with a protectorate. § 25. Different States are sometimes united, so as to represent, outwardly, one Sovereignty, though their respective internal conditions, with regard to government and legislation, may be more or less distinct or independent of each other. Unions of States come under two principal categories, viz.: the Perfect Union, called Incorporate States, by which the Sovereignty, internal and external, of each individual State is completely merged in the community, forming a united Sovereignty † ; and the imperfect Union, * PHILLIMORE. Com. Int. Law. Vol. I. Part II, page 98. † Such is the case of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the States composing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with some exceptions regarding the relation of Hungaria to the other States. which is again of two sorts, namely the Federal Union and the Confederacy. When individual Sovereign States form a Federal Union or a Confederacy, the external sovereign functions are delegated by all to one Chief-Government, in order to represent all or each of them (as the case may be) in the intercourse with other States outside the Union, whilst also the Internal Sovereignty of the several component States of the Union undergoes, at the same time, certain modifications, in conformity with the nature and conditions of the compact. The distinction between a Confederacy (Staatenbund) and a Federal Union (Bundesstaat) is commonly understood to consist in this, that in a Confederacy each State completely retains its individual Sovereignty as regards internal government policy and legislation and also regarding its external affairs, in all cases not derogatory to the effect of the power delegated to the Executive of the Confederacy,-each State being united with the others in so far only as is strictly necessary for the common object of the Union, as defined by the pact. On the other hand, in the case of a Federal Union, the different Sovereignties are incorporated in one Federal Government, both for external affairs and general internal policy, but each State retains nevertheless its complete autonomy with regard to internal State legislation, as stipulated by the Federal Constitution. † * The difference lies, with regard to the internal affairs, in the direct or indirect relations which * Such is the case of the German Confederation and of the Swiss Cantons. † Such is the case of the United States of America, Venezuela, Columbia, etc. The Rights of a and Conditional CHAPT. V. $26. exist between the individuals composing each State and the Central Government or the representative of the general Sovereignty of the Union. In a Confederacy, the relation of the private individual subject to the General Government is an indirect one, that is to say it requires the mediation of the Government of each State, through whose agency the general laws of the Confederacy must be promulgated in order to have effect in the State. On the other hand, in a Federal Union, the relation of the private individual to the Federal Government is a direct one; the laws of the General Legislature, within the scope defined by the Constitution, being binding on all the subjects throughout the whole Union, without the interference of State authority. The Chief-Government of a Confederacy represents its members, as regards all external relations, not only collectively, but also each State individually, whilst the Federal Government always represents the whole undivided Union. * $26. Every Sovereign State is entitled to the Sovereign State. full exercise of all the rights appertaining to a Rights. separate, distinct and independent organisation, collectively called the Sovereignty Rights, in any manner and under any condition, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of any other independent State possessing equal faculties and rights. The rights and attributes of each State are limited only by the Moral Law of Nature and by the usages founded thereon, by similar rights and * WHEATON. Intern. Law. Part I., §§ 20-45. PHILLIMORE. Com. Int. Law. Vol. I. Part II. Chapter II. attributes belonging to other States, or by contracted obligations. The rights which naturally belong to a State, per se, for the sole reason that it is a State, as being essential to its existence as such, are called the fundamental or absolute rights, in distinction from the conditional or occasional rights, which are the results of particular conditions and circumstances of intercourse with other nations, or the consequences of the exercise of the absolute rights. enumerated. The absolute or fundamental rights of Sover- These Rights eign States, under which classification all cases or details of International Law must be comprehended, (as stated on page 58) are the following: 1st. The Right of Existence and of Self-preservation, which involves the following conditional rights : a. The Right of Redress, which implies the principles of Amicable Arrangement and Transaction or Compromise, of Mediation and Arbitration, and also of Conference and Congress. b. The Right of Retribution and Retaliation. c. The Right of Reprisal. d. The Right of Seizure of the object of dispute. e. The Right of Interference and Intervention. f. The Right of making War and concluding Peace. From the Right of Self-preservation devolves the principle of Balance of Power. 2nd. The Right of Independence which includes that of Equality and Respect. 3rd. The Right of Property (Territory). 4th. The Right of Legislation. The Right of 5th. The Right of Intercourse, Representation or Legation and International Commerce. 6th. The Right of Negotiation and Treaty. 7th. The Right of Neutrality. $27. Every State has, like every individual, preservation and the natural right of existence, from which devolve the Rights of Self-preservation and of Self-defence. Self-defence. Right of Independence. The Right of Existence, naturally the first of the absolute or fundamental rights of a State, forms the basis of all conditional rights. It imposes the most sacred obligations on all the individuals composing the State, as it is the guarantee for the integrity of the State, for the free exercise of all its rights and faculties, and for the security of the national institutions and the safety of all its members, collectively or individually. In the maintainance of this right every individual member of the State is morally bound to co-operate to the full amount of his capabilities. The Right of Self-preservation and Self-defence involves all other incidental or conditional rights nccessary to place the State in perfect condition for purposes of defence, and to guarantee its safety and independence, without giving, by a disproportionate increase of aggressive warlike means, reasons for alarm or distrust to other States and, in consequence, for interference. † § 28. Independence is the right which naturally flows from that of Sovereignty of which it is the complement. It is the right of a Sovereign State to establish, maintain and alter its government, its constitution or any part of its * WHEATON. Intern. Law. Part II. Chap. I. KLUBER, Droit des Gens. Edit. Ott. 1861, § 36. VATTEL. Droit des Gens. Prelim. § 15. HEFFTER. Droit Intern. §§ 29-31. ORTOLAN. Diplomatie de la Mer. Liv. I. Chap. II and III. HALLECK. Intern. Law. Edit. Sherston Baker, page 80 et seq. † KLUBER. Droit des Gens. § 58. CALVO. Le Droit Intern, Vol. II. Edit. 1870. § 131. |