BOARD OF EDITORS OF THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW CHANDLER P. ANDERSON, New York, N. Y. ELLERY C. STOWELL, American University. QUINCY WRIGHT, University of Chicago. Honorary Editor-in-Chief JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Washington, D. C. Editor-in-Chief GEORGE GRAFTON WILSON, Harvard University Managing Editor GEORGE A. FINCH, 2 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C. The AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW is supplied to all members of the American Society of International Law without extra charge, as the membership fee of five dollars per annum includes the right to all issues of the JOURNAL published during the year for which the dues are paid. (Members residing in foreign countries pay one dollar extra per annum for foreign postage.) The annual subscription to non-members of the Society is five dollars per annum (one dollar extra is charged for foreign postage) and should be placed with the American Society of International Law, 2 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C. Single copies of the JOURNAL will be supplied by the Society at $1.25 per copy. Applications for membership in the Society, correspondence with reference to the JOURNAL, and books for review should be sent to George A. Finch, Recording Secretary and Managing Editor, 2 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C. NINETEENTH ANNUAL MEETING, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW THE NEW WILLARD HOTEL, WASHINGTON, D. C., APRIL 23-25, 1925 PROGRAM Thursday, April 23, 1925, at 8.30 o'clock p.m. Opening address by the President of the Society. HONORABLE CHARLES EVANS HUGHES. The codification of international law in America. JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Vice-President of the Society. Hugo Grotius. Illustrated talk on his life and work. JESSE S. REEVES, Professor of Political Science in the University of Michigan. Friday, April 24, 1925, at 10 o'clock a.m. Nationality by birth and naturalization: GREEN H. HACKWORTH, Assistant Solicitor, Department of State. RICHARD W. FLOURNOY, JR., Assistant to the Solicitor, Department of State. At 2.30 o'clock p.m. Meeting of the Executive Council at the Society's office, 2 Jackson Place N. W. At 4.30 o'clock p.m. Reception by the President of the United States at the White House. The members will assemble at No. 2 Jackson Place at 4.15 o'clock. At 8.30 o'clock p.m. Limitations upon the initiation of military action. DAVID JAYNE HILL, Vice-President of the Society. Limitations upon the initiation of war. THOMAS RAEBURN WHITE, of the Philadelphia Bar. Discussion from the floor. Toastmaster: The HONORABLE CHARLES EVANS HUGHES, President of the Society. Speakers: The HONORABLE FRANK B. KELLOGG, Secretary of State. The RIGHT HONORABLE SIR ESME HOWARD, British Ambassador. HON. HENRY W. ANDERSON, Agent for the United States, Mixed Claims Commissions, United States and Mexico. ANNOUNCEMENTS The headquarters of the Society during the meeting will be open in the New Willard Hotel, Willard Room, from 8 o'clock P.M., Thursday, April 23. Dinner tickets ($5.00 each) may be secured by mail in advance, by remitting to the Society, 2 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C. They will also be on sale at the headquarters during the meeting. Members having guests must give the names of the latter when the tickets are sold. Members will aid greatly in promoting the success of the Society and the meeting by sending in the names of at least two persons who might become members. REGULATIONS REGARDING PAPERS AND ADDRESSES Principal papers and addresses may not exceed twenty minutes in delivery and informal papers or discussions may not exceed ten minutes for each speaker.-Resolution of the Executive Council, April 30, 1910. The presiding officer is required to call for the next speaker at the expiration of the time allotted.-Resolution of the Executive Council, December 30, 1915. GROTIUS AND THE STUDY OF LAW BY C. VAN VOLLENHOVEN Professor of Colonial Law, University of Leyden I In more than one respect the part played by Grotius (1583-1645) in the history of jurisprudence presents perplexing features. His chief glory lies in the department of law; yet he was more of a philologist and of a theologian than of a jurist. He is often called the father of international law; yet his principal book, the famous book of 1625, was not a treatise devoted to international law. His book, by reason of many of its qualities, looks obsolete: written in Latin, full of quotations and authorities unknown to modern readers, silent about medieval and modern history, it is still a young and living book, younger even than it was two centuries ago. There must be something special about the author and his work to have brought about this reputation and this effect. II It may be doubted whether there is one modern language of western Europe in which have not appeared a number of books and essays indicating the mistakes of Grotius's aim and method, and stating how he should have acted in order to make a really satisfactory book on international law. Such statements look to the present reader as if a lieutenant of a small European nation proclaimed how Washington should have conducted himself in the Revolutionary War, how Sherman should have conducted himself in the Civil War, how Pershing should have conducted himself in the last war. Exitus acta probat, as General Washington's device reads. The exitus of Grotius's work surpassed every expectation. What about his menders and critics? Samuel Pufendorf reproached Grotius with immersing his readers too rapidly in the problem of war itself, and he wrote a book to correct this fault; who, in 1925, knows Pufendorf's bulky volumes? Rousseau, Linguet, Mercier, Voltaire treated Grotius with deep disdain; "never was more beautiful subject-matter expounded worse," says Mercier; where, in 1925, is the influence of these men on international law? Joseph Kohler, of Berlin, calls Grotius's book a "Wust," chaos. From about 1775 until about 1850 Grotius's fame was indeed waning in Europe, and in the United States his merit did not shine forth before the second half of the last century (Henry Wheaton's books, 1820, 1836, 1845, ranking foremost among the incentives); but since 1850 his fame has steadily increased. The new Leyden edition of Grotius's book, 1919 (by Dr. Molhuysen), an edition applying to the book 1 |