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ponderance of the United States in the Caribbean Sea, the second with Japan, Russia and the United States with respect to the problem of petroleum and the question of the Pacific, the third with the oil possibilities in such of the American Republics as are of Spanish origin, including a discussion of the oil laws and concessions of Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, and the fourth with the oil question in Mexico, especially with reference to Article 27 of the Constitution of 1917.

The Panama Canal controversy is fully discussed, the author concluding that it was the discovery of oil in Colombia which caused the United States finally to ratify the long-pending treaty, and that if it had not been for such discovery, the relations between the two countries would today be the same as from 1903 to 1921.

The author has given considerable time to the preparation of his subject, which is well written and presented in an extremely interesting and scholarly manner. However, the reviewer cannot be in accord with all his conclusions, nor can he feel that the author has taken sufficient time before the publication of the work to check up on his facts. For instance, in discussing Costa Rica, he mentions among existing concessions that of "Pinto-Graulich" and that of "Amory." The former was cancelled by the government on the ground of violation of contract by the company, and the latter, the British Oil Fields concession, was cancelled by award of Chief Justice Taft on the ground that the concession was invalid.

WALTER SCOTT PENFIELD.

Union Interparlementaire. Compte Rendu de la XXIII Conférence tenue à Washington du ler au 7 Octobre et à Ottawa le 13 Octobre 1925. Lausanne: Librairie Payot & Cie, 1926. pp. xx, 829. Index.

This volume contains the reports and other preliminary documents presented to the Interparliamentary Union at its twenty-third conference, and the deliberations and debates had upon them. It includes documents and discussions relating to the Pan American Union, the development of international law, a European customs understanding, the problem of national minorities, the fight against dangerous drugs, the reduction of armament, the present crisis in the parliamentary system and its remedies. The consideration of the development of international law was opened with the reading of a paper by the Honorable Elihu Root entitled "The Codification of International Law" (printed in this JOURNAL for October, 1925, Vol. 19, pp. 675684). Senator La Fontaine, of Belgium, presented a project of a declaration of the rights and duties of nations, and Professor V. V. Pella, of Rumania, presented a report on the criminality of wars of aggression. On the subject of the codification of international law, the conference, while expressing its satisfaction with the labors of the Committee of Experts of the

League of Nations and of the Pan American Union, expressed the view that "the best method to follow would consist in establishing a general and constructive plan . . . with a view to defining the fundamental conditions of the régime of peace to be instituted between the nations, to provide for the judicial settlement of disputes which constitute a threat to that régime and to the application, if necessary, of methods of execution and of sanction," proposals to this end to be submitted eventually to an international conference of nations called for the purpose of effectuating the codification of international law (p. 800). An elaborate resolution was adopted containing the fundamental principles of an international legal code for the repression of international crimes, the code to be applicable both to states and individuals, and to be adjudicated by the Permanent Court of International Justice, whose decisions are to be executed by the Council of the League of Nations (pp. 47-50, 801).

GEO. A. FINCH.

Der Versailler Vertrag und die Sanktionen. By Dr. Conrad A. Wille. Berlin: Verlag von Georg Stilke, 1925. pp. 243. Index. Mk. 6.

In this book of less than 250 pages, Dr. Wille succeeds in presenting a comprehensive review of the sanctions prescribed by the Treaty of Versailles under seven headings. The reprisal character of the sanctions; the conditions of non-fulfilment, or "defalcation," under the treaty; the sanctions specified in the treaty; the relation of the League of Nations to them; the Rhineland Commission's connection with them; their character as tested by ordinary international law; and their place in haute politique: Such are the aspects of the question which are treated in the book with a fair degree of the thoroughness characteristic of German scholarship.

This monograph is one of a vast swarm which are destined to attack every aspect of the treaty so bitterly hated in Germany; and it bears some evidence of the bitterness felt even by that country's men of calm and scientific mind. The "deception of the Armistice," the "dictated peace," the "assertion of Germany's sole responsibility for the War as the basis of the Treaty," the "determination of the victors to crush the vanquished, "-all of which make for perpetual war (den Krieg zu verewigen): Such are some of the windows in the author's soul, through which the reader looks deep and sees much that is unexpressed in his book.

On the other hand, it supplies detached and instructive reviews of several outstanding events since 1921, such as the action of the Allies in that year in response to Germany's alleged "defalcations," an analysis of these, Germany's counter-proposals, the occupation of the Ruhr, its character and alleged justification, the attempt to collect the twenty billion gold marks, Lloyd-George's charge that Germany had not disarmed, the facts in that case and in the delivery of the coal and wood requisitions. Some sixty pages are devoted to a searching discussion of the functioning and responsibility of

the League of Nations, the Rhineland Commission and the Reparations Commission, regarding the application of the treaty's sanctions.

But the portion of the book (some 60 pages) which will prove most interesting to the readers of this JOURNAL is that which tests the treaty's sanctions by measuring them up with some of the generally accepted principles of international law, such as the right of self-preservation and the Porter Proposition of 1907, and those which have been used as the basis of the laws of war on land, especially in regard to the treatment of private property.

A trained student in international law finds no difficulty, of course, in showing the wide discrepancy between its principles and the prescriptions of the Treaty of Versailles. But our author argues the various points involved with all the solemnity and acumen of a serious essayist; and of course his effort is not merely that of threshing straw or beating the wind. The last dozen pages of his book, however, are devoted to showing that the sanctions of the treaty were motivated not by law or equity, but by national interest, chiefly that of France; that the document is not really a legal one, but a political one; and that it is substantially only one more link in the long, long chain of contest which has bound France and Germany together for a tug-ofwar over the Rhineland during more than a thousand years.

WILLIAM I. HULL.

Wörterbuch des Völkerrechts und der Diplomatie. Begun by Professor Julius Hatschek, continued and edited by Dr. Karl Strupp. Berlin-Leipzig: Walther de Gruyter & Co., 1924-1925. 2 v. pp. 860 and 779. This important encyclopedia of international law is the tribute of German and Austrian scholarship in international law to the commemoration of the tri-centennial of Grotius' De Jure Belli ac Pacis. It is published by the house of Walther de Gruyter, a consolidation of some of the oldest publishers of continental Europe, namely, Göschen, Guttentag, Reimer, Trübner and Veit. The method of treatment, expository rather than critical, is to present a short and concise discussion by some qualified expert of each of the several hundred topics into which the work is divided. Each topic is followed by a selected bibliography. The topics covered, as the title indicates, include the field of diplomacy and diplomatic history, as well as international law. Aside from the more common divisions of these general subjects, leading cases, both international and municipal, are covered, by description, to a very considerable and welcome extent. The encyclopedic character of the work necessarily involves certain limitations, but as practically the first work of its kind since Calvo, it supplies a definite need in the literature of international law. It may be suggested that, in view of the lack of an encyclopedia of international law in the English language, the present work could be used to advantage as the basis for an enlarged English and French edition, recruiting additional contributors from the other countries of the world and extending the range of topics covered. E. M. B.

Cuestiones Diversas. By Alberto J. Pani. Mexico: Imprenta Nacional, 1922. pp. 414. Index.

This book for the most part consists of a series of letters written to President Carranza by the author, who was Mexican Minister at Paris in 1919 and 1920, also including some other letters and articles and after-dinner speeches by the same person after he became Minister of Exterior Relations of Mexico. Their value is largely that of showing the attitude of the writer toward the League of Nations then under consideration and culminating in the Treaty of Versailles.

Labor Internacional de la Revolución Constitucionalista de Mexico. Mexico: Imprenta de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores. pp. xvi, 517.

This work contains correspondence between Mexico and the United States and other data largely relating to Mexican-American affairs between 1913 and 1918, particularly covering the different outrages committed upon American citizens. It has some historical value to those making a study of the difficulties between the United States and Mexico between the years mentioned.

Die Völkerbundssatzung. By Hans Wehberg. Berlin, Hensel & Co., 1926. pp. 145. Mk. 3.

This is a cricital study of the work of the League of Nations. It gives information regarding the status of the legal, economic, humanitarian and other work of the League, and considers in detail the Locarno Agreements and the treaty between Germany and Soviet Russia. The practical use of the book is facilitated by an index of references, persons and subject-matter.

The United States in Relation to the European Situation. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, July, 1926, Vol. CXXVI, No. 215. Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1926. pp. vi, 177. Index.

The proceedings of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Academy, held at Philadelphia, May 14 and 15, 1926, are printed in this volume. The papers and discussions are divided into six parts dealing with (1) the present situation in Germany and France; (2) the effect of the debt situation upon Europe's relations with the United States; (3) the World Court, the Locarno pacts and European security; (4) the investment of American capital in Europe and its probable effect upon American foreign policy; (5) the United States and Russia; (6) Disarmament and the present outlook for peace. Between six and eight contributions are made under each heading by authors prominent in educational, political and international circles.

Die Nationalen Aufgaben Unserer Auswärtigen Politik. By Walther Schücking. Berlin: Hensel & Co., 1926. pp. 75. Index. Price, 2.50 marks. This is a collection of articles written from time to time during the last several years by Professor Walther Schücking. Sixteen subjects are covered, among the most important being those relating to international law in world organization, the structure of the League of Nations and the reform of the Council, the Permanent Court of International Justice, the Washington Conference, militarizing the League of Nations, and the security pact.

Heft

Der Sicherheitspakt. By Hans Wehberg. Staatsbürger Bibliothek. 135-136. Berlin: Volksvereins-Verlag GmbH, 1926. pp. 76. Index. This is a discussion by Dr. Wehberg of the security problem and its solution, including a consideration of the Locarno Conference, with a reprint of the documents constituting the security pact.

International Law Decisions and Notes. Naval War College, 1923. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1925. pp. vii, 224. Index. Price, 75 cents.

International Law Documents with Notes and Index. Naval War College, 1924. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1926. pp. viii, 190. Price, 65 cents.

These two volumes relate to the discussions upon questions of international law before the classes of 1923 and 1924 at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, conducted by Professor George Grafton Wilson of Harvard University, the Editor-in-Chief of the JOURNAL.

The 1923 volume is a compilation made by Professor Wilson of the decisions of various prize courts that are considered to be of special interest and value to officers in the naval service. In a prefatory note, Admiral Williams, President of the College, explains that the problems submitted to the class of 1923 required the interpretation of certain treaties about which there is a difference of opinion and involved points of law which have not yet been decided by the courts. It was therefore considered inexpedient to publish this material at the present time, but the prize decisions herein published which have been considered, for the most part, at the War College, were published instead.

The 1924 volume contains the text of a number of international agreements which have been the subject of discussion or have been consulted by the class of 1924. Among the documents included are the Washington treaties on the Limitation of Armament and Pacific Possessions, the Nicaraguan Canal Convention, the Danish West Indies Convention, the Spitzbergen Treaty, the Aaland Islands Neutralization Convention. treaties of the United States relating to certain mandates, the Halibut Fishery Treaty, certain treaties relating to the smuggling of intoxicating liquors, the report of the Commis

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