International Law. A Treatise. Volume 2 (of 2) War and Neutrality. Second Edition

[Transcriber's note: Original spelling variations have not been
standardized. Underscores have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts.]


_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_

INTERNATIONAL LAW

VOL. I.--PEACE

2nd Edition

8vo. 18s. net

LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.

LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA




INTERNATIONAL LAW


A TREATISE

BY

L. OPPENHEIM, M.A., LL.D.

WHEWELL PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF JURISPRUDENCE AT MADRID


VOL. II.

WAR AND NEUTRALITY

_SECOND EDITION_


LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA

1912


All rights reserved




PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION


The course of events since 1906, when the second volume of this work
first made its appearance, and the results of further research have
necessitated, as in the case of the first volume, the thorough revision
of the text, the rewriting of many portions, and the discussion of a
number of new topics. The additions to this volume are even more
numerous than those to the first, with the consequence that, in spite of
the typographical devices explained in the preface to the second edition
of the first volume, the text of this volume has been increased by one
hundred pages. The increase is, in some measure, due to the fact that
the thirteen Conventions of the Second Hague Peace Conference, and,
further, the Declaration of London, are fully discussed and expounded.
But the increase is also due to the fact that a number of other new
topics have been discussed; I will only mention the questions whether
enemy subjects have _persona standi in judicio_ (§ 100_a_), and whether
trading with enemy subjects is permitted (§ 101).

The system of the work, with but occasional slight alterations in
arrangement and the headings of the sections, remains the same. In those
cases, however, in which a portion had to be entirely rewritten--as, for
instance, that on Enemy Character, that on Commencement of War, and that
on Unneutral Service--the arrangement of the topics differs from that in
the first edition, and the headings of the sections also differ. Apart
from many new sections, a whole chapter treating of the proposed
International Prize Court has been added at the end of the volume.

Since some of the Conventions produced by the Second Peace Conference,
and, further, the Declaration of London, have not yet been ratified, the
task of the writer of a comprehensive treatise on International Law is
very difficult: he must certainly not treat the rules in these
unratified documents as law, but, on the other hand, he must not ignore
them. For this reason the right method seemed to be to give everywhere
the law hitherto prevailing, and to give also the changes in the law
which are proposed by these unratified documents. I venture to hope that
this method will enable the reader to form a judgment of his own with
regard to the merits of the Declaration of London. I have not concealed
my conviction that the ratification of this Declaration would mark great
progress in the development of International Law, since it offers a
common agreement upon a number of subjects concerning which there has
been hitherto much discord both in theory and practice. But I have
endeavoured to put the matter impartially before the reader, and I have
taken special care to draw attention to very numerous points which have
not been settled by the Declaration of London.

In revising and rewriting this volume I have remained true to the
principle of impartiality, neither taking the part of any one nation,
nor denouncing any other. The discredit which International Law
concerning War and Neutrality suffers in the minds of certain sections
of the public is largely due to the fact that many writers have not in
the past approached the subject with that impartial and truly
international spirit which is indispensable for its proper treatment.

Many friends of the book have asked that the second edition might, in
the Appendix, offer an English translation of the French texts
concerned. I was prepared to accede to their request, but had to abstain
from doing so on account of the fact that the addition of a translation
would have made the volume too bulky for convenience; the new
Conventions of the Second Hague Peace Conference, the Declaration of
London together with the Report of the Drafting Committee of the Naval
Conference of London, the Naval Prize Bill of 1911, and the Geneva
Convention Act of 1911, all of which necessarily had to be added, having
increased the Appendix very considerably.

It has been the aim of my assistants and myself to make the quotations
in this and the preceding volume as correct as possible. However,
considering that there are many thousands of citations, it would be a
miracle if there were not numerous mistakes and misprints in them, in
spite of the great care which has been bestowed upon the matter.