Friday Morning at 10 o'clock. Address of Welcome. General Business. Address by the President of the Society. Papers and discussion on: 1. Would immunity from capture during war of nonoffending private property upon the high seas be in the interest of civilization? 2. Is the trade in contraband of war unneutral, and should it be prohibited by international and municipal law? Friday Afternoon at 2.30 o'clock. Continuation of Unfinished Business. Papers and discussion on: Is the forcible collection of contract debts in the interest of international justice and peace? Friday Evening at 8 o'clock. Continuation of Unfinished Business. Papers and discussion on: The rights of foreigners in the United States in case of conflict between Federal treaties and State laws. Saturday Morning at 10 o'clock. Papers and discussion on: The Second Hague Conference and the development of international law as a science. Saturday Afternoon at 2 o'clock. The President of the United States will receive the members of the Society at the White House. Saturday Evening at 7 o'clock. Banquet at the New Willard Hotel. FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW HELD AT THE NEW WILLARD HOTEL, WASHINGTON, D. C. ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, APRIL 19 AND 20, 1907 MORNING SESSION Friday, April 19, 1907 The meeting was called to order at 10 o'clock a. m. by the President of the Society, Hon. Elihu Root, who introduced Hon. Henry B. F. Macfarland. ADDRESS OF WELCOME Mr. MACFARLAND. Mr. President and Members of the American Society of International Law: The National Capital is distinctly honored as the meeting place of this Society, great in its objects, and already known abroad as well as at home. Its officers, its membership, including so many men of international reputation, and especially its illustrious President, who is not only Secretary of State but the head of the American bar both with respect to municipal and international law, gave it prestige as well as power at the very beginning of its career, which has already proved beneficent and promises enduring and salutary results. Its influence begins to be felt just as the nations are gathering once more at The Hague, where international law must be considered as necessary to international peace by means of international justice. As your President has well stated, in an introductory article in the American Journal of International Law,* the Society's educational work is of the first importance, now that the people of every country must know international law in order to intelligently and considerately take part in those great decisions, often to be made under stress of passion and pressure of events, upon which the relations of nations, and therefore the peace and prosperity of the world, depend. That international courtesy, involving patience, consideration, and sympathy, which, like courtesy between individuals, delays and prevents the breaking of relations in violent strife, is more important than courts or treaties. Justness in the public opinion of nations produces international justice, and will make ideal the international law of the future. Here in Washington, more than ever an international capital, where all our treaties since 1800 have been signed, where all the great decisions of the Supreme Court have been given, where Presidents and Congresses and international commissions and international lawyers have done so much to make the law of nations what it is to-day, and to insure its improvement in the future; here, whence came the leadership and inspiration that saved the Hague Conference from failure, that brought nations to the Hague Tribunal and saved it from disuse and contempt, that has brought about another Hague Conference, and that will bring about a permanent court of arbitration; here, under the eye of President Roosevelt, who has done more than any other man for this great cause, is the appropriate place for your assembling in the name of that better understanding between peoples based on justice and on mutual respect for rights. and duties, which will bring international relations to the plane of the best individual relations and mightily advance the progress of mankind. At the conclusion of the address of welcome, Chief Justice Fuller arose and said: Mr. President, I propose for honorary membership in the American Society of International Law, Professor Heinrich Lammasch, Vol. I:1. professor of international law at the University of Vienna, member of the Austrian Upper House, delegate to the First International Peace Conference, member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, member of the Venezuelan Arbitration Tribunal, president of the Maskat Arbitration Tribunal of 1905. Having sat with Dr. Lammasch as member of the Maskat International Tribunal, and knowing him personally and intimately, appreciating his character as well as his scientific attainments, I feel sure that in electing him to honorary membership the Society honors itself as much as it does him. I therefore have the honor to propose the election of Dr. Lammasch. The PRESIDENT. The motion of the Chief Justice will be referred to the Executive Council and the action taken will be reported at the session to-morrow morning. ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY 1 Gentlemen: In opening this meeting of the American Society of International Law, which I hope will be the first of many meetings in unbroken succession to continue long after we personally have ceased to take part in affairs, let me welcome you to the beginning of your labors for a more thorough understanding of this important and fascinating subject. It is impossible that the human mind should be addressed to questions better worth its noblest efforts, offering a greater opportunity for usefulness in the exercise of its powers, or more full of historical and contemporary interest, than in the field of international rights and duties. The change in the theory and practice of government which has marked the century since the establishment of the American Union has shifted the determination of great questions of domestic national policy from a few rulers in each country to the great body of the people, who render the ultimate decision under all modern constitutional governments. Coincident with that change the practice of diplomacy has ceased to be a mystery confined to a few learned men who strive to give effect to the wishes. of personal rulers, and has become a representative function answering to the opinions and the will of the multitude of citizens, who 1 This address was published in the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, I, 273. |