Die Kodifikation des Automobilrechts. By Dr. Fr. Meili, Professor in the University of Zurich. Vienna; Mansche Hof-Verlags. iv, pp. 188. 1907.

Automobile Regulations of France and Other Countries. By H. Cleveland Coxe, Deputy Consul General of the United States at Paris. Paris and New York: Bretano. pp. 82. 1906.

Mr. Coxe, in his useful and carefully prepared book, happily applies the adjective "nomadic" to that new vehicle which we, in common with the greater part of the world, call the "automobile." The appearance on the highways of the world of this mechanical nomad, which will in all likelihood have crossed the border from another state or nation a few hours previously and whose occupants may be foreigners bound for some distant state or nation, raises questions concerning the need of uniformity in the rules governing highway traffic analogous to those which arise out of sea traffic. Consequently, Mr. Coxe finds it necessary to include the automobile regulations of other countries along with those of France. The British royal commission on motor cars, which made its report in 1906, includes a survey of the automobile regulations of Europe, as a part of the basis of its recommendations; and Dr. Meili codifies all the existing regulations of this country and Europe (using Mr. X. T. Huddy's recent American book on The Law of Automobiles as his American source), and draws conclusions concerning the interstate and international action necessary to control this mechanical nomad and make it beneficent.

From the books above mentioned the following definition of an "automobile" in this technical sense-the nomadic automobile-may be derived: It is a machine which accomplishes locomotion on the land, by means of a power stored or generated within itself, without the aid of any structure attached to the land, and which is of such size, weight, resiliency and compactness as to be capable of carrying persons comfortably and things securely for long distances at high speed, without injury to persons, things, or road surfaces and without injury to itself, by means of a source of power universally and cheaply to be obtained and easily to be carried.

An examination of the documents referred to in the books above named, shows that automobile machines not conforming to these requirements tend more and more to be classified under special names other than "automobile." In Great Britain there appears to be a tendency to apply the term "motor car" solely to the nomadic automobile, although in existing legislation it has a wider sense.

All the writers in considering the question of regulation of automobiles,

necessarily treat of the prevention of injury by inspection of machinery and equipment, by examination of operators, and by passports, of civil remedies for injury to person or property, of criminal punishment for violation of law and of taxation. The codification made by Dr. Meili of existing regulations on all these subjects is very complete. At the end of his book, Dr. Meili takes up the international questions arising out of the nomadic character of the machine. His conclusions concerning the action necessary to be taken in the interests both of the automobilists and the public are as follows (pp. 183-185):

The action which is first and most urgently required is, to formulate a uniform law concerning the operation of automobiles, defining the rights and duties of public officials and private persons in this respect. Everywhere the public and the automobilists are alike interested in having that done which will render life and property secure, and it ought not to be impossible to bring about such action as is necessary to accomplish this object; that is, to agree concerning proper requirements concerning construction and equipment to be complied with before permission to operate the machine can be granted, concerning the rules of the road, concerning signs and signals and concerning the manner of ascertaining the qualifications of those who wish to operate automobiles. These are matters regarding which, diversity of regulation becomes more and more unendurable. On these subjects it is possible to develop a unity of sentiment, because necessity compels all the diversely affected interests to concur in these respects for the common safety, and because it is necessary that there should be an agreement in these respects in order that the automobile may perform beneficent functions to the community at large.

The second action necessary is to determine the status of the automobile in international law, as a basis for reasoning with respect to those matters which cannot now be agreed upon.

The third and final stage of the worry will consist in determining the juridical status of the automobile and the special duties and liabilities growing out of the ownership and operation of the machine. Local legislation will be ineffective until there is a general agreement on principles. The states and nations must unite on a standard of legislative action respecting automobiles as the only means of avoiding legislation founded on wholly diverse principles. In the nature of the case, there is no possibility of framing an automobile law from a strictly national standpoint.

Of the correctness of Dr. Meili's conclusions there can, it would seem, be no doubt. The possibility of there appearing at any time upon any highway in the world a powerful and rapidly moving vehicle owned and operated by persons foreign to the region, necessitates, for the safety of all concerned, a standard of safe construction and equipment for such vehicles, and a mutual understanding on the part of all concerned respecting rules of the road, signs and signals, so that all concerned may, in every emergency, have an instantaneous and almost instinctive perception of their respective rights and duties, and may act accordingly. Such uniform precautionary measures and such uniform rules and standards can of course only be established by interstate and interna

tional agreements, which would however, in many cases require to be adopted or carried into effect by legislation.

ALPHEUS HENRY SNOW.

A History of Diplomacy in the International Development of Europe. By David Jayne Hill, LL.D. Vol. ii.

The Establishment of Territorial Sovereignty. With maps and tables. Longmans, Green & Co. 1907.

To judge a work fairly one must get the author's point of view. This is true in all art. We must stand with the artist and get a true understanding of the spiritual truth he intended to portray. One may differ with the principle, may deny the correctness of the conception, but it remains true that to be fair one must accept the theory of the author and then say whether in his work he has clearly and strongly presented and fairly attained his ideal. And so in estimating this literary work we take the author's standpoint, accept his statement of the task he set before himself, and try to determine whether the object has been attained.

Doctor Hill in his second volume of the History of European Diplomacy says that it is to be

an account of the political development of Europe regarded from the international point of view, in which the emphasis is laid upon diplomatic policy and action rather than upon military operations.

The reader is then warned to divest himself of the present day conception of diplomacy as having" the modern accessories of organized chancelleries and permanent missions," and look for the "essence of diplomacy as seen in the intellectual and spiritual forces represented in plans and and purposes and policies of nations," developed and made prevalent through the issue of all agencies, even armies and navies, to accomplish designed results. He deals with the psychological factors "in moments of creative action" and not with the mere history of military conflicts which may or may not have been the agencies employed to bring about the result intended by men of great spiritual force. These men, who were real diplomatists, did not, perhaps, wear the straps and spangles of military heroes, nor bear arms upon bloody battle fields; their weapons were ideas, and they won supremacy

by skillfully acting upon the faith, hopes, fears, affections, and ideals of mankind and through constancy to imperial ideas brought states and empires into being and power. The volume is entitled, The Establishment of Terri

torial Sovereignty, it begins with the semi-independent powers and follows historically the international development of Europe, clearly indicating the spiritual forces that were dominant and persuasive in evolving these powers into modern states. There were wars and bloody battles in this process, enough of them, but behind it all and through it. all there was the ever present designer, in the shadows perhaps, weaving the threads of black and white, red and gold, into the tapestries which were to be the "covering of earth." These designers were not always far-sighted; the ends they sought were not always wise or patriotic, but they ruled men and nations by their intellectual power and their ability to make their own ideas prevalent. It is the conflict of ideas and the triumph of policies that is supremely interesting, and the ends attained through these intellectual forces are far more important and enduring than are the results secured by war. They have fewer wrongs to be avenged, no wounds to be healed. The lesson to be learned out of it all is that these intellectual forces are greater than armies; and the results of diplomacy are more far-reaching than of those merely physical activities represented in the movements of armies and navies. Reading this volume with this understanding of its purposes; considering these spiritual influences as the essence of diplomatic action, we find this history, like Elisha's mountain, full of horses and chariots of fire. This volume begins with the Anglo-French quarrel (1313), and ends with the congress and peace of Westphalia (1648). It deals with the relations of France, Spain, Germany, England and Italy, the growth of the reformation and the development of early permanent international traditions.

Italy was the battlefield but the prize *

was the primacy of Europe.

At the beginning of this period the papal mediation and influence are clearly and impartially told. Then follow the decline of the papal power, the passing of mediævalism and the rising of national sentiments and life.

The important part which commerce and trade played in strengthening national power and bringing about negotiations and treaties, those products of diplomacy, is well illustrated in the account of the rise of the Hanseatic league, a

government without territory, an influence surpassing that of most of the kingdoms within whose borders it carried on trade.

It maintained armies and navies, and was a power that existed for years, and while it may not have been a determining force in national development, it taught the nations the necessity of conserving commercial

interests and giving at least police protection to commercial activities. The material side of civic life then began to receive attention from governments, and the church, which had sought world-wide dominion, had to give way in the field of organized governments to the nations then rising into life and power. With the French expansion, Italian diplomacy, that is, Italian methods and conceptions, began to extend over Europe. bringing about a gradual transformation. "Political equilibrium," which had served to preserve the peace of Italy, became a political theory among the nations of Europe, and, perhaps, their only hope of safety. Diplomacy thus worked out the problem of controlling nations by intellectual association. The struggle for supremacy in Italy and the international influence of the reformation are told with an accuracy and clearness that hold the reader's attention and make the influence and power of diplomacy apparent at every point. The rise of the city-states in Italy and the national monarchies in Europe produced some new political theories and opened a wide field for diplomatic activity. Machiavelli's political philosophy (?) receives attention and at least one good result of his works is discovered by Doctor Hill. He says:

By systematically epitomizing the theory of personal despotism, Machiavelli made an important contribution to its final overthrow.

The last chapter gives the conception of the state as sovereign, the genesis of international jurisprudence, and the significance of the Thirty Years' War. The volume concludes with the inception, organization and conclusion of the congress and peace of Westphalia.

The facts of history are given in a clear, dispassionate and interesting style characteristic of Doctor Hill's treatment of historical matter. The actors are all upon the scene and their parts are well spoken while the spiritual forces are prominent factors before the reader.

This work is a large contribution to systematized knowledge, giving a clear conception of the field of diplomacy and strengthening the faith that the day will come when all international relations will be fixed and governed by diplomatic intercourse. The international policemen, armies and navies, will still be needed for the lawless, the revolutionist and the pirate, but the law-abiding people of every civilized country will settle their international differences by peaceful methods and before international tribunals. This is the final goal of diplomacy.

CHARLES WILLIS NEEDHAM.

Droit International. Les lois de la guerre et la neutralité. Par Fernand Verraes. (Bruxelles: Schepens. 1906. 2 vols.) In his preface, M.