as Mr. Renault says, in his truly remarkable report, is a practical opportunity of lessening the burdens of armament, but, he adds, the time is not yet ripe for such an advance. Every country will, then, in making a declaration of war, fix the interval, if any, which it shall deem best suited to its interests; but we must remember that public opinion has never given up those old ideas of the fair man-to-man fight, and the country which gives so short an interval as to take its adversary by surprise will, to its regret, find itself condemned the world over. The fear of becoming a stench in the nostrils of the nations will act as an incentive to make every government declaring war fix a fair interval. Although the convention does not provide for an interval, it does stipulate that the declaration of war must give the reason necessitating a resort to arms. As Mr. Renault says: Governments ought not to employ such an extreme measure as a resort to arms without giving the reasons. Everyone, whether citizen of the countries about to become belligerents or of neutral powers, should know why there is to be a war in order to judge of the conduct of the two adversaries. This does not mean that we are to cherish the illusion that the real reasons for a war will always be given; but the difficulty of formulating reasons, the finding it necessary to give those which are without foundation or out of proportion to the gravity of war itself all this will have the effect of attracting the attention of neutral states and of enlightening public opinion. The first article of the convention offers an alternative form of declaration in the ultimatum which has the added advantage of fixing an interval, the reason for the war being made manifest in the refusal to comply with the conditions laid down. However, here again the demands contained in the ultimatum may have no real connection with the real cause in dispute. At the present time an ultimatum which demanded the performance of a particular act on the part of the adversary would be most likely to lead to war. So generally is this realized that the reasons for making the ultimatum would most probably be looked to rather than the demand it contained. Nevertheless, a state wishing to avoid giving its reasons for declaring war may prefer to give out an ultimatum containing some demand compliance with which it does not expect. The Chinese military delegate was desirous of obtaining a definition of what constitutes war, his country having been upon several occasions in the past the object of military expeditions carried on by powers who maintained that they were not at war. Further, he asked if a declaration of war might be considered by the state against which it was directed as an unilateral act without effect.5 No one replied to those embarrassing questions. Governments are not loath to have the definition of what constitutes war shrouded in mystery; for in the greater number of states possessing a parliamentary form of government the deciding to make war is hedged about with formalities and special constitutional requirements, and governments have in the past and are likely in the future to find it convenient for reasons of domestic and foreign policy to resort to measures of war while maintaining that no war exists. But even were the powers desirous of defining war, the task would be most difficult, because it would have to be decided whether a pacific blockade was a measure of war and at just what point to draw the line separating reprisals from war. However, China may rest assured that the country which declares war, even though it meet with no response, may apply to the country against which the declaration is addressed all the condition of regular warfare, and may avail itself of any or all of the effects, such as abrogation of political treaties, etc., which are among the consequences of a state of war. 6 During the discussion the delegates of certain countries feared that an international convention respecting the declaration of war might be contrary to their constitutional provisions, but it was explained to the satisfaction of all that the proposed convention in no way affected the deciding for or against the entering into a war, but after the constitutionally competent body had in accordance with the constitutional provisions decided upon war it was for the executive or organ of the government charged with the conduct of its foreign affairs to declare the war. The convention only relates 5 Second commission; second subcommission; third session, July 12 (remarks of Colonel Tinge). • Second commission; second subcommission; third session, July 12. to this declaring of the war and not to deciding that it shall be declared. In the case of the United States, there might be a question as to whether a declaration of war by Congress in accordance with the provision of the Constitution was not a declaration from an international point of view; the transmission by the President of the declaration made by Congress to the adverse state being merely perfunctory. In the present state of confusion as to the extent to which provisions and organs of the Constitution are to be recognized internationally, it would be impossible to reach any definite conclusion. But as the President is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and no attack can be made until he gives the order, he certainly has the effective power of making the war; hence it would seem natural for him to have the power of declaring it, for were he to say he would not commence an attack before a certain date there would seem to be no constitutional objection, and practically war would begin at that date, though the Federal courts might consider abrogation of treaties and other effects of war to date from the declaration by Congress. When one state declares war against another, giving an interval before the opening of hostilities, it goes without saying that the state against which war is declared may in turn declare war at once, or it may allow a shorter interval before the commencing of hostilities. But what if it make no rejoinder -may it begin hostilities at the expiration of the interval? Yes, because if attacked it would certainly defend itself, and the measures of defense necessary to its security must in some instances go to the extent of attacking the declaring state. The second article of the convention, relative to the opening of hostilities, treats of the notification of the state of war to neutral powers and provides that they are not to be held responsible for the observance of neutrality until the receipt of such notice, or unless it be proven beyond a doubt that they did actually know of the existence of the war. The Belgian delegation had proposed to fix an interval of fortyeight hours after receipt of the notification before the expiration of which period the notification should not affect neutral powers. The intention was to give neutral states the necessary time to take measures for complying with the requirements of neutrality, but as this provision would seem to authorize violations of neutrality before the expiration of the interval, and as, furthermore, the interval required by one state would differ from that indispensable to another, it was thought best not to fix any. It remains, as formerly, entirely a question of fact as to whether the neutral, after learning of the existence of the war, did or did not maintain an attitude of strict neutrality and use due diligence in its enforcement. And so humanity, developing in a spiral, has come again to require a declaration of war previous to the commencing of hostilities. We must not forget that this convention accepted by the plenipotentiaries of all the powers at The Hague modifies the law which existed previously, and that is a real piece of international legislation; it is drawn in the form of a convention, which can be denounced by giving a year's notice, yet there can be no doubt that it is intended to endure as long as war shall be. ELLERY C. STOWELL. HISTORICAL EXTRACTS SHOWING WHEN HOSTILITIES BEGAN WITHOUT DECLARATIONS OF WAR.8 The year 1700 opened with profound peace, yet on March 12, without public declaration of war, 40,000 Saxons under General Fleming swept down before Riga, then belonging to Sweden. In the month of December, 1700, French troops arrived by night and took possession of the strongest places in Spanish Flanders. On July 28, 1701, Marshal Catinat, with a French corps d'armée, took possession of the Alpine passes and descended into Lombardy. During the early part of the winter of 1701, Prince Eugene seized, without declaration of war, Canneto and other places in the territories of Guastalla, Parma, and Modena. Throughout 1701 a naval war was carried on by England and Holland against France, but a formal declaration of war was not declared for several months after hostilities had been carried on. 7 Belgian Amendment to the French proposition; annexe 3a, second commission; second subcommission. 8 House Report 754, p. 9, 52d Congress, 1st session. In 1708 the Pope of Rome attacked by surprise a body of German imperial troops and ordered them cut to pieces with great barbarity; also, In 1708, the English fleet suddenly appeared at Civita Vecchia and by surprise dictated terms to the Pope. In 1714 the Turks, by sudden invasion, seized from Venice the Morea without declaration of war. In 1715 England in peace seized Swedish provinces. In August, 1717, during peace, a fleet of war vessels carrying 9,000 men left Barcelona secretly for Sardinia. Cagliari, the capital, was surrendered to the Spaniards. In 1719 Spain secretly prepared an expedition and seized Messina and the greater part of Sicily. The first case in the eighteenth century when declaration preceded war was in 1719, when France and England joined in war against Spain. In 1726, without declaration of war, a British squadron under Admiral Hosin was sent to the West Indies and blockaded Porte Bello. In 1727 Spain, at peace with England, laid siege to Gibraltar from February 11 to November 23. In 1733 Russia invaded Poland without a declaration of war. In 1739 reprisals preceded war between Spain and England. War was declared by England October, 1739. 1740, the first Silesian war. 1741, naval fights between France and England without declaration of war. In 1742, without declaration of war, Naples, by action of an English admiral, forced to become neutral. On June 27, 1743, the battle of Dettingen was fought, at which time no declaration of war had been made, nor was it made until March 20, 1744, when France declared war against England. On August 9, 1744, Saxony and Bohemia were invaded by Frederick without declaration of war. In 1747 sudden invasion of Holland by the French, in which the French secured all the advantages of sudden attack. In 1754 France and England put forth hostile claims in America without declaration of war or notice. Fighting commenced between English and Virginia troops on the one hand and French on the other. On May 17, 1756, England declared war on France. In August, 1756, Frederick the Great suddenly invaded Saxony with 75,000 men. He did not publish a declaration until after crossing the frontier. In 1759 the Dutch commenced hostilities in India against the English without proclamation of war. In June, 1770, 1.700 Spanish soldiers and mariners, with five frigates and a train of artillery and ordnance stores, arrived at Port Egmont, when only two sloops of war and a miserable blockhouse with four guns |