Deuxième Conférence Internationale de la Paix. Actes et Documents. Tome premier. Séances Plénières de la Conférence. La Haye: Imprimerie Nationale. 1907. pp. xvii, 723. A notice inserted in the volume under consideration states that the collection of the acts of the Second Conference is divided into three volumes, of which the first contains the program, the list of delegates, the minutes of the plenary sessions, the reports presented to the conference, and the conventions. The second volume is to contain the minutes of the sessions of the first commission, of its subcommissions and its committees, and appendices containing the projects, propositions, and communications from the various delegates, as well as the various synoptic tables prepared and presented to the conference during the course of its deliberations. The third volume is devoted to the proceedings of the second, third, and fourth commissions, and it is stated that this final volume will contain an alphabetical index. The official report of the First Conference appeared in three volumes, which by the use of India paper are compressed into a single handy volume. This volume, however, is difficult to use because it lacks a general and special index. The announcement, therefore, of the Dutch Government that the official report is to be properly indexed will be welcome news to those who may have occasion to use the official report. The first of the three volumes has already appeared and is a beautifully printed volume, to which there is prefixed an admirable analytical summary of the plenary sessions and their proceedings, so that it is possible by consulting the table of contents to refer with ease and dispatch to any part of the volume. The plenary sessions were as a rule formal, because substantial agreement was reached in commission before the project was presented to the conference in plenary session for ratification. The discussions in the plenary session were perfunctory and of comparatively little value. As, however, the projects submitted for approval were accompanied by the official reports prepared by the various rapporteurs. which reports explained the projects, their underlying principles, and their official interpretations, the reader of this volume has before him the final positive results of the conference, and is in a position to judge the nature, the extent, and the probable value of the conference. While the subsequent volumes will be of great value as showing the original form of the projects, the changes which they underwent and the reasons advanced for their acceptance or rejection, these volumes will be of special service to the student. The general reader may well content him self with the first volume containing the acts and documents as finally adopted by the conference in its plenary sessions. It may be of interest to state that while the collection of acts and documents is published by the Dutch Government, the volume may be purchased from Martinus Nijhoff, at The Hague, for seven florins, and that the American reader may obtain the volume directly from Messrs. Stechert & Co., New York City. La Segunda Conferencia de la Paz. By Antonio S. de Bastamante y The author, a member of the Hague Conference of 1907, furnishes in these volumes a useful and interesting résumé of the work of that body, giving an idea of the general course of the discussion relative to each topic considered. As one of the earliest large contributions to the literature of the subject, their appearance is welcome. In detail, the author discusses briefly the history of the first convocation, next taking up the method of summoning and the organization of the conference of 1907. He considers at length the subject of disarmament, recognizing the futility of a determined attitude on the part of the smaller powers in favor of disarmament, while public opinion in the larger ones had not yet become sufficiently aroused with relation to the proposition. Upon the question of coercion for the collection of national debts, he believes, as was to be expected, that the protection of its nationals should not compel a state to convert itself into an executor of contingent agreements or a knight-errant in matters concerning the purse. The conclusions of the conference relative to international commissions of investigation receive his praise, while its work upon the subject of arbitration, little fruitful as it was, is given ample and interesting review. The questions of war presented to and voted upon by the conferencedeclaration of war, delay of favor, laws of terrestrial and maritime war, transformation of merchant ships into vessels of war, blockade, bombardment, enemies' property in maritime war, exemptions from capture, rights and duties of neutral nations in time of war, rights of neutrals in territory of the belligerents, contraband of war, destruction of neutral prizes, maritime inviolability of postal correspondence, and the Inter national Prize Tribunal are all fully discussed. The steps necessarily to be taken for the calling of a new conference receive attention. In summing up the work of the conference, as compared with that of 1899, the author finds that the changes display a liberal and progressive tendency, and that no motion prospered in which could be discovered. any attempt to retire from the path indicated by the First Conference. He also takes great pride in the fact that all attacks upon the principle of the equality of states came to naught. In concluding, he says that We went from The Hague with the firm conviction, after mature and calm reflection, that the conference of 1907 had contributed in the measure of its duty to the well being of humanity and to the progress of international law. The work concludes with (in Spanish) the treaties of Geneva of 1864 and 1906, and with the various Hague treaties of 1899 and 1907. JACKSON H. RALSTON. PERIODICAL LITERATURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (For table of abbreviations used, see Chronicle of International Events, p. 866.) Africa. L'Angleterre en Afrique. Captaine E. de Renty. Q. dipl., 26:163. Anglo-French entente, The meaning of the. A. Maurice Low. Forum, 40:113. Anglo-German entente, Why not an? H. Fortnightly R., September, 1908. Arctic territory. La question de la souveraineté des terres arctiques: la question de l'île des Ours. R. Waultrin. R. générale de dr. int. public, 15:185. Austria, The political relations of Hungary and. Count Joseph Mailáth. Contemporary R., September, 1908. Balkan railways. La Querelle des chemins de fer balkaniques. Allemands contre Slaves. J. Aulneau. R. politique et parlementaire, 57:493. Baltic question. La convention relative à la Baltique et la question de la fortification des îles d'Aland. Exposé du point de vue allemand. R. générale de dr. int. public, 15:271. The northern question. Brittanicus. North American R., 188:237. Belgium in the grip of Germany. National R., September, 1908. Congo. L'annexion de l'État Indépendant du Congo par la Belgique. Edouard The Belgian Parliament and the Congo. E. D. Morel. Contemporary R., September, 1908. Les concessions caoutchoutières du bassin du Congo. Goffat. La R. générale, 88:235. Congrès de Berlin, Le. I. Gabriel Hanotaux. R. de deux mondes, September 15, 1908. Contraband of War, History of. I. H. J. Randall. Law Quarterly R., 24:316. Domicile. Der gegenwärtige Stand der Wohnungsgestzgebung in den europäischen Hauptstaaten. Emanuel Hugo Vogel. Archiv für öffentliches Recht, 23:132, 242. Egypt. A novel phase of the Eastern question. Parliamentary government for Egypt. Edward Dicey. Nineteenth Century, 379:373. The tragedy of Egypt. III. "Stanhope of Chester." Westminster R., 170:1. France-Liberia. Le traité franco-libérien. Jacques Chaumié. R. politique et parlementaire, 52:453. Hague Conference, The. L'œuvre de la Haye, 1899 et 1907. Louis Renault. Ann. sc. pol., 23:429. Immunity of diplomatic agents. De l'immunité de juriction des agents diplomatiques. M. Leven. R. de dr. int. privé et de dr. pénal int., 4:580. International arbitration. L'évolution de l'arbitrage international. ThomasWilling Balch R. de dr. int. et de législation comparée, 10:261, 363. Socialism ed international arbitration. Jean Jaurès. North American R., 188:188. International common law. Le droit commun international comme source du droit international privé. D. J. Jitta. R. de dr. int. privé et de dr. pénal int., 4:553. International law. L'ensiegnement du droit international et son caractère obligatoire. Michel S. Kebedgy. R. de dr. int. et de législation comparée, 10:241. Italy in 1849 and Russia in 1907. Bernard Pares. Westminster R., 170:1. Japan's strength in war. General Kuropatkin. George Kennan, translator. McClure's, 31:635. Jus gentium, A modern. T. Baty. Juridical R., 20:109. Luxemburg successions, The. Lewis Appleton. Contemporary R., July, 1908. Maritime war. La Guerre Maritime après la Nouvelle Conférence de la Paix. A. de Lapradelle. R. de deux mondes, 46:676. Mixed commissions. A proposito della natura giuridica dei tribunali misti. E. Catellani. R. di dr. int., 2:517. Morocco. The bombardment of Casablanca. Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly R., 26:140. Les Évènements du Maroc. Raymond Recouly. R. politique et parlementaire, 57:609. Les forces nouvelles en formation dans l'Afrique du Nord. De Peyerimhoff. R. politique et parlementaire, 57:213. French operations in. Lewis. National R., 51:285. L'imbroglio marocain. Ollivier. R. d'Europe et d'Amérique, 20:84. Nationalities of Hungary, The. Count Joseph Mailáth. Contemporary R., August, 1908. Nationality. La jurisprudence de la Chancellerie en matière de nationalité. G. Cluzel. J. de dr. int. privé, 35:395, 713. De la nationalité et des diverses manières dont elle s'acquiert dans les principaix États du globe. Étude de législation comparée. Ernest Lehr. R. de dr. int. et de législation comparée, 10:310, 401. Pan-American conference. La conférence de Rio de Janeiro de 1906 et l'Union internationale des Républiques américaines. J. Basdevant. R. générale de dr. int. public, 15:209. Persia. The Persian crisis. Angus Hamilton. Fortnightly R., 84:201. Reform movement in Persia. Wanderer. Contemporary R., July, 1908. Relations between Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. Justice Longley. Canadian Law Times and R., 28:545. Russo-Japanese war. The military and political memoirs of General Kuropatkin. George Kennan, translator. McClure's, 31:483. South Africa, Towards union in. J. Saxon Mills. Fortnightly R., August, 1908. Soudan Egyptien et le protectorat du Somaliland, Le. Captaine E. de Renty. Q. dipl., 26:16. |