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Garner that lawyers should be required more and more to study international law, you must recognize that a new professional course is establishing itself at our universities naturally leading to the public service, in which in many cases international law is already a required subject. I refer, ladies and gentlemen, to the subject of commerce. Schools of commerce are now be ginning to spread in the universities of this country and pretty nearly every. where they have gone international law is a required subject. That repre sents a distinct gain. I mean that we enlist a new profession. We count on the profession of law. We have a right to it, and the South Americans have shown how students of law may also be required to master the prin ciples of international law. But, in addition to that, we are going to have soon in this country a new profession, which, without very much effort, naturally takes to international law. I think the majority of students in our schools of commerce would study it even if it were not prescribed, because they would see the great advantage of it.

Finally, Mr. Chairman (for I am going to speak within the 10 minutes assigned to me), I think it will be found that this country itself by multiplying its international relations is going to quicken the interest of its people in international law. I quite agree with Professor Garner that it is useless to expect that everybody in a population numbered by tens of millions and hundreds of millions will master or even know anything about the elements of international law. But the more intelligent portions of the community who interest them selves in public questions will be compelled in the future, in consequence of the multipication of our relations with foreign powers, to give more attention than they have ever done before to questions of international law. These questions are practical questions concerning our relations with foreign powers. The time has gone by when the United States of America can live to itself. It is not merely theoretically a member of the family of nations. We are living in an age in which that membership is being actualized. And my point is that as the threads and filaments which bind the United States to all the other nations of the world are multiplied, as the work of diplomacy increases, new questions of international law will come up, or old questions in new relations, and the intelligent portion of the American people who interest themselves in public affairs will, of necessity, be compelled to consider them and not a few seriously to study them.

Hence, Mr. Chairman, I not only differ from my friend, with whom I have been spending a large part of the afternoon, respecting the outlook for international law per se, believing as I do that there has never been a generation since international law came into the world which will be so much interested in it as the generation now appearing on the stage and taking control of things in this country, but I differ from him, and perhaps from some others in this audience, in my belief that the interest in the subject is increasing in this country, and is bound to increase, owing to our changed historical conditions. In making these statements, I am at any rate, in part-that is, so far as I am speaking of students-basing my remarks not on conjecture, but on actual experience. And I may say before taking my seat that at Cornell University, where international law is an entirely elective subject, the class is one of the largest in the university, and it is composed not only of students from the college of liberal arts but of students from the professional schools, including not merely law, but also engineering, agriculture, and other scientific vocations.

THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE COUNTRIES OF AMERICA AND THE MEANS BY WHICH IT CAN BE MADE MORE EFFECTIVE.

By JAMES W. GARNER,

Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois.

I. IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

If my remarks were intended solely for this gathering it would be superfluous for me to dwell upon the importance of international law in the educational system of a country in which public opinion is to a large extent the controlling factor in the determination of foreign policies. It may be safely assumed that no argument is necessary to convince this body of specialists of the value of a well-informed and correctly-instructed public opinion in respect to the international rights and obligations of States, and of the citizens thereof, in their mutual dealings with one another.

In order, however, that the study of international law may be given the recognition which its increasing importance requires in the educational system of the United States in particular, a change of attitude is necessary on the part of those who are responsible for the determination of the curricula of the colleges and universities, as well as on the part of those upon whom rests the responsibility for determining the standards and formulating the policies of international conduct. It is for those rather than for you that my preliminary remarks are primarily intended.

Mr. Elihu Root, a man whose name I can not mention in this connection without remarking that he has been, in a sense, the foremost American advocate of international law as a body of rules with effective sanctions; a man who, as Secretary of State and Senator of the United States, set for his countrymen the highest standards of international conduct and who has probably done more than any other man in recent years to raise the level of respect in this country for international law and the obligations which it imposes, pointed out in his first annual address as president of the American Society of International Law, with his usual lucidity and forcefulness, the need of a popular understanding of the fundamental principles of international law if control of national conduct is to rest, as it seems destined to do, in the last analysis with the people.' Mr. Root called attention to the fact that the foreign policies of Governments to-day, especially when they involve the making of war, are determined largely in obedience to the demands of popular feeling, and that cases have not been lacking in which Governments, striving to settle their controversies in the spirit of conciliation and without resort to extreme measures, have been driven into war to satisfy the demands of an uncompromising, uninformed, and belligerent public opinion.

"The more clearly the people of a country understand their own international rights," he said, "the less likely they are to take extreme and extravagant views of their rights and the less likely they are to be ready to fight for something to which they are not really entitled. The more clearly and universally the people of a country realize the international obligations and duties of their

1 A national conference of teachers of international law held at Washington in April, 1914, upon my motion, adopted a resolution recommending that Senator Root's address be reprinted and copies sent to all teachers of political science, history, political economy, and sociology throughout the country, together with a letter calling their attention to the importance of a wider popular knowledge of international law and of the desirability of making provision in the colleges and law schools for courses in this subject where they are not already offered.

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country, the less likely they will be to resent the just demands of other countries that those obligations and duties be observed. The more familiar the people of a country are with the rules and customs of self-restraint and courtesy between nations which long experience has shown to be indispensable for preserving the peace of the world, the greater will be the tendency to refrain from publicly discussing controversies with other countries in such a way as to hinder peaceful settlement by wounding sensibilities or arousing anger and prejudice on the other side."

Speaking along the same line to a conference of teachers of international law at Washington on April 23, 1914, Mr. Root said:

At the bottom of wise and just action lies an understanding of national rights and duties. Half the wars of history have come because of mistaken opinions as to national rights and national obligations. Now, I say, the thing most necessary for the good of our country in the foreign relations, which are growing every year more and more intricate and critical, is that there shall be intelligent leadership of opinion as to national rights and obligations; and nobody can bring that about as the educators of America can bring it about.' Prof. Oppenheim, of Cambridge University, like Senator Root, has called attention to the desirability of "popularizing" information regarding the fundamental principles of international law. Adverting to the fact that the great majority of lawyers know little or nothing about international law, he urges that the subject be made a part of the law school curriculum and that a knowledge of it be required for admission to the bar. He even suggests that the rudiments of international law be taught in the secondary schools by the teachers of history. "In important international conflicts," he remarks, "the decision in many cases ultimately rests not with the leading men but with public opinion and the 'man in the street.' Public opinion with regard to international questions is at present at the mercy of the press and the agitator, and it is common knowledge that the jingo and the chauvinist frequently make use of misguided public opinion for their own ends. If the public knew something about the merits of the case concerned they would frequently look upon the matter more coolly and in a more impartial way, and it would be easier for the Governments to consent to arbitration. "If it is possible," he asks," to teach in the schools such complicated subjects as physics, chemistry, and mathematics, why should it not be possible to teach the principles of international law, for which a course of a dozen lessons would suffice?""

Governments to-day, especially in democratic States, seldom make wars except where there is a popular demand for this mode of redress. Their action is not only determined by popular feeling at home, but it is influenced in no small degree by the public opinion of the civilized world at large. We have abundant evidence of the national sensitiveness to the disapprobation of international public opinion, in the efforts that have been put forth by the various belligerent nations during the present war to present their cases in the most favorable light to the people of neutral countries with a view to obtaining a favorable verdict on the conduct of their Governments. Diplomatic correspondence and other documents that formerly would have reposed securely in the archives of foreign offices for generations have been brought out, published, and distributed on a large scale among the leaders of thought and opinion throughout the length and breadth of the United States. In every case where there has been an allegation of nonconformity to the recog nized standards of international conduct the accused belligerent has made

1 Proceedings of the American Society of International Law at its eighth annual meeting, 1914, p. 252.

2 The Science of International Law, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. II, p. 324.

a prompt effort to clear itself of reproach and to justify its conduct before the bar of the enlightened public opinion of the civilized world. This increasing national sensitiveness, this regard for what Jefferson called a "decent respect for the opinions of mankind," is one of the healthiest signs of a new conception of international responsibility; and in proportion as the amenability of Governments to public opinion increases it should be our endeavor to see that this opinion is more fully instructed and correctly informed in regard to international obligations and duties. The conditions under which international relations are maintained to-day differ widely from those of a century ago. Increased facilities for travel and communication, a more general knowledge of modern languages, and more extensive commercial relations have brought about a condition of mutual interdependence and intercourse among the peoples of different nations such as was formerly quite unknown. The world is to-day animated by a larger spirit of internationalism than ever before, and the point of view of the individual is becoming more and more that of what President Butler has aptly called the international mind'— a mind which regards other peoples not as rivals to be suspected, distrusted, or antagonized, but as friends who are entitled to sympathy and cooperation in the great task of promoting a common civilization—a willingness to measure the civilization and regard the rights of other peoples from their own point of view and by their own standards rather than from the viewpoint and according to the standards of the regarding individual or nation.

It is, of course, not to be expected that the masses of the people in any country will ever become experts in international law or will even study it, yet if the thousands who annually go through the colleges and universities and who, it may be assumed, will become the leaders of thought and opinion in their several communities, were required or even given an opportunity to study international law as they are required to study history, political economy, philosohpy, and other branches of learning, the national gain would be very great; that part of public opinion which directs and controls would be more intelligent; the viewpoint of the international mind more general; and enlightened notions of international responsibilities more widely diffused.

II. PRESENT STATUS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

The multiplication of the facilities for the teaching of international law and the increase of interest in its study in recent years have been very marked in all the countries of America, although it can hardly be said that this progress, especially in North America, has attained the degree reached on the continent of Europe. This increase of interest has manifested itself in numerous ways and under various forms.

First of all, it has shown itself in the wider recognition which the study of international law has been given in the curricula of the colleges and universities and in the increasing number of students who annually take it as a part of their college courses. A generation ago international law was taught only in a few of the larger universities, and, for the most part, the character of the in1See his book, "The International Mind," 1913, ch. 5: "The international mind is nothing else than that habit of thinking of foreign relations and business, and that habit of dealing with them, which regard the several nations of the civilized world as friendly and cooperating equals in aiding the progress of civilization, in developing commerce and industry, and in spreading enlightenment and culture throughout the world. It is as inconsistent with the international mind to attempt to steal some other nation's territory as it would be inconsistent with the principles of ordinary morality to attempt to steal some other individual's purse. Magnitude does not justify us in dispensing with morals."

struction was indifferent and the subject was taken by a comparatively small number of students. Chairs of international law were almost as rare as professorships of aeronautics are to-day. International law had hardly attained the dignity of a science, the literature of the subject was comparatively scant and unscientific, serviceable text books, collections of cases, digests, and other apparatus for the use of teachers and students were largely lacking. Scientific journals were nonexistent, at least in the English language, and popular interest in the subject was relatively small.

But happily this situation has lately undergone a remarkable change. A knowledge of international law has more and more come to be regarded as a part of the liberal education of college-trained men. An investigation made by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 19121 revealed the fact that 244 colleges, universities, and other higher educational institutions were offering courses on public or private international law, and that in a goodly number of such institutions it was a required subject for graduation. The number of hours devoted to the course ranged, with a few exceptions, from 36 to 120 per year, and the number of students taking it from 2 to 160. Altogether some 3,500 students were reported as taking courses in international law in the various educational institutions of the country during the academic year 1911-12.

Gratifying as this showing was, however, it disclosed the fact that there were still more than 300 universities, colleges, and other higher educational institutions in which no opportunities for the study of this fascinating and valuable subject were being offered. More regrettable still, it was found that of the 122 law schools of the United States, international law was being taught in only 64, and of these latter it was a required subject in but 28. In those in which the course was merely elective, the number of students actually taking it was comparatively small and in some instances-and this was most often the case in the larger university law schools--the number was an insignificant proportion of the total number registered. This may be explained to a slight extent by the fact that some law students had already taken international law in their undergraduate course, but the principal reason is to be found in the all too prevalent opinion among members of the bar in this country that a knowledge of international law is of no immediate value to the practitioner and therefore the time of the law student in college should be devoted to the study of subjects which bear more directly upon his profes sional course and a knowledge of which will be of more practical use to him at the bar. It may be doubted, however, whether this opinion is well founded. The truth is, the amount of litigation involving issues which turn upon questions of international law is already very considerable and is rapidly increas ing, so that a knowledge of international law is becoming more and more indispensable to the professional equipment of the general practitioner.

Prof. Wambaugh, of the Harvard University Law School, speaking before the American Society of International Law at its annual meeting in 1914, said: "I think the most astonishing discovery which we have been making is that so much of international law is the subject matter of litigation and can be

1" Report on the Teaching of International Law in the Educational Institutions of the United States," Washington, 1913.

2 Compare the remarks of Prof. John D. Lawson, dean of the University of Missouri Law School, in the Proceedings of the American Society of International Law, 1914, p. 279.

3 If evidence of the interrelationship of municipal and international law, and par ticularly the very remarkable extent to which municipal law is affected by internationa! law in time of war, is desired, it may be found in Baty and Morgan's treatise on “War. Its Conduct and Legal Results," London, 1915

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