網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

PREFACE

The purpose of this book is to set forth the occasions when a state is justified in employing force or the menace of force to influence the conduct of another state. It is no part of this purpose to discuss the means or machinery which exists or may be organized to secure the enforcement of the correct principles, for this subject is a matter of international procedure to which a succeeding volume will be devoted. No subject in the whole range of man's relations merits a more careful consideration than does the question of the justice of international intervention. Unless the law is understood, statesmen cannot rightly guide the nations. But the decision as to the justice of the grounds of intervention or non-intervention in any particular instance must in a democracy be determined by the prevailing opinion of its citizens. Each citizen, therefore, bears his part of this supreme responsibility.

In entering upon an examination of the law and practice of intervention, it is of particular importance to remember that International Law is discovered in the general practice of all the states.

It will be found that the rule of conduct which general practice recognizes as correct does not justify a selfish insistence upon the right of each state to act absolutely independently even within its own domain, nor does it authorize any state lightly to interfere with the independence of a neighbor. The law of intervention lies between the extremes of absolute independence on the one hand and unregulated interference on the other. I have tried to trace the line of

this happy mean in the light of the precedents drawn from actual practice.

This investigation has resulted in the formulation for the first time-as far as I am aware-of a rule of transcending practical importance for the preservation of a just peace among nations, namely: That no state shall unreasonably insist upon its rights or pursue its interests to the detriment of the opposing rights and interests of other states. The refusal to evince a spirit of considerate compromise or adjustment upon the basis of the relative importance of the conflicting rights and interests is a violation of international law, which justifies an appeal to intervention.

Viewed in their proper perspective of subordination to this general rule, all the other just grounds of intervention can be discovered and defined so that all states of good will may give heed to the law and coöperate to check the transgressions of the evil-doer.

Intervention in the relations between states is, it will be seen, the rightful use of force or the reliance thereon to constrain obedience to international law.

Washington, October 11, 1921.

E. C. S.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]
« 上一頁繼續 »