all counts and executed in the arsenal grounds at Washington on November 10, 1865.

In the course of his argument in the Wirz case, the Judge Advocate called attention to a case in Scotland where an officer was convicted of murder in a Scotch court for killing a French prisoner of war, under the following circumstances:

Ensign Maxwell was tried in 1807, before the High Court of Justiciary of Scotland, for the murder of Charles Cottier, a French prisoner of war, at Greenlow, by improperly ordering John Low, a sentinel, to fire into a room where Cottier and other prisoners were confined, and so causing him to be mortally wounded. Maxwell was in charge of three hundred prisoners of war; the building in which they were confined was of no great strength and afforded some possibility of escape; to prevent which, the prisoners being turbulent, an order was given that all lights were to be put out at 9 o'clock; if not done at the second call, the guard would fire upon the prisoners, due notice having been given them. On the night in question there was a tumult in prison. Maxwell's attention being drawn to it, he observed a light burning beyond the appointed hour and twice ordered it to be put out; this order not being obeyed, he directed the sentry to fire, which he did, Cottier receiving a mortal wound. Maxwell was found guilty, with recommendation to mercy, and was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment." (Scott's Dictionary, p. 267.)

Military men naturally seek to protect themselves as much as possible from any personal consequences of their acts; hence these sweeping amnesties for whatever is committed under orders in the present codes of military law. It is submitted that this is a subject which ought to receive careful consideration by any conference, private or governmental, which undertakes to deal with the restatement of the laws of war. The unqualified acceptance of the principle that a subordinate is not responsible for what he does under orders of his superiors will make it practically impossible to enforce proper penalties for violations of the laws of war designed to humanize, if such be possible, that grim recourse.

GEORGE A. FINCH.

CURRENT NOTES

THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY

Pursuant to the announcement printed in the January number of the JOURNAL, and to the program subsequently sent to the members, the Society held its first meeting since 1917 at Washington, on April 27-30, last. The meetings were well attended and the attendance was in fact so large that it overtaxed the accommodations which the committee had provided.

The general topic, "The Advancement of International Law," was considered in its fundamental aspects by the Honorable Elihu Root, President of the Society, in his presidential address delivered on opening the meeting on Wednesday evening, April 27. The address was not only well received, but has been pronounced by many who heard it as Mr. Root's greatest utterance on the subject of international law and relations. The address was extensively printed in the press of the country.

The Honorable Manoel de Oliveira Lima, former Minister of Brazil to Japan, Sweden, Belgium and Venezuela, also spoke on the same evening upon the subject of "The Reconstruction of International Law." His remarks were very interesting as giving the Latin-American point of view.

The topic was taken up more in detail the following day. On the morning of Thursday, April 28th, Mr. James Brown Scott spoke upon the "Advancement of International Law essential to an International Court of Justice."

The main consideration of the topic in detail was assigned to four subcommittees appointed in advance to submit reports to the Society. The subjects assigned to the subcommittees were as follows:

Subcommittee No. 1: To restate the established rules of international law, especially, and in the first instance, in the fields affected by the events of the recent war.

Subcommittee No. 2: To formulate and agree upon the amendments and additions, if any, to the rules of international law shown to be necessary or useful by the events of the war and the changes in the conditions of international life and intercourse which have followed the war.

Subcommittee No. 3: To endeavor to reconcile divergent views and secure general agreement upon the rules which have been in dispute heretofore.

Subcommittee No. 4: To consider the subjects not now adequately regulated by international law, but as to which the interests of international justice require that rules of law shall be declared and accepted.

A special subject to illustrate the work of each subcommittee was

assigned to particular speakers. Following Dr. Scott's address on Thursday morning, Mr. Lester H. Woolsey, former Solicitor for the Department of State, read a paper on the "Munitions Trade" as illustrative of the work of Subcommittee No. 1. Mr. Charles Cheney Hyde, Professor of International Law in Northwestern University, read a paper on "Conditional Contraband" as illustrative of the work of Subcommittee No. 2, and Mr. George Grafton Wilson, Professor of International Law in Harvard University, read a paper on "Continuous Voyage" as illustrative of the work of Subcommittee No. 3. Papers illustrative of the work of Subcommittee No. 4 were read at the evening session of Thursday, the 28th, as follows: "International Criminal Jurisdiction," by Mr. Jesse S. Reeves, Professor of Political Science in the University of Michigan; "The Status of International Cables in War and Peace," by Mr. Elihu Root, Jr., of the New York Bar; "The International Regulation of Aërial Navigation," by Mr. Arthur K. Kuhn, of the New York Bar.

The Committee for the Advancement of International Law held a general meeting on the morning of Friday, April 29th, to coordinate the work of the subcommittees. The subcommittees met during the afternoon of the same day and completed their reports, which were submitted to the Society at its general meeting on the evening of the 29th. The reports were submitted by the following Chairmen : Mr. Charles Noble Gregory, Subcommittee No. 1; Dr. Harry Pratt Judson, Subcommittee No. 2; Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, Subcommittee No. 3; Professor Paul S. Reinsch, Subcommittee No. 4.

At the closing session of the Society on Saturday morning, April 30th, the reports were received and the Committee for the Advancement of International Law continued with instructions to submit further reports to the Society at its next meeting.

The Executive Council held two sessions during the meeting, the first on the afternoon of Thursday, April 28th, and the second on the morning of Saturday, April 30th, after the adjournment of the Society. In addition to the performance of its routine work, it adopted a recommendation, which was presented to the Society on the morning of April 30th, that the constitution of the Society be amended so as to provide that hereafter members of the Council shall not be eligible for reëlection until after the lapse of one year from the expiration of their terms of office. This amendment will be submitted to and acted upon by the Society at its next annual meeting.

At the business meeting of the Society held on Saturday, April 30th, the amendment to the constitution proposed by the Council on November 13, 1920, relating to the charge for the Society's publications, was adopted. This amendment was set forth and explained in the January, 1921, number of the JOURNAL, page 76.

The members of the Society in attendance upon the meeting were

received at the White House by President Harding at 2.30 o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, April 29th.

The meeting closed with a banquet at the Shoreham Hotel on Saturday evening, April 30th. Mr. Root presided as toastmaster, and the speakers were Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University in the City of New York, and the Honorable Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State of the United States. His Serene Highness, the Prince of Monaco, had accepted an invitation to be a guest at the banquet, but was prevented by illness from attending.

All of the papers, discussions and reports will be printed as usual in the volume of annual proceedings and sent to all members who subscribe. The subscription price is fixed by the Executive Council at $1.50.

The following officers and committees were elected for the ensuing year:

Standing Committee on Selection of Honorary Members: GEORGE G. WILSON, Chairman; JACKSON H. RALSTON, THEODORE S. WOOLSEY.

Standing Committee on Increase of Membership: OSCAR S. STRAUS, Chairman; CHARLES CHENEY HYDE, JOHN H. LATANÉ, JESSE S. REEVES, WILLIAM C. DENNIS. Auditing Committee: CHARLES CHENEY HYDE, CHARLES RAY DEAN.

Committee on Annual Meeting: JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Chairman; PHILIP M. BROWN, WILLIAM C. DENNIS, CHARLES NOBLE GREGORY, CHARLES CHENEY HYDE, ROBERT LANSING, BRECKINRIDGE Long, JACKSON H. Ralston.

Committee for the Advancement of International Law: ELIHU ROOT, Chairman; JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Secretary; GEORGE A. FINCH, Assistant Secretary.

Subcommittee No. 1: To restate the established rules of international law, especially, and in the first instance, in the fields affected by the events of the recent war. Charles Noble Gregory, Chairman; Edwin D. Dickinson, Charles B. Elliott, Amos S. Hershey, David J. Hill, George A. King, Harry Shepard Knapp, Robert Lansing, John D. Lawson, Harold S. Quigley, Gordon E. Sherman.

Subcommittee No. 2: To formulate and agree upon the amendments and additions, if any, to the rules of international law shown to be necessary or useful by the events of the war and the changes in the conditions of international life and intercourse which have followed the war.

Harry Pratt Judson, Chairman; Edwin M. Borchard, Sterling E. Edmunds, William I. Hull, Howard Thayer Kingsbury, Arthur K. Kuhn, John H. Latané, Raleigh C. Minor, Charles H. Stockton, James L. Tryon, Quincy Wright.

Subcommittee No. 3: To endeavor to reconcile divergent views and secure general agreement upon the rules which have been in dispute heretofore.