As showing the real attitude of Congress towards the inhabitants of Porto Rico in respect to these matters, reference will be made to the Bill of Rights inserted in the recent Organic Act adopted for the Island, in which it is expressly provided:

That no law shall be enacted in Porto Rico which shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or deny to any person therein the equal protection of the laws.

That in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to have the assistance of counsel for his defense, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to have a copy thereof, to have a speedy and public trial, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, and to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.

That no person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law; and no person for the same offense shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.

That all persons shall before conviction be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses when the proof is evident or the presumption great.

That no law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be enacted. That no persons shall be imprisoned for debt.

That the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in case of rebellion, insurrection, or invasion, the public safety may require it, in either of which events the same may be suspended by the President, or by the Governor, whenever during such period the necessity for such suspension shall exist.

That no ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted. Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use except upon payment of just compensation ascertained in the manner provided by law.

Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to limit the power of the legislature to enact laws for the protection of the lives, health or safety of employees.

That no law granting a title of nobility shall be enacted, and no person holding any office of profit or trust under the Government of Porto Rico shall, without the consent of the Congress of the United States, accept any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind. whatever from any king, queen, prince, or foreign state, or any officer thereof.

That excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

That the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.

That no warrant for arrest or search shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

That slavery shall not exist in Porto Rico.

That involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall not exist in Porto Rico.

That no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for redress of grievances.

That no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed, and that no political or religious test other than an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Porto Rico shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the Government of Porto Rico.

That no public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution or association, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignatary as such, or for charitable, industrial, educational, or benevolent purposes to any person, corporation, or community not under the absolute control of Porto Rico. Contracting of polygamous or plural marriages hereafter is prohibited.

That no money shall be paid out of the treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation by law, and on warrant drawn by the proper officer in pursuance thereof.

That the rule of taxation in Porto Rico shall be uniform.

That all money derived from any tax levied or assessed for a special purpose shall be treated as a special fund in the treasury and paid out for such purpose only, except upon the approval of the President of the United States.

That eight hours shall constitute a day's work in all cases of employment of laborers and mechanics by and on behalf of the Government of the Island on public works, except in cases of emergency.

That the employment of children under the age of fourteen years. in any occupation injurious to health or morals or hazardous to life or limb is hereby prohibited.

PEDRO CAPO-RODRÍGUEZ.

OWING to the great length of the Treaty of Peace with Germany signed at Versailles on June 28th, the English text of which we are printing in the Supplement to the present number of the JOURNAL, it has been necessary to reduce the normal size of the JOURNAL itself. This has been done by reducing the amount of printed matter in all of the departments of the JOURNAL and omitting three departments, the contents of which may be carried over to the next number without impairing its value to the readers of the JOURNAL, namely, the Chronicle of International Events, the list of Public Documents Relating to International Law, and the list of Periodical Literature of International Law. The period covered by these three departments in the October number will take in the events, documents and literature since the April number was issued.

It is expected to print in the October number the supplemental agreements which were coincident with the signature of the principal treaty with Germany. This will bring together in the bound volume of the Supplement the leading documents relating to the peace settlement with Germany.

THE RATIFICATION OF TREATIES WITH RESERVATIONS

Treaties are ratified, in the technical sense, between governments by the exchange or deposit of an act of ratification which is an official document setting out in full the treaty in the final form approved by the treaty-making power of the contracting parties.

In the case of two-party treaties the authorized representative of each party delivers a document or act of this character to the other, and this exchange constitutes the ratification; and the acceptance by cach of the others act of ratification evidences their agreement upon any reservations or changes, the acceptance of which has been made a condition of ratification.

In the case of multi-party treaties where the exchange of an act of ratification by each party with each of the other parties would be an inconvenient or cumbersome proceeding, a different mode of procedure is adopted. The usual method of recording the ratification of multi-party treaties is for the representatives of the signatories to meet and sign a procès verbal of ratification, reciting therein that the acts of ratification of the several parties have been examined and found to be in proper form, and have been duly deposited, etc. In this way any reservations made by any of the parties are brought to the attention of all the others, and the treaty is ratified by them, subject to and with notice of such reservations.

It is customary to notify other governments in advance of reservations to be inserted in the act of ratification and to ascertain whether or not they will be acceptable.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Constitution of the United States of America, reservations by other Governments, which are to bind the United States, must be submitted to the Senate of the United States for its advice and consent, inasmuch as such reservations will form part of the treaty and must be passed upon by the treaty-making power of the United States, which comprises both the President and the Senate, each having a veto power over the other.

This procedure was followed in the case of the African Slave Trade Convention of 1890. A reservation was made by the French Government in its ratification of this convention, and the Senate of the United States in authorizing the ratification by the United States expressly recited in its resolution of ratification its acceptance of the partial ratification of the French Government.

In many treaties to which the United States is a party, important reservations or modifications, not made by the United States delegates prior to signing, have been incorporated in the treaty by the act of ratification as conditions of ratification required by the Senate. For instance, the 1907 Hague Convention II concerning the Limitation of the Employment of Force for Recovering Contractual Debts was signed by the United States delegates without reservation, but the resolution of ratification of the United States Senate (April 17, 1908) contained the following reservation:

Resolved further, as a part of this act of ratification, that the United States approves this convention with the understanding that recourse to the permanent court for the settlement of the differences referred to in said convention can be

had only by agreement thereto through general or special treaties of arbitration heretofore or hereafter concluded between the parties in dispute.

On November 27, 1909, a representative of the United States filed with the Netherlands Government the act of ratification of the United States containing the above reservation, and the representatives of Austria-Hungary, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia and the United States signed a procès verbal setting forth that they had assembled to deposit the acts of ratification of their respective Governments to this convention, and that these having been presented and found in good and proper form, were confided to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands to be deposited in the Royal Archives, and that a certified copy of the procès verbal would be transmitted to all the Powers participating in the Second Hague Conference and to those adhering to this convention. It does not appear that any further formalities were required to show the acceptance by the other Powers of these reservations.

So also in the Hague Convention of 1907 for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, the United States Senate in its resolution of ratification of April 2, 1908, required as a condition of ratification that the following reservation be included in the treaty in addition to a reservation made by the American delegates at the time of signing the treaty:

Resolved further, as a part of this act of ratification, That the United States approves this convention with the understanding that recourse to the permanent court for the settlement of differences can be had only by agreement thereto through general or special treaties of arbitration heretofore or hereafter concluded between the parties in dispute; and the United States now exercises the option contained in article fifty-three of said convention, to exclude the formulation of the "compromis" by the permanent court, and hereby excludes from the competence of the permanent court the power to frame the "compromis" required by general or special treaties of arbitration concluded or hereafter to be concluded by the United States, and further expressly declares that the "compromis" required by any treaty of arbitration to which the United States may be a party shall be settled only by agreement between the contracting parties, unless such treaty shall expressly provide otherwise.

Another example of the exercise of this authority by the United States Senate is found in the Hague Convention of 1907 concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War, which was not signed by the United States, and the Senate resolution advising