frequently been put with regard to the proposal of a new League of Nations :-Can it really be expected that, in case of a great conflict of interests, all the members of the League will faithfully carry out their engagements? Will the new League stand the strain of such conflicts as shake the very existence of States and Nations? Will the League really stand the test of History? History teaches that many a State has entered into engagements with the intention of faithfully carrying them out, but, when a grave conflict arose, matters assumed a different aspect, with the consequence that the engagements remained unfulfilled. Will it be different in the future? Can the Powers which enter into the League of Nations trust to the security which it promises? Can they be prepared to disarm, although there is no guarantee that, when grave conflicts of vital interests arise, all the members of the League will faithfully stand by their engagements ? These are questions which it is difficult to answer because no one can look into the future. We can only say that, if really constitutional and democratic government all the world over makes international politics honest and reliable and excludes secret treaties, all the chances are that the members of the League will see that their true interests and their lasting welfare are intimately connected with the necessity of fulfilling the obligations to which they have submitted by their entrance into the League. The upheaval created by the present World War, the many millions of lives sacrificed, and the enormous economic losses suffered during these years of war, not only by the belligerents but also by all neutrals, will be remembered for many generations to come. It would therefore seem to be certain that, while the memory of these losses in lives and wealth lasts, all the members of the League will faithfully carry out the obligations connected with the membership of the League into which they enter for the purpose of avoiding such a disaster as, like a bolt from the blue, fell upon mankind by the outbreak of the present war. On the other hand, I will not deny that no one can guarantee the future; that conflicts may arise which will shake the foundations of the League of Nations; that the League may fall to pieces; and that a disaster like the present may again visit mankind. Our generation can only do its best for the future, and it must be left to succeeding generations to perpetuate the work initiated by us. INDEX ADMINISTRATION of Justice by defined, 23, 28, 35-36. Article 8 of the Hague Conven- Article 23(h) of the Hague BELGIUM, 37, 66. Bonfils on Article 23(h) of the Hague Regulations concerning Bordwell on Article 23(h) of the CENTRAL Powers, the, are they to become members of the Colonies, wars for the acquisition 81 GERMAN Confederation, civil war German Weissbuch on Article Germany, is she to become a INDEPENDENCE of States, what International Army and Navy, International Court of First proposed bench to serve as, 64. International Executive, impossible, 19, 41. why International Government, why International Law, a book law at present, 43; and League INDEX ing of the term, 41; possible LAW-MAKING treaties, what are ? 'La France vaut bien une messe, See International Council of Con- Militarism, conception of, 15; NATION, the, a product of his- torical development, 10, 14; 83 |