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Professor George Grafton Wilson, chairman of Subcommittee No. 3, presented a report on certain problems of maritime warfare, in which the subcommittee recommended the abolition of the distinction between absolute and conditional contraband of war and that "the doctrine of continuous voyage should not be extended beyond the principle: 'That the ultimate destination of a neutral vessel or cargo determines the liability of either to condemnation, but cargo otherwise innocent may become liable to condemnation if destined to aid the belligerent"".

Acting on behalf of Subcommittee No. 4, the chairman of which was unavoidably absent, Professor Jesse S. Reeves made an oral report on the subject of "Offenses which may be characterized as international crimes and procedure for their prevention", in which he outlined the difficulty as to the conception of an international crime, drawing a distinction between offenses recognized by international usage as "international" largely because of their universality, such as the slave trade, which are punished as crimes in accordance with municipal legislation, and international crimes in the strict sense involving the acts of persons in international law. He said that the subcommittee after full discussion came to the conclusion that not until the adoption of the Declaration of Washington relating to the acts of submarines had there been strictly speaking an international crime, having due regard to the word "international" and to the concept of crime. The provisions of this treaty, he said, introduced a new conception which points the way for an altogether different method of handling offenses which are international in the strict sense of the word. Other phases of the subject, such as other types of offenses which might be similarly designated with penalties, the international criminal liability of nationals of non-signatory Powers, and the nature of the court having jurisdiction over such offenses, the subcommittee, he reported, did not have time to consider.

Action upon the reports of the subcommittees was taken at the session on Saturday morning, April 29. After considerable discussion of the desirability of acting upon the recommendations, it was finally decided, in view of the limited time which the subcommittees had available for the preparation of the reports and which was available for discussion by the Society, to refer all of the reports with the recommendations to the Committee on Organization of Work for coördination, printing and distribution with a view to action at the next meeting on the Society.

In connection with the action upon these reports, there was a spirited debate as to whether the Society should confine its present work to consideration of the laws of war, as the result of which the following resolution was adopted:

Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that the Committee for the Advancement of International Law consider whether it is not within the purview of their plans to present to this Society at some forthcoming meeting the consideration of the feasibility of some international organization as a means of conducting the international relations of states.

After the adoption of the above resolution, it was further moved that all the members of the Society should be invited to present the topics which they consider fall within the purview of the work of the Committee for the Advancement of International Law and of the Society. Any members having such suggestions may send them to the Secretary, who will be glad to see that they are sent to the proper committee.

At the business session of the Society, which immediately followed, the amendment to the first two paragraphs of Article IV of the Constitution of the Society, printed in the last number of the Journal (April, 1922, p. 275), to provide an interval between the successive periods of service of members elected to the Executive Council, was adopted in the following form:

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The officers of the Society shall consist of a President, an Honorary President, nine or more Vice-Presidents, the number to be fixed from time to time by the Executive Council, a Recording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected annually, and of an Executive Council composed of the [President, the VicePresidents] foregoing officers, ex officio, and twenty-four elected members, whose terms of office shall be three years, except that of those elected at the first election, eight shall serve for the period of one year only and eight for the period of two years, and that any one elected to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term of the member in whose place he is chosen. No elected member of the Executive Council shall be eligible for reelection until the next annual meeting after that at which his term of office expires.

The Recording Secretary, the Corresponding Secretary and the Treasurer shall be elected by the Executive Council [from among its members]. The other officers of the Society shall be elected by the Society, except as hereinafter provided for the filling of vacancies occurring between elections.

The election of officers then ensued and the following were duly elected: Honorary President

The Honorable WARREN G. HARDING

President of the United States.

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Pursuant to the amendment to the Constitution just adopted, the members of the Executive Council above named were all new men who had never served upon the Council. The Honorary President, the President and all of the Vice-Presidents were reelected, with the addition of the Honorable Chandler P. Anderson, the Honorable John Bassett Moore and Professor George Grafton Wilson to fill the vacancies caused by the deaths of the Honorable P. C. Knox, Honorable Horace Porter, and Chief Justice White.

Resolutions regarding the three deceased Vice-Presidents were unanimously adopted and spread upon the minutes, as was likewise a resolution relating to the late Lord Bryce.

At the meeting of the Executive Council which took place upon the adjournment of the Society, the following committees and officers were elected:

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HON. OSCAR S. STRAUS, Chairman

MR. CHARLES CHENEY HYDE, Treasurer

MR. JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Recording Secretary

MR. CHARLES HENRY BUTLER, Corresponding Secretary

EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Editor-in-Chief

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COMMITTEES

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; PHILIP MARSHALL BROWN, CHARLES CHENEY HYDE, JOHN H. LATANÉ, JESSE S. REEVES, WILLIAM C. DENNIS.

Auditing Committee: JACKSON H. RALSTON, CHARLES RAY DEAN.

Committee on Annual Meeting: JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Chairman; PHILIP M. BROWN, WILLIAM C. DENNIS, CHARLES G. FENWICK, GEORGE A. FINCH, ROBERT LANSING, JOHN H. LATANÉ, BRECKINRIDGE LONG, LESTER H. WOOLSEY.

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.

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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.

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1 Appointed by Chairman Scott by authority of the Executive Council.

SUBCOMMITTEE No. 3

To endeavor to reconcile divergent views and secure general agreement upon the rules which have been in dispute heretofore.

GEORGE GRAFTON WILSON, Chairman

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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.

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The only notable change in the list of officers was the resignation of the Honorable Chandler P. Anderson, Treasurer of the Society since its organization. The following remarks and motion, the latter of which was unanimously adopted, shows the appreciation felt by the Society for Mr. Anderson's services:

Mr. CHARLES HENRY BUTLER. This meeting marks an epoch in the annals of the Society. For fifteen years the financial affairs of the Society have been in the hands of the same man, who accepted the responsibilities years ago as a favor to the Society, and has continued to perform the duties of Treasurer ever since. We all know that it has not been, by any means, a sinecure and that he has devoted a large part of his time and a great deal of his strength and mentality to the affairs of this Society, and no Society has ever had a more devoted and self-sacrificing official than this Society has had in Mr. Anderson. I, therefore, move that we tender him our sincere thanks, and an expression of appreciation of what he has done, and our regret that it is necessary that we lose his valuable services.

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