DEFENDER OF NEUTRAL RIGHTS. 263 



law, and it is only when this tendency is opposed by the definite and 

 concerted assertion of neutral rights that the international legal 

 structure is maintained. This situation makes the concerted asser- 

 tion of neutral rights in the present crisis a matter of vital im- 

 portance, in view of the manifest and natural tendency on the part 

 of all belligerents to make belligerent convenience the sole and final 

 test of legality. 



At no time since the Napoleonic struggle has such an opportunity 

 offered itself to the neutral countries of the civilized world. The 

 republics of the American continent should lose no time in reaching 

 a clear and definite agreement as to the rights which they are pre- 

 pared to maintain. So strong has become the influence of world 

 opinion on the action of individual states that such a concerted and 

 united action would have a far-reaching eft'ect in preserving the 

 rights sanctioned by law and usage and, after the close of this 

 conflict, in securing the recognition of new principles which, by 

 reason of their influence in narrowing the area of conflict, are cal- 

 culated to promote the broader interests of civilization. It would 

 have been a splendid example of continental solidarity, if at the 

 outbreak of the European war, the delegates of the republics of 

 America had assembled and remained in permanent session for the 

 maintenance of neutral rights, as well as to consider the scope and 

 limits of their neutral obligations. 



" What," it will be asked, " are the specific things for which such 

 a league of neutrals should strive?" 



It would involve too great an encroachment upon your time to 

 take up, with any degree of detail, the specific rights which should 

 be made the subject of concerted action. Such a discussion would, 

 in reality, involve a commentary on the entire law of neutrality. 

 The real point that I wish to make is that we should learn to think 

 and act " continentally " on these great basic questions which affect 

 so intimately the spirit of order and legality in international aft"airs. 

 It is undoubtedly true that the modern conditions of maritime war- 

 fare call for a modification of certain of the accepted principles of 

 international law, but if the extent and character of such modifica- 

 tions are to be determined exclusively by belligerent convenience. 



