296 SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL LAW. 



the chief obstacle has been the requirement of unanimity. Acts 

 which seemed to be beneficent have been blocked because two or 

 three powers, or perhaps one power, refused to assent to them. 



In the third place, we have the administrative aspect of the 

 system. Is it possible to develop anything in the nature of an inter- 

 national administration ? We know that in certain matters, such as 

 that of the posts and the telegraph, marked progress has been made 

 in that direction. The great difficulty arises when we come to deal 

 with things of a contentious nature. We have heard a great deal of 

 '* international police." An examination of what has been said on 

 the subject must be admitted often to betray an exceedingly slight 

 comprehension of fundamental conditions. So far as the phrase 

 " international police " implies the use of force, it involves the most 

 serious of all problems with which the student of international 

 affairs and the statesman can be confronted. The use of force 

 effectively is a matter that readily assumes immense proportions ; 

 the use of force ineffectively may readily create a condition of 

 anarchy. 



Lastly, we are brought to the consideration of the question as to 

 whether and to what extent it is possible, by means of organization, 

 to secure the more effective development, interpretation and en- 

 forcement of international law. It is not a new question, but it is a 

 very serious and difficult one. Europe has been trying for hundreds 

 of years to find a solution of it, but has not yet succeeded. The 

 mere association of nations, as they now exist, in an alliance or 

 league, with a view to bring force to bear upon a recalcitrant nation 

 as readily as it can be applied to a recalcitrant individual in a muni- 

 cipality, would of itself afiford little assurance either of effectiveness 

 or of permanency. The difficulties are too complex to be solved by 

 any single agency. 



Columbia University, 

 April, 1916. 



