306 SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNATIONAL LAW. 



wide because the consensus will be large, while attempts to reach 

 an agreement among many heterogeneous states will result in the 

 lessening of the range of possible legislation. This is strikingly evi- 

 dent in such an attempt as that in private international law, so- 

 called, where the proposition to unify the laws of marriage and 

 divorce has been made. An attempt which has not met with com- 

 plete success even among the reasonably homogeneous states of the 

 United States could hardly be successful among the nations. 



The representatives in power among the states of the world are 

 usually desirous of retaing the positions which they may for the 

 time be occupying. They therefore usually give heed to what seems 

 to be the will of the state. The state being a political entity seeks 

 what it regards as advantageous to itself. This was particularly 

 true when all foreigners were regarded as barbarians or as enemies, 

 and the idea still is very potent. Indeed there are few states even 

 now which would sacrifice themselves for the good of the world at 

 large, and their representatives are governed accordingly. While 

 the utility theory may have disappeared in some fields of thought, 

 it has not disappeared in international affairs. Bentham's influence 

 is not merely evident in the name internatinoal law, but also in many 

 of its foundations. 



If, then, international legislation must largely rest upon the recog- 

 nition of advantages to be gained or to be hoped for and if the in- 

 terests of states are in fact or supposedly antagonistic, this legisla- 

 tion will be limited in scope. On the other hand, in so far as states 

 can be shown that their interests are common and that action or re- 

 striction of action is of advantage to all, the scope of international 

 legislation will be extended. Presumably the well-being of a modern 

 state would be closely bound with the well-being of its citizens 

 whether this be embodied in the formula "life, liberty, and the pur- 

 suit of happiness " or in other words. 



Legislation usually refers not to the general idea of right and jus- 

 tice but to what is tnacted as in the idea of lex, hi Gesets. Accord- 

 ingly the legislative aspects of international law are somewhat strictly 

 limited. If then international legislation be considered merely as 

 that body of principles formulated by agreement among states, the 

 application of the above propositions is evident. 



