WHAT LAW IS TO GOVERN THE DECISION? 3 



for the latter an always existing* law by which every controversy 

 may be determined. The only difference exhibited by the former is 

 that it has no regularly- constituted body of experts, called judges, 

 clothed with authority to declare the law. And this distinction is 

 wiped away in the case of the present controversy by the constitu- 

 tion of this tribunal. That there is an international law by which 

 every controversy between nations may be adjudged and determined 

 will scarcely be questioned anywhere; but here no such questioning 

 is allowable. The parties to the controversy are, to employ a word 

 familiar to them, estopped from raising it. They have voluntarily made 

 themselves parties to a judicial proceeding. For what purpose is it 

 that these nations have submitted rival claims to judicial decision if 

 there is no legal rule which governs them 1 ? Why is it that they have 

 provided for the selection of arbitrators preeminent for their knowl- 

 edge of law, except that they intended that the law should determine 

 tlieir rival claims'? Nay, what is the relevancy, or utility, of this very 

 argument in which we are engaged unless there is an agreed standard 

 of justice to which counsel can appeal and upon which they can hope 

 to convince? The undersigned conceive that it will not be disputed 

 that this arbitration was planned and must be conducted upon the as- 

 sumption that there is no place upon the earth, and no transaction 

 either of men or nations which is not subject to the dominion of law. 

 Nor can there be any substantial difference of opinion concerning 

 the sources to which we are to look for the international standard of 

 justice which the undersigned have referred to as but another name 

 for international law. Municipal and international law flow equally 

 from the same source. All law, whether it be that which governs the 

 conduct of nations, or of individuals, is but a part of the great domain 

 of ethics. It is founded, in each case, upon the nature of man and the 

 environment in which he is placed. The formal rules may indeed be 

 varied according to the differing conditions for which they are framed, 

 but the spirit and essence are everywhere and always the same. Says 

 Sir James Mackintosh: 



The science which teaches the rights and duties of men and of states 

 has in modern times been styled " the lawof nature and nations." Under 

 this comprehensive title are included the rules of morality, as they pre- 

 scribe the conduct of private men towards each other in all the various 

 relations of human life; as they regulate both the obedience of citizens 

 to the laws, and the authority of the magistrate in framing laws and ad- 

 ministering government; and as they modify the intercourse of inde- 

 pendent commonwealths in peace and prescribe limits to their hostility 



