PROPERTY IN THE ALASKAN SEAL HERD. 61 



trustee of the surplus for the benefit of those iu other parts of the world 

 who need thein, and are willing to give in exchange for them the prod- 

 ucts of their own labor; and the truth of this couclusion and of the 

 views from which it is drawn will be found fully confirmed by a glance 

 at the approved usages of nations. It is the characteristic of a trust 

 that it is obligatory, and that in case of a refusal or neglect to perform 

 it, such performance may be compelled, or the trustee removed and a 

 more worthy custodian selected as the deposit ory of the trust. It is 

 an admitted principle of the law of nature that commerce is obligatory 

 upon all nations; that no nation is permitted to seclude itself from the 

 rest of mankind and interdict all commerce with foreign nations. 

 Temporary prohibition of commerce for special reasons of necessity are, 

 indeed, allowed; but they must not be made permanent. 1 



1 The instrumentality of commerce as a part of the scheme of nature in securing 

 to mankind in general the enjoyment of her various gifts, in whatsoever quarter of 

 the earth they may be found, has been pointed out by many writers upon the law of 

 nature and nations. A few citations will be sufficient, the views in which all con- 

 cur. It will appear from those which are heroin furnished — 



1. That man does not begin to desire the benefit of the gifts to be found in other 

 ands and in which he is entitled to share until he has made some advances towards 

 civilization, and, consequently, commerce may be said to be the offspring of civil- 

 ization. 



2. But it reacts upon and greatly stimulates the cause from which it springs, so 

 that civilization may also be said to be the fruit of commerce. 



3. In its relations to civilization it is like the division of labor and has some- 

 times been styled "the territorial division of labor." 



4. Doubtless there is a large discretion which each nation may justly exercise in 

 respect of the conditions under which it will engage in commerce with other na- 

 tions. But an absolute or unreasonable refusal is in clear violation of natural law. 

 It is a denial by the refusing nation of the fundamental truth that the bounties of 

 nature were bestowed upon mankind. 



From "Des Droits et des Devoirs des Nations Neutres en Temps de Guerre Mari- 

 time," par L. B. Hautefeuille. Paris, 1818. Vol. I, p. 256: 



"The Sovereign Master of nature did not confine himself to giving a particular 

 disposition to every man; he also diversified climates and the nature of soils To 

 each country, to each region, he assigned different fruits and special productions, 

 all or nearly all of which were susceptible of being used by man and of satisfying 

 his wants or his pleasures. Almost all regions doubtless produced what was indis- 

 pensable for the sustenance of their inhabitants, but not one produced all the fruits 

 that were necessary to meet all real needs, or more particularly all conventional 

 needs. It was, therefore, necessary to have recourse to other nations and to extend 

 commerce. Man, impelled by that instinct which leads him to seek perfection, 

 created new needs for himself as he made new discoveries. He accustomed himself 

 to the use of all the productions of the earth and of its industry. The cotton, 

 sugar, coffee, and tobacco of the New World have become articles of prime necessity 

 for the European, and an immense trade is carried on in them. The American, in 

 turn, can not dispense with the varied productions of European manufacture. The 

 development of commerce, that is to say, the satisfaction of man's instincts of 

 sociability and perfectibility, has greatly contributed to connecting all the nations 



