64 ARGUMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



is a crime. And the wrong is not limited by the boundaries of nations, 

 but is inflicted upon those to whom the blessing would be useful wher- 

 ever they may dwell. And those to whom the wrong is done have the 

 right to redress it. 



Let the case of the article of India rubber be again taken for an illus- 

 tration, and let it be supposed that the nation which held the fields from 

 which the world obtained its chief supply should destroy its plantations 

 and refuse to continue the cultivation, can it be doubted that other 

 nations would, by the law of nature, be justified in taking possession by 

 force of the territory of the recreant power and establishing over it a 

 governmental authority which would assure a continuance of the culti- 

 vation % And what would this be but a removal of the unfaithful trus- 

 tee, and the appointment of one who would perform the trust? 1 



is the exchange of commodities, or natural or artificial production. The territory 

 of one State very rarely produces all that is requisite for the supply of the wauts, 

 for the use and enjoyment of its inhabitants. To a certain extent one state gener- 

 ally abounds in what others want. A mutual exchange of superfluous commodities 

 is thus reciprocally advantageous for both nations. And, as it is a moral duty in 

 individuals to promote the welfare of their neighbor, it appears to he also the moral 

 duty of a nation not to refuse commerce with other nations when that commerce is 

 not hurtful to itself." 



From Kent (Commentaries on American Law. (The Law of Nations, part 1.) 

 Ed. 18G6. Ch. II., p. 117). 



"As the aim of international law is the happiness and perfection of the general 

 societv of mankind, it enjoins upon every nation the punctual observance of benev- 

 olence and good will, as well as of justice toward its neighbors. This is equally 

 the policy and the duty of nations. They ought to cultivate a free intercourse for 

 commercial purposes, in order to supply each other's wants and promote each other's 

 prosperity. The variety of climates and productions on the surface of the globe, 

 and the facility of communication by means of rivers, lakes, and the ocean, invite to 

 a liberal commerce, as agreeable to the law of nature, and extremely conducive to 

 national amity, industry, and happiness. The numerous wants of civilized life can 

 only be supplied by mutual exchange between nations of the peculiar productions 

 of each." 



■Cases in which nations have supposed themselves justified in interfering with the 

 territory and affairs of other nations have frequently occurred. The war celebrated 

 in Grecian history as the first Sacred War was an early and illustrative instance 

 growing out of the religious sentiment. The temple of Apollo at Delphi was the prin- 

 cipal shrine in the religion of Greece. It was within the territory of the state of Krissa, 

 whose people had desecrated by cultivation the surroundings of the spot where it was 

 situated, and by levying tolls and other exactions had obstructed the pilgrimages 

 which the votaries of the god were wont to make. A large part of Greece arose to 

 punish this violation of the common right, and in a war of ten years' duration de- 

 stroyed the town of Krissa, and consecrated the plain around the temple to the 

 service of the god by decreeing that it should forever remain unfilled and implanted. 

 (Grote, History of Greece, Loud., 1817, vol. IV, p. 84.) China has furnished one of 

 the few instances in modern times of unwillingness to engage in foreign commerce, 

 This was not the avowed but was probably one of the real causes of the war waged 

 against that nation by Great Britain in 1840. 



