114 FINAL ACT OF SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS. 



Three days later the Institute adopted a Declaration of the Rights and 

 Duties of Nations, based upon the political philosophy of the Declaration 

 of Independence of the United States, and the practice of the American 

 Republics. Inasmuch as the Institute was formally welcomed by the 

 President of the Congress, held its sessions in connection with and under 

 the auspices of the Congress, and that the members of the Institute were 

 likewise delegates to the Congress and participated in its labors, it is 

 advisable to include the text of the Declaration accompanied by a 

 resume of the elaborate commentary which explains it. The text of the 

 Declaration therefore follows : 



Whereas, the municipal law of civilized nations recognizes and protects 

 the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to the pursuit of happiness, 

 as added by the Declaration of Independence of the United States of 

 America, the right to legal equality, the right to property, and the right 

 to the enjoyment of the aforesaid rights; and 



Whereas, these fundamental rights, thus universally recognized, create a 

 duty on the part of the peoples of all nations to observe them ; and 



Whereas, according to the political philosophy of the Declaration of 

 Independence of the United States, and the universal practice of the 

 American Republics, nations or governments are regarded as created 

 by the people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, 

 and are instituted among men to promote their safety and happiness 

 and to secure to the people the enjoyment of their fundamental rights; 

 and 



Whereas, the rights and duties of nations are, by virtue of membership in 

 the society of nations, exercised and performed conformably to the 

 requirements of the solidarity uniting the members of the society of 

 civilized nations, recognized by the First Hague Peace Conference in 

 1899, and reaffirmed by the second Hague Peace Conference in 1907; and 



Whereas, the Nation is a moral or juristic person, the creature of law, 

 and subordinated to law as is the natural person in political society; and 



Whereas, we deem that these fundamental rights can be stated in terms 

 of international law and applied to the relations of the members of the 

 society of nations, one with another, just as they have been applied in 

 the relations of the citizens or subjects of the states forming the Society 

 of Nations; and 



Whereas, these fundamental rights of national jurisprudence, namely, the 

 right to life, the right to liberty, the right to the pursuit of happiness, the 

 right to equality before the law, the right to property, and the right to the 

 observance thereof are, when stated in terms of international law, the 

 right of the nation to exist and to protect and to conserve its existence ; 

 the right of independence and the freedom to develop itself without 

 interference or control from other nations; the right of equality in law 

 and before law; the right to territory within defined boundaries and to 

 exclusive jurisdiction therein; and the right to the observance of these 

 fundamental rights; and 



