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ing what the law ought to be, but for trustworthy evidence of what the law really is." 1

19. Diplomatic Papers

The diplomatic papers, as distinct from the state papers to which more than one state becomes a party, are simply papers issued by a state for the guidance of its own representatives in international intercourse. The papers are sometimes named state papers or included among the papers to which other states are parties,-in the United States, in the series known as "Diplomatic Correspondence, 1861-1868," and "Foreign Relations" since 1870; and in Great Britain in the "British and Foreign State Papers."

These papers, showing the opinions of various states from time to time upon certain subjects which may not come up for formal state action, afford a valuable source of information upon the attitude of states toward questions still formally unsettled. The simple expression to state agents in the way of instructions or information as to the position of the state on a given matter may, if continued and long accepted, give to the principle involved the force of international sanction. This was almost the case in the so-called Monroe Doctrine.2 In these papers may often be found an indication of the line which the principles of international law will subsequently follow, and a general consensus by several states in diplomatic instructions may be considered strong evidence of what the law is on a given point.

The Paquete Habana and the Lola, 175 U. S., 677.

2 In signing the Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, the representatives of the United States made the reservation that, "Nothing contained in this convention shall be so construed as to require the United States of America to depart from its traditional policy of not intruding upon, interfering with, or entangling itself in the political questions of policy or internal administration of any foreign state; nor shall anything contained in the said convention be construed to imply a relinquishment by the United States of America of its traditional attitude toward purely American questions."

PART TWO

PERSONS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

OUTLINE OF CHAPTER V

STATES

20. DEFINITION OF A STATE.

(a) Must be political unity.

(b) Must possess sovereignty.

21. CONDITIONS OF STATE EXISTENCE.

(a) Moral.

(b) Physical.

(c) Communal.

(d) External relationship.

22. RECOGNITION OF NEW STATES. (a) De facto existence of a state.

(b) Varying circumstances of recognition.

(1) By division.

(2) By union.

(3) By admission of old states.

(4) By admission of former barbarous communities.

(5) Individual and collective recognition.

(6) Example of an act of dissolution.

(c) Acts constituting recognition.

(d) Premature recognition.

(e) Certain political conditions requisite for recognition.

(f) Recognition irrevocable.

(g) Consequences of recognition.

(1) For the recognizing state.

(2) For the recognized state.

(3) For the parent state.
(4) For other states.

CHAPTER V

STATES

20. Definition of a State

A State is a sovereign political unity. It is of the relations of states that public international law mainly treats. From the nature of its subject-matter it is a juridical, historical, and philosophical science. These sovereign political unities may vary greatly. The unity, however,

Must be

(a) Must be political, i.e. organized for public ends as understood in the family of nations and not political and for private ends as in the case of a commercial company, a band of pirates, or a religious organization.

Sovereign.

(b) Must possess sovereignty, i.e. supreme political power beyond and above which there is no political power. It is not inconsistent with sovereignty, that a state should voluntarily take upon itself obligations to other states, even though the obligations be assumed under stress of war or fear of evil.

it

21. Conditions of State Existence

From the nature of the state as a sovereign political unity must be self-sufficient, and certain conditions are therefore generally recognized as necessary for its existence from the standpoint of international law.2

'Holtzendorff, "Introduction droit public," 44.
'Hall, p. 17; Í Rivier, § 3, 9, I.

Essential con

(a) A state must be to a degree moral. In order that a state may be regarded as within the "family of nations," and within the pale of international law, it must ditions: moral, recognize the rights of other states and acquiesce in its obligations toward them. This is considered a moral condition of state existence. (b) A state must also possess those physical resources which enable it to exist as territory, etc.

physical,

communal.

(c) A state must possess a body of men in such communal relationship as to warrant the belief in the continued existence of the unity. Each state may be its own judge as to the time when this relationship is established in a given body of men, and the recognition of the new state is fitting.

That such conditions are recognized as prerequisites of state existence from the point of view of international law is not due to the essential nature of the state, but rather to the course of development of international law; as Hall says: "The degree to which the doctrines of international law are based upon the possession of land must in the main be attributed to the association of rights of sovereignty or supreme control over human beings with that of territorial property in the minds of jurists at the period when the foundations of international law were being laid." 1

External relationship.

(d) The external relationship of the state rather than the internal nature is the subject of consideration in international law. For local law, a community may enter upon state existence long before this existence is recognized by other nations, as in the case of Switzerland before 1648. Until recognition by other states of its existence becomes general, a new state cannot acquire full status in international law; and this recognition is conditioned by the policy of the recognizing states.

1 Hall, p. 19.

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