ent of international law is likely either
to overrate the authority which it most beneficially exercises, or to
conceive of it as an unalterable body of theory.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. E. HOLLAND.
Brighton, April 21 (1898).

OUR MERCANTILE MARINE IN WAR

Sir,--Let me assure Sir George Baden-Powell that if, as he seems to
think, I have been unsuccessful in grasping the meaning of his very
interesting letters, it has not been from neglect to study them with the
attention which is due to anything which he may write. How privateering,
previously innocent, can have become piratical, _i.e._ an offence,
everywhere justiciable, against the Law of Nations, if the Declaration
of Paris was not in the nature of a piece of legislation, I confess
myself unable to understand; but have no wish to repeat the remarks
which you have already allowed me to make upon the subject.

I shall, however, be glad at once to remove the impression suggested by
Sir George's letter of this morning, that Art. 7 of the Spanish Decree
of April 24 has any bearing upon the legitimacy of privateering
generally. The article in question (following, by the by, the very
questionable precedent of a notification issued by Admiral Baudin,
during the war between France and Mexico in 1889) merely threatens with
punishment neutrals who may accept letters of marque from a belligerent
Government.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. E. HOLLAND.
Oxford, April 27 (1898).

THE DECLARATION OF PARIS

Sir,--There is really no question at issue between your two
correspondents Mr. Gibson Bowles and "Anglo-Saxon" as to the attitude of
the United States towards the Declaration of Paris.

Mr. Bowles rightly maintains that the United States has not acceded to
the Declaration as a whole, or to its second article, which exempts from
capture enemy property in neutral ships. He means, of course, that
neither the whole nor any part of that Declaration has been ratified by
the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The whole
contains, indeed, an article on privateering, to which, as it stands,
the United States have always objected, and no part of the Declaration
can be accepted separately.

"Anglo-Saxon," on the other hand, is equally justified in asserting that
the "officially-recorded policy" of the States, _i.e._ of the Executive,
is in accordance with Art. 2 of the Declaration. This policy has been
consistently followed for more than ha