the agreement to be concluded for the purpose. (Supplement to the American Journal of International Law, October, 1907, pp. 406-408.) NOTE. The Conference met in December, 1907, and concluded a number of Conventions for the establishment of a Central American Court of Justice, a Central American Bureau, a Pedagogical Institute, an Agricultural School, a School of Mines and Mechanics, and a School of Arts and Trades. They also contemplated various other activities. But it is difficult to say how much of these magnificent schemes has survived the wars and revolutions which have since devastated a large part of the territories referred to. PART III DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATING QUESTIONS CON- 1. Declaration concerning Pacific Blockade voted by the The establishment of a Pacific Blockade is not allowed by International Law except under the following conditions: 1. Ships under a foreign flag are allowed to enter freely. 2. The Blockade is declared and notified officially, and maintained by an adequate force. 3. Ships of the blockaded power which do not respect the Blockade may be sequestrated. At the termination of the Blockade they are to be restored with their cargoes to their owners, but without compensation. (Tableau Général de l'Institut de Droit International, p. 133.) 2. Declaration of War THE HAGUE CONVENTION OF 1907 WITH REGARD TO THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES Article 1 The Contracting Powers recognize that hostilities between them must not commence without a previous and explicit warning, in the form of either a declaration of war, giving reasons, or an ultimatum with a conditional declaration of war. Article 2 The existence of a state of war must be notified to the neutral Powers without delay, and shall not be held to affect them until after the receipt of a notification, which may, however, be given by telegraph. Nevertheless, neutral Powers may not rely on the absence of notification if it be established beyond doubt that they were in fact aware of the existence of a state of war. Article 3 Article 1 of the present Convention shall take effect in case of war between two or more of the Contracting Powers. Article 2 applies as between a belligerent Power which is a party to the Convention and neutral Powers which are also parties to the Convention. Article 4 The present Convention shall be ratified as soon as possible. The ratifications shall be deposited at the Hague. The first deposit of ratifications shall be recorded in a Protocol signed by the Representatives of the Powers which take part therein and by the Netherland Minister for Foreign affairs. The subsequent deposits of ratifications shall be made by means of a written notification, addressed to the Netherland Government and accompanied by the instrument of ratification. A duly certified copy of the Protocol relating to the first deposit of ratifications, of the notifications mentioned in the preceding paragraph, as well as of the instruments of ratification, shall be immediately sent by the Netherland Government, through the diplomatic channel, to the Powers invited to the Second Peace Conference, as well as to the other Powers which have acceded to the Convention. The said Government shall, in the cases contemplated in the preceding paragraph, inform them at the same time of the date on which it received the notification. Article 5 Non-signatory Powers may accede to the present Convention. A Power which desires to accede notifies its intention in writing to the Netherland Government, forwarding to it the act of accession, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government. The said Government shall immediately forward to all the other Powers a duly certified copy of the notification as well as of the act of accession, mentioning the date on which it received the notification. Article 6 The present Convention shall take effect, in the case of the Powers which were parties to the first deposit of ratifications, sixty days after the date of the Protocol recording such deposit, and, in the case of the Powers which shall ratify subsequently or which shall accede, sixty days after the notification of their ratification or of their accession has been received by the Netherland Government. Article 7 In the event of one of the High Contracting Parties wishing to denounce the present Convention, the denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Netherland Government, which shall immediately communicate a duly certified copy of the notification to all the other Powers, informing them of the date on which it was received. The denunciation shall only operate in respect of the denouncing Power, and only on the expiry of one year after the notification has reached the Netherland Government. Article 8 A register kept by the Netherland Ministry for Foreign affairs shall record the date of the deposit of ratifications effected in virtue of Article 4, paragraphs 3 and 4, as well as the date on which the notifications of accession (Article 5, paragraph 2) or of denunciation (Article 7, paragraph 1) have been received. Each Contracting Power is entitled to have access to this register and to be supplied with duly certified extracts from it. 3. The Hague Convention of 1907 concerning the Treatment of Certain Enemy Merchantmen at the Outbreak of Hostilities Article 1 When a merchant-ship belonging to one of the belligerent Powers is at the commencement of hostilities in an enemy port, it is desirable that it should be allowed to depart freely, either immediately, or after a reasonable number of days of grace, and to proceed, after being furnished with a pass, direct to its port of destination or any other port indicated to it. The same principles applies in the case of a ship which has left its last port of departure before the commencement of the war and has entered a port belonging to the enemy while still ignorant that hostilities had broken out. Article 2 A merchant-ship which, owing to circumstances beyond its control, may have been unable to leave the enemy port within the period contemplated in the preceding Article, or which was not allowed to leave, may not be confiscated. The belligerent may merely detain it, on condition of restoring it after the war, without payment of compensation, or he may requisition it on condition of paying compensation. Article 3 Enemy merchant-ships which left their last port of departure before the commencement of the war, and are encountered on the high seas while still ignorant of the outbreak of hostilities may not be confiscated. They are merely liable to be detained on condition that they are restored after the war without payment of compensation; or to be requisitioned, or even destroyed, on payment of compensation, but in such case provision must be made for the safety of the persons on board as well as the preservation of the ship's papers. After touching at a port in their own country or at a neutral port, such ships are subject to the laws and customs of naval war. Article 4 Enemy cargo on board the vessels referred to in Articles 1 and 2 is likewise liable to be detained and restored after the war without payment of compensation, or to be requisitioned on payment of compensation, with or without the ship. |