gone a long distance from the personal property tax, practically substituting a business-income tax for it.

Upon the question of the taxation of public-service corporations the drift of opinion of the conference seemed to be away from the valuation of such properties toward either a net or gross earnings tax. In the paper upon the "Work of Tax Commissions" it was expected that the reader would show what had been done in these directions by the various tax commissions, but reference was made alone to the laws of New York and the work of the tax commission of that state, and the conference did not have directly before it the results of the work done in some of the states by the new tax comissions. The warning against arbitrary assessments and despotism in the administration of tax laws as practiced in the United States was well in point. Professor Seligman's prophesy of the breakdown of the whole assessment system if some rule of action coupled with the fullest publicity was not adopted needed to be emphasized at a conference of men whose main view was upon revenue. The same line of thought was followed in its practical applications to the making of assessments by Professor Boyle and Mr. Purdy.

As the lessons of previous conferences are learned the tendency shown in the two earlier ones towards a limitation of subjects and a more detailed discussion of them will be more and more in evidence. The International Tax Association has given us two excellent volumes well edited, well arranged and attractively printed. The attendance and membership increases each year. At the Toronto conference railroad and corporation tax officers were present for the first time and they took part in the discussion with a resultant better understanding of the difficulties of the problem involved from the administrative and taxpayer's side.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA.

FRANK L. MCVEY.

Effects of War on Property. BY ALMA LATIFI. London, The Macmillan Company, 1909.-viii, 155 pp.

Besides two essays on the pros and contras of the immunity of private property of enemies at sea as seen from the point of view of British interests, the volume contains four essays on the law governing the following subjects: "Property of Enemies and Neutrals on Land”, "Effects of Conquest on Property ", "Property of Enemies and Neutrals at Sea" and "Exceptions to the Rule of Capture of Property at Sea."

Of the essays on the immunity of enemy property at sea, one is written by Professor Westlake, who undertakes to supplement the reasons advanced by Mr. Latifi against the proposal. Mr. Westlake urges that in passing judgment upon the arguments made in support of "this topsy-turvey policy" there is one fundamental principle underlying all warlike preparations by land or sea which must not be overlooked, viz., "that what is struck at primarily is not the enemy's property but the enemy's trade," and that in so far as an enemy on land can "prevent trade which might create resources" for his opponent, "he is not deterred from doing so by the knowledge that his measures cause damage to individuals." Mr. Latifi examines the various aspects of the proposal very exhaustively from the point of British policy, and concludes that to accept "the change would mark the sunset of England's greatness, and her fall from her high place amongst the nations of the earth."

In discussing the doctrine under which the rights and duties of the conqueror, holding temporary military occupation, should be considered, Mr. Latifi disagrees with Hall that the existing rules can best be looked at from the broad foundation of simple military necessity." He thinks the " many active duties of the invader, such as the re-establishment of public order and safety, the protection of the rights of of individuals, etc., . . imply a position of quasi-sovereignty." In doubting the sufficiency of "military necessity" as a guiding principle, the author apparently overlooks the logical restrictions which he thereby imposes upon himself as a Britisher who, seeking to discredit the propaganda of immunity of private property of enemies at sea, denounces the propriety of applying the rules for the protection of non-combatant property on land to the protection of non-combatant property at sea.

As regards debts coming due to the enemy of a conqueror, having temporary military occupation, in respect to the res within the occupied territory, Mr. Latifi disagrees with Westlake that the occupant ought not to collect, and considers that the principle by which a belligerent has a right to restrict the enrichment of his enemy affords a sound ground for the occupant "to prevent the inhabitants of territory occupied by him from adding to the resources of the enemy by making any payments to him." This seems correct. Whether Article 49 of The Hague rules, which permits in case of military necessity the levy of contributions in addition to the usual taxes, has the effect of denying the right of a wealthy invader to exact contributions while permitting a poor occupying power to levy them is answered by the author in the affirmative, on the ground that to deny the right of a poor nation" to make

war live on war" would be to "condemn countries like Montenegro to certain failure in a war against one of their neighbors."

As regards the levy of contributions by a naval force upon undefended localities, he sees no objection to it, if conducted within the general limitation of military necessity; he thereby escapes the charge of insularity made against Hall and other British writers who contend for the contrary rule. Mr. Latifi, at another point, shows a gratifyingly impartial mind in respect to British action when he characterizes the the seizure in 1807 by Denmark of the debts due British subjects "as a case, not of confiscation, but of retorsion, justified by the gravest provocation to an unoffending nation." He denies that either reason or recent practice justify the conclusion that an enemy has the right to seize as an ordinary measure of war the property within his territory belonging to the subjects of his opponent. Indeed, in no state to-day do such proprietary rights exist contingent upon the mere fact of war. As an act of retorsion for injury done, "war gives the right to confiscate, but does not of itself confiscate the property of an enemy."

Speaking of the liability of an annexing state to the inhabitants of the annexed territory for the requisitions and other forced obligations incurred by the ceding state in the prosecution of its war defence, the author dissents from the view of Westlake, and takes the seemingly sound ground that "the question of the validity of a debt incurred for carrying on the war ought to be referred, not to the consent or otherwise of the lender, but to the general principle whether the conqueror himself would have incurred this debt." The author omits altogether to discuss the points raised in the controversy between the United States and Spain as regards the assumption of the Cuban debts.

His failure to make use of the large body of precedents collected by Mr. Moore in his International Arbitrations and in his International Law Digest, and the omission, apparently, to examine at first hand the cases growing out of the Spanish-American and Russo-Japanese wars blemish an otherwise valuable series of studies on the effects of war on property. The lack of a table of the cases discussed and cited makes the book defective also as a law manual.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.

GEORGE WINFIELD SCOTT.

BOOK NOTES

American Problems in International Law (New York, Baker, Voorhis and Company, 1909; 102 pp.) by Alejandro Alvarez is a reprint of a paper which appeared in the proceedings of the American Society of International Law. The author, who is the solicitor of the state department of Chile, as a member of the Pan-American Scientific Congress, introduced a resolution which commended to the faculties of jurisprudence in the various American states the study of "American International Law." By substituting for his proposition the phrase "American problems in International Law," the Scientific Congress pointed out the error which permeates the present thesis of Senor Alvarez. He contends that "the contribution of Latin America to the development of International Law has been of vast proportions;" that there are 66 some precepts of International Law universally recognized by the states of Europe which, however, are not applicable to the American continents;" that there are "problems distinctively American" which have given and are giving "rise to distinctive American principles of International Law;" and that "in spite of the obvious existence of an 'American' International Law . . . it has not been studied nor even clearly stated by the publicists either of Europe or America." He says "American publicists, in treating any matter whatever of an international character, have simply followed the doctrines and diplomatic precedents of Europe," and he himself undertakes" to draw an outline classifying systematically . . . the principal matters included in our subject of 'American' International Law." It would seem that most of the topics mentioned in this outline either suggest political as opposed to legal matters or else merely suggest conditions to the solution of which the well settled principles of international law might and would be readily applied. The author takes the characteristic attitude of a Latin American on such questions as the equality of states, their responsibility to aliens for gross denial of justice, the ignoring of the failure of some states to carry out in practice the high standards of international conduct to which they have bound themselves in their solemnized treaties, and he considers that the hasty introduction of these high standards of international conduct into treaty stipulations is the mark by which progress is measured in international law. The work is well written, and certainly makes as much

of the impossible thesis as could well be made. It bears evidence of considerable research and is well worth reading.

Marcial H. Martinez de Ferrari's Los Resultados de la segunda conferencia de la Haya, año de 1907 (Santiago de Chile, Imprenta La Ilustración, 1909; 315 pp.) is in great part devoted to the discussion of two questions: What is to be the rôle of the Latin-American Republics, especially Chile, in future conferences, and what can these republics reasonably expect from participating in a European congress? In answering these questions the author dwells at length upon the theory of state equality and the failure of the more powerful states to support it in actual application. He concludes that the states of reduced territory and small population must play the rôle of spectators rather than that of participants in European conferences. The author believes that there is much hypocrisy in the attitude of states toward international arbitration, and emphasizes the futility of this method of settling international differences so long as the high contracting parties to arbitration conventions lack sincerity. The volume contains the various Hague conventions.

Mr. E. C. Stowell's Le Consul (Paris, A. Pedone, 1901; 353 pp.) is a study of the functions, immunities and organization of the consular service, largely from the point of view of the experience and practice of the United States. The author considers that the usual classification of functions is illogical from the point of view of theory, and suggests an arrangement based on the nationality of the person and on the subject matter or end involved. He believes that the field of consular activity should be widened, and that the power of the consul to protect his compatriots should be extended, particularly in foreign colonies. He believes that by increasing the powers of the consul material aid might be had in solving the problems of congested Jewish, Italian and Chinese settlements. Contrary to the present tendencies of development he advocates "an extension of the personal character of the law." The author would increase the immunities of the consul beyond that of being an agent of trade without representative character. The ceremonial rank of the consul should be advanced and there should be more frequent transfers from the consular to the diplomatic service. Discussing the organization of the service, the author reviews the various methods of recruitment, control and advancement, and favors the competitive system supplemented by a probationary period of appointment. The volume contains several appendices, the most important of which is a bibliography of the material relating to the consular service.

In La Escuela histórica del derecho (Madrid, Librería General de