International Incidents for Discussion in Conversation Classes — Inside the Classic

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INTERNATIONAL INCIDENTS

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS London: FETTER LANE, E.C. C. F. CLAY, MANAGER

_Edinburgh_: 100, PRINCES STREET _London_: STEVENS AND SONS, LTD., 119 AND 120, CHANCERY LANE _Berlin_: A. ASHER AND CO. _Leipzig_: F. A. BROCKHAUS _New York_: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS _Bombay and Calcutta_: MACMILLAN AND Co., LTD.

[_All Rights reserved_]

INTERNATIONAL INCIDENTS

IN CONVERSATION CLASSES

L. OPPENHEIM, M.A., LL.D.

WHEWELL PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ASSOCIATE OF THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Cambridge: at the University Press 1909

_Cambridge:_ PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Transcribers' Note: Inconsistent punctuation printed in the original text has been retained.

For many years I have pursued the practice of holding conversation classes following my lectures on international law. The chief characteristic of these classes is the discussion of international incidents as they occur in everyday life. I did not formerly possess any collection, but brought before the class such incidents as had occurred during the preceding week. Of late I have found it more useful to preserve a record of some of these incidents and to add to this nucleus a small number of typical cases from the past as well as some problem cases, which were invented for the purpose of drawing the attention of the class to certain salient points of international law.

As I was often asked by my students and others to bring out a collection of incidents suitable for discussion, and as the printing of such a little book frees me from the necessity of dictating the cases to my students, I have, although somewhat reluctantly, made up my mind to publish the present collection.

I need hardly emphasise the fact that this collection is not intended to compete either with Scott's _Cases on International Law, selected from decisions of English and American Courts_, or with Pitt Cobbett's _Leading Cases and Opinions on International Law_, both of which are collections of standard value, but intended for quite other purposes than my own.

I have spent much thought in the endeavour to class my incidents into a number of groups, but having found all such efforts at grouping futile, I therefore present them in twenty-five sections, each containing four cases of a different character. Experience has shewn me that in a class lasting two hours I am able to discuss the four cases contained in these sections.

I have taken special care not to have two similar cases within the same section, for although there are no two cases exactly alike in the collection, there are several possessing certain characteristics in common. It is one of the tasks of the teacher and the students themselves to group together such of my cases as they may think are related to each other by one or more of these traits.

It has been suggested that notes and hints should be appended to each case, but the purpose for which the collection is published is better served by giving the incidents devoid of any explanatory matter. Should this book induce other teachers of international law to adopt my method of seminar work, it must be left to them to stimulate their classes in such a way as to enable the students to discover on their own initiative the solution of the problems.

I gladly accepted the suggestion of the publishers that the cases should be printed on writing paper and on one side of the page only, so that notes may be taken and additional cases added.

I am greatly indebted to Mr Dudley Ward, of St John's College, Cambridge, my assistant, who has prepared the cases for the press and read the proofs. In deciding upon the final form of each case so many of his suggestions have been adopted that in many instances I do not know what is my own and what is his work.

WHEWELL HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, _June 12th, 1909_.

SECTION I. 1. A Councillor of Legation in Difficulties 1 2. Neutral Goods on Enemy Merchantman 1 3. American Coasting Trade 3 4. A German Balloon in Antwerp 3

SECTION II. 5. Use of the White Flag 5 6. A South American "Pseudo-Republic" 5 7. A Tavern Brawl 9 8. A Threatened Diplomatic Rupture 11

SECTION III. 9. Death Sentence on Russian Terrorists 11 10. The Case of De Jager 13 11. A Kidnapped Chinaman 15 12. A Case of Bigamy 15

SECTION IV. 13. A Shot across the Frontier 17 14. A Revolted Prize 17 15. Investments Abroad 19 16. Russian Coasting Trade 19

SECTION V. 17. Exceeding the Speed Limit 21 18. A New-born Island 21 19. An Irate Queen 23 20. An Incident in the Black Sea 23

SECTION VI. 21. The Case of the _Trent_ 25 22. A Double Murderer 25 23. A Masterful Customs Official 27 24. Russian Refugees and Foreign Asylum 27

SECTION VII. 25. A Conversion at Sea 29 26. A Frontier Affray 31 27. General Vukotitch 31 28. An Anglo-French Burglar 33

SECTION VIII. 29. Signals of Distress 35 30. A Change of Parts 35 31. Violation of a Foreign Flag 37 32. A Pickpocket at Sea 37

SECTION IX. 33. Gypsies in Straits 39 34. A Question of Annexation 41 35. Disputed Fisheries 41 36. Imperial Coasting Trade 43

SECTION X. 37. A Russian Crime tried in Austria 43 38. Stratagem or Perfidy 45 39. Murder of a German Consul in Mexico 47 40. Cossacks at Large 49

SECTION XI. 41. Islanders in Revolt 49 42. Seizure of Ambassadors 51 43. An Envoy in Debt 51 44. Treaty Bargaining 53

SECTION XII. 45. A Fallen President 53 46. A Murder in Monaco 55 47. A Question of Interpretation 57 48. The Island of Santa Lucia 57

SECTION XIII. 49. An Attaché's Chauffeur 59 50. In Quest of Balata 61 51. A "Sujet Mixte" 63 52. Koreans at the Hague Peace Conference 63

SECTION XIV. 53. The Adventures of a South American Physician 65 54. Extradition of a British Subject 65 55. The Case of the _Oldhamia_ 69 56. An Ambassador's Estate 73

SECTION XV. 57. Dangers of Ballooning 75 58. Family Honour 75 59. An Ocean Chase 77 60. The _Maori King_ 77

SECTION XVI. 61. The Island of Rakahanga 79 62. A Complaint against the Police 79 63. A Man with two Wives 81 64. A Murder on a Mail Boat 81

SECTION XVII. 65. Persian Disorders 83 66. The Expulsion of Monsieur de Reus 85 67. The Case of McLeod 87 68. A Thwarted Suicide 87

SECTION XVIII. 69. An Insult to an Ambassador 89 70. A Question of Legitimacy 89 71. The Coachman of an Envoy 91 72. The Case of Schnaebelé 91

SECTION XIX. 73. Amelia Island 93 74. Representation to China 93 75. Exemption from Rates 95 76. Errant Balloons 97

SECTION XX. 77. Sully in England 97 78. Homicide by an Attaché 99 79. A Disputed Capture 99 80. The Punishment for Murder 101

SECTION XXI. 81. A Traitor's Fate 101 82. An Interrupted Armistice 103 83. Shooting Affray in a Legation 103 84. The Surrender of Port Arthur 105

SECTION XXII. 85. An Ambassador's Brother 105 86. A Detained Steamer 107 87. Prussia and the Poles 107 88. A Charmed Life 109

SECTION XXIII. 89. A Daring Robbery 111 90. The Fall of Abdul Hamid 113 91. A President Abroad 113 92. A Rejected Ambassador 117

SECTION XXIV. 93. Revictualling of a Fortress 119 94. Dutch Reprisals 119 95. Birth on the High Seas 121 96. A High-handed Action 121

SECTION XXV. 97. The _Southern Queen_ 123 98. A Three-cornered Dispute 123 99. Russian Revolutionary Outrage in Paris 125 100. The Detention of Napoleon I. 127

1. _A Councillor of Legation in difficulties._

In 1868 the French journalist Léonce Dupont, the owner of the Parisian newspaper _La Nation_, became bankrupt. It was discovered that this paper was really founded by the councillor of the Russian legation in Paris, Tchitchérine, who had supplied the funds necessary to start it, for the purpose of influencing public opinion in Russian interests. The creditors claimed that Tchitchérine was liable for the debts of Dupont, and brought an action against him.

2. _Neutral Goods on Enemy Merchantman._

A belligerent man-of-war sinks his prize, an enemy merchantman, on account of the impossibility of sparing a prize crew. Part of the cargo belongs to neutral owners, who claim compensation for the loss of their goods.

3. _American Coasting Trade._

In 1898, after having acquired the Philippines and the island of Puerto Rico from Spain by the peace treaty of Paris, and in 1899, after having acquired the Hawaiian Islands, the United States declared trade between any of her ports and these islands to be coasting trade, and reserved it exclusively for American vessels.

4. _A German Balloon in Antwerp._

The following telegram appeared in the _Morning Post_ of April 7th, 1909, dated Brussels, April 6th:

"An incident which is regarded with some seriousness by Belgians has occurred at Antwerp. A balloon which for a time was observed to be more or less stationary over the forts finally came to earth in close proximity to them. It proved to be a German balloon, the _Dusseldorf No. 3_, controlled by two men, who, on being interrogated by the Commander of the fortifications, declared themselves to be merely a banker and a farmer interested in ballooning in an amateur fashion, who had been obliged to descend. The General commanding the Territorial Division adjoining Antwerp was informed of the incident. On an inquiry being opened it was found that the aeronauts were none other than two German officers, and that the balloon forms part of the German Army _matériel_. The Minister for War was immediately informed, and he has communicated the facts of the case to his colleagues. The inquiry is being continued. In the balloon was found a quantity of photographic apparatus."

5. _The Use of the White Flag._

During war between states A and B, an outlying fort of a harbour of state A is being bombarded by the fleet of state B, and is in danger of capture. Suddenly the white flag is hoisted on the fort, and a boat flying a white flag and carrying an officer and some men leaves the fort and makes for the flagship of the bombarding fleet. Thereupon the fleet receives the order to cease firing. Shortly after this has been carried out, the boat flying the white flag, instead of continuing its course, returns to the fort. Under cover of this manoeuvre the bombarded garrison succeeds in abandoning the fort and withdrawing in safety.

6. _A South American "Pseudo-republic."_

The following appeared in the _Times_ of April 26th, 1904:

"The utility for the practical politician of the study of that branch of sociology to which M. Lebon has given the non-classical name of the psychology of crowds is amusingly demonstrated in the fact of the efforts of the still nebulous State of Counany to materialize and to attain a separate and independent existence among the South American Republics. What is taking place would seem to be a simple phenomenon of suggestion, induced by the example of Panama. The fate of the vague territory known as Counany had been settled, as every one supposed, by the arbitral sentence of the Swiss Tribunal by which this region, with which France and Brazil had played diplomatic battledore and shuttlecock for more than 175 years, was finally handed over to the latter Power.

"Brazil has never, it appears, taken effective possession of Counany, and the population, whose flag, if ethnographic differences were to be symbolized in it, ought to be a sort of Joseph's coat of many colours, are now apparently once more appealing to the civilized world to aid them to secure a separate existence. What recently occurred on the Isthmus of Panama, when a new State sprang full fledged into being, would seem to have been an object lesson acting automatically on the nerves of these Indians, whites, negroes, and half-castes, welding them into a compact whole and giving them a self-consciousness craving European sanction. Hypnotized by Panama, and, it may be, counting upon the eventual support of one of the Continental Powers which has already shown the world that Brazilian affairs are not beyond the range of its diplomatic vigilance, Counany steps once more to the fore.

"A Paris morning paper, the _Journal_, plays the _rôle_ of introducer of the new Counany Ambassador. This Ambassador is a certain M. Brezet, who comes to France, in spite of the sentence of the arbitral tribunal, as President of a State which is described by all competent authorities as a _pseudo_-republic, summarily wiped off the map as an independent State. M. Brezet, moreover, is a Parisian who has served, it is said, in the French forces in Guiana. He is now for the second time enjoying the confidence of the Counanians, strong in the prestige won by his success in having repulsed the Brazilians who sought dutifully to carry out the terms of the clauses of the Berne Decree. 'After having prepared the military and administrative reorganization of Counany, he has come on a mission to Europe to defend the interests entrusted to him.' Such is the story reported by the _Journal_.

"Counany, now described as the vast territory between the Amazon and the two Guianas, is not merely a relatively accessible stretch of coast-line and _Hinterland_ for a certain enterprising European colonial Power, which has already prospected in Brazil, Venezuela, and the unknown world between the Amazon and the Orinoco. Counany is likewise on the high road of sea communication between the south of South America and the eventual link between the Atlantic and the Pacific, known as the Panama Canal. The Counany coast-line is a covetable strip of the South American coast which at more favourable moments might even distract our attention from Morocco."

In 1902, in an inn on the German side of the German-French frontier, an altercation arises between Franz Heller, an Austrian subject, and a Frenchman. They leave the inn together, still quarrelling. The Frenchman hits Heller with his stick and runs away across the frontier. Heller, however, draws a revolver and shoots the Frenchman dead. The French government demands his extradition for murder.

8. _A Threatened Diplomatic Rupture._

The following appeared in the _Times_ of Feb. 22nd, 1908, dated Sofia, Feb. 21st:

"A diplomatic rupture between Servia and Montenegro is threatened. The Servian Minister has been instructed to leave Cettigne should satisfaction not be accorded for certain injurious observations made by M. Tomanovich, the Montenegrin Premier, in the course of a recent speech. Relations between the two dynasties and countries have long been strained, and the quarrel has become acute since the refusal of the Servian Government to take the measures demanded by Montenegro against refugees and others accused of participation in the recent plot against the life of Prince Nicholas."

9. _Death Sentence on Russian Terrorists._

The following appeared in the _Times_ of Feb. 29th, 1908:

"ST PETERSBURG, _Feb._ 27.

"A Court-martial sitting in the fortress of St Peter and St Paul to-day tried the Terrorists who were recently arrested. Seven, including two women and the Italian Calvino, were condemned to death.

"A most painful impression has been created throughout Italy by the confirmation to-day of the report that a young Italian journalist, Mario Calvino, has been condemned to death by Court-martial in St Petersburg. All that is known is that Calvino was arrested on a charge of complicity in a plot for the assassination of the Grand Duke Nicholas, that he was condemned with a batch of six other prisoners after a very brief trial held within closed doors, and that he will be hanged next Saturday. Many friends and colleagues of Calvino in Italy, as well as in Russia, assert the impossibility of his complicity in a Nihilist plot, and there prevails a general belief that his condemnation has been due to a judicial error. In answer to representations made to Signor Tittoni from Milan, the Foreign Minister has stated that the Italian Ambassador at St Petersburg has received instructions to do his utmost on behalf of the condemned man. Up to the present moment it would appear that no result of his exertions has yet been reported."

10. _The Case of De Jager._

De Jager, a burgher of the South African Republic, but a settled resident in Washbank in Natal when the war broke out, joined, in October, 1899, the Boer forces, which had occupied Washbank and held that town for about six months. He served with them in different capacities until March, 1900, when he went to the Transvaal, and took no further part in the war. In March, 1901, he was prosecuted for high treason, but endeavoured to exculpate himself by maintaining that, as the Boers had occupied Washbank when he joined their forces, he was not then living on English territory.

11. _A Kidnapped Chinaman._

Sun Yat Sen, a political refugee from China, living in London, was induced, in 1896, to enter the house of the Chinese Legation in London. He was kept under arrest there in order to be conveyed as a prisoner to China, the Chinese envoy contending that, as the house of the Legation was Chinese territory, the English government had no right to interfere.

12. _A Case of Bigamy._

In 1895 Alfred Ungar, a German by birth, who is naturalised in England without having ceased to be a German subject, goes over to Germany and there marries his niece, whom he brings back to London as his wife. In 1896 he deserts her, settles down in Bristol, and in that town goes through the form of marriage with another woman. In 1898 his German wife, being informed of his whereabouts and of his second marriage, has him arrested for bigamy.

13. _A Shot across the Frontier._

On Sept. 26th, 1887, a German soldier, on sentry duty at the frontier near Vexaincourt, fired a shot from the German side and killed an individual who was on French territory.

14. _A Revolted Prize._

An enemy merchantman having been captured during war, a prize crew is put on board and she is navigated in the direction of a port of the state which made the capture. During the voyage the original crew succeed in overpowering the prize crew. The master again takes command, has the prize crew put in irons, and steers for a friendly port. Before the vessel gets there, however, she is again captured.

Can the crew be punished?

15. _Investments Abroad._

Armand Brunetière, a French merchant in Paris, who has never been in England, instructs a broker on the London Stock Exchange to buy £1,000 worth of consols, and to keep the stock at his disposal. The order is carried out, and six months afterwards Brunetière dies. His heirs claim the stock, but the English brokers refuse to hand it over unless the English estate duty, which is claimed by the officials of the Inland Revenue, has first been paid.

16. _Russian Coasting Trade._

Russia declared, by a ukase of 1897, operating from 1900, that trade between any of her ports and that of Vladivostok should be considered as coasting trade and therefore exclusively reserved for Russian vessels.

17. _Exceeding the Speed Limit._

In 1904 Mr. Gurney, secretary of the British Legation at Washington, was brought before the police magistrate at Lee, Massachusetts, on the charge of having driven a motor car to the public danger. The charge being proved, he was fined.

18. _A New-born Island._

An island rises in the sea on the boundary line of the territorial maritime belt of another island in the possession of state A. A portion of the new-born island stretches into the maritime belt surrounding the previously existing island, and the remainder into the open sea. A man-of-war of state B lands a non-commissioned officer and three men on the part of the island which stretches into the open sea, with the order to hoist the flag of state B and to take possession of it by occupation.

Is this occupation valid?

19. _An Irate Queen._

Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated her throne in 1654, and, after having spent some time first in Brussels and later in Rome, where she embraced the Roman Catholic faith, in 1656 took up her residence in France. Here she discovered that her grand equerry and favourite, Monaldeschi, was betraying her personal secrets. She therefore on the 10th November sentenced him to death, and caused the execution to be carried out on the spot by soldiers of her bodyguard, under the command of Count Lentinelli, the captain of the guard.

20. _An Incident in the Black Sea._

The following appeared in the papers dated St Petersburg, August 11th, 1907:

"A telegram from Sochi, in the Caucasus, states that last night the steamer _Tchernomor_, while on a trip from Tchubgia to Tuapse on the Black Sea, was plundered on the high seas by robbers, who forced the passengers to deliver up their money and valuables. One passenger was wounded by a revolver shot. The robbers, who numbered 15, took possession of the ship's safe and forced the captain to stop the ship and to land them. They further ordered him not to stop at Tuapse, but to proceed direct to Sochi, threatening him with murder if he disobeyed.

"A later telegram from Sochi states that the passengers were robbed of 10,000 roubles (£1,000), and that 1,700 roubles (£170) were stolen from the ship's safe."

21. _The Case of the Trent._

On Nov. 8th, 1861, during the American Civil War, the Federal cruiser _San Jacinto_ stopped the British mail steam _Trent_ on her voyage from Havana to the British port of Nassau in the Bahamas, forcibly took off Messrs. Mason and Slidell, political agents sent by the Confederate States to Great Britain and France, together with their secretaries, and then allowed the vessel to continue her voyage.

22. _A Double Murderer._