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important matter. Copious quotations from newspapers and speeches show in startling fashion how far the reaction went-how generally it came to be believed that "although the foremost republic in the world has its virtues, it is perhaps controlled as much by self-interest and as little by altruism as any other nation in the world;" and the volume closes with the cheerless thought, not only that America, despite all her effort, managed merely to disillusion her European friends, but also that the most that one dare hope for the world at large is that each war and each peace conference henceforth may yield "some betterment" and "some progress. FREDERIC A. OGG.

La cuestion de Tacna y Arica. E. Castro y Oyanguren. Lima: Impr. del Estado. 1919. pp. 93.

The outcome of the World War and the announced principles upon which it was fought by the Allies have served to reinvigorate the longstanding claims of various countries based upon alleged wrongdoing of other nations. Prominent among these claims is that of Peru against Chile, arising out of the non-performance of Article 3 of the Treaty of Ancon of October 20, 1883, concluding the war of the Pacific, according to which "the provinces of Tacna and Arica . . shall continue in the possession of Chile, subject to Chilean legislation and authority for a period of ten years. At the expiration of that term, a plebiscite will decide by popular vote, whether the territory. . . is to remain definitely under the dominion and sovereignty of Chile or is to continue to constitute a part of Peru.”

The plebiscite has never been held, and the provinces are still controlled by Chile. Naturally, a controversy, resting on Peruvian assertions of bad faith on the part of Chile, has been raging ever since between the two countries, manifested in a voluminous polemic literature and a wealth of diplomatic correspondence. Peru in particular has untiringly sought to bring her case to the attention of the world, and the recovery of the "lost provinces" is the central point of her foreign policy.

The pamphlet under review is one among many presenting the Peruvian argument in the controversy. It is, in essence, an epitome of the more elaborate work of Dr. Victor M. Maurtua (published in 1901), which it supplements by adducing some recent documents. It embodies the history since 1842, when Chile, with the discovery of guano north of 27°, began her penetration northwards, and emphasizes the negotiations before, during, and subsequent to the war of 1879-1883, in order to show the intent of the negotiators with respect to Article 3 of the treaty of Ancon. It concludes with an appendix containing the circular instruction of the Peruvian Minister of Foreign Affairs of February 14, 1919, which constitutes a reply to a similar Chilean instruction of December, 1918, summar

izing the respective contentions of the parties. The author deals with the negotiations subsequent to 1894, when the plebiscite should have been held, to show the efforts of Chile to prevent its execution. He also points out Chile's uniform resistance to arbitration of the dispute, including her opposition to the principle of arbitration enunciated in a resolution at the Pan-American Congress of 1889, on which Chile abstained from voting.

The author might have mentioned Chile's arguments in support of her position, namely, that the plebiscite was a mere formality, intended to "save the faces" of the Peruvian negotiators with their own people; that an unconditional cession was intended; that Chilean "capital and workers" had made the territory productive; that the territory was ceded as "reparation" for the war losses of Chile; and that it was needed for the military security of Chile.

Impartial study and the effort to make the strongest Chilean case possible but emphasize its essential weakness and lack of substance. The above contentions of Chile are not, it is believed, sustainable from the record; and it can hardly be doubted that Chile has had little or no desire to have the plebiscite held. The reason is clear: being already in control of the territory, and having the physical force to maintain such control, she had no interest in jeopardizing her position. Recent events in Europe would indicate that reliance upon force is still the major sanction of international relations and the keynote of the foreign policy of many nations. Nevertheless, Chile has exposed herself to the continued propaganda of what is essentially a valid claim of Peru, and the dispute, unless settled, threatens the peace of the American continent and the moral standing of Chile. The pamphlet under review manifests much patriotic fervor, apparently inseparable from the polemics to which the dispute has on both sides given rise.

EDWIN M. BORCHARD.

De internationaalrechtelijke betrekkingen tusschen Nederland en Venezuela, 1816-1920. By K. H. Corporaal, LL.D., Pol.Sc.D. Leiden: Eduard Ydo. 1920. pp. 672.

President Cleveland in one of the Princeton lectures he delivered after retiring from public life has demonstrated to what extent the relations between Venezuela and European states may affect America's attitude towards both. A book therefore dealing with Venezuela's relations with another country must be of interest to Americans; especially when-as in the present instance that other country has colonial possessions in the Caribbean.

This is a book of applied political science, in which the author considers problems diplomatic, political, legal and economic as they actually arose between two countries of our day. By far the greater part is a lucid and

exhaustive narrative, the work of a gardener in the green bushes of diplomatic history; whilst a final chapter, which savors more of laboratory dissection, gives a theoretical analysis of the legal problems with which statesmen of the Netherlands and Venezuela found themselves confronted in the course of the latter's existence as an independent international entity. Official and other documents complete the text.

The relations between the Netherlands and Venezuela are determined by the existence of a Dutch colony, the Island of Curaçao, close to the Venezuelan coast. Curaçao, with its excellent harbor, has no resources of its own, and, in an economic sense, is entirely dependent on traffic with neighboring countries. Of these, Venezuela, owing to its proximity, is the most important. The existence in that country of a high customs tariff gave rise to lively smuggling, and Curaçao naturally became the center of activity of this illicit traffic. In spite of constant and energetic endeavors on the part of the Netherland authorities, this could not be totally suppressed, and Venezuela, thus deprived of part of the income derived from her customs, had not unnaturally several times some feeling against the neighboring island.

Venezuela, on which Curaçao is economically dependent, is at the same time to a certain extent politically dependent on Curaçao. Frequent changes of a more or less revolutionary character in the government of the Republic made the Netherland colony the refuge of those who for political reasons are not tolerated in their home country. It is obvious that such a situation is likely to affect the relations between the two states. As the author remarks, this dependence, coupled with the fact that the Netherlands are here confronted with a state in which revolutions have by no means been infrequent, and where, about a century after the separation from the mother-country, lasting tranquillity did not yet appear to be quite firmly established, leaves its mark on the relations of the two countries.

Consequently the Netherland authorities have been faced with a number of problems whose solution has called into existence a peculiar system of international law between the two states. The existence of this peculiar system may be inferred from the attitude adopted by the Netherlands towards Venezuelan Governments following revolutionary movements in that country. The geopolitical situation of Curaçao and the interests of the island, forced Holland to proclaim her neutrality at an earlier moment than would be in accordance with the strict rule of international law, and to postpone the recognition of such Governments to a later date than would be legally necessary.

The revolutionary character of the Venezuelan state, which in the beginning of this century seemed not yet entirely mature and therefore not over-anxious to put an end to unstable conditions, did not encourage the Netherlands to conclude treaties. Recently, however, a treaty of amity

and commerce was made. The peculiar character of the Republic made it necessary for Holland to determine her attitude towards those typically South American conceptions known as the Drago and Calvo Doctrines, which find in Venezuela a champion, owing to the occasionally disturbed internal conditions.

The lack of treaties made it possible for Venezuela to resort to numerous and far-reaching instances of retorsion directed against the commerce of Curaçao, to which in 1908 the Netherlands retaliated.

The peculiar international relations with Venezuela led further to collective diplomatic proceedings on the part of the Powers, including the Netherlands, and to naval measures on the Dutch side, of a nature as is not usual towards other states. In case measures of a coercive nature were taken against Venezuela, the application of the Monroe Doctrine complicated the situation, and had to be taken into consideration.

On the other hand, to balance these proceedings against Venezuela, mention must be made of Netherland measures taken exclusively in the interests of the Republic: i.e., the expulsion of aliens from Curaçao at the request of the government of the other country, and the suppression, on a wider scale than would be strictly necessary, of the traffic in war materials.

E. N. VAN KLEFFENS.

Vom Eingreifen Amerikas bis zum Zusammenbruch. By Karl Helfferich. Berlin: Ullstein & Co., 1919. pp. 658.

This is the third and last volume of the author's work entitled Der Weltkrieg, and covers the period after the decision to wage unrestricted submarine war. In view of the author's position as Minister of the Exchequer during the war, and his almost constant employment in political negotiations, it is not surprising that instead of a general presentation of world events with a due regard to proportion, we have before us rather a detailed and fairly connected narrative of German parliamentary crises and internal conditions as influenced incidentally by the external situation. Even from this limited standpoint, however, the book is instructively corroborative that "dieser Wilson" (page 360) did not err in his estimate of the autocratic power of the military caste who unmade Chancellors (page 126, von Bethmann) and named their successors (page 131, Michaelis) and decided other larger internal political questions. They met their defeat as parliamentary masters on July 19, 1917, when the Reichstag, over their protest (pages 128-130) adopted the peace resolution. To this act, and particularly to the "monstrous" conduct of Erzberger in proposing it, the author attributes the repulse of the Pope's efforts for peace in the summer of 1917 by the Allies and their will to fight on, because they now inferred that "the Central Powers were face to face

with internal collapse" (page 580). "The seed sown in July, 1917, brought its fateful crop in November, 1918" (page 153). This sentence contains the thesis of the book.

Whilst it is free of open rancor towards Germany's "pitiless foes," it is a book of a German for Germans-some Germans. It closes with a quotation from Treitschke.

GEORGE C. BUTTE.

Etudes sur l'Occupation Allemande en Belgique. By Albert Henry. Brussels: J. Lebègue & Co. pp. 464.

L'Euvre du Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation pendant la Guerre. By Albert Henry. Brussels: J. Lebègue & Co. pp. 361. Referring to the books above described, Cardinal Mercier, who writes a preface for the second volume, informs us that the author was SecretaryGeneral of the Comité National de secours et d'alimentation during the recent war and wrote the first-named volume as a witness and the second as an informed agent, courageous and tenacious in the service of an undertaking which saved the lives of the Belgian people and powerfully contributed to sustain its morale.

The first volume, relating to the German occupation in Belgium, opens with a spirited review of the conduct of the Germans and certain Flemish associates sympathetic with them in furthering the cause of Germany. This is followed by a history of the deportation of Belgian workmen to Germany, including a narrative of the protestations and interventions of neutral Powers with relation thereto. The condition of Belgian agriculture during the war is discussed, and the work closes with a history of the National Committee.

The second volume above referred to covers the work of the National Committee, and includes a glance at the historical situation of Belgium before the formation of the committee, then describing the difficulties of the committee's problem; its Belgian organizers; the assistance of neutrals; the struggles with the enemy, and the work of American Commission for Relief. The problems connected with the importation and distribution of supplies and the work of manufacturing under the supervision of the National Committee are dealt with at large. The details of the granting of relief to those in various positions, as, for instance, out-ofwork families of those in the army, children, those discharged from the hospitals, etc., receive detailed attention. The general policy of the committee is also discussed at large.

With our point of view, we appreciate the tribute paid to the American Commission for its labors and the frank recognition of the value of the

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