TERMINOLOGY

INTERNATIONAL TERMINOLOGY


Sir,--Demands for the punishment of the ex-Kaiser have produced many
"curiosities of literature," sometimes even over the signatures of men
deservedly respected as authorities upon subjects which they have made
their own; but _ne sutor supra crepidam_. A.B.,[1] for instance, wrote
of the Kaiser as guilty of "an indictable offence." X.Y.[1] naturally
protests against this misuse of terminology, which is, indeed, far more
specifically erroneous than was the popular application, which you
allowed me to criticise, of the terms "murder" and "piracy" to certain
detestable acts perpetrated under Government authority.[2] He goes on to
give an elaborate, though perhaps hardly necessary, explanation that
breaches of that generally accepted body of rules to be followed by
States _inter se_, which is known as "international law," can be
enforced, in the last resort, only by hostile State action--a fact which
he seems to suppose may entitle him to qualify the rules as "a mockery."

X.Y.[1] then proceeds to give an account of the so-called "private
international law" which surely needs revision for the benefit of any
"man in the street" who may care to hear about it. X.Y.[1] defines it as
"that part of the law of each separate country, as administered in its
own Courts, which deals with international matters," and he enumerates
as such matters "prize, contraband, blockade, the rights of
ambassadors." In fact none of these matters are within the scope of
"private international law," but are governed by "(public) international
law," non-compliance with which by the Courts or subjects of any State
is ground of complaint for the Government of any other State thereby