Whether or no hostilities had previously occurred upon the mainland, I hold that the acts of the Japanese commander in boarding the Kowshing and threatening her with violence in case of disobedience to his orders were acts of war.
Holland argues that the actions of the Japanese commander against the Kowshing were acts of war regardless of prior hostilities.
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Perpetual peace is a dream, and it is not even a beautiful dream.
To localise hostile pressure as far as possible, and to give to it such a character as shall restrict its incidence to the peccant State, is surely in the interest of the general good.
But I go further, and think the softening of manners can alone bring about this result, which cannot be attained by a codification of the law of war.
Pacific reprisals should also, according to the tendency of modern opinion and practice, be so applied as not to interfere with the interests of third Powers and their subjects.
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