Securus indicat orbis terrarum." Any Power which fails in the discharge, to the best of its ability, of a generally recognised duty, is likely to find that self-satisfaction is no safeguard against unpleasant consequences.
Holland argues that failing to fulfill recognized duties can lead to negative consequences for a state, regardless of its self-satisfaction.
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This being so, it is necessary to recognise also that increased humanity in the mode of making war has in reality followed upon the gradual softening of manners.
It is surely desirable that henceforth Great Britain should know, and that other nations should at least have the means of knowing, for certain, whether she is at war or at peace.
Only compare the horrors of the Thirty Years' War with the struggles of modern times.
The general recognition of these principles, and of those also which relate to prisoners, would mark a distinct step of progress towards the goal pursued with so honourable a persistency by the Institut de Droit International.
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