Thomas Erskine Holland: “A reform of maritime law to which the United States are not a party is of little worth.”

Ought they not to be referred to a Royal Commission, on which should be placed representatives of the Navy and Merchant Service, of the corn trade, and of the Colonies, together with international lawyers, in touch with the views of their…

It would be calamitous should a practice be introduced of attempting to cure the imperfect expression of a treaty by tacking on to it an equally authoritative reasoned commentary, likely, as in the present case, to be enormously longer…

It is surely notorious that the delegates of a Power, by agreeing to the draft of a treaty, give to it no international validity, which results only when the treaty has been ratified by their Government.

Either let its place be taken by some clear and simple statement of unquestioned prize law, for the use of commanders and Officials, ... or established principles take care of themselves, certain doubtful points only being dealt with from…