INTERNATIONAL LAW . [To the Editor of The SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As
will be known to many of your readers, the German Government; shortly after the end. of hostilities' in 1918, set up • a number of important Commissions of Inquiry to investi- gate questions arising out of the War. They were asked in particular to report on the events leading up to the War, on the possibilities of peace HegiOtiatiOns during the War, On breaches of international law, and on the causes of Germany's collapse. They have been at work ever since.
. I now hear from Berlin that the Commission -which has been investigating the question of international law has just completed its labonrs, and that its report is to be published in five. volumes at the end of this month. In Germany the report is regarded as likely to be of the very highest importance, and preparations are now being made for it to be discussed at public trieetings by Germany's leading statesmen as soon as it appears.
If my information be correct, the report will show afresh how incomplete is the international code to which the civilized nations of the ' world • profess adherence, and reinforce the demand, which must find an echo in the hearts of all who remember the horrors of the War, for a codification of the laws which regulate the dealings of the nations one with another.
For an adequate study of the question we shall have, of course, to await the publication of the report and an English translation of it. At the same time it is good to know that an exhaustive investigation as to subject has been made and will shortly be available to Governments and to students of international law.—I am, Sir, &c., House of Commons. WILLIAM WHITELEy.
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