The discussions between Washington and Paris upon " proscribing tar
as an instrument of national policy " have not been dropped. We are glad of this, even if it seems easy to suggest reasons why they should come to nothing. There is always a danger of such a precise and logical people as the French misunderstanding those who. are so far less exact in public utterances. For instance, the phrase " outlawry of war " is used freely in the United States. Senator Borah in his very important position used it in a recent endeavour to show that the proposed multilateral treaty would not be inconsistent, is M. Briand fears, with any obligations undertaken by signatories of the Covenant of the League of Nations. Will he define it ? Does it mean the...out- lawry of force between 'peoples of different nationalities ? is force as used in Nicaragua, for instance, to be identified with war ? And what does outlawry mean ? Will it entail the end of war ? Will it mean that the United States will need no men-of-war ? Is the purpose to put war outside International Law ? If so, how is it to be reconciled with our earnest desire to see International Law becoming the rule by which nations live ?
