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INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

The following report on the neutrality laws of the United States was prepared by Dr. Charles G. Fenwick, pursuant to a resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace "that the Division of International Law, be, and it is hereby, directed to examine and report to the Board upon the neutrality laws of the United States, and to suggest in their report improvements tending to make them more efficient."

The report thus prepared was submitted to and approved by the Board of Trustees at its meeting in 1913, and it was directed that the report be "published and sent to such persons and authorities as may seem appropriate or desirable, and that their suggestions and criticism be invited."

It will be observed that the report does not attempt to outline and define the rights and duties in general of neutral nations as they exist in international law, but rather to show, by a detailed and careful examination of the statutes of the United States and of their official interpretation, the compliance of this country with its conception of neutral rights and duties, as defined by the law of nations. An introductory chapter explains the character and scope of neutrality laws in general; a second chapter sketches the history and development of the neutrality laws of the United States; a third chapter sets forth the authoritative interpretation of the present neutrality laws as determined by judicial construction; a fourth chapter deals with the limitations of the neutrality laws of the United States; and the report ends with an appendix containing the statutes, resolutions, and proclamations necessary to an understanding of the text.

Particular attention is called to the amendments suggested by Dr. Fenwick as calculated to make the neutrality laws more efficient, and to the draft of a statute to effect this purpose.

As the neutrality laws of the United States cannot well be understood without a knowledge of the circumstances which suggested their enactment, this report is commended not merely to all those interested in the rights and duties of neutral nations, but especially to those who desire in the future, as in the past, that the policy of the United

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States in regard to neutral rights and duties, adopted after great thought and deliberation, may continue to serve as a model to the nations.

JAMES BROWN SCOTT,

Director of the Division of International Law and Secretary of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

WASHINGTON, D. C., December 11, 1913.

THE NEUTRALITY LAWS

OF THE

UNITED STATES

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