The Act of Congress is based on the British enactments passed during the present war, and consequently it has been deemed necessary to consider fully the decisions of the English, Scotch, Irish, Canadian, Australian, South African and Indian courts interpreting the common law and the provisions of the British Acts. The principal enactments of the United Kingdom, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Union of South Africa are reprinted in the Appendix, where the Executive Order of the President of October 12, 1917, may also be found. The consideration of the topics of the law relating to the rights and disabilities of alien enemies, and the effect of war on contracts, in the form of a commentary to the sections of a legislative act, is of necessity done somewhat at the expense of a logical order of treatment. In view of the fact that a large number of the cases discussed are not readily accessible, except in the larger law libraries, the views of the courts have in many cases been given by reprinting large portions of the opinions. A study of the decisions of the English and American courts during the present war as well as during former wars reveals the high sense of justice permeating the tribunals of these countries in the administration of the law, unaffected by any other considerations. The duties of courts in cases involving the rights of alien enemies are thus quaintly but admirably stated by a learned Chancellor of Virginia, himself one of the most ardent patriots of the Revolutionary War: "A judge should not be susceptible of national antipathy, more than of malice towards individuals—whilst executing his office, he should be not more affected by patriotic considerations, than an insulated subject is affected by the electric fluid in the circumjacent mass, whilst their communication is interrupted. What is just in this hall is just in Westminster Hall, and in every other prætorium upon earth." Wythe, C., in Page v. Pendleton (1793), Wythe's Va. Rep. 211. The same thought has been expressed (in his opinion in The Möwe, 1915, P. 1) by the present President of the English High Court of Probate, Admiralty and Divorce, Sir Samuel Evans, who may justly be called the Lord Stowell of the Twentieth Century: "When a sea of passions rises and rages as a natural result of such a calamitous series of wars as the present, it behooves a Court of Justice to preserve a calm and equable attitude in all controversies which come before it for decision, not only where they concern neutrals, but also where they may affect enemy subjects. In times of peace the Admiralty Courts of this Realm are appealed to by people of all nationalities who engage in commerce upon the seas, with a confidence that right will be done. So, in the unhappy and dire times of war, the Court of Prize as a Court of Justice will, it is hoped, show that it holds evenly the scales between friend, neutral, and foe." 45 Broadway, New York City. February 1, 1918. CHARLES HENRY HUBERICH. |