ressure, whether by way of reprisals or of war, is
exercised by the combined forces of allies, the terms on which this is
to be done must obviously be arranged by previous agreement. More
especially would this be requisite where, as in the case of Great
Britain and Germany, different views are entertained with reference to
the acts which are permissible under a "pacific blockade."

7. When, besides the Power, or Powers, putting pressure upon a given
State, with a view to obtaining compensation for injuries received from
it, other Powers, though taking no part in what is going on, give notice
that they also have claims against the same offender; delicate questions
may obviously arise between the creditors who have and those who have
not taken active steps to make their claims effective. In the present
instance, France is said to assert that she has acquired a sort of prior
mortgage on the assets of Venezuela; and the United States, Spain, and
Belgium declare themselves entitled to the benefit of the
"most-favoured-nation clause" when those assets are made available for
creditors. What principles are applicable to the solution of the novel
questions suggested by these competing claims?

8. It is satisfactory to know, on the highest authority, that the
"Monroe doctrine" is not intended to shield American States against the
consequences of their wrongdoing; since the cordial approval of the
doctrine which has just been expressed by our own Government can only be
supposed to extend to it so far as it is reasonably defined and applied.
Great Britain, for one, has no desire for an acre of new territory on
the American continent. The United States, on the other hand, will
doubtless readily recognise that, if international wrongs are to be
redressed upon that continent, aggrieved European Powers may
occasionally be obliged to resort to stronger measures than a mere
embargo on shipping, or the blockade (whether "pacific" or
"belligerent") of a line of coast.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. E. HOLLAND.
Oxford, December 18 (1902).

THE VENEZUELA PROTOCOL

Sir,--The close (for the present, at any rate) of the Venezuelan
incident will be received with general satisfaction. One of the articles
of the so-called "protocol" of February 18 seems, however, to point a
moral which one may hope will not be lost sight of in the future--viz.
the desirability of keeping unblurred the line of demarcation between
such unfriendly pre