ently established organ for legislating. Much
of the legislation which has taken place in the past was only a
by-product of Congresses or Conferences which had assembled for other
purposes. On the other hand, when legislation on a certain subject was
considered pressing, a Congress or Conference was convened for that
very purpose. It will be only when the Hague Peace Conferences have
become permanently established that an organ of the League of Nations
for legislating internationally will be at hand. And a wide field is
open for such legislation. The bulk of International Law in its present
state is--if I may say so--a book law, it is customary law which is only
to be found in text-books of International Law; it is, as regards many
points, controversial; it has many gaps; and it is in many ways
uncertain. International Legislation will be able gradually to create
international statutes which will turn this book law into firm, clear,
and authoritative statutory law.

XI. But you must not imagine that International Legislation is an easy
matter. It is in fact full of difficulties of all kinds. I will only
mention four:

There is, firstly, the language question. Since it is impossible to
draft International Statutes in all languages, it is absolutely
necessary to agree upon one language, and this language at present is,
as you all know, French. Yet, difficult as the language question is, it
is not insurmountable. It is hardly greater than the difficulty which
arises when two States, which speak different languages, have to agree
upon an ordinary convention. One point, however, must be specially
observed, and that is: when any question of the interpretation of an
International Statute occurs, it is the French text of the statute which
is authoritative, and not the text of the translation into other
languages.

XII. Another difficulty with regard to International Legislation is the
conflicting _national_ interests of the different States. As
International Statutes are only possible when the several States come to
an agreement, it will often not be possible to legislate internationally
on a given matter, because the interests of the different States will be
so conflicting that an agreement cannot be arrived at. On the other
hand, as time goes on the international interests of the several States
frequently become so powerful that these Governments are quite ready to
brush aside their particular interests, and to agree upon