consult the experience of the United States and linger over the pages of the reported decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States. In the belief that these documents, valuable in themselves and lifegiving to a continent, are susceptible of a larger application, in that they point the way to international organization, if they do not actually define its form and content, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of the United States are gathered into the present little volume, separate and distinct from all other matters, and laid before the public without note or comment in order that they may be considered, analyzed, and compared with the greatest ease and under the most favorable conditions. We have lived in an ungoverned world; we must live in a governed world. The society of nations must have its law and its institutions, and the experience of the United States-"an indestructible union composed of indestructible States"-should not fail to appeal to thoughtful men and women aghast at the crumbling of society and stunned at the spectacle of nations apparently in the throes of destruction. WASHINGTON, D. C., JAMES BROWN SCOTT, Director of the Division of International Law. April 21, 1917. |