The justification of a resort either to reprisals or to war, in any given case, depends, of course, upon the nature of the acts complained of, and upon the validity of the excuses put forward either for the acts themselves, or for failure to give satisfaction for them.

The British claims against Venezuela seem to fall into three classes.

It will hardly be disputed that acts of violence towards British subjects or vessels, committed under State authority, call for redress.

Losses by British subjects in the course of civil wars would come next, and would need more careful scrutiny (on this point the debates and votes of the Institut de Droit International, at its meeting at Neuchatel in 1900, may be consulted with advantage).

Last of all would come the claims of unpaid bondholders, as to which Mr.Balfour would seem to endorse, in principle, the statement made in 1880 by Lord Salisbury who, while observing that "it would be an extreme assertion to say that this country ought never to interfere on the part of bondholders who have been wronged," went on to say that "it would be hardly fair if any body of capitalists should have it in their power to pledge the people of this country to exertions of such an extensive character....