The Acquisition and Government of Backward Territory in International Law: Being a Treatise on the Law and Practice Relating to Colonial Expansion

The salient facts in the history of the expansion of European sovereignty in America, Asia, Oceania, and Africa, from the time of the Papal Bulls to that of the bestowal of League of Nations Mandates, are reviewed, and the underlying rules extracted. The matters considered in Part I turn mainly upon the nature of the territory to be acquired, while Part II is devoted to the question "who may become sovereign?" In Part III, the various methods or processes of acquisition and related matters are dealt with, the modern tendency to acquire sovereignty piecemeal being explored in chapters on such subjects as Protectorates, Spheres of Influence, and Leases and rights of occupation and administration. Finally the author considers to what extent international law can be said to regulate the rights and duties of a State that has acquired the whole of a part of the sovereignty over backward territory in its relations with other States and with the natives; and shows that rules are in process of formation for the protection of subject backward peoples in their persons and lands.