Persons bound by acts of others in natural law

Let us proceed to principles derived from the law of nations. These principles relate in part to war in general, and in part to a particular aspect of war. Let us begin with the general considerations. By the strict law of nature, no one is bound by another's act, except one who inherits his property; for the principle that property should be transferred with its obligations dates from the establishment of proprietary rights.

The debt of the corporation, moreover, is not a debt of the individuals,…especially if the corporation has property; for the rest the members of a corporation are bound not as individuals, but as a part of the corporate body.…Hence in the Roman Law,…no member of a village [could] be held for the debts of other villagers; and…no property of one person [could] be sued for the debts of others, even if public debts.

The position of the volitional law of nations

Although what has just been stated is true, nevertheless by the volitional law of nations, there could be introduced, and appears to have been introduced, [an exception]: for what any civil society, or its head, ought to furnish, whether for itself directly, or because it has bound itself for the debt of another – those who are subject to such a society or its head, together with their corporeal or incorporeal possessions, are held and made liable. This principle, furthermore, is the outgrowth of a certain necessity, because otherwise a great licence to cause injury would arise. [T]he reason is that, in many cases, the goods of rulers cannot so easily be seized as those of private persons, who are more numerous.