It has always been urged, both by sceptics and by believers, that the test of the practicability of international arbitration stands on the question of sanctions. And yet, by a striking inconsistency, the same authors who agree on the primordial importance of this problem have constantly failed to resolve it. In fact they have hardly ever attempted to explain its terms.
In spite of my reluctance to quote my own work, I am obliged to say that the only book ever devoted to this one great problem was my comprehensive treatise on “ Sanctions of International Arbitration,” the French edition of which appeared in 1905, with a preface by Baron d’Estournelles de Constant. President Roosevelt, whose great energies and high statesmanship were then devoted both to the negotiations of the Peace of Portsmouth and to the preparation of the program of the Second Hague Conference, courteously permitted me to dedicate the book to him, and therefore I dare say that, though the study of all the great European authors who, since Grotius, have led the way to the present state of international law was my constant guide, I did not lack of American inspiration.