The full reply of the British Government was dated the 10th of February. It contained the very important declaration that our action against neutral vessels ‘has been limited to vessels on their way to enemy ports or ports in neutral countries adjacent to the theatre of war, because it is only through such ports that the enemy introduces the supplies which he requires for carrying on the war.’ In other words, the importance of the doctrine of ‘continuous voyages’ at the present time is emphasised; and its necessity is demonstrated by a further review of trade statistics, which led to the inevitable conclusions ‘that not only has the trade of the United States with the neutral countries in Europe been maintained as compared with previous years, but also that a substantial part of this trade was, in fact, trade intended for the enemy countries going through neutral ports by routes to which it was previously unaccustomed.’ But even more important is the opinion deliberately expressed that international law, like every other judge-made law, is a live body of principles which can and must keep abreast of the times. Its rules are not arbitrarily devised as occasions arise, but are based on principles which have developed with the progress of the world. Any apparent changes in the law which Great Britain has introduced are not arbitrary inventions which have in view merely the crushing of Germany, but are justified by well-known principles applied to new conditions. The process of adaptation is no new one. The advent of steam-power had a notable influence on the development of the law, for the facilities introduced by steamers and railways, while they simplified the task of the neutral merchant in contraband, had enormously magnified the difficulties of the belligerent. The question in issue can be stated in almost primitive fashion. Are the rules which governed the rights of belligerents when there were no railways, to govern them when the transit of contraband over the frontier of a neutral and a belligerent State has been made so easy? The answer is not an absolute negative; it is that the old principles are living principles and are capable of extension to meet the new occasions. But to explain the reasons for a step which has already been taken and to find sound reasons for a step which has to be taken are two different things. The first requires reasoning power, the second imagination; and I find this in the position boldly taken up and courageously insisted on, that the growth in size of ocean liners has rendered a further amplification of the old rules necessary. They must be brought into port for examination.