CONTRACT FOR CESSION OF TERRITORY.
I speak only according to unquestionable reason and the instincts of the human heart, when I assert that a contract for the cession of territory must be fair and without suspicion of overawing force. Nobody can doubt this rule, whether for individuals or nations. And where one party is more powerful than another it becomes more imperative. Especially must it be sacred with a Republic, for it is nothing but the mandate of Justice. The rule is general in its application; nay, more, it is part of Universal Law, common to all municipal systems and to International Law. Any departure from this requirement makes negotiation for the time impossible. Plainly there can be no cession of territory, and especially no surrender of national independence, except as the result of war, so long as hostile cannon are frowning. The first step in negotiation must be the withdrawal of all force, coercive or minatory.