Sack, James W.

English

Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law

Buffalo Law Review Volume 1 Number 1 Article 28 4-1-1951 St. Thomas and the World State. By Dr. Robert M. Hutchins. James W. Sack University at Buffalo School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview  Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation James W. Sack, St. Thomas and the World State. By Dr. Robert M. Hutchins., 1 Buff. L. Rev. 88 (1951). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview/vol1/iss1/28 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Buffalo Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law. For more information, please contact lawscholar@buffalo.edu. BUFFALO LAW REVIEW(Stadtgerichten) -], the attachment of personal property created simul-taneously the basis for jurisdiction in those courts.Professor Riezler-alas--does not tell the whole story, he overlooks theEnglish part. It may be, therefore, permissible for this reviewer to submit afew supplementary lines. Heretofore, it was believed that foreign attachmentoriginated in the "custom of London," as one may see from the outline in Own-bey v. Mforgan, 256 U. S. 94 (1921). But is this true? First, as a privilegegranted to several cities in medieval times, and, later, at the beginning of theSixteenth Century incorporated in the Coutume of Paris ("Custom of Paris"),Article 173, a right arose for a citizen of the city who had lived there for morethan one year and one day to attach whatever was owned by a non-residentdebtor of his and was held within the city (p. 73). This was called the saisieforaine (foreign attachment).The history of foreign attachment seems to originate in the endeavor tofacilitate the satisfaction of the creditor's claim, an endeavor which probablyfirst in Italy and France, and later in England had struck roots. This reviewerhopes in a not too remote future to complete a more detailed examination ofthis subject.There are a great many other problems presented in the volume which goto the very essence of Conflict of Laws. Only one can be mentioned in pass-ing. In the middle of the Thirteenth Century the glossatores arrived atthe distinction between the lex fori as the law controlling ordinatoria and thelex causae as governing the decisoria litis. The former goes to questions ofprocedure, the latter to the choice-of-law problems. (See pp. 65 66).This is a voluminous, but a breat book. It forms a worthy counterpartof Ernst Rabel's great comparative work on Conflict of Laws. Both mono-graphs are, so far, the most important book contributions to comparative lawin the fields of Private International Law. Dr. Riezler supplies a monu-mental text of the procedural and jurisdictional problems while Dr. Rabel, fullyinvestigates the choice-of-law part of conflict situations. There is no dupli-cation. I emphatically suggest the translation of Riezler's volume into English.Professor of LawUniversity of Buffalo. Arthur LenhoffST. TH4oMAS AND THE WORLD STATE. By Dr. Robert M. Hutchins. Milwaukee:The Marquette University Press. 1949. Pp. 53. $1.50.In the spring of 1949, Robert M. Hutchins was invited to deliver the Four-teenth Aquinas Lecture under the auspices of the Aristotelian Society of Mar-quette University. With his customary informed urbanity, Dr. Hutchinsmerely varied a theme which he had been presenting for many years: theBOOK REVIEWSnecessity for a world state. This lecture has now been carefully edited andpublished in this complete and inexpensive edition.On the one hand, Dr. Hutchins' work is a scholarly argument that thepolitical theory and teachings of St. Thomas lead irresistibly to world law, worldgovernment and a world state. At the same time, it is also a call to Catholics toassume active leadership in the drive for world organization and to make thespecial Catholic contribution to such a movement. The latter appeal has, ofcourse, been heard within the Church many times. See Pope Benedict XV,Encyclical on International Reconciliation, 1920; Edward A. Conway, 3. J.,Catholics and World Federation, AMEMCA, Dec. 4, 1948.From a few suggestions in Aristotle's Politics, St. Thomas constructed acomplete and balanced theory of the perfect community which is equally validfor our time and our problems. This perfect community is one which is self-sufficient and peaceful. This community does not need the help of any otherfor any purpose. St. Thomas' distinctive contribution was the recognition thatpeace is an essential condition of the perfect community. In modern terms,the only self-sufficient community must be the world itself. St. Thomas under-stood the necessity for positive law with its attendant coercive effect in viewof the imperfection of human beings. This positive law is enforceable asagainst all save the sovereign. Dr. Hutchins argues from this that a worldstate requires positive law on a world scale. This is necessary to limit thefreedom of action of the sovereign states themselves. He argues that, in theabsence of such law, sovereign states may be expected to behave as individualsin the absence of positive law: they may be expected to break the peace. Inthis atomic era, in the absence of such positive law enforceable as againstsovereigns, the continued existence of our civilization is doubtful.Dr. Hutchins writes with persuasiveness, force and clarity. He has thegift, unfortunately vouchsafed to few contemporary Aristotelians, of beingprofound without being unintelligible. This slim volume should be read byeveryone interested in a rational method for the preservation of peace.Practicing AttorneyLecturer in LawUniversity of Buffalo.James W. SackMy Six CoNvICTs. By Donald Powell Wilson. New York: Rinehart and Com-pany, Inc. 1951. Pp. 369. $3.50.It is a truism that the law advances no faster than the wishes of society.Donald Powell Wilson has recognized this, and has gone to the people to con-vince them of the necessity for a change in our approach to the basic problemof crime and criminals.. He has diagnosed our present approach to crime and

St. Thomas and the World State. By Dr. Robert M. Hutchins.

https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4232&context=buffalolawreview

St. Thomas and the World State. By Dr. Robert M. Hutchins.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Digital Commons @ University at Buffalo School of Law