The House of Representatives is not men tioned in the Constitution as one of the parties that must be consulted in making a treaty. But a treaty involving the payment of money, for example, can only be carried into effect by an act of Congress. Therefore, in such a case the consent of the House to a treaty must be secured before final ratification, if its execution is to be made certain.
How Treaties are The actual preparation of important treaties involving sev eral states is usually the work of ministers, or representatives, selected for the special purpose, with definite powers to act on behalf of the government they represent. Rules of procedure are drawn up, the various representatives of the states interested are given an opportunity to submit projects or arguments affecting their' interests, and the proceedings are put in writing and submitted to the various representatives for approval. The treaty is usually drawn up in the form of articles, stating who are the con tracting parties, the purpose or object of the treaty, and the stipulations agreed on, such as boundaries, indemnities, terms of ratification.
Treaties must be ratified by the sovereign authority of the states which are parties to their operation in order to be bind ing. This act is completed through the ex change of written instruments identical in form and signed by persons given such powers by the supreme power. Treaties may fail of ratification notwithstanding the fact that the minister or commissioners may have followed their instructions exactly. New con ditions and the great magnitude of the interests of a nation make it necessary that the final consent shall rest in the nation itself after a review of the work of its agents.
The nature and the extent of the treaty-making power includes the power to make peace, acquire and dispose of territory, recognize the independence of new states, change boundaries, guarantee territorial integ rity of other states, provide for neutrality of countries, grant special privileges with respect to trade and commerce, and in fact consummate any other acts not inconsistent with sovereignty.
The validity of a treaty depends upon several matters. Freedom of consent is indispensable to the validity of every agreement. But this does not mean that an engagement entered into by a nation under such duress as is implied by the defeat of its military forces, or the occupation of its territories, gives the conquered country the right to say that its con sent was obtained by force. Nor does inequal
ity in the conditions of a treaty form a suffi cient reason for refusing to execute it. Treaties which violate fundamental principles of mod ern international policy are voidable; for ex ample, acquiring of proprietary rights over the open sea, or a compact to re-establish the slave trade. The contracting parties must of course possess the full power to enter into treaty engagements, and the agents must not exceed the powers laid down in their instruc tions. The formal consent of the parties must be given. The subject matter of the treaty must be such that it is physically or morally possible of execution. For example, a clause involving a violation of the sovereign rights or power of a third state is invalid. Treaties properly entered into are binding, and are not affected by changes of government, and obliga tions involved may either release the other party or even be a just cause for war.
Kinds of are of various kinds and have been classified in different ways. There are special and general treaties. When a compact is put into effect and the object has been attained so that there is nothing further to be settled by future action, it is called an executed convention. Such compacts are bind-_. ing on states regardless of changes of govern ment. An example would be the settlement of a boundary question by treaty. All treaties which stipulate the performance of successive acts, executory treaties, to be continued through a period of time, limited or unlimited, fall into the second class.
Treaties of alliance, guarantee, commerce, arbitration, peace and the like, involving the performance of successive acts, are the chief means of regulating the intercourse of modern states. A treaty of alliance is an agreement of two or more states; for the purpose of secur ing their mutual desires. It may be offensive or defensive, or both,• temporary or permanent, equal or unequal. Two states may guarantee the continuation of a certain state of affairs in a third state. Treaties of guarantee are entered into to secure the observance and execu tion of other treaties or the maintenance of certain existing conditions, such as the perma nent neutrality of a state, for example,— Switz erland or Belgium, or the free navigation of a river or the neutrality of a ship canal. Treaties of commerce regulate the conditions of trade, and define the rights and duties of commercial intercourse, such as the exchange of raw materials and manufactured articles.