Known as the Early Journal Content, this set of works include research articles, news, letters, and other writings published in more than 200 of the oldest leading academic journals. The works date from the mid--seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. We encourage people to read and share the Early Journal Content openly and to tell others that this resource exists. People may post this content online or redistribute in any way for non--commercial purposes. Read more about Early Journal

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... ntent at http://about.jstor.org/participate--jstor/individuals/early-journal--content. JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary source objects. JSTOR helps people discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching platform, and preserves this content for future generations. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not--for--profit organization that also includes Ithaka S+R and Portico. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. where the court said that the case of a ship wrecked on the coast of the country to which she belongs was the same as a collision between two ships of the same nation and then applied the American law to an English ship wrecked in English waters, which is obviously incorrect. There are also numerous cases where the limiting statute has been applied to foreign vessels simply because the fact that it was a foreign ship was not raised;10 but as the court will never apply foreign laws unless they are called to their attention, they are not authorities. It is of course fundamental that a law can have no extraterritorial force; but it is also practically universally held that a vessel on the high seas is a detached floating portion of the country whose flag she flies and is exclusively within the influence of its laws so far as the internal economy of the vessel is concerned.1" And on the theory that the law of the flag should govern in all cases on the high seas, unless there is some good reason to the contrary, there seems to be a possible solution of the question. In the case of two vessels of the same nationality, there is no element present which can introduce any other law than that of the flag except the. fact that the case may be tried in the court of another country. Since this has not been held a sufficient reason for departing from the law of the flag in the case of two ships, and as there are no more reasons, in the case where one ship is injured by collision with some floating object belonging to no country, and which carries no law, or where a vessel founders on the high seas for no appreciable cause, the result should be the same and the law of the flag should apply. Where, however, two vessels of different countries, carrying different laws, come into collision, we have two laws equally applicable from the start; and since one court cannot decide the case under two different laws, the courts have compromised on the law of the forum, on the theory of The Scotland that it would be unjust to either party to apply the law of either to the exclusion of the other. Of course this result is simply an arbitrary rule of convenience. T. S. P.