The House of Representatives and the Termination of War

The aim in this study has been to discuss only one phase of the conduct of foreign relations in the United States, namely, the negotiation and ratification of treaties, particularly treaties of peace and the right of the House of Representatives to participate therein. In discussing the termination of war, we have seen that while the normal and usual method of bringing about the peace status is by a formal treaty, yet history records many instances in which peace between the warring powers has been reestablished in other ways. For example, the termination of war by the mere cessation of hostilities seems to violate no principle of international law when this act is recognized by the belligerents. And further, conquest followed by complete subjugation must of necessity bring about a state of peace. The subjugation must, however, be such that the conqueror has full power of sovereignty over the territory conquered. In any event, it would seem desirable that a formal declaration of the resumption of peace be made in order that third states may know the exact time when they ceased to be neutrals. In the United States the treaty-making power is vested by the Constitution in the President who "shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur". The preliminary steps in the making of a treaty are exclusively an Executive function, In the exercise of his prerogative in this regard, the President is clothed with a discretionary power and is answerable for his acts only to the nation in his political character and to his own conscience.