ACTS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ORGAN 33
ing franchises for public utility services or monopolies, or for the con-
struction of public works, there are others relating to domestic and foreign
loans, in other words, the public debt. It is proposed to apply special prin-
ciples to this latter question. It is deemed that a national loan is not, properly
speaking, a civil contract; and that, in any event, it is only a special kind of
obligation: a debt of honor which the debtor State should meet if it would
avoid its financial ruin and the impairment of its national credit. Such a
contract, therefore, has no other binding force than the fear of the conse-
quent impairment of the national credit and dishonor of the State that fails
to meet its obligations. There is another doctrine, which considers govern-
ment loans identical to any other form of civil contract. When the State
negotiates a loan, it is not acting as the sovereign, but as any other person
subject to the municipal law. Government loans, therefore, are not com-
prised within the scope of State sovereignty. The obligations arising there-
from should be discharged like those provided by other contracts.
(d) The Calvo clause, the so-called Drago Doctrine and the Porter
Convention of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague deal with this
subject. The purpose of the first one is to eliminate international responsi-
bility from contractual matters between the State and private individuals,
leaving same to the exclusive jurisdiction of the local laws for proper redress.
The second one purports to eliminate the use of coercive measures to secure
payment of the principal or interest due on a loan. The third sets forth
this latter provision with certain limitations, sanctioning the use of coercive
measures to secure payment of contractual obligations only when the debtor
State should refuse to submit the matter to arbitration, or to abide by the
arbitral award. The replies of the governments lodged with the Preparatory
Committee have specifically referred to the Calvo clause. All the govern-
ments, with the exception of that of the Netherlands, have considered it in-
appropriate. Great Britain has adopted in regard to this clause the views set
forth in the recent ruling of the General Claims Commission in the case of the
North American Dredging Company vs. The United Mexican States. None
of the replies to the inquiry have made special reference to the Drago Doc-
trine or the Porter Convention. They may be considered, however, implicitly
contemplated in the replies concerning the use of reprisals. But the Govern-
ment of Switzerland states that reprisals should be subject to the condition
that the States should have no other peaceful means of reaction to violations
against them. This condition would specifically cover the due regard for
outstanding obligations which the Porter Convention provides. Basis of
Discussion No. 25 of the inquiry should be amended along these lines.
(e) In our estimation, however, all of these chapters covering responsi-
bility in respect of contracts of every kind (including government loans)
and reprisals. should be governed by other principles than those set forth in
