Note 115 — Chapter I · INTERNATIONAL PERSONS

This is almost generally recognised by writers on International Law and the practice of the States. (See Huber, op. cit. pp. 156 and 282, note 449.) The Report of the Transvaal Concessions Commission (see British State Papers, South Africa, 1901, Cd. 623), although it declares (p. 7), that "it is clear that a State which has annexed another is not legally bound by any contracts made by the State which has ceased to exist," nevertheless agrees that "the modern usage of nations has tended in the acknowledgment of such contracts." It may, however, safely be maintained that not a usage, but a real rule of International Law, based on custom, is in existence with regard to this point. (See Hall, § 29, and Westlake in The Law Quarterly Review, XVII. (1901), pp. 392-401, XXXI. (1905), p. 335, and now Westlake, I. pp. 74-82.)