ART  . 28.-The provisions of the

present Convention are only applicable as between contracting powers, and only if the belligerents are all parties thereto . Other reforms may be expected from the Conference of 1815 . Germany in the course of the South African War and Great Britain in that of the Russo-Japanese War showed great irritation at the stoppage of certain of their merchant vessels, and Great Britain in the one case had to consent to and in the other to demand a modification of belligerent right under International Law—a modification which, be it said, is a perfectly justifiable one, viz. that the right of search for contraband of war be restricted to a specified area . It is probable that, in future wars, powerful neutral states will show, in similar cases, quite as much irritation as did Germany and Great Britain . (T .