"The contract of 1677 on which the Netherlands Government fundamentally bases its ground for sovereignty does not show the signatuye*of any chief, The same is true of the other country "Whatever contracts or arrange ments primitive people may make among themselves or with private individuals or with nations, they, of course, cannot confer, as M. River points' out, territorial sovereignty'
the public law of civilized state Such peoples do no vereignty.
Netherlands Government, cannot claim an original title to the Island of Las Palmas by discovery. And as has been pointed out in the memorandum of the United States, the Netherlands do not obtain title to that island by concession conquest.
"As asserted in the memorandum of the United States, Spain acquired title to the island by discovery, and this title has never been questioned until the year 1906, For reasons indicated ju this counter-memorandum Spain's title to "the island would not be affected, even though it could be proved that the island was discovered by a Portuguese subject. By no act recognized in international Inw has the Nether-
Tands ever wrested title from Spain."
The memorandum of Governor General Wood: to the Secretary of State of the United States regarding Las Palmas say:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.