It is not my purpose to discuss problems of either international or municipal law which are merely speculative in character. My discussion will be limited to the problems of law presented by what invention has already accomplished, or conditions which are reasonably certain to flow from its achievements. Whenever mechanical, chemical, or electrical science introduces new forces into the life of man, it may reasonably be conceived to be the task of jurisprudence to adjust and coordinate the legal relations of both states and individuals under the new conditions. Nor is it always the part of wisdom to disregard formulative methods by relying on the application of principles derived from an old régime.

It has been urged against our own Constitution that, being written, and difficult of amendment, its provisions tend to become unfitted to the changing conditions of life. The advancement of science has made state boundaries merely political where they once were social as well. One of the most difficult duties which our Federal courts have to discharge is the interpretation of the brief, simple phrases of the Constitution to be adequate to the needs of the nation, once a sparsely settled community with slow, meager and irregular means of communication, now a vast commonwealth bound together by arteries of speedy and regular railroad transportation and by immediate communication through telegraph and telephone.

So, too, in the international world, the increase in number and efficiency of the means of transportation and intercommunication, the application of new forces applied to the conduct of warfare and the pursuit of commerce in times of peace, create new conditions which must be analyzed and dealt with in a manner satisfactory to the demands of justice and consistent with a humane conduct of life among men and nations.