The full Committee held nine meetings, on May 23 Chapter V and 26, June 5, and July 7, 17, 19, 20, 22, and 25.

press.

At the first meeting on May 23, Baron de Bildt communicaof Sweden and Norway expressed the hope that the ions to the communications to be made to the press, on the subject of the work of the Committee, should be as full as possible.

of the press.

The eminent Scandinavian diplomatist and scholar gave expression to a wish which was shared by many of his colleagues, but which, as it soon became evident, was utterly incapable of realization. In some respects this was most regrettable. No important undertaking, it may safely be said, has suffered more from misunderstanding and hostile or unjust criticism, than the Peace Conference, and this was largely, if not wholly, due to the attitude of the daily press during The attitude the continuance of the sessions. Prominent journalists from both hemispheres were present in great number on the day of the opening. Many of them apparently expected dramatic or even sensational developments, exuberant oratory, or perhaps interesting diplomatic combinations and intrigues. The spectacle of a hundred representative men, avoiding all ostentation or display, quietly and seriously proceeding to consider practical questions in a practical manner, seemed an anticlimax, and the "failure" of the Conference to "decree disarmament was eagerly seized as a welcome pretext for a dismissal of the subject of the Conference with a contemptuous smile or a shrug of the shoulders. Most of the journalists left The Hague before the end of May.

Chapter V

secrecy.

Possibly fuller reports of the discussions, even in the Committees, would have sufficed to change the attitude of the press, but it may well be doubted. On the other hand, there can be no question that but Necessity of for the secrecy surrounding the deliberations, especially of the Comité d'Examen, it would have been impossible to remove some of the more serious difficulties, and the Conference would have broken up without, perhaps, accomplishing anything, and having by its very failure done immense and irreparable damage to every peaceful, progressive, and civilizing interest in the world.

As it was, votes of no significance whatever, on purely routine questions, which leaked out, were magnified into alliances, and various myths about the attempts of this or that Power to "sow discord" or to thwart the objects of the Conference" obtained currency and belief, which lingered after the adjournment of the Conference.

66

A departure for any reason from the safe rule of privacy during the continuance of the work would have done irreparable damage at The Hague, and the same is likely to remain true in future Conferences. That this need not imply the slightest neglect of the tremendous power of the press is shown by the fact that a thoughtful and thoroughly competent journalist, such as the correspondent of the London Times, found no difficulty in furnishing reports which, while violating no confidence, still kept his constituency fully and accurately informed of the general progress of the work of the Conference.

As in the case of the discussion of the work of the Chapter V First and Second Committees, repetition has been avoided by describing the action both of the various Committees and of the Conference under the head of the appropriate articles of the proposed treaties. A separate account of the consecutive meetings of the Third Committee is thereby rendered unnecessary.

THE COMITÉ D'EXAMEN

At the session of the Third Committee on May 26, the Chairman, M. Bourgeois, suggested that all propositions on the subject of Good Offices, Mediation, and Arbitration should be first referred to a Special Committee of Examination (Comité d' Examen) which should be directed to report the text of a proposed treaty to the full Committee. Count Nigra of Italy made a formal motion to this effect, which was unanimously adopted.

appointment.

On motion of Chevalier Descamps of Belgium the Mode of appointment of this Special Committee was left to the "Bureau" of the Committee: viz., the Honorary Presidents, President, and Vice-Presidents, subject to the ratification of the full Committee. A recess was taken for the purpose of giving these officers an opportunity to confer.

Upon the reassembling of the Committee, the Membership. following members were appointed on the Comité d'Examen: Messrs. Asser of Holland, Descamps of Belgium, Baron d'Estournelles de Constant of France, Holls of the United States of America, Lammasch of Austria-Hungary, De Martens of Russia, Odier of

Chapter V

Switzerland, and Zorn of Germany. The Chairman. Membership. of the Third Committee, M. Bourgeois, usually presided at the meetings of the Comité d' Examen, and the Honorary Presidents, Count Nigra and Lord Pauncefote, were regular and active attendants. The President of the Conference, M. de Staal, M. Basily of Russia, and Jonkheer van Karnebeek of Holland, also attended with more or less regularity. Chevalier Descamps was chosen reporter of the Committee, and Baron d'Estournelles, secretary. The latter was ably assisted by M. Jarousse de Sillac, one of the secretaries of the Conference. Besides the members, various delegates attended particular meetings by invitation, notably Baron de Bildt of Sweden, Count Macedo of Portugal, Messrs. Beldiman and Papiniu of Roumania, Delyannis of Greece, Professor Renault of France, M. Rolin of Siam, and Messrs. Mijatovich and Veljkovich of Servia.

Importance

of the com

mittee.

The Comité d'Examen rapidly and quite unexpectedly became the centre of interest in the entire Conference. The most important declarations of the various Governments were made at its meetings, and it was soon evident that the question of the success or failure of the Conference as a whole depended almost entirely upon the chance of unbroken harmony in this Committee. Accordingly, when for a time there appeared to be danger that at least one great Power the German Empire-might discontinue its cooperation in the establishment of the permanent Court of Arbitration, the sessions were suspended by common consent, in order to give an

at Berlin.

opportunity to the German representative, Dr. Zorn, Chapter V to proceed to Berlin in order to discuss the objec- Negotiations tions which had been raised, which were technical, though by no means frivolous, in their nature. At the suggestion of Prince Münster and Ambassador White, and with the cordial assent of the other members of the Committee, Mr. Holls of the United States also went to consult with Prince Hohenlohe and Count von Bülow upon the same subject, and the joint efforts of the two delegates were completely successful. Other similar crises were happily averted without friction or publicity.

The Committee met at first in the famous Chinese Meetings. room of the House in the Wood, but most of its sessions were held in the beautiful and historical Salle de Trèves in the Binnenhof, in the city of The Hague. The Committee held eighteen sessions, usually on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, most of them lasting from two till six in the afternoon, and the discussions were often of the greatest interest. While the ordinary language used was, of course, French, the familiarity of nearly all the members with English and German led to the occasional use of these languages -the secretary, Baron d'Estournelles, giving notable assistance in the way of immediate, accurate, and graceful translation.

remarks.

Beyond any doubt, the work of this Committee Personal will remain, to those who were privileged to take part, the most memorable feature of the entire Conference. Bound together by a common endeavor to accomplish what was recognized as an end as