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Chapter V

Proposed mandate to

the Bureau.

own country as an exhibition of weakness, and not as bearing witness to its entire confidence in its good right.

"In giving to the permanent Bureau a particular duty of initiative, we believe this offer would be made acceptable. It is the recognition of an analogous difficulty that has led the Third Committee not to hesitate, in cases even more serious and more general, to recognize the right of neutrals to offer their mediation, and in order to encourage them in the exercise of this right, the Commission has declared that their intervention cannot be considered as an unfriendly act. A fortiori, in the special cases to which this present convention has reference, it is possible to give to the permanent Bureau a precise duty of initiative. It will be charged with reminding the parties of those Articles of this Convention, which would seem to the Bureau to cover the difference between them, and it would ask them, therefore, whether they would consent under conditions foreseen by themselves to arbitral procedure-in other words, simply to carry out their own engagements. To a question thus asked, the answer will be casy, and the scruple on the score of dignity which might otherwise prevent such recourse, will disappear.

"In order to put in motion one of the mighty machines by which modern science is transforming the world, it is sufficient simply to push a finger at the point of contact. Still, it is necessary that some one should be charged with the duty of making this simple movement. The French Delegation believes

that the institution to which such international man- Chapter V date may be confided, will play in history a rôle which will be nobly useful."

It will be seen that the ideas expressed in the last paragraph of the statement of the French Delegation afterward took form in a somewhat different shape in Article 27 of the present Convention, and reference will be made thereto in the discussion of that Article.

At the close of the presentation of the statement from the French Delegation, Lord Pauncefote read the following statement:

by Lord

"Before entering upon the extremely interesting Statement question which is to engage our attention to-day, I Pauncefote. wish to take occasion to express my thanks to my colleagues from Russia and America who have kindly consented that the plan for a permanent international tribunal of arbitration which I have had the honor to introduce in the Committee should be the basis of our deliberations. In the projects which they have themselves introduced, improvements of my own may be found, and the Committee will surely appreciate their value as well as that of the other amendments which no doubt will be introduced. I wish also to thank the First Delegate of France for the declaration which he has just read, and in which he has informed the Committee that he also was willing to take my plan as the basis of the discussion, and at the same time I thank the other members of the Committee who have done me the honor of expressing themselves to the same effect. I am per

Chapter V

Remarks by
Chevalier
Descamps.

suaded that in view of the exceptional talents which are to be found in this Committee, we shall attain a result worthy of the mandate so nobly confided to the Conference by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor

of Russia."

The Chairman of the Committee, M. Bourgeois, thereupon opened the discussion upon the question of the permanent tribunal of arbitration. Chevalier Descamps of Belgium first spoke as follows:

"The institution of a permanent Tribunal of Arbitration will represent the common juridical conscience of civilized peoples. It will correspond to the progress hitherto realized in the life of nations; to the modern development of international controversies; to the necessity which to-day drives States to seek in our day a justice more accessible, in a state of peace less precarious. It may well be a mighty instrument toward the solemn establishment of the sentiment of justice in the world. The presentation of three plans upon this subject by three great Powers is a fact of the highest importance. These projects are diverse in character, but it seems possible to harmonize them in a manner which will accomplish all the results immediately attainable. The establishment of permanent arbitral jurisdictions is by no means an innovation without precedent in international law. The Convention of Berne of October 14, 1890, provides for the establishment of a free Tribunal of Arbitration, to which the German Delegation, at the very first Conference in 1878, wanted to confide most important duties and attributes.

"The establishment of the permanent Tribunal of Chapter V Arbitration presents no insurmountable difficulties, and it may easily be the most important factor in the international problem before the Conference of The Hague. The difficulties which the magnanimous views and wishes of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia encountered in other respects are one more reason for us to turn our attention to the organization of Mediation and Arbitration. It is necessary to develop and consolidate the organic interests of peace. It is upon this subject that general attention. in all countries has been directed to this Conference, with hopes which cannot be disappointed without great and serious damage. The propositions which we shall formulate and upon which we hope to harmonize the States here represented will no doubt be modest. The future will develop and en-Looking to large those features of our work capable of such enlargement for the good of all peoples and for the progress of humanity. As for the delegates at this Conference, it will no doubt be one of the greatest sources of happiness in their life, to have coöperated in the accomplishment of this grand result - the fraternal rapprochement of peoples and the stability of general peace."

the future.

by M. Des

After this general introduction, M. Descamps stated Suggestions that according to his views one of the most advan- camps. tageous features of the permanent tribunal of arbitration would be this, that the members designated by the different States could meet, say every three months. They would elect a President who should

Chapter V

Impossibility of having a President of the entire court.

The critical moment of

be re-eligible, and they would have the function of appointing from among their number a bench to sit in vacation. This would help the disposition of States who wanted to have recourse to the Tribunal on matters which might not seem to have sufficient importance to warrant a meeting of the entire court. To his view this simplification would present many advantages, by avoiding the necessity of constituting for each case a complicated and costly mechanism, and by such an arrangement the Peace Conference would have constituted a Court which would really be permanent, in place of a simple international tribunal. He expressed the ardent hope that these conclusions would be approved, especially by the delegates from England, Russia, and the United States.

The particular suggestions of M. Descamps were not pressed, and the idea of having a President of the entire proposed court was found to be absolutely unacceptable to several of the continental Powers. The very questions of rank and precedence which the existence of such an exalted functionary might raise, were found to be by no means trifling. And it was felt that whatever advantages might accrue from such an emphasizing of the idea of permanence, they nevertheless seemed to be more than counterbalanced by the corresponding embarrassments.

The critical moment of the discussion had now the discussion, arrived, when Professor Zorn, on behalf of the German Empire, took the floor for the purpose of opposing the idea of a permanent tribunal. His speech

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