Chapter V

Cordial

welcome to the United

States.

ration, as presented, constitutes a binding notice upon every Power represented at the Conference, forever estopping each one of them from thereafter quoting the treaty to the United States Government in a sense contrary to the declaration itself. The greatest advantage of the latter, however, is the fact that it leaves to the United States absolute and perfect freedom of action, and this, in view of the recent extension of American power, especially in the far East, is of incalculable importance."

Whatever may be the view of certain critics in America, there can be no doubt that the representatives of Europe at The Hague were impressed with the spectacle of the great Republic of the West, crowned with the prestige of a recent brilliantly successful war, proclaiming itself, nevertheless, in the most solemn manner possible, a member of the family of civilized States, abandoning its time-honored but inadequate policy of selfish isolation, and, without departing in the least from the true ideals of Washington and Monroe, still coöperating cordially with European and Asiatic nations for the highest objects of human endeavor. Nor did any of them, it may safely be assumed, agree with the curious and preposterous contention that the consequences of the Spanish-American War, especially in the far East, had in the slightest degree impaired the value or force of the Monroe Doctrine. It was with particular pleasure that the United States, having safeguarded the principal interests committed to it, by this declaration, coöperated most cordially and unre

servedly with the delegation from the great Republic Chapter V of Europe, in impressing the idea of the duty of joint efforts for peace on the part of all civilized nations, into the international law of the future.)

strike out the

The representatives of the Balkan States, notably Efforts to of Servia and Roumania, made strenuous efforts to word "duty." omit the word "duty," and their repeated reference to the distinctions between great and small Powers gave occasion for a spirited reply from Professor Zorn of Germany, in which the cordial adherence of the German Empire to the Convention as reported by the Committee was most forcibly and unreservedly declared, and later on for a speech from M. Bourgeois, which ended with an outburst of eloquence which electrified the Conference and led to a withdrawal of all hostile motions:

Bourgeois.

"The moral duty," said M. Bourgeois, " of the pro- Speech of M. visions of Article 27 is to be found entirely in the fact that a common duty for the maintenance of peace among men is recognized and affirmed among the nations. Do Do you believe that it is a small matter that in this Conference not in an assembly of theorists and philosophers, debating freely and entirely upon their own responsibility, but in an assembly where the Governments of nearly all the civilized nations are officially represented the existence of this international duty has been proclaimed, and that the idea of this duty, henceforth introduced forever into the conscience of the people, is imposed for the future upon the acts of the Governments and of the nations? My colleagues who oppose this Article

T

Chapter V

Bourgeois.

will, I hope, permit me to say this: I fear their Speech of M. eyes are not fixed on what should be their real purpose. In this question of arbitration they appeared to be concerned with the conflicting interests of the great and small Powers. I say, with Count Nigra, here there are no great, no small Powers; all are equal in view of the task to be accomplished. But should our work give greater advantages to any Powers, would it not assuredly be to the weakest?

"Yesterday, in the Comité d'Examen, I spoke in the same strain to my opposing colleagues. Is not every establishment of a tribunal, every triumph of an impartial and well-considered decision over waring interests and passions, one more safeguard for the weak against the abuses of power?

"Gentlemen, what is now the rule among individual men will hereafter obtain among nations. Such international Institutions as these will be the protection of the weak against the powerful. In the conflicts of brute force, where fighters of flesh and with steel are in line, we may speak of great Powers and small, of weak and of mighty. When swords are thrown in the balance, one side may easily outweigh the other. But in the weighing of rights and ideas disparity ceases, and the rights of the smallest and the weakest Powers count as much in the scales as those of the mightiest.

"This conviction has guided our work, and throughout its pursuit our constant thought has been for the weak. May they at least understand our idea, and justify our hopes, by joining in the

effort to bring the future of Humanity under the Chapter V majesty of the Law."

council.

ARTICLE 28. A permanent administrative Coun- The adminiscil composed of the diplomatic representatives of trative the Signatory Powers accredited to The Hague, and of the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs, who shall act as President, shall be constituted in that city as soon as possible after the ratification of the present Act by at least nine Powers. This Council shall be charged with the establishment and organization of the International Bureau, which shall remain under its direction and control. It shall notify the Powers of the Constitution of the Court and provide for its installation. It shall make its own by-laws and all other necessary regulations. It shall decide all questions of administration which may arise with regard to the operations of the Court. It shall have entire control over the appointment, suspension, or dismissal of officials and employees of the Bureau. It shall determine their allowances and salaries, and control the general expenditure. meetings duly summoned five members shall constitute a quorum. All decisions shall be made by a majority of votes. The Council shall communicate to each Signatory Power without delay the by-laws and regulations adopted by it. It shall furnish them with a signed report of the proceedings of the Court, the working of the administration, and the expenses.

At

This Article as originally reported by the Committee restricted the membership of the administrative council to diplomatic representatives "residing" at The Hague. Upon motion of Baron de Bildt on behalf of Sweden and Norway, this was changed to

Chapter V

Provision for

of the

"accredited to The Hague." It was found that quite a number of Powers accredited one minister to various other Powers besides Holland, and such representatives, of course, had no permanent residence at The Hague. It was recognized, however, that all Powers who share in the expense of the Court should be represented, if they chose, in the administrative council.

ARTICLE 29. The expenses of the Bureau shall be the expenses borne by the Signatory Powers in the proportion established for the international bureau of the International Postal Union.

Bureau.

According to the rules of the international postal union the Signatory Powers are grouped in classes according to their size and presumptive wealth, and each class divides among its members equally the burden of bearing a fixed proportion of the total charges. This method has worked equitably and without objection, and was therefore indicated as the most practical rule to follow with reference to the Court of Arbitration. The expense of each particular litigation is regulated in Article 57.

Chapter III. On Arbitral Procedure

The remaining Articles of this Convention form a simple Code of Procedure for use in all cases, where the parties themselves do not provide rules of their own, for the particular case to be submitted. The desirability of such a code has been hitherto recognized in almost every case of international arbitra