constitute an argument which should prevent our Chapter VI taking the first step. The wiser view would seem to be to take the first step, and having taken that, to determine how we can take the second. "Nor can I deny that efforts in behalf of the cause which we maintain have been weakened by some. injudicious arguments. It must be acknowledged that more harm than good has been done by some of the arguments which liken private property on the sea, in all respects, to private property on land, in time of war. But this proves nothing against the overwhelming mass of arguments which, if this were the proper time and place for their presentation, could be cited in favor of our proposal. If the merits of the question itself were under discussion at this moment, if there were not other subjects upon which the attention of the world is concentrated and which absorb our activity, I would call your attention to the immense losses to which all nations. are exposed under the present system, and to the utter uselessness of these as regards their influence on the final decision of great international questions. A mere glance over the history of the Confederate The lesson of cruisers during the American Civil War shows how Civil War. serious would be the losses to the Powers directly interested, and how ineffective the result under the present system. Only three of the Confederate cruisers did any effective work; their prizes amounted to 169 ships; the premium of Insurance between the United States and Great Britain increased from 30 shillings per ton to 120 shillings; American mer the American Chapter VI Speech of chant ships, aggregating nearly a million of tons, were driven under the British flag; and the final result was the almost total disappearance of the merchant navy of the United States. If such a result was obtained by the operations of three little vessels, far from being of the first class, and poorly equipped, what would happen with the means which are to-day at the disposal of great nations? Yet all the world knows that this employment of privateers, and all the enormous loss thereby occasioned, had not the slightest effect upon the termination or even toward the shortening of the Civil War. If the loss had been ten times as great they would still have contributed nothing toward ending the contest. All that was immediately effected was simply the destruction of a great mass of property belonging to the most industrious and meritorious portion of our population, resulting in the ruin of our sailors who had invested in their vessels all their hard-earned savings. The more remote general effect was to leave throughout our country a general resentment, sure to be the cause of new wars between the United States and Great Britain, had not a wise treaty of arbitration removed it. The only effective measure for terminating war by the action of a navy is the maintenance of a blockade. "In these days transportation of merchandise by land has so developed that the interruption of such transport by sea cannot, in general, contribute toward hastening the end of the war, but the effect may be so great in the destruction of wealth accumu lated by human industry, as to require generations Chapter VI to repair the loss, and thus the whole world is made to suffer. interests on the United "Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Conference: No separate the American Delegation is not, in this matter, advo- the part of cating the particular interests of our own country. States. We know well that under existing circumstances if war should break out between two or more European Powers, there would immediately be an enormous transfer of freight and vessels to neutral countries, and that from this the United States, as in all probability one of these neutral countries, would doubtless reap enormous pecuniary advantages. But my Government lays no plans for gaining advantages of this sort. Might I not be permitted here to say that a characteristic trait of my fellow citizens has been imperfectly understood in Europe. Europeans suppose generally, that the people of the United States are an eminently practical people. That is true, but it is only half the truth. The people of the United States are not only devoted to practical aims, but they are even more devoted to ideals. There can be no greater error in considering the United States, or in dealing with them, than to suppose that American citizens are guided solely by material interests. Our own Civil War shows that, from first to last, material considerations were entirely subordinate to ideal, and that nearly a million of lives, and almost ten thousand millions of dollars, were freely sacrificed to maintain the ideal of our union as a Nation, and not as a mere confederation of petty states. Chapter VI Speech of "I do not say this boastfully, but I say it that you may know what I mean when I say that the people of the United States are not only a practical people, but idealists as regards this question of the immunity of private property on the high seas. It is not a question of merely material interest for us; it is a question of right, of justice, of progress toward a better future for the entire world, and so my fellow countrymen feel it to be. "In the name, then, of the Delegation of the United States, I support the motion to refer the whole question to a future conference. And in doing so permit me, in the name of the nation which I represent, to commend the consideration of this whole subject to all those present in this Conference, and especially to the eminent lawyers, to the masters in the science of International Law, to the statesmen and diplomatists of the various countries here represented, in the hope that this question may not only be contained in the programme of the next Conference which shall be assembled, but that it shall receive thorough discussion based upon full examination of the many questions involved, and from all points of view. The solution of this great question. will be an honor to all those who have participated or who shall participate in it, and a lasting benefit to all the nations of the earth.” Upon motion of M. Rahusen of Holland the speech of Mr. White was spread in extenso upon the minutes. Count Nigra. Count Nigra of Italy cordially supported the prop- Chapter VI osition of the Second Committee, as reported by Speech of M. de Martens. He called attention to the fact that the Italian Government did not only proclaim its respect for private property on the high seas diplomatically, but had sanctioned the principle in its laws. He referred particularly to an article in the Treaty of Commerce between Italy and the United States, which provides, under the reserve of reciprocity, a recognition of the inviolability of such property. He desired that official notice should be taken of this declaration. The President directed the declaration to be entered upon the minutes, and announced that the question now was upon the adoption of the report of the Committee. Great Britain Lord Pauncefote of England announced that in Abstention of the absence of instructions from their Government, and France. the British delegates were obliged to abstain from voting. M. Bourgeois of France made a similar declaration on behalf of himself and his colleagues. Thereupon the report of the Committee was adopted unanimously, and, in the language of the American Commission, in their report, "the way is paved for a future careful consideration of the subject, in all its bearings, and under more propitious circumstances." Y |