AT THE HAGUE

AND ITS BEARINGS ON INTERNATIONAL

LAW AND POLICY

BY

FREDERICK W. HOLLS, D.C.L.

A MEMBER OF THE CONFERENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES

OF AMERICA

Justitia elevat gentem

New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.

1900

All rights reserved

RO0232 90975

To His Majesty

NICHOLAS THE SECOND

EMPEROR OF RUSSIA

THE AUGUST INITIATOR OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE

THIS VOLUME IS, BY PERMISSION

Most Respectfully Dedicated

PREFACE

THE Peace Conference at the Hague in 1899 has passed into history. From the time of its inception it has naturally been the object of much discussion, and of every variety of criticism. Of enthusiastic welcome it received but little, and even that little rarely came from leaders of thought or action. Its lofty aim did not save it from sarcasm, cynicism, and even condemnation. The good faith of the originating government was openly challenged or derided, at best the idea was patronizingly called an Utopian dream"-"a misprint on the page of history," according to the gloomy pessimism of a distinguished historian.

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By a singular but well-nigh universal misconception of its object, it was at first persistently called the "Disarmament Conference," and the gradual abolition of armies and navies, as well as "eternal peace," was by implication assumed to be its ultimate object.

Accordingly, theoretical discussions on the abstract justice or injustice of warfare immediately arose, while hardly any preparatory work of value regarding the

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