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The Lith Interpvarliamentary OGonference which met in Vienna sisson
per 8, 1903, unanimously adopted the following Resolution of the
Danish Interparliamentary Group, reported by Fredrik Bajer, which
contains the gist of the Resolution now proposed, without the ini
ain Tor its execution, and is as taitews!
Considering that Art.27 of the Convention as to the peaceful so-
lution of International differences, voted by the Conference at the
Hague, 1899, imposes upon the signatory States "the duty, in case of
@n acute contest threatening to break out between two or more of then,
of reminding these that the permanent Tribunal is open to them;" and
Considering that the fulfillment of this duty wiil be greatly fa-
Cilitated if this reminder comes from a confederacy of Powers, whose
weight of authority will be increased and their responsibility less-
ened in proportion as the number ot Powers linked together for this
purpose grows:
The Interparliamentary Conference expresses its desire, that the
Powers which signed the Hague Convention should, as far as possible,
agree to act in concert, and, in the most practical way, to fulfill
the engagement which the above Art.27 lays upon then, |
The Fourth Scandinavian Peace Congress held at Skein, Worway,—
July 25, 1901, passed the following Resolution:
This meeting considers that this Convention should embrace amon:st
its provisions the following:
ist. States should as soon as a favorable opportunity offers,
unitedly or separately, declare themselves fundamentally and perma-~
nently neutral,
ea. It is the duty of these States to prevent the explovnent of
force in their reciprocal relations, and especially to conclude con-
ventions of obligatory arbitration (See Art.19 in the Hague Conven-
tion of 1899 as to the pacific settlement of international disputes).
3a, This Peace and Arbitration Alliance should be so organized
that the States can, in common, and in the most practical way, fulfill
the obligation imposed upon the signatory Powers of the Hague Conven-
tion by Art.27, viz.: "In the case of any conflict threatening to
break out between two or more of them, to renind Sheee that the per-
manent Court of Arbitration is open to then,"
4th. The Alliance can be entered into by other duveveten States
on the conditions stipulated by the Convention.
article Lo.
The high contracting partied nave reserved to themselves the right
of concluding agreements without’ referring to arbitration all ques-
tions which they shall consider possible to submit to such treatment.
October 1, 1900, Mr.Bajer succeeded in getting the appointment
through the International Peace Bureau at Berne of a committee to
study the most practical method of forming @ Pacigerant Alliance
composed of the following persons, viz.: Predrik Bajer, Henri La Fon-
taine, Emil Arnaud, Bertha Von Suttner, Elie Ducommon, and J .Novi-
cow, This committee met at Berne March 17, 1901, in Glasgow in Oc-
tober, of the same year, and at Monaco April 5, 1902,
fwo Papers Presented.
Prom this committee two papers were presented, one from Fredrik
Bajer,Jecember 15, 1901, distributed to members of the committee, and
one from Fmil Arnaud, presented to the Congress at Monaco April 5,
1902, and, while the latter had many suggestions in common with Nr,
Bajer'ts proposition, it was found to be more involved, The Resolu-
tions presented here are the best thought of these two distinguished
authors, or, rather, of the committee or committees appointed for that
purpose, and afforg, as we believe, a reasonable and practical solu-
tion of Seb enette enbkiion of how to act, and whose duty it shail be
to act in any urgent emergency which may arise; as the violent out-
bursts of war that have arisen since the establishment of the Hague
Court show conclusively that the masses of mankind have not yet been
sufficiently cultivated and educated to rise above the resort to brute
force, unless the proper machinery is at hand to settle at once the
disagreement by Judicial procedure.
Wotable Cases Settled,
That great difficulties between nations may be settled both by ar-
bitration and by judicial process, as difficulties between corpora-
tions and between individuals are settled, is no lénger a question,
but a fixed fact--a fact established by the many great and important
treaties that have been negotiated and proclaimed before the estab-
lishment of the Hague Court, as the freaty of London, the Treaty of
Washington, the Treaty of Paris, Great Britain and Venezuela, and
others that have prevented ereat wars by an arbital settlement reached
in each case; and by judicial settlement, as in the Hague Court, the
Pius Pund case between the United States and Mexico, the Monetary
difficulty between Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy with
Venezuela and the question of Preferential Treatment, besides other
minor settlements, as the adjustment of the Alaskan boundary between
the United States and Great Britain by diplomatic negotiations, If,
then, some difficult questions can be thus settled, why not all? and
especially as the great rubicon has been crossed which our peace or-
ganizations faced so many years almost in despair, as to how we should
get two or three of the great Powers of Europe to combine and get to-
gether on this question, when Baron Pirquet, of Austria, suggested
"Wave our Secretary send all of our dixbiutions to the executives of
all the Powers ; " by and through which, together with other personal
effort, we were enabled so to move on the Czar of Russia as to induce
him to call that great International Conference at The Hague in 1899
which has become the shinies glory of the 19th century, and will be-
come, I believe, the salvation of the peoples of the 20th century.
The Principle Holds.
What does it matter that the object for which that great Confer-
ence was called, “the cessation and reduction of armaments, was lost?
Man proposes, but God disposes." The Arbitration Court was estab-
lished by the wisdom and tact of Sir Julian Pauncefote on behalf of
Great Britain, seconded by Predrick Holls for the United States. And
what does it matter that the three sreat Powers thus represented by
their ablest statesmen have since that period forgotten the pledges
that they endorsed through their honored representatives, and have
60 far lapsed back into primitive conditions as to indulge in wars?
Still the eternal principle of the Arbitration Court and of the ju-
dicial settlement through it is as pure and forcible as when first
enunciated, and it is only that some of its devotees have falien that
we see the human sacrifices of to-day, thousands of innocent victims
Slain, and a neutral country devastated to gratify a false sonue or"
honor,
The rising generation is being familiarized with the pictures and
the horrible thoughts of war, It is this great war cloud and its at-
tendant train of evils that our peace people are called upon again to
dispel, and the very crude idea that war settles anything; but that,
even when carried on by the most humane of modern methods, it arouses
and develops the worst passions of the human breast, and engenders
hatreds between individuals and peoples that many generations fail te
gwradicate. War is death and destruction; but it has no God given
force, It destroys ruthlessly the works of art and of artisans, lays
waste cities, forts, and towns, devastates agricultural and manufac-
turing countries for me benefit of nobody, and turns education and
the civilization of a country backward for decades.
The History.
But to return to the history of this Resolution, and its digestion.
At the 10th Universal Peace Congress held at Glasgow Oetober 27, 1901,
a further committee on Paciverance was appointed, including some of
the then new members of the Congress, as follows: A.Merignhac, Leon
vé Montluc, J .Novicow, Miss P.W.Peckover, Michel Rivon, Benj. .True-
blood and ME. Warwinsky, all now well known to the Peace Movement over
the world, I am not informed whether they all served on the commit-
tee, but certainly the question, and the formula for its enactment
is not new to them. They have studied the peace question moral, re-
ligiovs, and political in its various phases for years; they under-
5
stand it) in ail or its aspects, and thorouchly comprehend the signif-
icance of the question now before us; and, as I understand, approve
of it. If not, either they or their representatives are here to
raise such objections or to offer such amendments as may seem to them
meet.
Mexican Congress.
At the Pan American Congress in Mexico, composed of 19 American
Republics, comveneé October 22, 1901, at the sugsestion of Predrik
Bajer and through the instrumentality of your reporter, Mr.W.J Buch
anan, Chairman of the hoevitn delegation, seconded by Chas .M.Pepper,
offered the Resolution providing for the signing by the Congress of a
protocol affirming the convention of the pacific settlement of inter-
national disputes signed at The Mague July 29, 1899, and, in addition,
proposed to request the Government of the United States and of Mexico,
parties to that convention, to negotiate with the signatory countries
thereto for the adhesion of the American Republics. This protocok
was prepared and signed by all of the delezations to the conference,
excepting Chile and Ecuador, before its presentation to the Confer-
ence, and later was Signed by those two powers in open session.
The Conference went further, It accepted the three Harue Conven-
tions as principles of public American international law,
New Jreaties.
But we are brought still nearer to the aeme of the mechanism of
this proposed Resolution by the progress in permanent arbitration re-
cently made by some of the Huropean Powers, viz.:
The treaty of obligatory arbitration for five years concluded be-
tween Great Britain and France October 14, 1903.
Between Sreat Britain and Spain February 27, 1904.
Between Great Britain and Italy Pebruary 1, 1904, Signed December
25, 1905,
Between Prance and Spain Pebruary 26, 1904, and
Between Great Britain and Germany July 12, 1904,
The treaty between Great Britain and Norway and Sweden, signed
August 12, 1904, similar in purport to the preceding treaties, and
notably
The permanent treaty of arbitration between Denmark and the Low-
lands February 12, 1904.
Ail of these side treaties. says Mr,Bajer, are like 560 many ¢lee-
tric suns watnented each between two States, But the suns of this
network are not all of the same goodness and quality. Without doubt
the best of these treaties is the one concluded between Jenmark and
the Lowlands, It embraces all quarrels and disputes that may arise,
and is open to the adhesion of new and inquiet States, It is perma-
nent, while the other treaties concluded, commencing with the 14th
of October, 1903, are only to endure for five years. The following
is the text of this treaty signed at Copenhagen February 12, 1904,
between the plenipotentiaries of the Towlands and of Jenmark;
Art.1. The high contracting parties agree to submit to the Court
of Permanent Arbitration all of the difficulties and all of the liti-
gations between them that they are not able to settle in a diplomatic
way.
Art .2. In each particular case the high centracting parties, be-
fore appealing to the permanent Court of Arbitration, shall conclude
a special agreement, defining clearly the matter in dispute, the
scope of the powers of the arbitrators, the pericds to be fixed for
the formation of the Arbital Tribunal, and the several stages of the
procedure,
Art.3, It is well understood that Article 1 is not applicable to
the differences between matters appealable from one of the contract-
ing States and another contracting State which the tribunals of this
latter state would be competent to decide according to its own Legis-
lation. i
Bet hy States not Signatory can adhere to the present convention.
The State that desires to give its adhesion will notify “— of the
contracting states ‘fF ‘ite intention in writing, The adhesion will
take effect ‘from the date at which each of the adherent States commui-
nicated to each of the other contracting States that all of the
States had been roamestec to aceept the notification.
Art .6. if it should happen that any one ef the contracting States
should denounce the present convention, this denunciation would have
no effect wtal, after a notification had been given in writing to
each one of the. other contracting States.
Arts he’ present Convention will be ratified with as little
aerey’ as possible and the ratification will be exchanged at The Hague.
Bajer considers that it is necessary to bind together these
:
States that have already concluded treaties of arbitration before
these treaties expire and then to endeavor to renew and amend them
| until they shall. become as nearly as possible like the Holland treaty,
or even , nore perfect. I quote from "Peace by Law," of June, p. 256:
“ite vemps' has received information upon the recent treaty of arbi-
tration between Holland and venmark . This treaty marks a remarkable
‘Progress a the practice of international arbitration."
Om the same page will be found the text of a discussion opened in
the elgian Senate by the initiative of the Hon,Menri La Pontaine,
proposing for Belgium a Similar treaty to the one inaugurated by Hol-
land and Denmark or the one concluded January 29, 1902, in the Pan
8
American Congress in Mexico, Mr.Bajer also calls attention to this
treaty as opening the way for other Powers to Join in it.
oot, | |
The treaty for a Protectorate between Japan and Korea, signed at
Seoul August 22, 1904, is much like the protection the cat gives the
mouse, that a8, to eat it when she is hungry; and has the appearance
of a suzerainty ¥6 be exercised by Japan over the Hermit Kingdom;
and Russia at once onuidieeen that she is not bound by the treaty.
Whatever may be the ultimate, this ‘ieune has nothing in common with
the treaties named, Z
But the joint memorial of the four viceroys of China to tha throne
recommending that Pu tun, who recently visited the tnited States as
Imperial Commi ssioner,esent to England, France, Germany; Maetiia,
Italy and other Furopean Powers to ask that a second Rerlin Conference
like the one held after the war an Turkey and Russia be called,
with delegates from all of the Furopean nations, to take weans to ree
store peace between Russia and Tapan and to preserve the integrity
of the Chinese ebire , is worth considering.
‘The United States.
President Roosevelt,in his reaponse to the appeal of the Inter-
parliamentary Union at the Vhite Jouse September 24, said, in allud-
ing to the Government of the United States, "We are ered cow taking
steps to secure arbitration treaties with all other governments which
are willing to enter into them with us.”
“In response to your resolution, gentlemen, I shall at an early
date ask the other nations to join in a second Congress at The Hague.
i feel, as I an sure you do, that our efforts should take the shape
of pushing forward towards completion the work already begun at The
Hanne, and that whatever is now dene, should appear not as some-
thing divercent therefrom, but as a continuance thereof, At the first.
Conference at The Marve several questions were left unsettled, and
it was expressly provided that there should be a second Conference,
A reasonable time has now lapsed and I feel that your body has shown
pound juagment in concluding that a second conference ia now in or-
der ,*
"I shall call that Conference at the earliest practicable time, *
Adoption of The Resolvtion.
The time would, therefore, seem to be ripa for the adoption of
thin Resolution, So far as known, there is ne opposition or objec-
tion to it, and it is only weighted down by the inertia of inacticen.
Whose business is it? It shovld arovse the moral sense, if not the
political sense, of the civilized world, but where is the motor? The
shall notify the belligerents, whe shall notify the Powers and send
the collective note? The Resolution points to the way and the power
to move the whole machinery of the Hague Court and render it effect-
ive, In the course of dehate upon the avestion in the conference of
18s¢, Myr ellis sugeested entrusting the vresentation of the interven-~
tion to the United States rather than to the Secretary General, who
is eupposed to be an officer of the Court, Rut this also presupposea
an aereenment amonast the Powers as to who should take the initiative,
Japan and Russia,
in the present embroglic between teen and Russia the United States
has offered her eood offices throuch ovr Secretary of State, the Hon.
John Hay, but to no effeet. On June 10, 1904, it was announced from
Rone that Gernany and Itely would offer mediation if Port Arthur was
taken by the Tapanese, Beleivm has sent @& messenger to President
Roosevelt, Mons .¢.Prancotte, who arrived in this country September
10
lst, requesting him to use the cood offices of our Government for
this purpose or fey the restoration of peace between Russia and Ja-
pan; and @ special cable of September 6th announces that France is
prepared to intervene between Russia and Japan and offer her rood
offices, with a view to the conclusion of peace. "But the war roes
merrily on." No Power is authorized to offer the Collective Note
that will combine these several Powers to one purpose and set the ma-
chinery of the Hague Covrt in motion. The Resolution before us of-
Tere the remedy. Will you adopt it and euvnuvine the Secretary of
this Convention or the Commission of the Bureav, if you choose, to
notify the Powers?
Interparliamentary Conference Resolution
Resolution unanimously adopted by the "11th Interparliamentary Conference" and reported by Frederick Bajer, who was president of the International Peace Bureau. The resolution implores the world powers to commit to "the peaceful solution of International differences" as voted by the Hague Conference in 1899. Criticizes the United States and Great Britain for becoming involved in wars after pledging support for arbitration at the Hague Conference, though it is also noted that President Theodore Roosevelt is interested in calling another congress at The Hague so that the United States may "secure arbitration treaties with all other governments which are willing to enter into them with us."
Bajer, Fredrik, 1837-1922
1903-09-08
10 pages
reformatted digital
Belva Ann Lockwood Papers, SCPC-DG-098
Belva Ann Lockwood Papers, SCPC-DG-098 --http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/scpc-dg-098
Lockwood-0087