Some items in the TriCollege Libraries Digital Collections may be under copyright. Copyright information may be available in the Rights Status field listed in this item record (below). Ultimate responsibility for assessing copyright status and for securing any necessary permission rests exclusively with the user. Please see the Reproductions and Access page for more information.
| Arbitration and the Treaties.
[A paper from Belva A. Lockwood, read at the Thirty-first Anniversary of the Universal Peace Union.]
f}, difficulties, contentions between States and nations, and those horrid
vw wars that in the past have devasted the public and private domain,
and have destroyed public and private property without stint or remorse,
and have wounded, slaughtered, massacred public and private enemies, as
well as the neutral, and women and children, who must ever suffer most.
In a great war there is no respect for property rights and very little for
human life. Men, for the time being, are converted into savage beasts—
deal out rations of liquor to increase their ferocity and made to believe that
xilling men will make them great.
From our peace standpoint we believe that war is a relic of the barbar-
ism of the past, that settles nothing but the superiority of low, cunning or
brute force, and that it is high time that nations professing to be civilized
and Christian were educated out of it.
We believe that as a people we have progressed beyond a condition where
there is even a plausible excuse for it, because in these days, as has been
abundantly demonstrated, every difficulty arising between nations may
he settled, as individual difficulties are settled, judicially. Of course judi-
cial settlements of international difficulties are still in their infancy, and
therefore necessarily c ude. |
During the late Civil War, and ever since, the Peace Societi s have been
making a crusade against war, but in the midst of our hero worship were
unable to make themselves felt by the masses of the people The Univer-
sal Peace Union came into existence because of the apathy or dereliction of
duty of Peace Societies in existence during the war. It was a trial of prin-
ciple and many friends of peace felt they must wait the issue of war and
suspend their meeting. Not so with some radical advo. ates of peace.
The Universal Peace Union elected as its president a man who had _ been
drafted into the army. but declared that he would not take human life, or
sanction its taking by any other person. He terocially refused all of the
active provisions of the conscription laws, willing, however, to bar the
penalties. He was wonderfully preserved. I attended my first peace mee’
I »HIS simple word arbitration contains a panacea for all neighborhood
4
ing in the winter of 1868, in Union League Hall, Dies: following a suf-
frage meeting and was so profoundly impressed with its principles, so
much in consonance with my own, and ever since that time I have belonged
to the Universal peace Union ranks. We made progress slowly,as the suc—
cessful close of the War of the Rebellion had made everybody but the wid-
ows and orphans, and the owners of desolated homes in the South, jubilant.
After atime we had our Washington Arbitration Society, and Peace Soct-
eties multiplied, until in 1889 the Rev. Amanda Deyo and myself were
elected by the Universal Peace Union to represent them at the first of what
has since become a series of International Congresses at Paris, France It
was during the great French Exposition and we had secured space and had
a small exhibit in the centre of the Exposition grounds, cemposed of peace
pictures and relics, the Constitutions of the Boards of Trade of our country,
whose difficulties are always settled by arbitration, peace literature, etc,
gotten up by the Peace Societies. |
I was made a member ot the Committee of Honor, at Paris, before my
departure, and on the opening of the Congress sat on the right of the Pres
ident, Fredric Passy, in the old historic Trocadero, the relic of the exposi-
tion of 1868, and was vociferously called out to makea speech at the French
capital in behalf of the United States. At that Congress a resolution was
introduced by Madame Greiss Traut, asking that the Congress be made a
cotinuous annual Congress, and the resolution was adopted. |
In June, 1890, the International Congress was held in London, in West-
minster Town Hall, and Levi K. Joslin and myself were the delegates from
the United States and David Dudley Field was the presiding officer. At
this meeting lords and bishops, as well as layman, came in to speak and en-
courage the work, and some ministers withdrew because the organizing
committee refused to have the sessions opened with prayers, the committee
arguing that as we had with us the Jew, the Greek,the Buddhist, the Catholic
and the Mussleman, it was impossible to agree upon the form of praver.
‘The Lord Mayor gave the Congress a reception. The Queen opened Wind-
sor Castle for us and the English committee gave us a grand dinner at one
of their best resturants, so that forever after the status of the International
Peace Congress was fixed. This ore had been called directly after the close
of the immortal Pan-American Congress, in Washington, which pledged the
United States, as well as all American States, to Arbitration, an! then io-
vited-the Christian nations of the world to join them in this compact. _
The third Congress was held in Rome with Signor Bonghi as president.
and it was there that one of our American delegates, the Rev R B. How-
ard, secretary of the Boston Peace Soci-ty, lost his life undera physician's
knife. It was at this Congress that the idea crvstallized for the formation of
a central International Bureau, which should become the depository of all
peace literature, a centre of information on all peace subjects, and the
duty of whose members shall be to carry out the resolutions of the several
Peace Congresses, prepare the subjects for discussion at each recurring
Congress, select the place for the next meeting, and see to the appointment
fa local committee of arrangements. The first committee consisted of fif-
~ members. The idea of the selection was to find pers ns not only favor-
‘o the bureau and zealous of the cause, but representing as fir as pos-
5
sible a certain area of territory.. Alfred H Love,of Philadelphia, was made _
the first delegate of the bureau for the United States, but at the fourth In-
ternational Congress, which was held at Berne, Switzerland, in 1892, Mr.
Love, not being present, Benj. F. Trueblood, of Boston, secretary of the
American, Peace Society was elected in his stead, and I was elected as rep-_
resenting American womanhood. At this fourth Congress Louis Rauchon-
net, formerly president of the Swiss Republic, was the presiding officer. ht
was at this Congress that we were taken through the Swiss Alps, the Four
Cantons on Lake Lucerne and banqueted at the city of Luzerne. Each
Congress contained a larger representation from the various nations, became
more interesting and commanded more respect, as, for instance, this fourth
Congress was opened in the Hall of the Swiss. Fed :ral Council and the
Council voted money to assist in defraying its exnenses. At each new city
also there was secured the adhesion of noted and distinguished men and_
women. It was at this Cougress that the Baroness Bertha Von Sutner, of
Hammersdorf, Austria, was made a member of the _ International
eraareay, and = who has since. performed — such splendid work
in the interest of peace and has found:d the Austrian Peace Society. She
is the author of ‘‘Die Wafflen Neider,” and many other peace works, and
with her excellent husband, the Baron, spends all of her leisure time and
money in the interest of peace. | |
The Fifth International Congress was held in Chicago, in August, 1893.
under the auspices of C. C. Bonney, who conducted that wonderful series of
International Congresses that became the crowning glory and interest of
the great Exposition. It was whilethis Congress was in session that the
news flashed over the wires that the Bering Sea trouble, known as the
Treaty of Paris, had been finally settled by arbitration and a_ decision
reached. At once congratulations were cabled from the Congress to Queen
Victoria and to President Cleveland. I wasone of the organizing commit-
tee of that Congress, Benj. F. Trueblood was chairman and the then Secre-
tary of the State Department was its presiding officer.
On the Exposition grounds in that wonderful building of minufactures
i and arts the United Peace Societies had an exhibit of which Alfred H.Love
was chairman, and there was organized :during that year of 1893 an
American branch of the International Peace Bureau, which was ratified by
the Bureau at Berne, as follows, viz.: Alfred H. Love, president ; Belva
A. Lockwood, secretary ; C. C. Bonney, Wm F. Aldrich and Rev Amanda
A. Deyo, associates. A record book for peace friends was opened
at our Peace section in the Exposition Building and nearly 7,000 names of
friends of the movement with their addresses secured, and two long tables
filled with peace papers and magazines were constantly being distributed
to the friends who called in to investigate. Allof the Peace Societies sent
their organs free, so that all in all much good was accomplished. The
United Peace Societies received a gold medal. I received a beautiful certi-
- ficate of meritorious service in the peace work, and altogether the opportu-
nity was not lost. Many of the Peace Societies of the various countries
sent their banners to decorate the space occupied.
Tne Sixth Congress in 1894 was called at Autwerp, under the patronage
of King Leopold, who appointed thirty statesmen of his kingdom to rende
6
the Congress a success, sent a telegram of congratulation on its organi-
zation, and 500 francs from his private purse, while the city of Antwerp
voted 1,000 francs more. In this city the Mayor gave the Congress, which
was held in the finest hall in the city, a reception, and the city of Antwerp
gave the members of the Congress a ride of twenty-five miles on the beau-
tiful Scheldt, and’an elaborate banquet on shipboard. Horeau de la Haye,
a member of the Belgian Senate, was the presiding officer of this Congress,
and Henri Lafontaine, a member of the Belgian Chamber, was made secre-
tary. Sy REP 2
During this year a Peace Society was organized in every canton in Swit-
zerland, and Peace Societies began to multiply in Italy and Germany, and
in Norway, Sweden and Denmark having previously taken the lead in peace
matters. Fredric Bajer, a member of the Danish Reichsrath, having been
promptly elected president of the International Bureau on its first organi-
zation, and who still retains this position on it, a new impetus had been
given to peace matters, and the peace Congress was gro wing strong and
influential. In the meantime the Peace Societies in the United States, now
numbering fifty branches, had taken on new zeal, had been put in com-
munication with each other through the Branch Bureau, located since 1893
at 619 F. Street, N. W., Washington, D. C., and through it with the main
Bureau at Berne. Thusa chain of communication with the Peace Societies —
of the world has been established, so that each Society is cognizant every
month of what the other Societies are doing, the parent Bureau at Berne
publishing a bulletin of events and publications every two weeks, ard the
branch Bureau at Washington sending promptly to Berne any bill or resolu-
tion introduced into the United States Congress looking to peace and arbi-
tration, or smacking too strongly of war, and often preparing and causing
to be introduced bills looking to arbitration, or to prevent appropriations
for war ships. And when a large war cloud arises on the horizon, the sec-
retary writes to all of the Peace Societies and other prominent peace friends
whom she can trust. asking them to pelt the Senate or the Committee hav-
ing an obnoxious bill in charge with letters and petitions against it from
over ‘the whole country, until that committee begins to wonder
whether it really understands the sentiments of its constituents or not.
Af er the passage of the Sherman Resolution in 1889-90, which gave to
the President of the United States power to make overtures to negotiate
Treaties of Arbitration with any nation with whom the United States is in
treaty relations, and those memorable words of the Pan- American Congress
in April, 1890, when it declared that hereafter it shall bea f. ature of Ameri-
can public law, that all ditferences between American Stztes shall be set-
tled by Arbitration, and th n lingering as though its work was not yet com-
pleted, they resolved toinvite the civilized nations of the world to join with
them in permanent Treaties of Arbitration. All this remained as a dead
letter on the statute book until near the close of President Harrisons admin- |
istration, and when the preparation for the World’s Fair waxed warm, invi-
tations were sent out from the State Department to all European powers,
‘inviting them to join with us in permanent Treaties of Arbitration. Swit-
tland promptly accepted the invitation, ard Denmark followed in the lat-
sart of 1892, while Great Britain came into line witha unanimous vote
y
7
of the Commons in 1893, andJuly 8th, 1895, France accepted the invita-
tion by a unanimous vote ot her Chamber of Deputies, saying that ‘the
times-had changed, and that she had been impelled to this step by the
influence of the Peace Societies. Promptly were the papers in all of
these cases sent to the State Department. But that Executive body did
not formulate, nor did Congress ratify any of them. |
In the winter of 1895, January 19th, Wm. Randal Cremer, then a mem-
ber of the British HouseofCommons, came to this country with a petition
signed by 354 members of that honorable body, asking our Government to
ratify that treaty. His petition was presented to the President, to the Sen-
ate and the House, and before a committee of the latter body. He was
treated almost with derision, but he faithfully performed his duty.
Owing to tho failure to act of the Dutch Committee at the Hague, there
was no International Peace Congress in 1895, and the secretary of the
American Bureau spent her time at the Exnosition at Atlanta, making peace
speeches, distributing peace literature. and collecting names in the record
book. A little after tnis time one of our peace members, Felix Moscheles,
of London, conceived the idea of using the powers of the bureau to some
purpose, and he wrote to our secretary, Elie Ducommon, of Berne, to call
upon every Peace Society in Europe and America, through his channels of
communication. to hold simultaneously a peace meeting, and each and
every One in a resolution which he worced to pledge themselves anew to
peace and arbitration. The invitations were sent out and almost unani-
mously adopted.
But in the midst of these preparations for peace meetings President Cleve-
land sent that wonderful message to Congress that aroused the whole —
world, declaring that the Monrve doctrine would be carried out on this con-
tinent. with an almost implied threat of war if the Venezuela boundary
question was not at once submitted to arbitration.
You know the rest of that history, the Arbitration Conference at Washing-
ton in April,1896, and the happy conclusion ofa permanent treaty at Wash-
ington on January 11th, 1897, when Sir Julian Pauncefote, for the empire of
Great Britain, and Richard Olney, for the United States, affixed their names
to a document which should be as immortal as the Government itself, com-
mitting the two great English speaking nations of the world to permanent
arbitration.
But the Senate of the United States, that great body whom weare accus- |
tomed torevereand worship, in a wrangling debate of many days, some of
which would hardly do credit to school boys, rejected this important treaty
by.a failure to secure the necessary two-thirds majority for its ratification.
The country was disappointed, for the rejection was against the better senti-
ment ofa majority of the peace loving people of the United States, who sent
petitions for its ratification to the United States Senate. Great Britain was dis-
appoirted, forit was in answer to ourinvitation that she had accepted the |
treaty. The whole world was surprised! It would have marked an era in
peace, in culture, in civilization if it hadbeen promptly ratified, and it
stands to-day asthe acme of painstaking diplomacy. .
We demanded of Great Britain that she arbitrate with Venezuela, and that
arbitration has been happily consummated, but we have refused to arbitra‘
8
with her. Still weare proud tosay that a majority of the United States Sena-
torsvoted inits favor. President McKinley, almost against the sentiment of
his party, strongly urged the ratification of the treaty in his inaugural ad- _
dress.
Since its rejection he has wisely determined to send the treaty with some
modifications back to Congress, when it convenes in December next.
Knowing as we do the temper of our people, that the legal fraternity, the
judiciary, the clergy, the faculties of our universities and colleges, our
boards of trade and commerce, the labor unions, the farmers’ alliance, and
all of the activities and industries of the country favor the treaty, and de-
sire only peace, we believe that it will*rise from the shock that has been
given to itand that it must, and will, be accomplished. We believe also
that it will cause a peaceful revolution in the war tactics or diplomacy of
the world. : !
_.The Treaty of Paris, the first Treaty of Washington, the Treaty of Lon-
don, grand as they were, all: pale into insignificance in importance beside
this treaty. It will become a beacon light to the nations of the civilized
word. Wecan only expect it and pray for it. ae
- The seventh International Congress was held at Buda Pesth, Hungary,
1897, in the midst of its grand centennial anniversary. The city and the
authorities showered honors and favors on the Peace Congress. ‘The city
wasat their service. Gen. Etrenne Turr, who fought with Garibaldi, and
who had been over fifty years a warrior, now thoroughly a peace man,
was its presiding officer. He is what every person should be, in thorough
mastery, of himself. | )
The influence ofthe Peace Congress was so great on the Government of
Hungary that her Legislature a few weeks after its session passed a resolu-
tion in favor of arbitration.
This year the Congress has met in Hamburg, Germany, and we trust and
hope that it will be able to count its victories in the land of the Hohenzo-
lerns. Word is just received from the president, Mr. Passy, a vice president
of the Universal Peace Union, and one of its delegates, giving us assurances
of the success of the Congress.
Washington, D..0., August 29a, 1897.
'Arbitration and the Treaties"
Gives a brief overview of the history of the peace movement, with a focus on international congresses.
Lockwood, Belva Ann, 1830-1917
1897-08-23
7 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-0076