The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-03-26
ARBITRATION NO NEW THING.
Dates BACK to Ancient Grcecc--Thc
Venezuelan Case the Twcnty-fOurth
in Enu'nnG's HISTORY
From the New York Tribune.


From the New York Tribune.
Great Britain's agreement to the pro-
posal of the United States that she
should submit the points at issue in her
dispuate with Venezuela to interna-
tional arbitration is entirely in keep
ing with her modern history. 1t is the
tWenty-fourth question which she has
submitted to arbitration, the principle
of which may, therefore be considered
as having definitely become part and
parcel of her foreign policy. The same
may be said of the United States, which
has some eighteen arbtratiUns to her
credit, and there is no doubt that this
method Of settling disputes SO conso-
nant with the dictates of humanity
and civilization, will grow in populari-
ty in proportion to the increase of the
ruin the horrors and the CUstliness of
war.
Yet it would be wrong to imagine
that arbitration is an invention of mod
ern times or an offspring of nineteenth
century enlightenment 1t played an
extensive role in the history of ancient
Greece, Perander being chosen to set
tie a quarrel between Mitylene and
Athens, while Themistocles was chosen
to arbitrate the differences between CO.
rinth and Curcyra. Some nine cases of
arbitration are on record as having Qc-
CURED in Europe in the eighteen GEN.
tury, while in the present century there
have been, taking them altogether.
well-nigh a hundred instances of the
same kind
No little credit is due to the Interna-
| tiOn Peace Society for the increase in
the adoption of arbitration as the best
means of bringing disputes between ma
! tiunS and governments to a satisfactory
conclusion Founded within a few
months after the battle of Waterloo
| and the close of the disastrous Napo-
| leoniC wars, for the express purpose
| of promoting universal peace by means
of international arbitration it has since
| grown phenomenally in power and in
| tiuence, and from time to time has hello
| congresses, some of the most important
of which are those which took place
at Berne in 1884 in London in 1851, and
at The Hague in 1913.
OTHER ARBITRATTONS.
one of the most important arbitra
| tions that have taken place in the
present century is the so-Caled Ala
bama claims arbitration, which helC
its sittings at geneva and was or
| ganized for the express purpose of de
Gliding the amount of compensation du
by the English government to the Unit
ed States for the remissness of tn
| British authorities in permitting Con
| federate priVateers destined for the de
| struCtiOn of the maritime trade of tn
United States to be equipped in Englisl
ports. The tribunal was composed o
five persons named by the queen o
England, the president of the Unite
States, the king of Italy, the emperO
of Brazil and the president of tn
Swiss Confederation respectively, an
the bench thus constituted rendere
| judgment against the English govern
ment to the tune of some $4,000, 600.
Among those who have been select
ed by conflicting governments as al
btratorS of their differences have bee
the late Emperor William of Germany
the late king of Holland, the late Mar
shal Mcmahon (While president of tn
French rebulic), the present pope, VIII
arbitrated the quarrel between GEL
many and Spain on the subject OF tn
Caroline Islands, and the president c
the Swiss republic, whose services Wer
invoked only a few months ago by tn
English government to determine tn
merits of its dispute with the Amert
can Republic of Colombia. Sometime
persons other than the chiefs of state
are selected as arbitrators, and tn
newly appointed British ambassadC
at Paris, Sir Edmund Monson, who wa
at Washington with Lord Lyons uurin
the presidency Of Abraham Lincoln
| IA lar