The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-23

eddy have prevented the accomplish
ment of anything whatever.
There were many MISUNDERSTANDING
and mistaken reports concerning the
! matter of press representatives. There
were no objections whatever to the
presence of journalists at the opening
session of the conference, but the hall
! in which the meeting was held was
absolutely crowded merely by the dele
gates themselves. Their secretaries
and other employees literally could not
| find standing room. Sixty feet above
the floor of the hall, under the very
top of a dome is a little circular gal
lery. This furnishes crowded sitting
room for about eight people, and is
the only place from which the interior
of the hall can be seen. 1t was decided
to offer this gallery to as many jour-
naliStS as could get into 1t, and the
Dutch government, which had charge
of the arrangements, out of courtesy
to the delegates, settled upon the plan
of admitting one newspaper represent
alive for each of the important coun-
tries. 1t was owing to this plan, which
the crowded condition of the hall made
absolutely necessary, that the amusing
tale was published, saying that certain
newspapers mad been solemnly selected
by the conference as the representative
journals in their respective countries.
After the first day l was the only
newspaper man admitted to the Palace
in the Woods, and L was not admitted
as working journalist.
The general belief was, when the con-
ference began, that England and the
United States would work absolutely
in harmony. They did to some extent
support each others propositions, but
it was against the will of England
that the American plan of arbitration
ference as the one to be most carefully
considered. Three plans were submit
ted-one by America, one by Russia
and one by England.
The idea of disarmament was
promptly abandoned as impracticable
1t instantly became evident that not
one delegate had taken this proposition
seriously, and the conference did not
even take time to discuss it in COM
mittee 1t was in these committee
meetings and not in the sessions of the
conference that the real work was ac-
compliShed-
1t was one of the first committee
meetings that the delegates for these
European countries which had endeav-
ored to conspire against us at the time
of the Spanish-American war showed
their hostile hands for the first and
last time. At this meeting it became
evident that certain governments in
tended to take advantage of the peace
conference to clip the wings of the
American eagle. Within the year they
had been taught that these wings were
mighty, and were capable of carrying
the interesting bird not only from ocean
to ocean in his own dominion, but
wherever else he pleased to soar This
effort on the part of the Europeans tc
prevent future American flights came
in the shape of blow at Americas
Nicaraguan canal plan. There is no
American enterprise at which Europe
looks with more suspicion and dread
than she does at the probability of COM
plete American control of this proposed
water highway between the two great
oceans. 1t fell to the lot of Frederick
w. Hollis, the secretary of the Ameri-
can delegation to discover a little joker |
in one of the propositions submitted
which might have. resulted seriously. |
This joker was a passage adroitly and |
worded which provided |
for nothing less than control by COM
mttee OF the powers, of all inter- !
oceanic canals in time of war; Mr.. |
Hollis so vigorously and completely |
shattered this bright European dream |
that Europe could no longer doubt the
ability of our delegates to look after
the affairs or doubt the positive GER
tainty OF a firm stand on the part of |
the United States against anything
which might in the slightest degree
prove contrary to the interests of |
America.
The greatest secrecy was maintained |
throughout concerning the plans of the
conference in relation to a revision of
The rules of actual warfare. Early. in !