The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-06-21
AT THE HAGUE.
Crisis OF the Discussions Reached.

NEW YORK, June 1S.-The SUMS
special from the Hague states that
crisis has now been reached in the
work of the Peace Congress, and the
issue no longer rests with the dele
gates. The negotiations have come to
a virtual deadlock, and the situation
has been referred to the governments
themselves for calculation. The mem
bers of the conference will mark time
for few days until instructions are
received from headquarters which will
settle the question of whether the at
tempt to make war more difficult will
be abandoned or some small practical
benefit gained.
Those who sanguinely believed that
the millennium would date from April
Is, 1899, have been encouraged by the
announcement that one or another sub
committee has agreed by majority
vote to some proposal designed to miti-
gate the horrors of war. 1t was false
encouragement. No measure which
fails to command the practically unani.
nous support of the Peace Congress
has any chance of adoption or of gain
ing force in international law. In
other words, any single great power
possesses the function of decisive veto
against any measure which may be
proposed. AS matter of fact, every
single proposal of any Importance
which has come before the committees
of the conference has encountered this
fatal opposition.
1t is even probable that certain hui
name measures, which every civilized
country is willing to adopt in the form
of instructions to army and navy COM
manders, will be rejected when il
comes to question of incorporating
them in international law. The rea-
son is that as laws they involve the in
tervention of neutrals, and there is
strong opposition among the delegates
against adding to the power of neu-
trails who might become belligerents
by citing violations of international
law, real or reported, as justification
| for their interference. This ground
of opposition is given against even the
| humane code for the protection and
care of the wounded at sea, drawn up
by the Geneva convention committee.
| The same reason has been cited in the
discussions of the Brussels agreement
committee.
The American delegates fully real
ize that there is no chance for the
adoption of their proposal for neutral
izing private property at sea. There
are many special reasons urged against
this measure, but the only general one
is that it seriously weakens the strong
eat deterrent from war, namely, the
loss and inconvenience sustained by
combatants.
The one important question on which
all attention is centred is the fate OF
the proposed arbitration tribunal. There
is other opposition besides that of Ger
many to this scheme, but it is unim-
portant. Russia, for instance, is OPP
posed to the constitution of a central
bureau, as provided for in Sir Julian
Pauncefote's scheme, and therefore II Q
British plan has been modified. The
German delegates received fresh in
structions yesterday, which are not
made public, but there is no reason to
believe that they tend toward harmon
izing the situation. In fact, it is well
known among the delegates today that
the German Government regards the
conference as complete failure and
| any agreement as impossible.
In consequence of the German oppo-
sition to organized obligatory srbitra-
ton new scheme has been proposed,
which is largely the work OF the Amer
lean delegates. 1t consists OF the crea-