The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-06-14
WOOLSEYS VIEWS.
Hague Conference.-The
Says, Will Not
Stop War.
ACTION so FAR A SURPRISE.
Disarmament Makes No
Progress, But AEbi-
tration Does.
ACTION so FAR A SURPRISE.

New York, June 13.-This weeks In
dependent will contain paper by The
odore S. Woolsey, professor of interna-
tional law at Yale university, on THE
arbitration proposals at The Hague"
in part as follows:
1.-THE Hague congress may have
sprung from the generous enthusiasm
of the car; it may result in little posi-
tive enactment in any one of the direc-
tions in which its inquiries have
extended, and yet it may have results
wide-reaching and beneficial.
THE difficulty in translating its con-
illusions, If any, into international
agreements, must not be lost sight Of.
Its discussions are academic, theoreti-
cal. Before they can be adopted by
treaty and become law, each state must
consider their consequences from its
own political standpoint.
Certain Of the topics prepared for
discussion by the congress are interest
ing, and would seem capable of formu-
lation into rule so far at least as the
congress itself was concerned. The
exemption of innocent private property
at sea from capture, for instance, and
the refusal TO permit bombardment of
underende towns, or the levying of
contributions upon a place under
threat of bombardment, are not outside
of the possibility of achievement.
But rather to the public surprise,
while actual proportionate disarmament
has made little Roadway, and such
subjects as those just mentioned have
not excited much interest, the POSSIBLE
ity of settling up an international court
to judge questions voluntarily brought
before II has jumped into prominence.
Russia proposed a system of mediation,
pure and simple, the essence Of media
ton being that acceptance Of the award
isnotobligatory. The Americandelegate
went further and brought forward
what was practically the plan Of the
New York State Bar Association en-
bodied In its memorial to the president
in 1896.
The first defect, and a very serious
one 1t is. in this plan, viewed as a sub
Btitute for war, is that no question be-
tween the signatOries need be submit
ted. The best feature Of a permanent
system of arbitration is or should be
that all questions of certain kinds must
be referred.
"Another defect which is more theo-
retical lies in the fact that no provision
is made for enforcement. On the other
hand, by not going very far, the Amer
lean plan runs less risk of a break
down. 1t would tend to build up a
system Of international law and pro-
cedure, which might be widely accept
ed. It would familiarize the world with
the idea of substituting law for force
in its international difficulties, an idea
so captivating, so glorious, that the
mind almost declines to listen to prac-
teal objections in its lOngings to real
ize the possibility.
Let us stand on the place Of fact and
common sense. however. and admit
that the chance OF war is not mate
rally decreased by such plans as this,
but that il is an interesting contribu-
ton TO arbitration machinery. Very
likely in trying TO roll all the plans in
TO one the value and identity Of each
will be lost. Very likely this plan, in
fact all plans will fail of adoption by
the congress. And probably the powers
will regard any plan adopted as a Gu
rious but disa agreeable attempt to put
a little state on a par with the big ones.
We as q people are much reader to in
sist that our neighbors shall arbitrate
than to do It ourselves"