The age-herald., 1899-07-22
PROCEEDINGS
 AT THE HAGUE Prohibition of Dropping ExpIo-
 siveS from Balloons. SIR JULIAN PAUNCEF0TE Expressed Regret That Plenary Ses- sion Had Been So Suddenly Sum- moned-Andrew D. White
 Made Important Speech
SIR JULIAN PAUNCEF0fE

The Hague, July 21.-Baron De Staal pre- sided at the plenary session of the interna- tional peace conference today to place the final seal upon the labors of the first com mittee. The first point of M. Karnebeck's report dealing with prohibition of dropping explosives from balloons was unanimously agreed to. The second point, prohibition of the use of asphyxiating projectiles was agreed to by all except the United States and Great Britain, whose abstention nulli- fies the agreement for this.
 The third part, which relates to expand ing bullets, occupied the major part of the sitting owing to the ques- tion of the dum-dum bullets used by the British army. Sir Julian Pauncefote expressed regret that the plenary session had been so suddenly summoned, as the British government had intended to make a statement regarding the dum-dum bullet. The conference agreed to leave the min utes of the session open for the insertion of the British statement.
 Andrew D. White, the head of the United States delegation, then made ah important speech in opposition to prohibition of such bullets as the dum-dum. MT. Whites ar
 
 delegates and especially when he explained that the adoption of the proposal as sub mitted would not prevent the use of an- other bullet, which had already been in- vented and which would attain the same end the dum-dum, but in a more cruel manner. The new missile, MT. White said, was outside the specific definitions of the present proposal. Captain Crozier, the military member of the United States dele gation, proposed as a substitute the fol- lowing:
 "The use of bulletts should be prohibited which infiict unnecessary cruel wounds, such explosive bullets and in general every kind of bullet exceeding the limits necessary to put man hors de combat.
 Sir Pauncefote announced that he would accept Captain Crozier's proposal, but it was rejected by vote of F to S.
 M. Van Karnebecks version was then adopted, Great Britain and the United States alone voting against it, and the Por- tugues delegates abstaining from voting. The eight countries voting for Captain Crozier's proposal were the United States, Great Britain Denmark, Greece, Seryia, Portugal, China and another All except the first named supported the Crozier pro- posal only in the hope of securing unanimi- ty in the conference, Captain Crozier's pro- posal being more general in its terms while it was known that the impossiblity of ob- taining adhesion of the United States and Great Britain from M. Van Karnebeck version, would render futile any convention on the subject
 The remainder of the report was then adopted. Before the close of the sitting the American delegates announced that they withdrew the articles which they had pro- posed should be added to the Geneva con- venton, Captain Mahan explaining the req son for the additional articles and why they were withdrawn.
 The labors of the conference are now concluded with the exception of the work before the arbitration committee.