The age-herald., 1902-01-20
ARBITRATION Is
 STILL DISCUSSED Question May Come Up Again in Pan-American Conference STRONG EFFORT AGAINST II There Are Some Subjects That the Conference Will Have to Aban-
 don-DeIegates Anxious
 to Finish TheirsWork.
STRONG EFFORT AGAINST II

Mexico City. January 19.-Though the arbitration question in the Pan-American conference is supposed to have been dis posed of, there is some prospect of it's being again introduced. However. q strong effort will be made by the more conservative delegates to prevent any thing of the kind. It is now frequently asked can the conference finish its work before the end of the month. If 1t does, 1t will have to handle the remaining re- ports in a business-1ike manner and eschew speeches made for purely oratori- cal effect.
 There are some questions that the con- ference will be compelled either to aban- don or refer to special bodies. Among these is the report on patents and trade marks, of which the decision is set for tomorrow. When this report was dis cussed before it developed such differ ences of opinion that 1t alone would fur nish matter for discussion for month. It will probably be recommended to re- fer this subject to the committee of five jurists who are to be appointed at Wash ington to codify the principles of public and private international treaties.
 Jurist Question Reopened.
 It is probable that the conference will reconsider it's decision in regard to the committee of jurists and recommend the i appointment of two European members on the committee, both for the sake of the assistance they will be able to gain fx<xx in the hope that the work thus initiated by the conference of American states in Mexico may prove basis for the codi- fication of the laws of nations in gen. 1 eral
 A matter that has aroused general in- terest in the report of Gen. Rafael Reyes of Colombia on the means of fiuvial communication in South America. If the contention of General Reyes Is correct 1 to the effect that only a comparatively I few miles of canal digging is necessary connect the Amazon system of rivers with the Plate system, undoubtedly a most important fact for the future de- velopment of southern territory has been propounded. The delegations of the 1 South American nations interested in this matter intend to recommend that their respective governments make an appro- priation for the further investigation of the means of fuvial conviviation, and definite practical measures to hold an in- 1 terfluvial congress at Rio de Janeiro in which all of said nations will be repre- scented, six months after the closing of the Pan-American conference.
 Arbitration Treaties Talked Of.
 The passing of the arbitration treaties through the conference is still the sub l ject of conversation here. The Chilian party claims that its ideas have triumph ed since from the very start the dele gates of Chilli proclaimed themselves in 1 favor of The Hague treaties ana finally | the action of the conference was to ad- 1 here to The Hague convention. On the other hand 1t canno. be doubted that the l advocates of compulsory arbitration into the conference have scored a great diplo- matic victory in procuring admittance for their convention embodying their prin- ciples The difficulty both active and pas sve with which they had to contend with l are enormous. They themselves now say 1 there were moments when they felt in clined to give up the struggle in despair. 1 Their final success proves that the Peru vian and Argentine representatives here played wonderful hand in the diplo- matic game. As the conference was to be held here the Mexican government considered that It's representatives ought not to receive aIy remuneration for their services. Most of them are lawyers who ] have been neglecting large practices for the sake of their work in the conference and the difficulty they have had to keep l the peace and prevent open rupture has been very arduous.