Evening star., 1902-01-22
M. CAMBoN ON DIPLOMACY
FRENCH AMBASSADOR SPEAKS To
NEW YORK LAWYERS.
The Occasion Was the Annual Meeting
of the Bar Association
of That State.

The annual meeting of the New York
State Bar Association opened in Albany
yesterday. The feature Of the session was
| the address Of William B. Hornblower of
| New York city, president of the association,
| on 'The State Constitution of 1894, as AZ
| fecting Appellate Tribunals" He reviewed
i, the history of appellate courts of the state
! and told of the congestcd condition of the
| calendar of the court of appeals, which led
| to the amendments to the judicial article
of the constitution made by the constitu-
tional convention of 1884.
The feature of the evening was speech
by the French ambassador, NJ. Jules Cam
| bon in the assembly chamber.
NJ. Cambon had chosen a most interest
ing subject-the relations of diplomacy to
| the re!onment Of int rnattonal '-~ "ub-
lie and private He opened his address by
Sayl4ls .ne.e s.., 4v- --..4...s,- ,.4..on
are more misunderstood by the public than
that of diplomat. 1t is readily assumed
in some quarters, he said, that the prime
function Of a diplomat is simply to serve
on all occasions of international courtesy,
while in others it appears to be the idea
that the paths over which the diplomat
| travels are deep and dark, and that, con-
sequently, diplomacy, in it's essence, is in
trlgue, pure and simple. 1t would be diff
hcult to conceive a grosser error, said the
| idly the conditions in the fifteenth. sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries which gradually
drew the nations of Europe into mutual
determination to establish some sort of an
equilibrium among themselves, and brought
about the simultaneous birth Of diplomacy
and international law. The fundamental
duty of diplomacy, the ambassador said, is
to enforce respect for the provisions of in
ternational law and to foster their continu-
Gus development, thereby rendering essen
tial service to the advancement OF civili-
cation, and Strengthening the social bond
which links together the nations of the
world. NJ. Cambon next touched upon sew
eral of the international conventions, which
he likened to pieces of masonry forming
substantial portion of the grand edifice Of
international law. Little remains today, he
said, of the events which brought about
the congress of European nations at Paris
in 1855, after the war in the orient, yet its
rulings have left 4 lasting trace on interna-
tional law. The full portent of the new
principles proclaimed by the conference at
The Hague, he continued, is not altogether
understood as yet, but those principles are
destined to become engraved on the con-
science of humanity. The ambassador
tribute to his colleague and friend, Lord
Pauncefote, who took such an active part
in the conference at The Hague
NJ. Cambon then entered upon that phase
of his subject which touched private inter-
eSts, and the relations between nations as
to the application of their private laws to
foreigners. While We are free to admit
common rules in the domain of public law,
he said, we are forced to acknowledge that
nothing is more mutable than private law,
and the role of diplomacy is to understand
the divergence Of these laws, to seek to
reconcile them, and thus to endeavor to
protect the rights of private parties even
iii foreign land. He pointed out that
France was the first nation to enter upon
this field when. in 1850, she concluded with
Sardinia a treaty which allowed the execu-
tiOn i'm France of iudprnentS
dered In Sardinia In certain countries,
he continued, the mode of organization
creates at times unexpected obstacles to
the carrying out of international agree
ments, and in this connection the ambas-
sador called attention to the fact that the
individual rights cf the states which form
the United States at times complicate the
task of the government at Washington in
its relations with foreign powers 1t seems
he said, that, since the states can have no
individual intercourse with foreign pow-
ers, the federal government, which alone
possesses the right to negotiate on their
behalf. should be empowered to see to the
complete execution of the agreements
Which it has made
we must aim" said NJ. Cambon. in con-
cluding his address, Ito destroy all those
barriers between civilized nations which
maintain between them a certain indefn-
able spirit Of latent hostiity-a lingering
vestige of the old barbarism.'' In time Of
war private property should receive the
same protection in naval as in land cam
paigns, said the ambassador and he stated
as his opinion that the maintenance Of
prize laws robs the combatants of that at
tribute which does them the most honor
disinterested sacrifice in their country's
cause.
while much remains to be done" said
the ambassador, each day sees the nations
grow more considerate of one another in
their mutual intercourse. 1t is a notable
fact that after the recent happenings in
China, France returned TO the Chinese gov
ernment the works of art which had been
shipped to her, while President Roosevelt
has just restored to China a sum of $780,
600 which had been seized in Tientsin. Such
generous proceedings would have greatly
astonished our ancestors"