The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-20
TO PATIENTLY WAIT
ROOsEVELT's POSITION REGARD
 ING PEACE CONFERENCE.
President Has Proceeded as Fnr As Is Appropriate, and It is Now Up to the Other Powers
 SignatOry.

Washington. Sept. 19.-'Tt seems to the President that the high task un- dertaken in seeking to bring about an second peace conference is virtually accomplished so far as 1t Is appropri- ate for him to act and that with the general acceptance of the invitation In principle, the future conduct of the affair may fitly follow it's normal chan nels. To this end 1t Is suggested that the further and necessary interchange of views between the signatories of the acts of 1899 Ibe effected through the International bureau under the control of the permanent administra- tive counsel of The Hague"
 These words of the late John Hay, written December 16 last, as an in struction to the representatives of the United States accredited to the gov ernments signatory to The Hague con vention, embody the last official action of this government looking to a re- convention of The Hague conference, according to the records of the State Department. On October 21, 1904, Sec retary Hay, by direction of the Presi- dent. invited the powers to second conference, fixing no date and suggest ing an exchange of views as to the
 
 tinctly stated that the invitation was tentative. These exchanges soon fol- lowed and on December 16 of the same year. Secretary Hay wrote:
 The replies so far received indicate that the proposition has been received with general favor. No dissent has found expression. The replies of Ja- pan and Russia conveyed in light terms friendly recognition of the spirit and purpose of the invitation. but on the part of Russia the reply was accom- panied by the statement that in the existing condition of things in the Far East it would not be practicable for the imperial government at this mo- ment to take part in such confer ence"
 Therefore the President turned over the administrative counsel the con duct of the further steps necessary to secure an annunciation of the views Of the respective powers to clear the way for the reconvention of the con- ference. It is pointed out that in do- ing this, the President particularly looked to the government of The Meth erlands to issue the call for the second conference and it is the present under standing that this will be done. It is assumed that what has happened in St. Petersburg is that the Russian zoe ernment, which as above noted caused the postponement of the second con ference on account of the war, Is now about to remove the obstacle and eith- CT has notified or is about to notify the administrative council that 1t is now Willing to proceed to the second conference. The State Department so far has not yet been informed of this decision but Is supposed to accept the St. Petersburg advices as conclusive on that point. The next step in order If the normal course is followed Is definite acceptance by the powers of an invitation naming a specific date Tor the conference, and this probably Will contain reservations by most of the powers for the purpose of securing limitations of the program of topics to De considered This may naturally be expected to consume many weeks and perhaps months