Arizona republican., 1907-06-20
OUR COUNTRY
 MAY BUTT IN
With the Limitation of Ar-
 mamentS Question
At Any Rate the Right to Do So Has Been Re- served.

The Hague, June lS--lne surprise of the second session of the peace con- ference this afternoon was the for nal reservation by General Horace Porter on behalf of the United States, of the right to present the question of the limitation of armament. Togeth- CT with this. he reserved the right to introduce the subject of the collec- ton of contractual debts by force.
 While the reservation was made. quite naturally in accordance with a notice served on Russia during the preliminary negotiations last spring. and in order that silence now might not be construed as an acquiescense in the restriction of the work of the conference to the limits of the Rus sian progress. it is believed to indicate firm resolve on the part of the Washington government, after seeing the trend of the situation here. to raise the question later if it becomes apparent that the subject is going by default.
 It can be stated positively that no proposition has yet been formulated by the American delegates, but this action has renewed the hope that the United States would bring up the question of limitation and has given great satisfaction to the pacifics. Sir Edward Fry also served notice that Greet Britain reserved the right to introduce subjects outside of the pro- grani. but less significance is attach ed to his action.
 Another interesting feature of the session was Baron Biebersteins noti- fication that Germany intended to of fer the proposition of an international prize court to which appeals could be made in a time of maritime war. and the decision of which should be final General Porter seconded the propOsi- ton on behalf of the United States. Sir Edward Fry declared that Great Britain purDosed to advance a project on similar lines.
 Tl@ second session of the peace con- ference began behind closed doors at three o'clock this afternoon. The pro- gram was carefully arranged in ad- vance in order to avoid the possibility of surprises being sprung.
 M. Nelidoff communicated to the conference dispatches from Emperor Nicholas and Queen Wilhelmina. thanking the conference for messages sent or the opening day. greeting the delegates. and expressing a hope for a successful result of their delibera- tions.
 All plenipo,entiaries later presented ] Cl ledentials. The Chinese ambassador wrote that he would be unable to be present because of the state of h.s health and that he would be repre- se nteh by John W. Foster The rules of the conference. including publicity for plenary sessions. were presented and unanimously adopted. In order to prevent friction at the outset the question of limitation of armament was ignored temporarily. though there is well defined plan to bring it up at the first favorable opportunity in the form of proposition to reiter- ate the resolution adopted by the las; conference recommending that the governments again study the subject and postpone consideration of 1t un- til the next conference.
 None of the Spanish-Americar countries except Mexico seem pre- pared to submit anything in their in- terest. The conference to them ap- pears to be confined to an extension of the principle of arbitration and tn, Drago doctrine. The delay in gettine the conference under way creates . suspicion that the leaders are deliber ately detaining the prelim.naries ir the belief that by giving the great powers more time. now that they un- derstand each other. the work will b. facilitated later. The session today lasted only one hour. The date of th' next plenary session has not beer fixed. e