Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-12-03

I vited to the paragraphs upon this sub l ject in my message of December, 1906, and to the resolution of the third Amer of 1906 The convention upon this subject adopted by the conference sub stantially as proposed by the American delegates is as follows:
 'sIn order to avoid between nations armed conflicts of purely pecuniary origin arising from contractual debts claimed of the government of one coun- try by the government of another coun- try to be due to its nationals the sig natory powers agree not to have re- course to armed force for the collec- | tion of such contractual debts.
 However, this stipulation shall not be applicable when the debtor state refuses or leaves unanswered an offer l to arbitrate or, in case of acceptance, makes it impossible to formulate the terms of submission or after arbitra- tion fails to comply with the award rendered.
 "It is further agreed that arbitration here contemplated shall be In con- forrnity as to procedure with chapter 8 of the convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes adopted at The Hague and that it shall determine in so far as there shall be no agreement between the parties the jus tice and the amount of the debt, the time and mode of payment thereof" Such provision would have prevent ed much injustice and extortion in the past, and I cannot doubt that its effect in the future will be most salutary.
 A third advance has been made in amending and perfecting the conven- tion of 1899 for the voluntary settle ment of international disputes and par ticularly the extension of those parts of that convention which relate to commissions of inquiry. The existence of those provisions enabled the govern ments of Great Britain and Russia to avoid war notwithstanding great pub ger bank incident, and the new conven- tion agreed upon by the conference gives practical effect to the experience gained in that inquiry.
 Substantial progress was also made toward the creation of permanent judicial tribunal for the determination of international causes. There was very full discussion of the proposal for such a court and general agreement was finally reached in favor of its creation. The conference recommend ed to the signatory powers the adop- ton of a draft upon which it agreed for the organization of the court, leav ing to be determined only the method by which the judges should be select ed. This remaining unsettled question is plainly one which time and good temper will solve. :. aviss.,
 A further agreement of the first i'm portance was that for the creation of an international prize court. The con- Stitution, organization and procedure of such a tribunal were provided for in detail. Any one who recalls the in justices under which this country suf- fered as a neutral power during the early part of the last century cannot fail to see in this provision for an in- ternational prize court the great ad- vance which the world is making to- ward the substitution of the rule of reason aud justice in place of simple force. Not only will the international prize court be the means of protecting the interests of neutrals, but it is in itself a step toward the creation of the more general court for the hearing of international controversies to which reference has just been made. The or ganization and action of such a prize court cannot fail to accustom the diff ferent countries to the submission Of international questions to the decision of an international tribunal, and we may. confidently expect the results Of such submission to bring about a gen eral agreement upon the enlargement of the practice.
 Numerous provisions were adopted for reducing the evil effects of war and for defining the rights and duties of neutrals.
 The conference also provided for the holding of third conference with in a period similar to that which elapsed between the first and second conferences.
 The delegates of the United States worthily represented the spirit of the American people and maintained with fidelity and ability the policy of our government upon all the great ques- tions discussed in the conference.
 The report of the delegation, togeth- CT with authenticated copies of the conventions signed, when received will be laid before the senate for its consid- eration.
 When we remember how difficult it is for one of our own legislative bodies composed of citizens of the same coun- try, speaking the same language. liv- ing under the same laws and having the same customs, to reach an agree ment or even to secure a majority up- on any difficult and important subject which is proposed for legislation it becomes plain that the representatives of forty-five different countries, speak ing many different languages, accus- toned to different methods of proce- dure, with widely diverse interests, who discussed so many different sub jects and reached agreements upon so many. are entitled to grateful apprecla- ton for the wisdom, patience and mod eration with which they have discharg-