Evening star., 1907-08-23
Text of American Proposal at
Hague Conference. =
BE DISCUSSED AUG. 28
Agreement Made With Germany and
Great Britain
FOR PERMANENT ARBITRATION
A Movement to Put Off Debate on tho
Proposition to the Next Con.
IL
ference-Details.

THE HAGUE, August 23.-The text of tho
American proposition for the establishment
of permanent court of arbitration has
been completed in agreement with Germany
and Great Britain and will come up for dis
cussion August ~. 1t cons SITS of twenty six
articles. The first article records the de-
sire of the signatory powers to organize
an international high court of justco
easily accessible and tree of charge, with
judges representing the various systems Of
laws of the world and capable OF insu,ing
continuation of arbitration by jurispru-
dence.'
The second provides that the judges must
be ''jurisconsults of known competence in
international law, seleCt ted SO far as pos-
sble from the members OF the permanent
court of arbitration"
Terms of Judges.
According to the third and fourth articles
the judges are appointabe for terms OF
twelve years and will enjoy diplomatic
privileges and immunities while exercising
their functions.
Article ) provides that the court shall
consist OF seventeen judges, nine forming
a quorum.
Article & allots the appointments to the
various nations.
Article provides that the high court
yearly shall appoint three judges W tn three
substitutes. constituting special tribunal
which can, If necessary, try cases elsewhere
than at The Hague.
Article says that the president OF
the court shall be elected every three years
by majority of the votes.
Compensation Not Fixed
Article . deals with the payment OF
the judges. The amounts are not fixed,
but the proposal contemplates fixed yearly
salary, besides special remuneration when
engaged in cases. and travelling expenses.
Article 10 forbids judges from receiving
remuneration from their own or other gov
ernmentS for services in connection with
the high court.
Article IL says that the court shall
Sit at The Hague except In cases of force
ma)eure and the special instances provided
for by article Z.
Articles u and 13 deal with secretarial
matters.
Article ii states that the high court shall
sit once or twice yearly, in July and Janus
ary.
Cases for High Court.
Articles 15, 16, IL and 1S relate to the
cases which the high court is competent to
try.
Article 10 provides that Each party
shall be entitled to have its own judge to
participate in the trial of cases submitted
to the court. If a special tribunal acts as
a commission of inquiry, even person not
connected with the court can participate in
a trial
Articles 90, q and 90 deal with the court
procedure and the calling of witnesses.
Articles % and "a empower the court to
establish its own rules.
Article % proposes the ratification of the
convention at The Hague as quickly as posa
s.ble.
Duration of Convention.
Article 26 proposes to establish the dura-
ton of the convention. but the term is not
Yet fixed. Any signatory power is entitled
to renounce the convention by notifying
the Dutch government two years before
the eXpiry of each period, but the conven-
tion remains intact for the other powers.
The special commission which has been
examining the proposition to establish q
supreme international prize court yesterday
approved the project drafted by the United
States, Great Britain, Germany and Franco
by 10 to votes, the minority being DR..
Ruy Barboza, head of the Brazilian delega-'
ton, and Senor Esteva of Mexico who obs
iected to the grouping of the powers, ac-
cording to their rank, for the appointment
of judges.
Time for Study Urged. .
President Neidoff has informally inter-
viewed the presidents of the committees on
the advisability of postponing the discus
sion of the proposed permanent court OF
arptratlon until the meeting OF the next
conference, recommending that the powers
in the meanwhile study the question. No
decision in the matter has yet been ar
rived at.
In order to reach unanimous under-
standing about the high court of justice, It
is suggested that all countries appoint a
judge each, who shall meet at The Hague.
thus appointing a special tribunal accord
ing to article of the American PROPOSE
ton, which would really become a high
court of justice.
The redrafting of the American PROPOSE
ton regarding the collection of contractual
debts according to the observations made
during the debate has practically been fin
ished. The only important alteration OF
the original text is the suppression of the
words Implying the use of naval and mill
tary forces where it says lit is agreed
that there shall be no recourse to coerCiva
measures, implying the use of naval or
military forces for the collection of said
tra1.tnal debts >,