Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-04-11
QUESTIONS or MOMENT TO AMER IcA TO BE CONSIDERED
 AT CONVENTION
TO HEAR VENEZUELAN MATTER
CASE or FISHING BOATS FIRED ON BY RUSSIANS ALSO TO
 BE TAKEN UP

Boou cluctS oI Lne tHteTHdtIOudl coufl of arbitration at The Hague are again
 to be invoked to settle important inter.
 national disputes, tbis time in matters in which the American government is vitally interested. It will not be the first occasion in which recourse has been made to that august tribunal in
 issues in which this government has fig ured, the cases of the Pious Fund of
 the Californias and of the "preferred
 creditors" of Venezuela which were
 awarded preferential treatment follow
 ing blockade of her ports, both hay
 ing been passed upon by the court and each of importance to the United
 States. Neither of them, however, are
 regarded as of as great consequence
 as that, primarily, of the ipterpreta-
 tion to be placed on Article One of the
 Treaty of ISIS touching the rights of
 Americans to fish in the waters of
 Newfoundland andJ secondarily, the is-
 sues to be arbitrated as result of the
 agreement recently reached between
 MT. Buchanan, the American special
 commissioner and President Gomez of
 Venezuela, both of which are to go to
 The Hague The compromise" negoti-
 ated by Secretary Root with Ambassa-
 dor Bryce which incorporates the fish
 cries dispute to be arbitrated, has been
 ratified by the senate and the two
 nations interested have agreed on the
 arbitration. In submitting to The
 Hague so important principle as that
 involved in the fisheries controversy
 both the American and the British gov
 ernments are giving that tribunal B
 prestige in the initial stages of it's ex.
 istence which is regarded diplomatcally
 as an international occurrence of the
 first magnitude and one calculated to
 have great influence in inspiring similar action by other nations burdened with
 international disputes, which, if not ad
 justed, may lead to serious results The
 findings of the court will be awaited
 with the greatest interest and impa-
 tience by the New England fishing in
 terests for it means much to that hardy class of men who yearly make the New
 foundlard shore their rendezvous and who supply large portion of the north eastern markets with fish food products. Their treaty rights have been ques- toned, their work interfered with and they have suffered from the attempted enforcement of certain local laws or regulations the privilege to enact which has been warmly contested by this gov
 ernment. The disputes are of long standing and each country, confident of the correctness of its own contentious, is expected to abide by the decision of the court. Because of the long time allowed for the preparation of the ease, the submission of arguments, etc, it will be more than a year before the questions in dispute are fully before the tribunal for decision.
 Years of effort and of arguments by the state department failed of success in reaching basis of settlement of the disputes with Venezuela, which fin ally came as a result of suggestions | made by President Gomez, after Castro left Venezuela and when that country | was being harassed by the action of the l Dutch war vessels sent there by Hol | land following the breaking off of | freindly relations between the two na- tions. Secretary Root received in cordial spirit the advances made by | Gomez and sent MT. Buchanan to Ven. ezuela promptly with full instructions to deal with the subject of the settle ment of the claims and the results of | his labors arc said to be satisfactory alike to both the state department and | to the South American republic. The strained situation which had preceded Mir. Buchanan s mission for so long a period was source of regret to Secre- tary Root who has taken great deal of interest in the well being of our sis ter republics to the south and he point ed out that the American government had on repeated occasions iutervened as ! friend in need in behalf of Venezuela to relieve her from disagreeable and dangerous complications with other powers. That a majority of the dis putes are to go to The Hague is re- yarded favorably, for it removes any opportunity for charges of force or in which might have been made against this government had they been settled directly between the two The willingness of the Unit. d States to thus dispose of them, it is 'ointed out, demonstrates to the nations # this hemisphere its faith in the honor 'nd" fairness of the court, leaving to he fate of that tribunal questions af- ecting the interests of countries in which this government, in some re- poets, exercises a paternal interest and n whose behalf it always stands ready o uphold the Monroe Doctrine.
 Various phases of three disputes go o The Hague as result of Mir. Bu.