New Britain herald., 1914-05-28
MIGHT HAVE SETTLED
 MEXICAN PROBLEM
Hague Conference Proposal Of Con- mission Investigation, Says White.
MEDIATION PLAN HAPPY OMEN


 Important Office of Limited War
 or ReprisaIs' to Prevent Conflicts. Mohonk Lake, N. Y, May 28.-An- drew D. White, who was president oI 1 the American delegation of the first Hague conference, expressed the | opinion here today that the difficulties between the United States and Mexico i could have been settled more easily 1 by taking advantage of the machinery ] provided by The Hague agreement. In an address before the twentieth an- nual Lake Mohonk conference on in- ternational arbitration, MT. White said: While we support our present 1 administration at Washington in its effort at mediation now going on. one cannot but think that if a com mission of inquiry in accordance with the proposal of the first Hague con- ference had taken up and reported the result of an examination of the | offenses which brought on the present | difficulty between our country and | Mexico the whole difficulty now so portentous might long since have | been ended"
 Mediation Happy Omen.
 At the same time MT. White united with other prominent peace advo- cates here in declaring that the A. B. c. mediation was a happy omen for the cause of world peace.
 Neutrality snatches from the jaws of war some of the blessings of peace for those who are able to hold aloof and restricts to the minimum the hcrrors of the conflict" he said, and continued:
 No Neutrality Without War.
 Recently we have witnessed situation in which for several weeks an Amrican force has been maintained an American force has been maintained into a state of war. Without war, there can, of course, be no neutrality, but in a state of reprisals or coercive measures short of war, there is pe- culiar situation for third states not . directly concerned-quasi-neu we might call them. It would be we'll if some country would propose at The , Hague the discussion of the principles , governing this peculiar situation. For just as neutrality helps the cause of peace, so will these measures, short of l war be found to afford a substitute less terrible than war itself. :. "This state of limited war or re- :, prisals-this hay borderland between . peace and war-is, I am convinced destined to play @ great part in the amelioration of international rela- tions. As soon as the important countries recognize this, and facilitate
 recourse to reprisals instead of fore ing a war as quasi-neutrals they vii
 be willing to put up with 1ncon
 veniences to their commerce for the H sake of the general good.
 Had this country been able tc
 establish a blockade of Mexican ports , without a declaration of war, it migh |. have been possible to refrain from f actually seizing Mexican territory. IT any event we could have put step g zure until found necessr" l towards actual.sd declared that he r MT. Nae positively, although not f |, quote his authority that a proposi- tion to start the court with nine members has been made and tha, this proposition promises to be fav- orably viewed by the governments to which it will be communicated
 Countries to Be Represented
 He named the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria Hungary, Italy, Russia and Japan and the Netherlands as the countries to be represented.
 He expressed the hope that if the court, once established, should com mand the respect and regard of the sovereign states of the world as the supreme court of the United States under Marshall had won the conf- dence of the sovereign states ot the | union.
 Supreme Court of World. | The supreme court of the world ought to be set up and at work with ir another two years, declared Henry P. Mcfarland. Nothing is lacking for this supreme court, which is to be known as the international court of arbitral justice, except an agree ment upon its membership. The Hague conference of 1907, at which the court was established in name did not agree upon the composition of