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Show go 01 tice; the improvement ni the method of rreating‘ internatinnnl cmntnissions of inquiries, improvements of the rules of land and sea warfare: the prm'isinns for the greater security of neutrals, and that for the meeting Ul- zuinther cnnierence. The work (it the two ennlerences will be for the healing nt' the nations. before the brute Court was established. uatinus drifted into war. ;\ difference arose, a \ista revealingr an opportunity for party advantage opened up tn the demagneue, who is nothingT ii nut loudly and aggressively patriotic; issues were obscured and falsified. wine of the public prints misled. and tired popular sentiment. :\il rational intercourse between the contendin}; nations \\as made possible: other pnwt-rs tailed to inter? vene: there was no tribunal whose et‘iices had been previously sanctioned to appeal ti». and war was the inevitable ei'itiserptenee. \'\'liile it may be conceded that some wars hare been unavoidablr. ytt it is innre apparent that many could have been averted if there had been open such a court as that of The Hague. estab< lished by the consensus of the world. to which nations could resort without a diminution of dignity, either upon their own initiative or upon the admonition of a friendly power. General (Grant said: "though 1 have been trained as a soldier. and have participated in many battles. there never was a time when. in my opinion. swine way enull not have been found of preventingY the drawing of tln- sword I lnnl»; turward to an epoch when a court. recog- nized by all nations. nill ~cttle internatimtzil differences instead of beeping large standing armies. as th y do in litirope." Nb event that has transpired in history las even approxiv mated the profound and lasting effects that will flow from these ennt'erenres upon the peace of the world. International law had been eviilved by jurists and its principles had from time to time been sanctiiittttl by oeca ;i(ittal recognition of nations. it is merely a collectinn ("l moral teachings upon relations between governnients, 13} these cnnyentinns practically all of the powers of the world eive formal assent to some iii the most important prinei‘ plus of international law. and estal lish a permanent court coni- ]yised oi euinprtt-nt jurists from all nati .s. open at all times. for its continuous tll‘Yt 1 npment and sanctimt. a court to which it is made the duty of all siunatnry powers to admonish other signatnry powers uhirh l.azixe differences to report, it being cxpresslv provided that such reminder shall be regarded as an expression of good offices. As was said in tlte First Conference by liarnn d'listournellcs: "War has been solemnly characterized as a contlagration, and every responsible statesman has been appointed a tirentau, with the tirst duty of puttingr it out or preventingr its spread." To the line Conference we are indebted more, than any other causes that now the entire civilized world is enjoying the blessings iii a general peace such as prevailed at the. comingr of the l‘rinee of Peace. u hen the shepherds heard the proclamation, "(Jn e: ‘th peace. good will to men." Since the establislnnent of the llagtte l‘erntanent (1)1111; by the First l'eaee Conference at The Hague. there have been. up to janitary i. won. nitietydive arbitration treaties negotiated by tliirtyusix g‘nverinncnts. (it this number Secretary Root nego- tiated twenty-tour. Most of these treaties reserve from arbitration questions which ati'ect "national liniiar," "iiulependence" and "vital interests." A few. however (notably those negotiated by Denmark and the Netherlands. liebruary 1:. 1904, and Denmark and Jtaly. December 16. 1905‘), :gree to submit tn arbitration all ditterences without reservation of any sort. 'l‘here have been decided by the Hague Tribunal the follow- incr cases: 'l‘he l‘nited States bl America versus the ['uited Mexican States, knmru as "The l'ius Fund of the (‘alifnrniasf' Germany. (ireat liritain and Italy versus Venezuela, relating to the settlement of German claims against \l-nezuela. (treat Brit- ain. France and (ierniauy versus Japan. with regard to exemp- tinn by the Japanese (_im'et‘titiietlt of leased lauds frnin taxes. tireat llritain versus li‘rance, involvingr the question of certain Muscat (lltnws tn lly the lireueh tlag. ()ne of the int-st important events ‘ 'uwiuer directly out of the prm‘isiuns (if the llag'tte (‘nnt'erenee was the tinding' (it the International Cnnnnissinn (If inquiry between (ireat liritain and Russia, arising: nut nf the North Sea incident. 'l‘liis uudnubt- edly prevented war between two til the great powers. In February. won. the delegates of ten wt" the principal maritinie powers si ' ed at lmtttlutt a convention for regulatingr war< fare at sea by diluting (‘Ullll'flllitntb neutral rights, blockade. etc. On November [903, l5ranee and (ierniany entered into a |