ST OUTLOOK.
2
known by those to whom I speak. Let
me repeat the names of Mr. Veeder, the
chairman; of the two gentlemen whom I
have named ; of Messrs. Uogers of Buffalo,
Gilbert of Malone, Deshon and Whittaker
of Boston; of Messrs. Uobertson and
Davison. When I say that Mr. Chauneey
Depew and Professor Moore are advisory
members of the committee, I have cer
tainly named persons whom you do not
think of generally as swinging upon
rainbows, or as lying in hammooks
writing sonnets to their mistresses' eye
brows. I think, if any one of us here
had important business in hand, he would
be glad if lie could enlist Mr. Depew,
Mr. Logan, or any of these gentlemen in
his business. This committee prepared a
plan which received the approval unan
imous or almost unanimous of the
full meeting of the association. They
addressed it to the President of the
United States. Mr. Cleveland and Mr.
Olney both expressed interest in the pro
ject and proposition.
The plan is so simple that it does not
need a long statement, and I will not
read it here. It proposes that, if nine
nations can be induced to combine in the
great combination, the highest court of
each oneof them shall be empowered to
name one of its own members for life as
a permanent member of the great nation
al tribunal. If only two nations or three
agree to the plan, it can begin.
These lawyers are practical men, who
do not mean to compel a nation to ap
pear before the tribunal any more than
you compel a man, a private citizen, to
come to law, if he does not want to.
They do propose, as one of the wisest
and wittiest said to nie not long ago, to
"hang up their shingle,'' and write on it
the words, "International Justice ad
ministered here."
A court to consist of two nations, or
three, or nine, would be looked upon
with certain doubt. The least important
cases would be submitted to it first.
Some question as to whether there shall
be a seal left in the world, or a seal-skin
sacque for our grand-daughters to wear
in 1950, would be submitted to it. The
diplomats of Kussia, England, Canada,
and the United States, under great pres
sure, have not succeded in determining in
thirty years whether this interesting race
of animals, our nearest kin, as Mr. Dar
win has it, shall exist a century longer.
If there were this international court,
the diplomats would be glad to turn over
to it for an answer to the questions
which are involved. Or, -for a good in
stance, the question whether a lobster be
a fish or not, a question which the
newspapers told us six weeks ago was
going to bring the nations of England
and France into collision.
As the central tribunal decided such
lesser questions, it would be gaining
prestige and authority. It would have a
right to call for witnesses, perhaps from
all parts of the world, and for experts on
questions of science; and it would decide
them, and on such a decision the nations
of the world would wait. I do not say
they would always obey, but here would
be time given for consideration ; and the
opinion of a board of honor, integrity,
and impartiality, would be very difficult
for any nation to evade.
Let me suppose that in the harbor of
one nation the warship of another should
be destroyed by some explosion. Let me
suppose that such a permanent tribunal
as the liar association proposes has been
in existance, under favorable prestige,
for ten or twenty years. Does any one
doubt that to such a tribunal both
nations thus involved would gladly have
referred all the questions of the duties,
effects, and responsibilities of the two
nations concerned?
I speak with some care of the power of
this Supreme Court to compel the at
tendance of witnesses, because even in
great international . arbitrations there is,
in practice, no such power. In the
eighty-four years since the Treaty of Vi
enna, there have been more than eighty
four cases where questions in contention
were decided by special boards of arbi
tration. So much have we gained, and
we may thank God for the gift. Eighty
four wars prevented for the nations in
volved! So many years of peace where
there might have been years of blood
shed. But it is a pity to have to say it
each one of these courts of arbitration
has been dissolved as soon as it has done
its work. The great tribunal of Geneva,
which decided the "Alabama claim?,"
may be spoken of with the highest re
spect as perhaps the most distinguished
tribunal which has existed in centuries.
The character of the judges, their learn
ing and ability, the well-earned distinc
tion of the counsel, the importance of
the questions at issue, all gave to the de
cisions of this court the greatest interest.
The court made its decision, and the
nations obeyed; and then this dis
tinguished court dissolved, its powers
melted into thin air, it was nowhere. It
had no precedents to govern it, I might
say it had no future before it;. and it had
no power to call a witness to testify as
to the expense of a pin though the wit
ness lived in the building in which the
court was sitting. It was obliged to act
upon the statements put in by the re
spective governments. It could hardly
inquire where they received their in
formation. It could not test that in
formation by cross-examination or by
any additional testimony. Indeed, the
tribunal may be compared to the simple
arrangements of the frontier, where two
quarrelling neighbors agree to "leave out
their case to men,1' and where these men,
poor fellows, cannot summon a witness,
perhaps cannot order the production of a
title, and can ask for no information but
that which the prejudiced parties give
them.
In place of this the Bar Association
proposes a Permanent Tribunal, to be in
session from the first moment of one
century to the last moment of the next,
ready to hear any nation which wishes
to bring its questions for decision, to
hear the arguments of their counsel, to
possess itself of all the facts, and then,
without prejudice, to decide.
Such is the great opportunity which is
given to the next century, a presage, as
the czar says so well, for the beginning
of the century new born.
As Americans, we may well be proud
that a commission of our most distin
guished lawyers have connected them
selves with the details which treat of
such a possibility. It ought to be said
that the great lawyers always under
stand and recognize such possibilities. I
am tempted to read you a part of the
magnificent speech of Chaunccy Depew
when he gave his approval to the plan of
the Bar Association as between England
and America.
lie speaks of the lawyers of Charles
I.'s time, and of their leadership in that
advance which England and the world
made in the English rebellion and revo
lution. "We remember that, even in the
days of almost universal assent to the
divine authority of kings, Justice Coke
could boldly challenge and check the
autocratic Charles with the judgement
that the law was superior to the will of
the sovereign. Christian teachings and
evolution of two thousand years, and the
slow and laborious development of the
principles of justice and judgment by
proof, demand this crowning triumph of
ages of sacrifice and struggle. The clos
ing of the nineteenth, the most benefi
cent and progressive of centuries, would
be made glorious by giving to the twenti
eth this rich lesson and guide for the
growth of its humanities and the preser
vation and perpetuity of civilization and
liberty."
As Americans, I say that we are proud
that such an initiative should be given
by the great lawyers of our own country.
But, in truth, as I have said already, the
American Union is itself an object-lesson,
showing what a "supreme tribunal" is.
It is an example of authority to examine
and to decide the questions which arise
between so many States, stretching from
ocean to ocean, among men of every
pursuit and different interests and all
religions. Thus has the supreme tribun
al of America shown to the world what
is possible in maintaining the peace of
"the United States of America." With
this object-lesson, we are able to make a
step forward, which shall lead to what
Henry IV. called "the United States of
Europe," and to what we will yet call,
not the United States of Europe, but the
"United States of Christendom."
And as Christian men and women, as
we read every prophecy of the past, we
have a right to look forward with the
eye of those who believe that the good
God made of one blood "all races of
men." We see the prophecy of the past
accomplishing itself more and more dis
tinctly, as every year comes forward of
what we now call the future. More and
more confidently do we thank God that
our children, if not we ourselves, shall
live in the century
'Where the common sense of most shall hold n
fretful world In awe,
And the kindly earth shall slum)er, lapped in
Universal Law."
"Earth, wise from out the foolish past,
Shall peradventure hall at last
The advent of that morn divine,
When nations shall like forests grow,
Wherein the oak hates not the pine,
Nor birches wish the cedars woe;
But all in their unlikenese blend,
Confederate to one golden end."
Below is a correct translation of the
Czar's pe.ice circular.
The maintenance of general peace and
the possible reduction of the excessive
armaments which weigh upon all nations
present themselves in the existing condi
tion of the whole world as an ideal to
wards which the endeavors of all govern
ments should be directed. His Majesty
the Emperor, my august master, is
wholly possessed by such views. In the
conviction that this lofty aim is in con
formity with the most essential interests
and legitimate wishes of all the powers,
the imperial Government thinks the
present moment would be very favorable
for an inquiry, by means of internation
al discussion, as to the most effective
means of insuring to all the Peoples the
benefits of a real and durable Peace, and,
above all, of affixing a period to the pro-
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