The Peace Conference At The Hague And Its Bearings On International Law And Policy (1900) (Paperback)

THE PEACff- CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE AND ITS BEARINGS ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLICY BY FREDERICK W. HOLLS, D. C. L. A MEMBER OF THE CONFERENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Just It ia elevat gentem gork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON MACMILLAN CO, LTD. 1000 All PoPYlHOHT, 100 1, BY TIIK MAOMILLAN COMPANY. Rotten ft fltrBB J. 8. CimhitiK A ii. - UiTwlrk s Smith MUHN. U. S. A. XrCHOLAH TUB SECOND KMPKKOIt OK lUHHIA TUB AUCHST INITIATOlt OF TUB PRACK CONFERENCE TIMS VOUMK IS, U PKKMISSION fJHost JJcspcrtfuUa 3DlJiratcB PEEFACE THE Peace Conference at the Hague in 1899 has passed into history. From the time of its inception it has naturally been the object of much discussion, and of every variety of criticism. Of enthusiastic welcome it received but little, and even that little rarely came from leaders of thought or action. Its lofty aim did not save it from sarcasm, cynicism, and even condemnation. The good faith of the originating government was openly challenged or derided, at best the idea was patronizingly called an Utopian dream a misprint on the page of history according to the gloomy pessimism of a distinguished historian. By a singular but well-nigh universal misconcep tion of its object, it was at first persistently called the Disarmament Conference 7 and the gradual abolition of armies and navies, as well as eternal peace, was by implication assumed to be its ultimate object. Accordingly, theoretical discussions on the abstract justice or injustice of warfare immediately arose, while hardly any preparatory work of value regarding the vii vhi PREFACE practicable and attainable objects of such a gathering was done 3 either by publicists or journalists. When thp Conferenceopened, speculation was rife as to whether or not it could last a fortnight with out ending in a quarrel, and perhaps precipitating a general war. The modest and unostentatious as well as business like way in which the Conference organized and immediately went to work, made the first distinctly favorable impression, and for a while there seemed to be ground for hope that continental public opinion would at least suspend judgment. This hope was destroyed largely through the un fortunate attitude of many important members of the Conference toward the press. That secrecy, during the progress of the work of a diplomatic gathering, was indispensable was readily admitted by the jour nalists themselves, some of whom were the most eminent in their profession, and all of whom were men of high standing and ability. With their scepti cism, however, regarding the ultimate outcome, even a slight show of an uncompromising, haughty, and even hostile attitude was sufficient to convince them of the uselessness of further attention under adverse circumstances. The fact that disarmament could not even be discussed was, of course, soon evident and taking this fact as proof of the failure of PREFACE ix the Conference, the press, with a very few notable exceptions, withdrew its representatives from The Hague, and contented itself thereafter with sup plying its readers with the fragmentary and often inaccurate - snatches of information supplied by irre sponsible sources. In consequence, and also because the official records of the Conference have only lately been published, it may be said that hardly upon any recent event of importance is even the reading public less com pletely informed than upon the workactually accom plished at the Peace Conference and its practical value. Under these circumstances it is hardly surprising that the events which have taken place, notably in South Africa and in the Far East, since the adjourn ment of the Conference, should have resulted in deepening the prevalent misconceptions regarding its results and their importance. Fortunately the waves of honest disappointment and of ignorant abuse can no longer rise to a point where the work itself might be endangered...