PLATFORM

OF THE

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL LAKE MOHONK CONFERENCE ON INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION, 1909

(The Platform is the official utterance of the Conference and embodies only those principles on which the members unanimously agreed.-Ed.)

The Fifteenth Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, meeting on the tenth anniversary of the opening of the first Hague Conference, reviews with profound satisfaction the signal advance of the cause of international justice during the decade, a progress unexampled in any previous period in history. The memorable achievements of this period are at once an inspiration and an imperative call to renewed effort. We urge upon our Government, which has been so conspicuously and so honorably identified with the progressive policies of The Hague, prompt action toward perfecting the important measures there inaugurated and the complete development of the system of arbitration. We especially urge its early initiative in the establishment of the International Court of Arbitral Justice. We further urge the negotiation of a general treaty of arbitration between all nations, and look forward with increasing hope to the day when treaties of arbitration shall provide for the reference to The Hague of all international differences not settled by regular diplomatic negotiation.

The clear logic of the Hague conventions prescribes the limitation and gradual reduction of the machinery of war by the nations parties to those conventions, corresponding to the development of the instrumentalities of law and justice for the settlement of international differences. The great armaments of the nations, whose intolerable burdens prompted the call to the first Hague Conference, have during the decade increased so portentously as to have now become, as recently declared by the British Foreign Secretary, a satire upon civilization. They fill the world with apprehension and alarm; they create an atmosphere unfavorable to the system of arbitration; and their drain upon the resources

of the peoples has become so exhausting as to menace all national treasuries and disastrously check the social reforms and advances which the interests of humanity demand. It is the opinion of this Conference that the time has arrived for carrying into effect the strongly expressed desire of the two Peace Conferences at The Hague that the governments "examine the possibility of an agreement as to the limitation of armed forces by land and sea, and of war budgets" and address themselves to the serious study of this pressing question. Accordingly we ask our Government to consider whether the peculiar position which it occupies among the nations does not afford it a special opportunity to lead the way toward making these weighty declarations a basis of public and concerted action.

RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY DELEGATES PRESENT FROM BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS.

(Forty-three prominent commercial bodies were represented at the Conference. The delegates from these bodies, a list of whom will be found page 95, united in the adoption of the following resolution.-Ed.)

Resolved, That the representatives of the organized business interests of the country, assembled at the fifteenth annual meeting of the Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, desire to again express their hearty endorsement of the broad and beneficent purposes of the conference, as expressed in its many utterances favoring international arbitration in the settlement of disputes between nations, to the end that war, with all its horrors, may be avoided, and trade and commerce may be protected from its blighting effect.

The rivalry among civilized nations for increased armaments is greatly to be deprecated.

We believe the time has come in which nations should depend upon justice.

Therefore, we advise that nations trust to arbitration rather than force, to courts rather than arms, for the adjustment of international disputes.

We urge upon the President of the United States taking the initiative in leading the nations to a concurrent, proportionate reduction in the armies and navies of the world.

THE FIFTEENTH ANNUAL LAKE MOHONK CONFERENCE ON INTERNATIONAL

ARBITRATION

First Session

Wednesday Morning, May 19, 1909

The Fifteenth Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration met in the parlor of the Lake Mohonk House on the 19th of May, 1909, at 10 o'clock in the morning. The meeting was called to order by Mr. ALBERT K. SMILEY, the host of the Conference, who, in welcoming his guests, said:

OPENING REMARKS OF MR. ALBERT K. SMILEY The Fifteenth Annual Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration will please come to order.

I do not intend to make an address, as it would not be fair to succeeding speakers for me to go into details. I do want to say, however, in opening this Conference that not only am I especially pleased to welcome so large a number of eminent men and women, but that I am very optimistic concerning recent events in their bearing on world peace. Never before, it seems to me, has there been so close a bond of sympathy and good will between nations. The reference of so many new cases to the Hague Tribunal, the work of Secretary Root in negotiating arbitration treaties, the plans to determine our Canadian boundary, the settlement of a case by the Central American Court of Justice, the peaceful solution of the Balkan situation, our remission of nearly $12,000,000 of the Chinese indemnity, the great world wave of sympathy and generosity following the Sicilian earthquake-all these and many other events are exceedingly hopeful; and whatever its ethical or legal side, it is a highly encouraging sign of a growing world sentiment when a man like the late President Castro of Venezuela is prevented from returning to further exploit his country and to defy the world. I am gratified by the results of the great Peace Congress just closed in Chicago and of the Naval Conference of London, as well as by the growing activity of all the best peace societies. There seems to be a gain in everything that tends toward the submission of

international differences to arbitration, and I believe that more and more of the nations will avail themselves of this means of settlement and that there will be a corresponding decrease in the number of wars.

On the other hand, I exceedingly deplore the fact that some of our great nations, our own among them, are so rapidly increasing their armaments. No one wishes more than I that armies and navies might be largely done away with, and no one appreciates more keenly the economic distress which great armaments impose on the people. I have given the matter much thought, but heartily as I deplore the situation, I must admit that I see little hope of early relief and little prospect of reaching an international agreement on a definite plan of limitation unless it may be, indeed, that the very excesses we now deplore may entail such burdens that the people will rise and demand of their governments that some means be found to check the tremendous outlay. There is one ray of hope-I have often thought of it— that may help to solve this difficult problem. It is this: For some strong nation to take the initiative and a decided step in the line of reduction of armaments. Of all the nations there is only one that could take this initiative and that is the United States, the richest and the strongest nation in the world, separated by two wide oceans from other naval powers. This nation has in comparatively recent times by mere moral force achieved many things of great international importance. Our Canadian boundary and its freedom from soldiers and warships is one of the first examples of this kind. In more recent years we have seen the peaceful influence of the United States in averting the proposed partition of the Chinese Empire. The Russo-Japanese war came to an end largely through the efforts of our President, backed by American public sentiment. The present prosperous condition and the amicable relations between the nations of North and South America, and the great success of the Pan-American conferences bear witness to the moral force of the United States in maintaining her great national doctrine. It is well known that the establishment of the Hague Tribunal at the first Hague conference was due in large part to the unceasing efforts of the American Delegation under the lead of that great statesman, our former Ambassador to Germany-Dr. Andrew D. White-who is with us to-day. It was mainly the influence of this country that secured the participation of all the American states in the second Hague conference and brought about the adoption of the Porter proposition, putting an end to the unrestricted use of armed force in the collection of contract debts. The United States stands at the head of the nations in its advocacy of upright and frank diplomacy, and its reputation in this respect has been built up through years of peace marred only by one or two

small wars that never ought to have occurred. A small standing army, and for most of the time a small navy, have been quite sufficient to maintain our position in the world's affairs. If to-day, with this record behind it, the United States were to take some lead, even if a modest one, in the direction of checking or lessening its expenditures for armaments, I think it would be not only a generous but a politic thing to do. It would certainly be most gratifying to me to see our country take the initiative in this matter. (Applause.)

We have not in the past considered the subject of limitation of armament directly within the scope of the Mohonk Conference, but I am very glad to furnish opportunity for its discussion at this meeting. We are this morning to have a paper by Dr. George W. Kirchwey, a member of the American Commission appointed by the Berne Peace Bureau for the systematic study of the subject. Following his address there will be opportunity for discussion which I hope will be free and yet courteous. Of course, whatever our individual views, it would be ill-advised in a conference like this to make any attack upon the army and navy of this or any other particular nation, but I hope we will have a good discussion from the international viewpoint; that is, from the point of view which an international conference would be forced to adopt. We will do far more to influence future conferences at The Hague if in considering these subjects we place ourselves so far as possible under the limitations they cannot avoid.

I want also to mention briefly one or two lines of work with which our correspondence brings us into close touch. The report of our Committee on Colleges and Universities at a later session will show that two-thirds of the colleges and universities of this country have come into active cooperation with us. It seems to me difficult to overestimate the value of leading so many of the young men and women in our colleges to hear and investigate the great facts of the peace movement, and I want to see this work among colleges go on.

I have, too, been greatly interested in the Pugsley Prize. You will remember that last year Mr. C. D. Pugsley, a Harvard student, voluntarily gave fifty dollars to be offered by the Conference for the best essay on international arbitration by a college student. The prize brought out fifty essays, most of them excellent, and if it meant nothing more, the mere investigation of the subject by fifty students was worth many times what the prize cost in money and labor. Mr. Pugsley, showing a splendid spirit, has offered one hundred dollars for a similar prize next year, and we ought to accept it with sincere thanks.

I need not repeat what I have so often said concerning the hearty cooperation with the Conference of the business organi