In response to the invitation of His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, delegates from twenty-six countries were assembled at The Hague on the 18th of May, as members of a conference in the interest of peace.  The commission from the United States consisted of the Hon. Andrew D. White, the Hon. Seth Low, the Hon. Stanford Newel, Captain Alfred T. Mahan, of the United States Navy, Captain William Crozier, of the United States Army, and the Hon. Frederick W. Holls, secretary.  The occasion seemed to be opportune for the serious consideration of a plan for the pacific adjustment of international differences, a subject in which the American people have been deeply interested for many years, and a definite project for a permanent international tribunal was included in the instructions to the delegates of the United States.

The final act of the conference includes conventions upon the amelioration of the laws and customs of war on land, the adaptation to maritime warfare of the principles of the Geneva Convention of 1864, and the extension of judicial methods to international cases.  The Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Conflicts embodies the leading features of the American plan, with such modifications as were rendered necessary by the great diversity of views and interests represented by the delegates.  The four titles of the convention provide for the maintenance of general peace, the exercise of good offices and mediation, the formation of commissions of inquiry, and international arbitration.

The mediation provided for by the convention is purely voluntary and advisory, and is intended to avoid any invasion or limitation of the sovereign rights of the adhering States.  The commissions of inquiry proposed consists of delegations to be specifically constituted for particular purposes by means of conventions between the contesting parties, having for their object the clear understanding of international differences before resorting to the use of force.  The provision for arbitration contemplates the formation of a permanent tribunal before which disputed cases may be brought for settlement by the mutual consent of the litigants in each separate case.  The advantages of such a permanent tribunal over impromptu commissions of arbitration are conceived to be the actual existence of a competent court, prepared to administer justice, the greater economy resulting from a well-devised system, and the accumulated judicial skill and experience which such a tribunal would soon possess.

While earnestly promoting the idea of establishing a permanent international tribunal, the delegation of the United States was not unmindful of the inconveniences which might arise from an obtrusive exercise of mediation, and in signing the convention carefully guarded the historic position of the United States by the following declaration: