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whatever that the recent meeting on October 16, 1909, of President Taft with President Diaz upon American and Mexican soil brought into full relief the friendship of the two countries and is in itself evidence of the fact that their cordial relations are destined to continue and, if possible, to become still closer and sympathetic. Presidents do not often have the opportunity of meeting, but if the good results popularly attributed to the visits of sovereigns be justified, it would seem to follow necessarily and be too clear for argument that the frequent exchange of visits, however formal, between the chief executives of our sister republics would be an advantage not merely to the countries as such but to their fellow citizens. The example set by President Taft and President Diaz can not be too highly commended, and it is to be hoped that the example will be followed, not merely commended.

WILLIAM INSCO BUCHANAN

The sudden and tragic death of the Honorable William Insco Buchanan on October 16, 1909, closed a singularly interesting and rounded career, a source of just pride to his relatives and friends and of importance to the country he served in various capacities and always successfully during the past decade and more.

Mr. Buchanan was born in Ohio September 10, 1853, and was peculiarly and in no figurative sense of the word self-made, for from earliest childhood he was dependent upon his own exertions and never enjoyed the opportunities of our public schools, not to speak of the universities. And yet, in a certain measure, all success is made and all our successful men are self-made. Training in schools and universities help a young man to do what without their aid he must do alone and perhaps under adverse circumstances; but success in life, in our country at least, is made; it is not inherited.

Settling in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1882, it was there that he first attracted the attention of the public by organizing the Corn Palaces, a conspicuous feature in the western States during the eighties. It is interesting to note that his connection with the Corn Palaces not only brought him before the public, but attracted the favorable attention of President Cleveland who appointed him to his first public position, namely, Democratic member from Iowa to the World's Columbian Exposition, and while Mr. Bucanan was serving as chief of the department of agriculture (1890) and in charge of the live-stock and forestry depart

ments of the World's Fair (1891) appointed him envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic (1894), a post which he filled during the ensuing six years.

Mr. Buchanan took his duties as minister very seriously, took lessons. in Spanish and acquired an easy and conversational knowledge of the language, and studied with the deepest interest and sympathy not only the institutions and customs of the Argentine, but the character and characteristics of the Latin-American. Able to converse with them in their own language he acquired in familiar intercourse their personal and national point of view and, approaching their problems with sympathy, he inspired their confidence to such a degree as to be looked upon rather as a friend and adviser than as a stranger among them. A signal instance of their confidence in him as a man and appreciation of his impartial judgment was his selection by the Chilean and Argentine governments as arbiter in the special commission to fix the boundary in the Puna de Atacama, and as arbitrator he succeeded in fixing the boundary line between Chile and the Argentine Republic between latitudes 23° and 26°, 52′ 45′′ north, thus terminating a dispute marked with bitterness and illfeeling between the two countries.

Returning to the United States, he was director-general of the PanAmerican Exposition held at Buffalo in 1901, and a year later was delegate of the United States to the Second Pan-American Conference. The official report of the conference gives no adequate conception of Mr. Buchanan's very important and delicate rôle, for it is well-known that a failure to discuss compulsory arbitration at the conference would have caused the withdrawal of one section of the representatives and that a discussion of it would have resulted in the secession of the other representatives. Through the intervention of Mr. Buchanan it was agreed that partisans for and against should hold separate meetings outside. of the convention, that the members of the conference should as a whole accept the Hague Conventions and that thereupon the resolutions adopted by partisans and opponents should be reported and spread upon the minutes thus enabling the partisans of each view to present in permanen form their views, without disturbing the regular order of affairs in the conference and permit the conference as a whole to accept the Hague Conventions. It was at one time not improbable that the Second PanAmerican Conference would have broken up had it not been for the timely intervention, practical wisdom, conciliatory manner and the great judgment and tact of Mr. Buchanan.

Mr. Buchanan's successes at the Second Pan-American Conference, due not merely to his conciliatory attitude but to his profound and sympathetic knowledge of Latin-America, designated him as peculiarly qualified to represent the United States at Panama just after its separation from Colombia and its recognition by the United States in 1903. Mr. Buchanan was therefore sent as first minister of the United States to Panama, where he met and solved the various problems which presented themselves with his unvarying tact, skill and success.

In 1907 Mr. Buchanan was one of the delegates of the United States to the Second Hague Peace Conference, and upon his return from The Hague represented the United States in the Central American Peace Conference held in Washington in the months of November and December 1907. The conference was composed of the five states of Central America and resulted in a general treaty, several minor agreements, and above and beyond all, in the establishment of the Central American Court of Justice. Through the generosity of Mr. Carnegie, a building was provided for the court at Cartago, Costa Rica, and in June 1908 Mr. Buchanan, as the representative of the United States, was present at its opening. Within the first year of its creation the tribunal justified its establishment, for by accepting jurisdiction in the complaint of Honduras against Gautemala and Salvador for unneutral conduct, and by ordering the preservation of the status quo, it prevented an outbreak of war in Central America.

For years the relations between Venezuela and the United States had been unsatisfactory; diplomatic relations had been severed owing to the refusal of Venezuela either to arbitrate or to settle claims of American citizens against Venezuela which the Government of the United States thought to be just. Upon the overthrow of President Castro's government, Mr. Buchanan was sent as special commissioner to Venezuela and by forbearance, tact, an understanding of the people with whom he was to negotiate and a masterly knowledge of the cases themselves, he succeeded in settling two of the cases, namely, the case of the New York & Bermudez Company and recovered an indemnity for the expulsion of Jaurett. Three cases of the five were to be submitted to arbitration at The Hague unless they were previously settled through diplomatic channels, and of these three cases two, namely, the cases of the Orinoco Corporation and the United States & Venezuela Company, were satis factorily adjusted through diplomatic channels. One case, namely, that of the Orinoco Steamship Company against Venezuela remains to be

arbitrated at The Hague, and Mr. Buchanan was properly selected as agent of the Government, and had he lived would have appeared as such before the Hague tribunal in the ensuing year.

It is not possible within the short compass of an editorial comment, even adequately to outline Mr. Buchanan's career or to state in detail his many and substantial claims to public recognition and remembrance; but this brief comment will fail of its purpose if it has not shown him as a sincere believer in the peaceful settlement of international difficulties, a cause which he greatly advanced both in South and Central America. It is in no sense an exaggeration to say that Mr. Buchanan made the world better by having lived in it.

PROPOSAL TO MODIFY THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE COURT AND TO INVEST IT AS MODIFIED WITH THE JURISDICTION AND FUNCTIONS

OF A COURT OF ARBITRAL JUSTICE

The Department of State has had under consideration the possibility of a modification of the convention for the establishment of the International Prize Court of such a nature as to disarm any constitutional objections to it on the part of the participating states and has carefully considered the means by which full effect may be given to the recommendation of the recent Hague conference regarding the establishment of the Court of Arbitral Justice.

As a result of the study and reflection, the Department of State believes that not only the International Prize Court may be established with unessential modifications but that at one and the same time the Court of Arbitral Justice may be constituted by investing the Prize Court, as modified, with the jurisdiction and functions of a Court of Arbitral Justice. The Prize Court as constituted at the recent Hague conference presupposes an appeal from a final decision of a national. court to the International Prize Court established at The Hague, but as such a system would involve interference with the internal organization of certain countries and very considerable legislation in order to carry it into effect, it has occurred to the Department of State that the desired result, namely, an international determination of controversies arising out of capture, might be secured without interfering with the judicial systems of various countries. It is not the practice of this country to submit decisions of the Supreme Court to arbitration, although from the beginning of the government it has been customary to submit

the question involved in the decision to the consideration and determination of a mixed commission or arbitral tribunal. The results of such submission have been satisfactory, even although the sentences of the mixed commissions have not at all times been in accord with national decisions. Great Britain and the United States have repeatedly adopted this method of settling international difficulties, notwithstanding sentences contrary to decisions of their municipal courts upon the questions involved, and each nation has cheerfully complied with the award of the temporary and mixed tribunals. The Prize Court convention contemplates the award of damages in cases in which the property is no longer subject to national control, and, taking advantage of this alternative method, the Department of State proposes that the question involved in the decision of a national court instead of the judgment shall be submitted to international and therefore impartial consideration; that the proceedings thereupon to be had shall be in the nature of a trial. de novo, and that the judgment shall be limited to the assessment of damages where the capture has been found illegal. A decision would thus be had upon the question involved, the judgment of the national court would not be directly involved or reversed upon appeal, and the fundamental purpose of the convention, i. e., the determination of the controversy by a permanent and impartial court composed of fifteen judges, would be obtained. A clause in the instrument of ratification. by the Powers consenting to this alternative procedure would permit for the consenting Powers this method of determination and bring the procedings of the Prize Court within the international practice of enlightened nations.

Great as are the advantages of the International Prize Court and the benefits likely to result from its establishment, the fact is and should not be overlooked that a prize court presupposes the existence of war, because capture of private property of neutrals is only permitted in maritime warfare. The Department of State is, however, unwilling that a war court should be established to the neglect of controversies arising in peace, which, if unsettled, may create an unfriendly feeling and indirectly be the cause of war. Therefore, the Department of State is anxious to secure the establishment of a permanent tribunal competent to pass upon what may be called peaceable controversies and to determine them before national feeling has become aroused.

The project for the establishment of an International Court of Arbitral Justice, introduced by the American delegation to the Second Hague

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