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UNVEILING OF THE MONUMENT COMMEMORATING THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION

The Universal Postal Union, which has now existed for thirty-five years, is, among all international organizations, that which most intimately affects the everyday life of people the world over. Quietly this great unifying institution has been working without a numerous staff of officials and unattended by the pomp of state. Yet the entire world has become conscious of its influence, and it was therefore befitting that at the time when the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Union was celebrated at Berne, the proposal should have been made and adopted to erect an artistic monument in honor of this great international work. The monument is a gift of all the governments who are members of the Postal Union. The plan was selected by a committee after an international competition, in which M. René de Saint Marceaux of Paris was successful. His beautiful work was unveiled on October 4 last, with imposing ceremonies.

The monument is both highly imaginative and, while representative of the idea of postal communication, full of artistic beauty. On a ledge of rock, at the foot of which flows a small spring emptying into a pond in which the whole monument is mirrored, there is seated the graceful figure of a woman whose outstretched arm and hand rest upon the escutcheon of the town of Berne. Both to the right and left of this figure lie masses of rock. Upon the summit of the highest of these, the sculptor has modelled a cloud, upbearing a globe. Five genii, representing the different parts of the world, are floating about this sphere, handing letters to each other. The sculptor has overcome great difficulties. From the above description it might seem that the monument would be lacking in unity and that, moreover, the portrayal of so light a substance as clouds by means of stone could hardly be successful. And yet, all this is forgotten when the monument itself is in view. The sculptor has triumphed, although he himself does not describe his work as sculpture, but as a picture in granite and bronze.

A notable gathering of representatives of all the powers cast lustre upon the occasion. Nations were represented both by diplomats and by members of cabinet and administrative officials. Mr. Brutus J. Clay, the American Minister in Switzerland, represented the United States. At the dedication of the monument and at the banquet given by the town council of Berne, a number of notable speeches were made. The

feeling which animates these discourses shows how strong a hold the idea of international cooperation has taken upon representative men. The spirit of the occasion was perhaps best expressed by M. Deucher, President of the Swiss Confederation. Among other things, he said:

Gentlemen, the old Assembly House of the Bernese Diet bears this inscription: "It is in this building that the Universal Postal Union was founded on October 9th, 1874." To-day, thirty-five years later, there rises on one of the most beautiful sites of our Capital, the grand commemorative Monument, the unveiling of which we are met to celebrate.

The five genii which surround the globe represent the universal importance of the Union and attest the power gained by a great idea, for the realization of which nations went hand in hand, regardless of the difference of race, language and religion, political and economic interests a triumph of civilization and culture, a bond of union between the nations. The Universal Postal Union, a work supremely pacific, constitutes a real confederation of the nations, the representatives of which to-day turn their eyes to the international monument and express their gratitude to the master who created it.

THE NORWAY-SWEDEN BOUNDARY ARBITRATION

On October 23, 1909, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague decided the boundary dispute between Norway and Sweden, by virtue of a convention between the two Powers dated March 14, 1908. The tribunal was to be and actually was composed of three members of whom one was a Norwegian (M. Beichmann), another a Swede (M. de Hammarskjöld), and the third or president, who, by the agreement was to be "neither a subject of either of the contracting parties nor domiciled in either of the two countries," M. Loeff of Holland.

The tribunal, consisting of three members, was not constituted according to the terms of article 24 of the Hague Convention of 1899, which contemplates that the judges chosen shall be members of the permanent panel. The arbitration was, however, under the auspices of the Permanent Court, as the parties in controversy availed themselves of the provisions of article 26:

The International Bureau at The Hague is authorized to place its premises and its staff at the disposal of the Signatory Powers for the operations of any special Board of Arbitration.

It may, therefore properly be called a decision of the Permanent Court at The Hague and, as such, both enhances the dignity and demonstrates again the usefulness of this institution.

The award of the tribunal deals with and settles the facts in controversy and only incidentally discusses or applies principles of international law, and its importance lies not so much in the decision as in the resort to arbitration for the settlement of an outstanding international difference.

In the matter of procedure it would seem that an innovation is to be noted, because the arbiters decided to visit and actually did visit the territory in dispute in order that they might by personal examination familiarize themselves with the territory in dispute and be the better prepared to understand and appreciate the arguments relating to the geography and topography of the region.

For the second time within a year the Permanent Court at The Hague has rendered a decision, and it is devoutly hoped that the resort to arbitration will become a habit and that a permanent court of arbitration will be the natural consequence of a frequent and confident resort to arbitration.1

THE NOBEL PEACE AWARD

On December 9, 1909, the Committee for the Distribution of the Nobel Prizes announced that the peace prize had been divided between M. Beernaert of Belgium and the Baron d'Estournelles de Constant of France. The recipients are well-known and active workers in the cause of peace and richly deserve the honor accorded to them.

M. Auguste Beernaert, born in 1828, is a trained lawyer and statesman who has served his country through a long and honorable career as Minister of Public Works, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Finance, President of the Chamber of Representatives, and Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. At the First Peace Conference he was president of the first commission, charged with the consideration of the limitation of armaments, and in the Second Conference he was president of the second commission, charged with the consideration of the laws and customs of land warfare. In both conferences his voice and influence were for the lessening of the hardships of warfare and for the peaceful settlement of international conflicts. A reference to any work on the conferences will show the nature and importance of his contributions, and it is no exaggeration to say that the Nobel Committee honored itself as well as M. Beernaert by its award.

1 For the facts and the opinion and judgment of the court, see Judicial Decisions in this number, page 226.

Baron d'Estournelles de Constant, born in 1852, has been for many years a familiar figure in international conferences, and both at home. and abroad has consistently represented the cause of peace. Trained for the diplomatic service (he is now minister plenipotentiary of the first class), after fifteen years' experience (1880-1895) he was elected member of the Chamber of Deputies and in 1905 was elected senator. He represented France at both of the Hague Conferences and is a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. M. d'Estournelles is an influential member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an outspoken partisan of the limitation of armaments and president of the Society of International Conciliation which he organized and directs in order to promote good understanding and draw the nations closer together. He is himself the personification of conciliation, and in the best sense of the word, an agitator for the cause of peace. By birth a Frenchman, he is by choice a citizen of the world and would break down the barriers which separate nations. His remarkable address at Berlin was commented upon at length in the July number of the JOURNAL, and if Germany and France forget their past differences and coöperate in the peaceful development of the world, it will be due in no small measure to the devotion, foresight and generous sympathy of d'Estournelles. To a gentle and pleasing, not to say winning, personality, he has the gift of persuasive speech. He is a remarkable linguist and is thus in all ways admirably fitted for the rôle he has chosen, namely, a mediator between the nations.

THE ANNUAL MEETING

The Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society of International Law will be held in Washington April 28, 29 and 30, 1910. The experience of the past three years shows that the two days devoted to the presentation and discussion of papers have left little or no time for the meeting of the various committees for the consideration of the business of the Society. It has therefore been decided that the meeting shall open Thursday evening instead of Friday morning, and that the afternoon session of Friday shall be omitted, in order that the various committees may hold their business meetings.

It is expected that the opening session of the Society will be held in the Pan-American Building, and that the meetings of Friday and Saturday, as well as the annual banquet on Saturday evening, will take place in the New Willard Hotel as usual.

The attempt was made last year, with considerable success, to select interesting and timely subjects for discussion and to make the papers read as well as the discussions so valuable that the report of the Annual Proceedings would not only interest members of the Society, but be a contribution to the subjects discussed. Encouraged by the results of last year, the Society has selected the following subjects for discussion for the Friday session.

The basis of protection to citizens residing abroad, ranged under the following headings:

1. The question of the limitation of protection by contract between the citizen and a foreign government or by municipal legislation.

2. The citizenship of individuals, or of artificial persons (such as corporations. partnerships, etc.) for whom protection is invoked.

3. The question of domicile in its relation to protection.

4. The effect of the unfriendly act or inequitable conduct of the citizen upon the right to protection.

5. The place of denial of justice in the matter of protection.

6. Intervention for breach of contract for tort where the contract is broken by the state or the tort committed by the government or governmental agency.

Under question 3 it is suggested that the Thrasher and Koszta cases will throw light upon the nature and importance of the question of domicile, and under question 4 that the Arbuthnot and Ambrister case will indicate one phase of this difficult and complicated subject, and that the Delagoa Bay and El Triunfo cases will serve as an indication of the scope of question 6.

At the Third Annual Meeting the following resolution was adopted: Resolved, That the President of the American Society of International Law shall appoint a committee of seven members, of which he shall be ex officio the chairman, to report to the annual meeting of this society in 1911 a draft codification of those principles of justice which should govern the intercourse of nations in times of peace; and make a preliminary report, if possible, in 1910, sufficiently in advance of the meeting to be a subject of discussion at the Fourth Annual Meeting.1

On Saturday morning the Committee on Codification will present a preliminary report on the history of codification and on the scope and plan of codification under the resolution.

It is expected that the president of the Society, Honorable Elihu Root, will open the proceedings by an address which will, as previously

1 Proceedings, 1909, page 268 note.

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