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Chapter I

Despatch from Mr. Balfour.

Acceptance of the United States.

Russian

the Rescript

forward at once to your lordship, and I felt sure that it would create a profound impression in England."

On August 30, Mr. Balfour, then temporarily in charge of the Foreign Office, replied to Sir Charles Scott as follows:

"As the Prime Minister is.abroad and the Cabinet scattered, it is impossible for me at present to give any reply, but I feel confident that I am only expressing the sentiments of my colleagues when I say that Her Majesty's Government most warmly sympathize with and approve the pacific and economic objects which His Imperial Majesty has in view."

The United States of America accepted the invitation contained in Count Mouravieff's circular at once, and the Ambassador at St. Petersburg was instructed to do so orally in the most cordial terms.

The European press having to a great extent misunderstood or misconstrued the meaning of the circular, the following official communication appeared in the Journal de St. Petersburg, on Sunday, September 4:

"All the utterances of the foreign press regarding explanation of the Circular of the 24 ult. agree in testifying to the and its object. sympathy with which the action of the Russian Government has been received by the whole world. A high tribute of acknowledgment is paid to the noble and magnanimous conception which originated this great act. The unanimity of welcome proves in the most striking manner to what a degree the reflec

tions, which lay at the root of the Russian proposal, Chapter I correspond with the innermost feelings of all nations and their dearest wishes.

"On all sides people had come to the conclusion that continuous armaments were a crushing burden to all nations, and that they constituted a bar to public prosperity. The most ardent wish of the nations is to be able to give themselves up to peaceful labor, looking calmly to the future, and they perceive clearly that the present system of armed peace is in its tendency peaceful only in name.

"It is to the excesses of this system that Russia desires to put an end. The question to be settled is without doubt a very complicated one, and some organs of public opinion have already touched on the difficulties which stand in the way of a practical realization. Nobody can conceal from himself the difficulties, but they must be courageously confronted.

"The intention of the Circular is precisely to provide for a full and searching investigation of this question by an international exchange of views. Certain other questions difficult of solution but of not less moment have already been settled in this century in a manner which has done justice to the great interests of humanity and civilization. The results which in this connection have been obtained at international conferences, particularly at the Congresses of Vienna and Paris, prove what the united endeavors of Governments can achieve when they proceed in harmony with public opinion and the needs of civilization.

Chapter I

Despatch from Lord Salisbury.

"The Russian proposal calls all States to greater effort than ever before, but it will redound to the honor of humanity at the dawn of the twentieth century to have set resolutely about this work that the nations may enjoy the benefits of peace, relieved of the overwhelming burdens which impede their economic and moral development."

All of the States invited to the Conference accepted the invitation, the last formal acceptance to be received being that of Great Britain on October 24. Lord Salisbury wrote as follows to the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg:

"Her Majesty's Government have given their careful consideration to the memorandum which was placed in your hands on August 24 last by the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, containing a proposal of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia for the meeting of a conference to discuss the most effective methods of securing the continuance of general peace and of putting some limit on the constant increase of armaments.

"Your Excellency was instructed at the time by Mr. Balfour, in my absence from England, to explain the reasons which would cause some delay before a formal reply could be returned to this important communication, and, in the meanwhile, to assure the Russian Government of the cordial sympathy of Her Majesty's Government with the objects and intentions of His Imperial Majesty. That this sympathy is not confined to the Government, but is equally

shared by popular opinion in this country, has been Chapter I strikingly manifested since the Emperor's proposal has been made generally known by the very numerous resolutions passed by public meetings and societies in the United Kingdom. There are, indeed, few nations, if any, which, both on grounds of feeling and interest, are more concerned in the maintenance. of general peace than is Great Britain.

"The statements which constitute the grounds of the Emperor's proposal are but too well justified. It is unfortunately true that while the desire for the maintenance of peace is generally professed, and while, in fact, serious and successful efforts have on more than one recent occasion been made with that object by the great Powers, there has been a constant tendency on the part of almost every nation. to increase its armed force, and to add to an already vast expenditure on the appliances of war. The perfection of the instruments thus brought into use, their extreme costliness, and the horrible carnage and destruction which would ensue from their employment on a large scale, have acted no doubt as a serious deterrent from war. But the burdens imposed by this process on the populations affected must, if prolonged, produce a feeling of unrest and discontent menacing both to internal and external tranquillity.

"Her Majesty's Government will gladly coöperate in the proposed effort to provide a remedy for this evil; and if, in any degree, it succeeds, they feel that the Sovereign to whose suggestion it is due will have richly earned the gratitude of the world at large.

Chapter I

Despatch

from the

United States Chargé d'Affaires.

"Your Excellency is, therefore, authorized to assure Count Mouravieff that the Emperor's proposal is willingly accepted by Her Majesty's Government, and that the Queen will have pleasure in delegating a Representative to take part in the Conference whenever an invitation is received. Her Majesty's Government hope that the invitation may be accompanied by some indication of the special points to which the attention of the Conference is to be directed, as a guide for the selection of the British Representative, and of the assistants by whom he should be accompanied.

"You will read this despatch to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and leave him a copy of it."

On November 9, Mr. Herbert H. D. Peirce, Chargé d'Affaires of the United States to Russia, reported his observations on the spot upon the proposed Conference to the Secretary of State in a most interesting and valuable despatch, which is here quoted almost in its entirety:

"The question presents two broad phases: —

"1. The humanitarian aspect, looking toward a future universal peace, which, while it has long been the dream of philanthropists, has never before, I believe, been recognized as an attainable end, even in the distant future, in the materialism which governs State policies and international relations.

"2. The purely economic question of the absorption of men and resources for purely military purposes, to the detriment of national wealth and prosperity.

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