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Chapter I

Text of the formal invita

tion of the

Netherlands

the Imperial Government had communicated with the Government of Her Majesty, the Queen of the Netherlands, regarding the choice of The Hague as the eventual seat of the proposed Conference, and that the Netherlands Government having expressed its assent, the representatives were requested to inform their Governments of this selection, which would, no doubt, be received with general sympathy. (Blue Book, p. 6.) On the 15th of the same month, Sir Henry Howard, the British Minister to The Hague, informed the British Government that M. de Beaufort, the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, had informed him that the Conference would meet at The Hague, and that the Netherlands Minister at St. Petersburg would discuss the necessary preliminary details with Count Mouravieff. M. de Beaufort added that he expected that, in accordance with precedent, the Russian Foreign Office would, in the first instance, designate the Powers to be invited to send representatives to the Conference, and that then the Netherlands Government would issue the invitations; and he added that both the Queen and the Government of the Netherlands were greatly pleased at the selection of The Hague for the Conference.

The formal invitation of the Netherlands Government was extended by the Minister of the NetherGovernment. lands to each of the invited Powers, and was dated April 7, 1899. It read as follows:

"The Imperial Russian Government addressed on the 12th (24th) August, 1898, to the Diplomatic

Representatives accredited to the Court of St. Peters- Chapter I burg a Circular expressing a desire for the meeting of an International Conference which should be commissioned to investigate the best means of securing to the world a durable peace, and of limiting the progressive development of military armaments.

"This proposal, which was due to the noble and generous initiative of the august Emperor of Russia, and met everywhere with a most cordial reception, obtained the general assent of the Powers, and His Excellency the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs addressed on the 30th of December, 1898 (11th January, 1899), to the same Diplomatic Representatives a second Circular, giving a more concrete form to the general ideas announced by the magnanimous Emperor, and indicating certain questions which might be specially submitted for discussion by the proposed Conference.

"For political reasons the Imperial Russian Government considered that it would not be desirable that the meeting of the Conference should take place in the capital of one of the Great Powers, and after securing the assent of the Governments interested, it addressed the Cabinet of The Hague with a view of obtaining its consent to the choice of that capital as the seat of the Conference in question. The Minister for Foreign Affairs at once took the orders of Her Majesty the Queen in regard to this request, and I am happy to be able to inform you that Her Majesty, my August Sovereign, has been pleased to authorize him to reply that it will

D

Chapter I

What States were invited.

be particularly agreeable to her to see the proposed Conference at The Hague.

"Consequently, my Government, in accord with the Imperial Russian Government, charges me to invite the Government of to be good enough to be represented at the above-mentioned Conference, in order to discuss the questions indicated in the second Russian Circular of the 30th December, 1898 (11th January, 1899), as well as all other questions connected with the ideas set forth in the Circular of the 12th (24th) August, 1898, excluding, however, from the deliberations everything which refers to the political relations of States, or the order of things established by Treaties.

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"My Government trusts that the ernment will associate itself with the great humanitarian work to be entered upon under the auspices of His Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias, and that it will be disposed to accept this invitation, and to take the necessary steps for the presence of its Representatives at The Hague on the 18th May, next, for the opening of the Conference, at which each Power, whatever may be the number of its Delegates, will have only one vote."

These invitations were issued to all Governments. having regular diplomatic representation at St. Petersburg, as well as to Luxemburg, Montenegro, and Siam. No official explanation of the principle upon which invitations were issued or withheld was given, and any discussion of the causes which led to the

of Central and

exclusion of the South African republics, as well as Chapter I the Holy See would have to be based upon surmises. The government of the United States regretted the absence of delegates from the sister republics of Central and South America very sincerely, and with good reason, for the Conference was in consequence deprived of the valuable assistance among others of The absence M. Calvo, of the Argentine Republic, certainly one South of the most eminent authorities on International American Republics. Law, a science to which he and other South American scholars have made such notable contributions. The American commissioners at The Hague did not fail to remember that, with the exception of the Mexican delegates, they were the sole representatives of the Western Hemisphere, and in the entire course of the Conference, and especially in the discussions in the Comité d'Examen, careful efforts were made to safeguard the peculiar interests of Central and South America.

With reference to the other Powers who were not invited, it seems unquestionable that the course of the Russian Government was not only wise and just, but that it was, in fact, the only possible method of avoiding questions which would most certainly have led to an absolute and unqualified failure of the Conference itself. The merit of having successfully averted this danger, with notable tact and in perfect good will, is certainly one of the greatest achievements of modern Russian diplomacy.

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CHAPTER II

THE OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE

ON Thursday, the 18th of May, 1899, the beautiful Netherlands Capital of The Hague presented a stirring and picturesque spectacle. From all of the public buildings, the principal hotels, the various embassies and legations, and from many private houses, especially in the neighborhood of the public squares of the Lange Voorhout, Vyverberg, and Plein, the flags of nearly all civilized countries were thrown to the wind. The delegates of twenty-five Powers had arrived in order to attend the opening of what has since been officially known as the International Peace Conference. It was a perfect spring day, and it had been chosen for this interesting ceremony because it was the birthday of the Emperor of Russia. At ten o'clock in the morning the Russian delegation, together with the members of the Russian Legation to the Netherlands, proceeded in full uniform to the small Orthodox chapel near Scheveningen, where a solemn Te Deum was chanted in honor of the Czar. The representatives of the United States of America had requested permission to participate in the service, but the request was withdrawn when they were informed that the chapel was scarcely large enough

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