Pax mundi

Klas Pontus Arnoldson

Pax mundi / A concise account of the progress of the movement for peace / by means of arbitration, neutralization, international law / and disarmament

PREFATORY NOTE

This little work, written by one who has long been known as a consistent and able advocate of the views herein maintained, has been translated by a lady who has already rendered great services to the cause, in the belief that it will be found useful by the increasing number of those who are interested in the movement for the substitution of Law for War in international affairs.

J.F.G.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH EDITION

It is natural that the advocates of international Peace should sometimes grow discouraged and impatient through what they are tempted to consider the slow progress of their cause. Sudden outbursts of popular feeling, selfish plans for national aggrandisement, unremoved causes of antipathy between neighbours, lead them to overlook the general tendency of circumstances and opinions which, when it is regarded on a large scale, is sufficient to justify their loftiest hopes. It is this general tendency of thought and fact, corresponding to the maturer growth of peoples, which brings to us the certain assurance that the Angelic Hymn which welcomed the Birth of Christ advances, slowly it may be as men count slowness, but at least unmistakably, towards fulfilment. There are pauses and interruptions in the movement; but, on the whole, no one who patiently regards the course of human history can doubt that we are drawing nearer from generation to generation to a practical sense of that brotherhood and that solidarity of men – both words are necessary – which find their foundation and their crown in the message of the Gospel.

Under this aspect the Essay of Mr. Arnoldson is of great value, as giving a calm and comprehensive view of the progress of the course of Peace during the last century, and of the influences which are likely to accelerate its progress in the near future.

Mr. Arnoldson, who, as a member of the Swedish Parliament, is a practical statesman, indulges in no illusions. The fulness with which he dwells on the political problems of Scandinavia shows that he is not inclined to forget practical questions under the attraction of splendid theories. He marks the chief dangers which threaten the peace of Europe, without the least sign of dissembling their gravity. And looking steadily upon them, he remains bold in hope; for confidence in a great cause does not come from disregarding or disparaging the difficulties by which it is beset, but from the reasonable conviction that there are forces at work which are adequate to overcome them.

We believe that it is so in the case of a policy of Peace; and the facts to which Mr. Arnoldson directs attention amply justify the belief. It is of great significance that since 1794 there have been "at least sixty-seven instances in which disputes of a menacing character have been averted by arbitration"; and perhaps the unquestioning acceptance by England of the Genevan award will hereafter be reckoned as one of her noblest services to the world. It is no less important that since the principle of arbitration was solemnly recognised by the Congress of Paris in 1856, arbitral clauses have been introduced into many treaties, while the question of establishing a universal system of international arbitration has been entertained and discussed sympathetically by many parliaments.

At the same time Mr. Arnoldson justly insists on the steady increase of the power of neutrals. Without accepting the possibility of "a Neutral League," he points out how a necessary regard to the interests of neutrals restrains the powers which are meditating war. And I cannot but believe that he is right when he suggests that the problems of the neutralization of Scandinavia, of Alsace and Lorraine, of the Balkan States, of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, demand the attention of all who seek to hasten "the coming peace."

It would be easy to overrate the direct value of these facts; but their value as signs of the direction in which public opinion is rapidly moving can hardly be overrated. They are symptoms of a growing recognition of the obligations of man to man, and of people to people, of our common human interests and of our universal interdependence.

I should not lay great stress on the deterrent power of the prospect of the ruinous losses and desolations likely to follow from future wars. A great principle might well demand from a nation great sacrifices; and the very strength of a policy of Peace lies in the postponement of material interests to human duties. But none the less the wide expansion of commercial and social intercourse, joint enterprises, even rivalries not always ungenerous, exercise a salutary influence upon the feeling of nation for nation, and make what were once regarded as natural animosities no longer possible.

Under the action of these forces we are learning more and more to endeavour to regard debated questions from the point of sight of our adversaries, to take account of their reasonable aspirations, to make allowance for their difficulties, even to consider how they can best render their appropriate service to the race, while we strive no less resolutely to keep or to secure the power of fulfilling our own. We could not regard our enemies as our grandfathers regarded theirs. Already the conviction begins to make itself felt that the loss of one people is the loss of all.

Meanwhile the growth of popular power and popular responsibility brings a wider and more collective judgment to bear upon national questions. The masses of peoples have more in common than their leaders, among whom individual character has fuller development. The average opinion of men, when the facts are set forth, responds to pleas of fellowship and righteousness, and tends to become dominant.

Such influences in favour of international Peace spring out of steady movements which, as they continue, will increase them. The past does not limit their power, but simply reveals the line of their action. Above all, they correspond with that view of our Christian faith which the Holy Spirit is disclosing to us by means of the trials of our age. Through many sorrows and many disappointments we are learning that the fact of the Incarnation assures to us the unity of men and classes and nations; and a wider study of history, which is now possible, shows that the course of events makes for the establishment of that unity for which we were created.

I cannot therefore but hope that the Essay of Mr. Arnoldson, which gives substantial evidence of the reality and growth of this movement towards Peace, will confirm in courageous and patient labour for an assured end all who join in the prayer that it may please God "to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord."

B.F. Dunelm.

Auckland Castle,

October 14th, 1891.

INTRODUCTION

It was the small beginning of a great matter when, on December 22nd, 1620, a hundred Puritans landed from the ship Mayflower upon the rocky shore of the New World, having, during the voyage, signed a constitution to be observed by the colonists.

These pious pilgrims were guided by the conception of religious freedom which should construct for them there a new kingdom. They had, say the annalists of the colony, crossed the world's sea and had reached their goal; but no friend came forth to meet them; no house offered them shelter. And it was mid-winter. Those who know that distant clime, know how bitter are the winters and how dangerous the storms which at that season ravage the coast. It were bad enough in similar circumstances to travel in a well-known region; but how much worse when it is a question of seeking to settle on an entirely unknown shore.

They saw around them only a bare, cheerless country, filled with wild animals and inhabited by men of questionable disposition and in unknown numbers. The country was frozen and overgrown with woods and thickets. The whole aspect was wild; and behind them lay the measureless ocean, which severed them from the civilized world. Comfort and hope were to be found only in turning their gaze heavenward.

That they did conquer that ungrateful land and open the way for the boundless stream of immigration which for wellnigh three centuries has unceasingly poured in, must find its explanation in the faith that upheld their ways amid the dangers of the wilderness, amid the hunger, cold, and all manner of disheartening things, and gave them that power which removed mountains and made the desert bloom.

These Puritans, strong in faith, were the founders of the New World's greatness; and their spirit spoke out to the Old World in the greeting with which the President of the United States consecrated the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866: —

"Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to men."

When this message came to us, the roar of cannon was but newly hushed, and the man of "blood and iron" had victoriously set his foot upon one of Europe's great powers; the same Austria which since then has, by the Triple Alliance, united its warlike strength with Germany.

But that message has not been an unheeded sound to all; especially to those whose warning voices the people never listen to before the misfortune falls, but who are always justified after it has struck. Yes! perchance in the near future it may again appeal to their reason, and find a hearing only when Europe has fallen into untold miseries after another war.

While menacing forebodings of this long expected war were spreading in the summer of 1887 through various parts of our continent, a little company of courageous men, strong in faith, like the pious pilgrims of the Mayflower, gathered together for the voyage across the sea to the New World, there to lay the foundation of a lasting work for peace.

Their first object was to present to the President of the United States and to Congress an address aiming at the establishment of a Court of Arbitration, qualified to deal with disputes which might arise between Great Britain and the United States of North America. In that address, signed by 270 Members of the British Parliament, allusion was made to the resolutions on peace which from time to time had been brought into Congress; and those who undersigned it declared themselves ready to bring all their influence to bear in inducing the Government of Great Britain to accept the proposition which should come from the Congress. Amongst those who signed it were, besides many distinguished Members of the House of Commons, several peers, including some of the bishops.

The address was presented to President Cleveland on October 31st, by a deputation of twelve Members of Parliament, whose spokesman, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, in his introductory speech, said: "Few events in the world's history would rank with the making of such a treaty. Perhaps only two in our own country's history could fitly be compared with it. Washington's administration established the republic; Lincoln's administration abolished human slavery. We fondly hope, sir, that it may be reserved for yours to conclude a treaty not only with the government of the other great English-speaking nation, but with other lands as well, which shall henceforth and for ever secure to those nations the blessings of mutual peace and goodwill. The conclusion of such a treaty will have done much to remove from humanity its greatest stain – the killing of man by man. And we venture to hope, that if the two great nations here represented set such an example, other nations may be induced to follow it, and war be thus ultimately banished from the face of the earth."

In the President's favourable answer he mentioned that no nation in its moral and material development could show more victories in the domain of peace than the American; and it appeared to him that the land which had produced such proofs of the blessings of peace, and therefore need not fear being accused of weakness, must be in a specially favourable position to listen to a proposal like the present; wherefore he received it with pleasure and satisfaction.

A week later, Nov. 8th, the son-in-law of Queen Victoria, the Marquis of Lorne, presided over a great meeting in London, at which many eminent men were present. The chairman emphatically remarked in his speech, that the settlement of international disputes by a Court of Arbitration has the advantage that, through the delay which is necessary, the first excitement has time to cool. The meeting declared itself unanimously in favour of the proposed memorial. Thereupon followed many similar expressions of opinion in England, whilst simultaneously in twenty of the largest cities of North America mass meetings were held, which with unanimous enthusiasm gave adhesion to the cause, and petitions of the same character flowed in to the President and Congress from the various parts of the great republic.

Encouraged by these preparatory movements amongst the two great English-speaking peoples, M. Frédéric Passy, with other Members of the Legislative Assembly of France, placed himself at the head of a movement to petition the French Government, requesting that it should conclude an Arbitration Treaty with the United States.

Such a memorial, bearing the signatures of 112 deputies and 16 senators, was received with much interest by the President.

On April 21st, 1888, Passy and forty-four other deputies moved a resolution in the Chamber to the same effect; and the idea has been carried forward in many ways since then, especially by a petition to the President of the United States from three International Congresses held in Paris, June 23rd-30th, 1889.

ARBITRATION

Should these efforts lead in the near future to the intended result, International Law would thereby have made an important progress.

It can no longer be denied that International Law does actually exist; but we undervalue its significance because we are impatient. We do not notice the advances it has made because they have been small; but they have been numerous; and slowly, step by step, international jurisprudence has progressed. This affects not only the awakening sense of justice and acknowledged principles, but also their application, which from the days of Hugo Grotius, 250 years ago, down to Martens, Bluntschli, Calvo, and other most distinguished jurists of our day, has been the subject of great scholarly activity, by means of which the various regulations of jurisprudence have little by little been pieced together into a foundation and substance of universally accepted law.

What has been most generally done to gain the object in view has been the Insertion of Arbitral Clauses in treaties which were being concluded or had already been concluded in reference to other questions. In this direction Signor Mancini of Italy has been especially active. As during the time he was Minister of Foreign Affairs he had the concluding of a great number of treaties between Italy and other countries, he made use of the opportunity to insert into almost all – in nineteen instances1– an arbitral clause.

We have examples of treaties with such clauses in the commercial treaty between Italy and England, 1883; Norway, Sweden, and Spain, by a supplement in 1887; also England and Greece, 1886. According to the first two agreements, all disputes about the right understanding of the treaties shall be settled by arbitration, as soon as it becomes apparent that it is vain to hope for a friendly arrangement. In the Greco-English treaty it is further stipulated that all disputes which directly or indirectly may arise in consequence of that treaty always shall, if they cannot be amicably arranged, be referred to a committee of arbitration, which shall be nominated by each party with a like number of members; also that if this committee cannot agree, there shall be appointed a tribunal of arbitration, whose decision both nations bind themselves to accept.

The idea of concluding distinct Treaties of Arbitration, or of giving a widely extended range to arbitral clauses, so that they should affect the whole relation of the contracting parties to one another, is comparatively new.

So far as I know, Mr. William Jay was the first who in modern times advocated this idea, in a work which came out in New York in 1842, and in which he proposed: that in the next treaty between, for example, the United States and France, it should be stated that in case any dispute should arise between the two nations, not only in respect of the interpretation of that treaty, but also in respect of any other subject whatever, the dispute should be settled by means of an arbitration by one or more friendly powers.

A similar proposition was presented to Lord Clarendon in 1853. By sending a deputation to the plenipotentiaries at the Congress at Paris in 1856, the English "Peace Society" succeeded in inducing them to introduce into, one of the protocols a solemn recognition of the principle of Arbitration. In the name of their governments they expressed the wish that the states between which any serious misunderstanding should arise, should, as far as circumstances permitted, submit the question to the arbitration of a friendly power before resorting to arms. This proposition, which was unanimously adopted, was made by Lord Clarendon, the representative of England, and supported by the emissaries of France, Prussia, and Italy, – Walewsky, Manteufel, and Cavour.

But the first movement in favour of independent Treaties of Arbitration came up in a petition in 1847, from the English Peace Society to Parliament.

The next year this subject was discussed in the Peace Congress at Brussels.

A few months later, Cobden brought forward in the House of Commons an address to the Government, with the request that the Minister of Foreign Affairs should be charged to invite foreign powers to enter into treaties with this object. The proposal was in the beginning received with astonishment and scorn; but called forth later an earnest and important debate.

About six years later, Henry Richard drew the attention of many influential members of the American Congress to the relations which were felt to be favourable for trying to arrange a treaty of arbitration between Great Britain and the United States. American statesmen, less bound by the old traditions of European diplomacy would, it was thought, be able with greater freedom to attempt such a novelty. The replies to this application were very favourable and encouraging, and in various ways since then attempts have been made to realize the idea.

In many Parliaments from time to time propositions in this direction have been brought forward and approved.

On July 8th, 1873, Henry Richard brought before the English Parliament a proposition requesting the Government to invite negotiation with foreign powers for creating a universal and well-established international system of arbitration. The then Prime Minister, Gladstone, expressed himself as favourable to, the proposal, but advised its being withdrawn. Richard, nevertheless, persisted that it should be dealt with, and obtained the remarkable result, that it was carried with a majority of ten.

This example was followed by the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Nov. 24th of the same year; and again on July 12th, 1890;2 by the States General of Holland, Nov. 27th, 1874; by the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Dec. 19th, 1875; and shortly after by the Senate of the United States of America, and Congress also, June 17th, 1874; and April 4th, 1890.

The last-named resolution of Congress had been accepted by the Senate, Feb. 15th of the same year, being recommended by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and runs thus: —

The President be, and is hereby requested to invite from time to time, as fit occasions may arise, negotiations with any government with which the United States has or may have diplomatic relations, to the end that any difficulties or disputes arising between them, which cannot be adjusted by diplomatic agency, may be referred to arbitration, and be peaceably adjusted by such means.

On May 9th, 1890, Don Arturo de Marcoartu moved in the Spanish Senate that the Spanish Government should enter into relations with other European powers to bring about a permanent tribunal of arbitration in Europe. In the first place, the mover proposed that the states should come to an agreement upon a general truce for five years. In that interval a congress of emissaries from all the European Governments and Parliaments should be called together. The business of the congress should be to work out a code of international law. The proposition was urged, especially with regard to the necessity of finding a reasonable solution of the great social question, since all effort in that direction appears to be hopeless so long as the savings of the nations are swallowed up by military expenditure. The Minister of Foreign Affairs requested the Senate to take the proposition into serious consideration, and on June 14th the Senate resolved to authorize the Government to enter into negotiations with foreign powers for the object indicated.

Neither are the Scandinavian Parliaments unaffected by this movement.

As far back as 1869 the question of arbitration was mooted in the Swedish Parliament by Jonas Jonassen. In 1874 he proposed in the second chamber that Parliament should submit to the King "that it would behove his majesty on all occasions that might present themselves to support the negotiations which foreign powers might open with Sweden or with each other with reference to the creation of a tribunal of arbitration for the solving of international disputes." The committee which dealt with the proposition advised its acceptance. The Lower House passed it, March 21st, by seventy-one votes against sixty-four; but the Upper House rejected it.

The miserable dealing of the Parliament of 1890 with the question I shall have occasion to refer to further on.

In the same year, the question made surprising advance in Norway. On March 5th the Storting voted on the motion of Ullmann and many others, by eighty-nine votes against twenty-four, an address to the King, which begins thus: —

"The Storting hereby respectfully approaches your Majesty, with the request that your Majesty will make use of the authority given by the constitution in seeking to enter into agreements with foreign powers, for the settling by arbitration of disputes which may arise between Norway and those powers."

And concludes with these words: —

"In the full assurance that what the Storting here requests will be an unqualified benefit to our people, it is hereby submitted that your Majesty should take the necessary steps indicated."

A similar resolution was very near being voted by the Danish Folketing in 1875. The proposition as brought forward was, May 13th, unanimously recommended by the committee in charge, but on account of the dissolution of the House two days later, could not be acted upon.

Several years ago a petition was circulated in the various districts of Denmark, by which Parliament was urged to co-operate as early as possible in bringing about a permanent Scandinavian treaty of arbitration.

In such a treaty, binding in the first instance for thirty years, the petition affirms that the three northern kingdoms will have an efficient moral support when there is occasion to withstand the efforts of the great powers to entice or to threaten any of them to take part in war as allies on one side or the other. Such a treaty will, therefore, in great measure serve to preserve the neutrality of the northern kingdoms, and thereby their lasting independence.

This petition was dealt with in the Folketing, March 27th, 1888. After a short discussion, the following motion of F. Bajer was passed by fifty votes against sixteen.

"Since the Folketing agrees with the wish expressed in the petition, provided it is shared by the other States without whom it cannot be carried out, the House passes on to the order of the day."

In his little paper: On the Prevention of War by Arbitration, F. Bajer writes:

"It may certainly be granted, that a little State like Denmark cannot well work at the creation of a European tribunal of arbitration, so far as that means setting itself at the head of a movement for inviting the other European States to a Congress by which its creation shall be adopted.