effect that in view of the termination, with the cordial coöperation of the President, of the war, and of the conclusion of peace between Russia and Japan, His Imperial Majesty, as initiator of the International Peace Conference of 1899, deems the present a favorable moment for further developing and systematizing the labors of that conference, and that to this end, upon being assured in advance of the sympathy of the President, who last year pronounced himself in favor of such a project, His Majesty desires to approach the President with a proposal to the effect that the Government of the United States take part in a new international conference, which could be called together at The Hague as soon as favorable replies may be obtained from all the other states, to which a similar proposal is to be made.

The Secretary of State, by direction of the President, has the honor to confirm to his excellency the ambassador of Russia the assurances which the President had the sincere pleasure to give to his excellency at the time of the presentation of the memorandum of September 13. The President's circulars to the powers parties to the acts of the Hague Conference, which the late Secretary of State communicated to the several signatory states through the American envoys accredited thereto, dated, respectively, October 21 and December 16 of last year, have demonstrated the President's keen desire that upon a favorable occasion the labors of the First International Peace Conference might be supplemented and completed by an accord to be reached by a second conference of the powers. The suggestion so put forth having been accepted in principle by the signatories, it only remained for the opportune moment to come for the powers to agree upon the place and time for their renewed assemblage in order to perfect the beneficial agreements of the first conference.

The President most gladly welcomes the offer of His Imperial Majesty to again take upon himself the initiation of the steps requisite to convene a second international peace conference, as the necessary sequence to the first conference, brought about through His Majesty's efforts, and in view of the cordial responses to the President's suggestion of October, 1904, he doubts not that the project will meet with complete acceptation and that the result will be to bring the nations of the earth still more closely together in their common endeavor to advance the ends of peace.

As respects the further statement of his excellency's memorandum

of September 13, that, as the late war has given rise to a number of questions which are of the greatest importance and closely related to the acts of the first conference, the plenipotentiaries of Russia, at the future meeting, will lay before the conference a detailed programme which could serve as a starting-point for its deliberations, the President finds it in consonance with the indications of his circular of October 21, 1904, touching the questions to come before a second conference for discussion, and the importance of completing the work of the first conference by ample exchange of views and, it is to be hoped, full concord upon the broad questions specifically relegated by the Final Act of The Hague to the consideration of a future conference.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, April 6, 1906.

EXCELLENCY: I have great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of your note of the 3d instant, whereby you acquaint me with the instructions telegraphed to you by your Government to inform the Government of the United States that, in concert with the Dutch Government, it is proposed to convoke the Conference of The Hague during the first half of the month of July of the present year.

The President, to whom I hastened to communicate this information, charges me to express his deep sympathy with the contemplated purpose thus announced by His Imperial Majesty and his gratification at the prospect of the realization of a project in which he has heretofore expressed great interest, and which he trusts will redound to the welfare of all nations by promoting peace among them. It is the President's purpose to appoint plenipotentiaries to represent the United States at the forthcoming conference.

It behooves me, however, to say that, in the judgment of the President, the date suggested by the Imperial and the Dutch Governments for the assembling of the conference would be in a high degree embarrassing and inconvenient, not only to the United States but doubtless also to many other nations of the American hemisphere, owing to the fact that the 21st of July next has long been fixed for the meeting of the conference of all the American nations at Rio de Janeiro. Furthermore, so early a date as the first half of July does

not appear to be conformable to the understanding arrived at in respect to the Red Cross Congress to be held at Geneva in mid-June, which would manifestly not have an opportunity to complete its work in season for consideration and action by the participating governments before the time proposed for the meeting at The Hague. For these reasons, as well as for other practical considerations in regard to the difficulty that would beset the several governments taking part in these three important conferences at the same season, both as to their representation thereat, and as to the need of preserving a consistent harmony in the discussion of the allied topics. which would necessarily come before the three conferences, the President is constrained to say, in all frankness, that so early a date as is proposed for the meeting of the Conference of The Hague appears to be extremely inexpedient; and that he would be obliged to say so in response to the formal joint invitation of the Imperial and Dutch Governments which is foreshadowed in your announcement of their intended proposal. As your note merely intimates the proposal of those two Governments to act in concert in the indicated sense, it is assumed that the present purpose of the Imperial Government is to invite the general acquiescence of the interested powers in the contemplated proposal in advance of the later communication of the formal invitation; hence it is proper in advance to acquaint the Imperial Government with the views of the United States in the matter of the date to be agreed upon.

I take note of the further statement that "Russia at the same time invites the nations which did not sign the convention relative to the laws of war on land, nor that relative to the adaptation of the Geneva Convention to war at sea, to inform the Royal Government of the Netherlands of their adhesion to these conventions. With regard to further adhesions to the convention concerning international arbitration, the Imperial Government is conferring on this subject with the governments which signed the acts of 1899."

As respects the latter proposition, the President has already, in the circulars of the Secretary of State dated October 21 and December 16, 1904, advocated the extension of the option of adherence to powers not represented at the conference of 1899, and he will welcome the suggested comparison of views looking to the conclusion of an agreement among the contracting powers in that sense, as contemplated by article 60 of the First Hague Convention of July 29, 1899.

The United States, being already an adhering party to the conventions mentioned, would gladly see other nations, not heretofore signatories or adherents, become in like manner parties to the beneficent engagements which were framed by the First Conference of The Hague, and to which the approaching second conference may rightly be expected to give wider scope and more effective application in the light of recent military developments and in view of the practical needs suggested by experience.

Due note is also taken of the programme of subjects for examination and discussion which the Imperial Government proposes to submit to the conference, and the Government of the United States reserves consideration thereof, with liberty to advance other proposals of an allied character should its own needs and experience counsel such a course.

MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: When it assumed the initiative of calling a second peace conference, the Imperial Government had in view the necessity of further developing the humanitarian principles on which was based the work accomplished by the great international assemblage of 1899.

At the same time, it deemed it expedient to enlarge as much as possible the number of states participating in the labors of the contemplated conference, and the alacrity with which the call was answered bears witness to the depth and breadth of the present sentiment of solidarity for the application of ideas aiming at the good of all mankind.

The first conference separated in the firm belief that its labors would subsequently be perfected from the effect of the regular progress of enlightenment among the nations and abreast of the results. acquired from experience. Its most important creation, the Inter

national Court of Arbitration, is an institution that has already proved its worth and brought together, for the good of all, an areopagus of jurists who command the respect of the world. How much good could be accomplished by international commissions of inquiry towards the settlement of disputes between states has also been shown.

There are, however, certain improvements to be made in the convention relative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Following recent arbitrations, the jurists assembled in court have raised certain questions of details which should be acted upon by adding to the said convention the necessary amplifications. It would seem especially desirable to lay down fixed principles in regard to the use of languages in the proceedings in view of the difficulties that may arise in the future as the cases referred to arbitral jurisdiction multiply. The modus operandi of international commissions of inquiry would likewise be open to improvement.

As regards the regulating of the laws and customs of war on land, the provisions established by the first conference ought also to be completed and defined, so as to remove all misapprehensions.

As for maritime warfare, in regard to which the laws and customs of the several countries differ on certain points, it is necessary to establish fixed rules in keeping with the exigencies of the rights of belligerents and the interests of neutrals.

A convention bearing on these subjects should be framed and would constitute one of the most prominent parts of the tasks devolved upon the forthcoming conference.

Holding, therefore, that there is at present occasion only to examine questions that demand special attention as being the outcome of the experience of recent years, without touching upon those that might have reference to the limitation of military or naval forces, the Imperial Government proposes for the programme of the contemplated meeting the following main points:

I. Improvements to be made in the provisions of the convention relative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes as regards the Court of Arbitration and the international commissions of inquiry.

2. Additions to be made to the provisions of the convention of 1899 relative to the laws and customs of war on land among others, those concerning the opening of hostilities, the rights of neutrals on land, etc. Declarations of 1899. One of these having expired, question of its being revived.