JOHN DE BLOCH.

come Germany's objections. A small deputa

tion even went to Berlin. Germany's response to this kindly appeal was immediate. ! and afterwards her delegates worked in good spirit with the others, though not in entire agreement. There was no finer exhibition than that brought out by this incident of the splendid spirit of friendliness and coöperation which prevailed throughout the conference from the moment that Mr. de Beaufort and Mr. de Staal gave the noble keynote at the first sitting. This spirit wrought miracles in making easy of accomplishment, in considerable measure, the purpose for which the meeting had been called.

Count von Münster, head of the German commission, was about the tallest man among the delegates. He is an old, experienced diplomat, now representing Germany at Paris. He was not approachable by outsiders, though of charming address in social circles. His reserve was due in part, possibly, to the attitude of Germany, in part to his age, and in part to the atmosphere of suspicion in which he lives at Paris. Dr. Zorn, of the Königsberg University, was most prominent among the Germans,

WILLIAM T. STEAD.

DR. W. EVANS DARBY.

though Professor Stengel and the two technical delegates were also men of much ability.

The Japanese delegation was an interesting one. Baron Hayashi, its chairman, is a man of fine presence and looks much more like a European than the common Japanese. He, with his colleagues, was strong sympathy with the aims of the conference, especially with the idea of a system of general arbitration. The Chinese first delegate, with his wife and boy, attracted a good dea! of attention, but chiefly socially.

The Turkish delegation was conspicuous in two ways, first by its opposition to arbitration, under instructions from the Sultan, and, secondly, because of the presence at The Hague of representatives of those who have suffered so much from

Turkish injustice. There was much sympathy among members of the conference for these men and their cause, but the purpose for which the delegates had met precluded the doing of anything direct for them. One could not help feeling the anomaly of such a country as Turkey being represented in a peace conference. The outsiders were not the only ones who felt this anomaly, especially after the first Turkish delegate, Turkhan Pacha, had sent Mr. Ahmed Riza, of the Young Turkey party, a challenge to fight a duel, because of a lecture delivered by the latter in The Hague. Turkey had no real influence in the conference. She was there only by sufferance.

All of the deputations were supposed to have representatives on each of the three sections, and most of them contributed in one way and another toward working out the details of the reports finally made. Several able men, like Mr. Seth Low and Captain Crozier, who were not so much heard from in the general deliberations, had a powerful influence in the work of their own commissions and in a private way. Much of the best work was done in this way. The Austrian delegation, though it had

some

strong men, did not seem to have much share in the deliberations, possibly because of the distracted state of the dual empire and the overmastering position of Germany in the Triple Alliance. The Duke of Tetuan gave some prominence to the Spanish commission. With the exception of Belgium and Holland, the small powers had little to do with shaping the measures adopted. Switzerland contributed something through Colonel Kunzli and Mr. Odier, both capable men, but would have done much more if Dr. Roth had not left. Mirza Riza Khan of Persia was a charming man, and set a whole meeting into fits of laughter by a speech on the Czar's desire for disarmament.

No account of the personnel would

be complete without prominent mention of the Dutch officials connected with it. The Queen herself was not at The Hague during the conference. She came but once, and that was to give a reception and express to the delegates her profund sympathy with the work which they had been sent to do. Her reception, to which five hundred persons were invited, was the most brilliant "function" which this generation has seen in Holland. She also gave the delegates another reception, toward the end of the conference, at her palace in Amsterdam. Queen Wilhelmina is intensely loved by her people and seems the idealization of all that is true, beautiful and good. Mr. de Beaufort, her Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was made the honorary president of the conference, is a descendant of the Huguenots who fled for liberty to Holland. He is a small, well built man, with dark full beard and hair, deeply streaked with gray. It is rare to find in high position a man so entirely free from all appearance of self-importance. He greatly impresses one with his quiet strength, dignity and thorough genuineness. I saw him frequently, on the street, at the receptions given by him and Madame Beaufort on Friday evenings, at the great artistic fête given by the Dutch government in honor of the conference, and once in his office, and he seemed invariably the same simple, natural, manly, brotherly man. has thorough sympathy with the cause of peace, not only on political but also on Christian grounds, as he told me. The most laborious position in the conference was that of the General Secretary. This position was ably filled by Mr. J. C. N. Van Eys, Bart., an able and distinguished young man, who has already served his country as minister at foreign

courts.

He

The Dutch government not only put at the service of the conference its "most beautiful historic monument," "the House-in-the-Woods,"

but did everything in its power, in a social way, to make the delegates happy. Its hospitality was generous, genuine and becoming. This was supplemented by that of the foreign ministers residing at The Hague, one of the most obliging and best liked of whom is Mr. Newel, froin this country. Altogether the peaceful relations of the conference were greatly strengthened by the social elements. A fine dinner knows no nationality, and a grand soirée is a great lubricator of international friction joints.

A considerable number of the leading peace workers from different countries were present, as was to have been expected. They were not officially represented in the conference, except by a few members of the Interparliamentary Peace Union. They came because of their living interest in the cause. They were treated with much consideration, and had no small influence in developing the hopeful and earnest spirit of the occasion. They were prudent and unobtrusive, and accomplished quite as much by their attentive silence as by their speech. Mr. John de Bloch, whose monumental work of six volumes on "The Future War" has received such wide notice, though a comparatively new worker for peace, attracted the greatest attention. He is short, thick set, and has a head fine enough to serve as an artist's model. He is a rich Russian banker, and of high social position. He was in charge of the transportation of the Russian troops, including sick and wounded, during the war of 1877-78, and has "seen war," as he said. I never saw any one more absolutely possessed of his subject. He did not, would not, and I suppose could not talk about anything else. He brought with him great trunks full of sets of his books, which he gave freely to members of the conference and others. He had long interviews with leading delegates. He gave a course of lectures, which were attended by

many of the delegates. He served supper in the middle and at the end of the lectures free to all comers. War under present conditions, as he portrayed its possibilities and illustrated it with lantern projections, seemed to bristle with terrors, death, bankruptcy, widespread and long-continued ruin; and every one who listened was anxious to do something to bring in at once the era of undisturbed and unarmed peace.

The Baroness von Suttner, whose great story, "Lay Down Your Arms," has gone through twenty editions in German and been translated into nearly all the tongues of western Europe, was present, with her husband. She is the foremost woman of continental Europe. She was admitted to the opening session of the conference, the only woman so honored. She moved in and out among the delegates with almost as much attention as if she had been the president of the conference. She had interviews with leading delegates, invited them to lunch, and met them in various ways. All this she did in a quiet, unobtrusive way, but as if by natural right.

The two oldest peace societies in the world, the British and the American, were represented by their secretaries. Dr. Darby of the former had the honor done him of having one hundred copies of his recent book, "International Tribunals," distributed by Mr. de Staal to the delegates. This book contains all the schemes hitherto drawn for the organization of arbitration. It was recognized as of great practical value in the study of the subject of arbitration, and demonstrated that the friends of peace have been not simply sentimental dreamers, but practical workers also. Mr. W. T. Stead, whose recent remarkable work in the peace crusade and travels in Europe and especially to Russia in the interests of the conference are so well known, was present and intensely. active among the delegates, to try to

make the conference a success. Everybody had to listen to him. He held delegates up simply by lifting his umbrella, as one correspondent said, just as a semaphore brings a train to halt. As a journalist he must have his paper. He somehow got control of the Dagblad, the leading daily of The Hague, at least to the extent of becoming its conference editor. He also gave a lecture in the city, to a large audience, on the work of the conference. Other distinguished peace workers present were Dr. Charles Richet and Emile Arnaud from France; Fredrik Bajer of Copenhagen, president of the International Peace Bureau; Senator La Fontaine of Brussels, with a memorial signed by more than 100,000 Belgians; Madame Waszklewicz, organizer of the Dutch Peace Crusade, with a memorial from over 200,000 of her countrymen; Madame Selenka. of Munich, one of the most remarkable women whom the peace movement has brought to the front, with the great memorial from millions of women in eighteen nations; Mr. Felix Moscheles of London; Mr. Novicow, the distinguished sociologist of Odessa; and, not least influential, a deputation of six English Friends from the Yearly Meeting in London, whom Mr. de Staal received with peculiar pleasure, because "he knew they were sincere."

But

The commissioners began their work very sceptical as to results. It was new work to most of them. the surroundings were all such as to encourage them, and the multitudes of appeals and expressions of faith coming from all lands made it impossible for them not to try to do their best. The best spirit of the time was upon them. After a session or two, when they had looked into each other's faces and seen what an able and helpful corps of fellow-workers they had to coöperate with, they set to work seriously, earnestly and confidently. No body of men ever did more faithful work. There was no

trifling. The committees and subcommittees toiled earnestly and patiently for nearly two months over the problems which had been set for them. The finest spirit of concord. prevailed throughout. The differences in opinion were only such as are incident to any great discussion. The debates were conducted for the most part in a noble and generous spirit. There was almost nothing that could be called wrangling or twitting, no attempt at outwitting or beating one another down, no effort of representatives of great states to override those of small ones. The manner in which the deliberations were conducted would do honor to any national assembly. There was a sense of brotherhood, fellowship and mutual interest altogether unexpected in so mixed and varied an assembly.

It will be a long time before the full results of the conference will be seen. The fact that it met, with such a body of able, disinterested and for the most part progressive men, that it worked so faithfully and in so fine a spirit of mutual appreciation and harmony, is of vastly more significance for the future of civilization than any direct result accomplished. It is a notable proof that humanity as a whole has come to a real political consciousness of itself and is about to assume the sovereignty of the world which inherently belongs to it. The parliament of man, of the race, has actually begun, and no power on earth or under it can stay its completion. But the actual accomplishments of the conference are very great, and the high character and eminence of the delegates at home, and the close relations which they have maintained with their governments, make it practically certain that their conclusions will be ratified by all of the twenty-six nations represented, and probably accepted by a number of others.

The Geneva convention in its full significance is to be extended to