506 INTERNATIONAL LAW 



for works having a world-wide bearing is in happy contrast with the 

 enormous budgets of the various civilized nations. 



We will now refer to a last point before ending this sketch of the 

 work to be accomplished in the field of public international law. 

 The present armies form, in times of peace as well as in times of war, 

 an essential element of the life of nations. Will it always be thus? 

 We make bold to affirm the contrary. All the arduous problems, 

 half of which at least constitute the domain of public international 

 law and which have for their object the rights of belligerents and 

 neutrals, will be definitely eliminated. Even now the disarmament 

 of nations appears as a work of paramount utility, despite number- 

 less difficulties which seem to be in the way of its realization. 



We need not recall that this disarmament was the main preoccu- 

 pation of the Emperor of Russia in his rescript of 1898, and while 

 its discussion has disappeared from the order of the day of the Peace 

 Conference, it has, nevertheless, been solemnly declared by the 

 diplomats gathered at The Hague that military burdens constitute 

 for the nations an unbearable evil. Numerous publicists have not 

 hesitated to face the problem, and the solutions suggested by them 

 may be summarized as follows: Truce in armaments, partial and 

 simultaneous disarmament, final disarmament. A truce in arma- 

 ments would of itself bring about tremendous relief, for it would put 

 an end to the competition in armaments which drags nations into 

 making ever renewed expenditures, always becoming larger and 

 weightier, leading toward irremediable bankruptcy. 



Partial and simultaneous disarmament would, no doubt, be the 

 nearest and most reasonable solution, and it does not appear hence- 

 forth as an impossibility, in view of the arrangements reached between 

 Chile and the Argentine Republic, which had for their object the 

 reduction of the naval forces of both countries. 



There remains the question of final disarmament. Regarding 

 this delicate matter the last Interparliamentary Conference did not 

 hesitate to declare itself in favor of a thorough study. As has been 

 said above, the question of disarmament has not been stricken off 

 the programme drafted by the Czar; its discussion alone has been 

 adjourned. The Interparliamentary Conference has but recently 

 invited the governments to bring about the meeting in a new session 

 of the members of the Peace Conference with a view to discussing 

 the questions belonging to it, among which final disarmament 

 figures in the first rank of international matters. This invitation 

 was unanimously agreed upon, and it will have, as we hope, consid- 

 erable weight with statesmen when they are considering taking action. 

 How may such a disarmament be conceived? It is known that 

 the present armies have, in time of peace, only a limited size. The 

 men who are freed from active service are thereafter incorporated 



