PRESENT AND FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW 501 



arbitration constitutes a considerable progress over what existed 

 previous to its creation. Recourse to arbitration dates back to 

 distant periods; traces of it have been found in the institutions of 

 ancient Greece, and historians have proved its usage during the 

 Middle Ages. But arbitration became an international custom in 

 a somewhat regular way only after 1794, when the United States of 

 America and Great Britain intrusted to arbitrators the solution 

 of the first differences which arose after the War of Independence. 

 Since that time these two nations have remained faithful, in a large 

 measure, to that peaceful mode of settling international conflicts. 

 Until the end of the last century, Great Britain and the United 

 States were interested in and parties to seventy and fifty-six compro- 

 mises, respectively, while all the European states together have 

 had recourse to the jurisdiction of arbitration only eighty-nine times. 

 This shows that the practical propaganda in favor of arbitration 

 has been most followed by the nations of Anglo-Saxon origin. 



It is interesting to note that recourse to arbitration has been 

 singularly frequent in the course of the last century. There were but 

 eleven arbitrations from 1801 to 1820, eight from 1821 to 1840; 

 thenceforth their number increased as follows; twenty from 1841 to 

 1860, forty-four from 1861 to 1880, ninety from 1881 to 1900. Fur- 

 thermore, recourse to arbitration was included, from 1823 to 1900, in 

 numerous treaties by compromise clauses of either special or general 

 character, numbering one hundred and thirty-eight. Finally, from 

 1880 to 1900 eleven permanent arbitration, treaties were concluded. 

 It was natural that the idea of a permanent institution should arise 

 in the minds of jurists, and it is known that the creation of an inter- 

 national court had been suggested and discussed long before the 

 organization of the court of arbitration of The Hague. This discus- 

 sion was mainly the work of volunteers, who, since 1815, have insti- 

 tuted an untiring propaganda in favor of peaceful ideas. The innu- 

 merable societies which they have created in all the countries of the 

 world, and which have been grouped, since 1891, about the Interna- 

 tional bureau of peace in Berne, the congresses called by them since 

 1838, which have become regular and annual since 1889, have con- 

 tributed largely, with the interparliamentary union, the sessions of 

 which, since its creation in 1889, have had from year to year greater 

 importance and publicity, to accustom the public and diplomacy to 

 the idea of an international court. 



It is known how the arbitration court was evolved from the de- 

 liberations of the Peace Conference. It will be recalled what pro- 

 found world-wide emotion was aroused by the since famous rescript 

 issued by the Emperor of Russia in 1898. While the enthusiasm 

 of nations was great, the incredulity of diplomats was thorough. 

 The failure of the conference was predicted and discounted, and those 



