AT THE HAGUE PEACE CONFERENCE: V-1899 339 



equally. He thinks that they will join hands and oust the 

 ministry just as soon as the conference is over. 



Some allowance is to be made for the fact that Sir 

 Henry is a Eoman Catholic: while generally liberal, he 

 evidently looks at many questions from the point of view 

 of his church. 1 



July 24. 



For some days in fact, ever since Captain Mahan 

 on the 22d called attention to article 27 of the arbi 

 tration convention as likely to be considered an in 

 fringement of the Monroe Doctrine our American dele 

 gation has been greatly perplexed. We have been trying 

 to induce the French, who proposed article 27, and who 

 are as much attached to it as is a hen to her one chick, 

 to give it up, or, at least, to allow a limiting or explanatory 

 clause to be placed with it. Various clauses of this sort 

 have been proposed. The article itself makes it the 

 duty of the other signatory powers, when any two nations 

 are evidently drifting toward war, to remind these two 

 nations that the arbitration tribunal is open to them. 

 Nothing can be more simple and natural; but we fear 

 lest, when the convention comes up for ratification in 

 the United States Senate, some over-sensitive patriot may 

 seek to defeat it by insisting that it is really a violation 

 of time-honored American policy at home and abroad 

 the policy of not entangling ourselves in the affairs of 

 foreign nations, on one side, and of not allowing them 

 to interfere in our affairs, on the other. 



At twelve this day our delegation gave a large luncheon 

 at the Oude Doelen among those present being Ambas 

 sadors De Staal, Count Nigra, and Sir Julian Pauncef ote, 

 Bourgeois, Karnebeek, Easily, Baron d Estournelles, 

 Baron de Bildt, and others to discuss means of getting 

 out of the above-mentioned difficulty. A most earnest 



1 As it turned out, he was right : the ministry was ousted, but not so soon 

 as he expected, for the catastrophe did not arrive until about two years later. 

 Then came in a coalition of high Calvinists and Roman Catholics which 

 brought in the Kuyper ministry. 



