174 A Century of Science 



ternational tribunals contemplated in our present 

 treaty. There is no doubt that the good work is 

 undertaken in entire good faith by both nations ; 

 both earnestly wish to make international arbitra 

 tion successful, and there is little fear that the 

 importance of fair dealing will be overlooked or 

 undervalued. If the present proceedings result in 

 the establishment of a tribunal whose integrity and 

 impartiality shall win the permanent confidence of 

 British and Americans alike, it will be an immense 

 achievement, fraught with incalculable benefit to 

 mankind. For the first time, the substitution of 

 international lawsuits for warfare will have been 

 systematically begun by two of the leading nations 

 of the world ; and an event which admits of such a 

 description cannot be without many consequences, 

 enduring and profound. 



For observe that the interest of the present 

 treaty lies not so much in the fact that it provides 

 for arbitration as in the fact that it aims at mak 

 ing arbitration the regular and permanent method 

 of settling international disputes. In due propor 

 tion to the gravity of the problem is the modest 

 caution with which it is approached. The treaty 

 merely asks to be tried on its merits, and only for 

 five years at that. Only for such a brief period is 

 the most vociferous Jingo in the United States 



