54 INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PEACE 



combination of hostile navies wherever they may be found. Local superiority consists in 

 the power to send in good time to, or maintain permanently in, some distant theatre forces 

 adequate to defeat the enemy or hold him in check until the main decision has been obtained 

 in the decisive theatre. It is the general naval supremacy of Great Britain which is the 

 primary safeguard of the security and interests of the great Dominions of the Crown, and 

 which for all these years has been the deterrent upon any possible designs prejudicial to or 

 inconsiderate of their policy and safety. 



The rapid expansion of Canadian sea-borne trade, and the immense value of Canadian 

 cargoes always afloat in British and Canadian bottoms, here require consideration. On 

 the basis of the figures supplied by the Board of Trade to the Imperial Conference of 1911, 

 the annual value of the overseas trade of the Dominion of Canada in 1909-10 was not less 

 than 72,000,000; and the tonnage of Canadian vessels was 718,000 tons, and these pro- 

 portions have already increased and are still increasing. For the whole of this trade wher- 

 ever it may be about the distant waters of the world, as well as for the maintenance of her 

 communications, both with Europe and Asia, Canada is dependent, and has always depended 

 upon the Imperial Navy, without corresponding contribution or cost. 



Further, at the present time and in the immediate future, Great Britain still has the 

 power, by making special arrangements and mobilising a portion of the reserves, to send, 

 without courting disaster at home, an effective fleet of battleships and cruisers to unite 

 with the Royal Australian Navy and the British squadrons in China and the Pacific for the 

 defence of British Columbia, Australia and New Zealand. And these communities are also 

 protected and their interest safeguarded by the power and authority of Great Britain so 

 long as her naval strength is unbroken. 



8. This power, both specific and general, will be diminished with the growth not only 

 of the German Navy, but by the simultaneous building by many Powers of great modern 

 ships of war. 



Whereas, in the present year, Great Britain possesses 18 battleships and battle cruisers 

 of the Dreadnought class against 19 of that class possessed by the other Powers of Europe, 

 and will possess in 1913 24 to 21, the figures in 1914 will be 31 to 33; and in the year 1915, 

 35 to 51. 



The existence of a number of navies all comprising ships of high quality must be con- 

 sidered in so far as it affects the possibilities of adverse combinations being suddenly formed. 

 Larger margins of superiority at home would, among other things, restore a greater freedom 

 to the movements of the British squadrons in every sea, and directly promote the security 

 of the Dominions. Anything which increases our margin in the newest ships diminishes 

 the strain, and augments our security and our chances of being left unmolested. 



9. Whatever may be the decision of Canada at the present juncture, Great Britain 

 will not in any circumstances fail in her duty to the oversea Dominions of the Crown. 



She has before now successfully made head alone and unaided against the most formidable 

 combinations and she has not lost her capacity by a wise policy and strenuous exertions to 

 watch over and preserve the vital interests of the Empire. 



The Admiralty are assured that His Majesty's Government will not hesitate to ask the 

 House of Commons for whatever provision the circumstances of each year may require. 

 But the aid which Canada could give at the present time is not to be measured only in 

 ships or money. Any action on the part of Canada to increase the power and mobility of 

 the Imperial Navy, and thus widen the margin of our common safety, would be recognised 

 everywhere as a most significant witness to the united strength of the Empire, and to the 

 renewed resolve of the overseas Dominions to take their part in maintaining its integrity. 



10. The Prime Minister of the Dominion having enquired in what form any immediate 

 aid that Canada might give would be most effective, we have no hesitation in answering, 

 after a prolonged consideration of all the circumstances, that it is desirable that such aid 

 should include the provision of a certain number of the largest and strongest ships of war 

 which science can build or money supply. 



INTERNATIONAL LAW, ARBITRATION AND PEACE 



Since 1910. events have been testing the value of some of the principles and institu- 

 tions with which jurists and statesmen had endeavoured to create a distinctive character 

 for the new century. Whether these new principles and institutions are standing the 

 test satisfactorily is still more or less a matter of conjecture. The object of this survey 

 is to examine different international manifestations in reference to the law and practice 

 of nations which it has been the object of the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907 to 

 make precise and binding, the progress made by arbitration as a method for arranging 

 difficulties between States, its displacement of coercive methods, and the prospects of 

 peace as a positive object of the many agencies at work for its preservation. 



