198 THE TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 



agree between themselves, they establish a mixed 

 commission or appoint an arbitrator or arbitrators. 

 On such occasions the contending parties do not se 

 lect an arbitrator in consideration of his being power 

 ful, like an Emperor of the French or an Emperor of 

 Germany, but because of confidence in the impartial 

 ity of the arbiter, as when great States refer a ques 

 tion to relatively feeble Sovereigns, like the King of 

 the Netherlands or the King of the Belgians, or to 

 the Senate of a little Republic like Hamburg, or even 

 to five individual judges, like the Arbitrators of Ge 

 neva, or to a single person like Sir Edward Thornton. 

 Nay, in further proof of the availableness of this 

 method of settling national disputes, we have Great 

 Britain and the United States, in spite of their own 

 particular quarrel, each trusting the other in a ques 

 tion between either of them and another Power. 



The same disposition of mind on the part of mod 

 ern Governments, that is, the assumption that a se 

 lected international judge or arbitrator will decide 

 impartially, whether he be powerful or weak, and of 

 whatever nationality he may be, appears in the con 

 stitution of mixed commissions. Generally these 

 commissions consist of two commissioners, one ap 

 pointed by each of the respective Governments, with 

 authority given to the commissioners to select an um 

 pire to determine any differences w T hich may arise be 

 tween them; or sometimes the umpire is agreed on 

 by the two Governments. 



Now, in the very heat of our late controversies with 

 Great Britain, we consented to accept the British 



