PROTOCOLS OF THE ARBITRATION. 37 



Having been appointed by agreement of the parties to be the umpire 

 in this arbitration and being therefore called to the high honor of 

 presiding at these debates, it is my first duty to thank their excel- 

 lencies the President and the members of the Administrative Council 

 of the Permanent Court for honoring the opening of these proceed- 

 ings b}' their presence. 



Then I may be permitted to offer a most hearty welcome to my 

 eminent colleagues and to the honorable and distinguished agents and 

 counsel of the two litigant parties. 



Only consciousness of being at your side, my dear and most hon- 

 ored colleagues, and of being assisted bv j'^our experience, your tact, 

 and your knowledge has inspired me with the courage to accept the 

 functions so noble, but also so responsible and so difficult, incumbent 

 on me in this arbitration. 



Let me express to you once more in public, what I have said 

 already to you in private, that I consider it the greatest distinction 

 in my life to sit in your company in this historic proceeding. 



My illustrious colleagues and myself have studied in these last 

 months with all care and assiduity the voluminous and highly inter- 

 esting documents which have been presented to us by the parties; but 

 we have deliberately forborne to form a definite opinion on the ardu- 

 ous questions involved in the case, before having had the most 

 valuable — I may say the indispensable — assistance from the speeches 

 of those eminent lawyers and statesmen who have accepted the func- 

 tions of counsel in this case. 



Be assured, gentlemen representing the litigant parties, that all 

 we arbitrators are imbued with the sense of our responsibility not 

 only to the Governments which honored us with their confidence and 

 to the two great nations they represent, but also to the noble idea of 

 international arbitration, so dear to all of us. 



We are fully aware that with the end of promoting this peaceful 

 mode of settling international differences the award we have to pro- 

 nounce must b}^ the force of its motives meet with the ap- 

 18 proval of all who by their unbiased knowledge of inter- 

 national law are entitled to criticize us. 



Every sentence rendered by this Court ought to be by virtue of its 

 impartiality and equity a new marble pillar to sustain the ideal palace 

 of Justice and Peace, the symbol of which is to be that noble edifice 

 which has been dedicated to this town by the munificence of a man 

 whose name is dear to both litigant nations. 



Being conscious of our responsibilities, we shall do our best to ren- 

 der justice to those " captains courageous " and hardy fishermen of 

 both nations, who in th^p uproar of the sea and at the risk of their 

 lives pile the treasures of the Ocean for the benefit of men. In doing 

 our duty in that way, we hope to settle peacefully and definitely a 



