INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AND ITS POSSIBILITIES 



The two wars that within the present eentniy have resulteil in the greatest 

 changes in the map of the world have heen that between France and Germany 

 in 1870 and that between the United States and Spain in 1898. The former 

 not only transferred Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, but unified and consol- 

 idated the latter country, welding a number of kingdoms and grand duchies, 

 with Prussia at their head, into the great empire of which the King of Prussia 

 was made the first ruler. The war between the United States and Spain not 

 only removed the Spanish flag from the western hemisphere and planted that 

 of the United States over Cuba and Puerto Rico, but made the Great Republic 

 of the West the ruler of the largest group of islands in the East Indies. In a 

 recent interesting article in the London Speckilor, these two wars are mentioned 

 as among those which would almost certainly have been prevented )>y the 

 o[)eration of even that qualified and moderate system of international arbitra- 

 tion which was the principal feature of the work of the Peace Conference at the 

 Hague. 



HELPING NAVIGATION 



In the interest of commerce the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey has now 

 nine vessels charting the bottom, looking for isolated rocks on which ships may 

 strike, studying the ocean currents, and gathering data for the Coast Pilot. 

 Whatever facilitates approach to or departure from the coast increases the value 

 of our products. The whole countrv benefits from easier communication by 

 sea, and aids to navigation are therefore in the interest of public prosperity. 

 The dangers to navigation form an important chapter in hydrographic work. 

 On some parts of the coast submerged rocks are the constant dread of the mar- 

 iner. Unknown channels are also a source of apprehension, while continual 

 changes occurring in harbors are always dangerous. Thousands of miles of 

 soundings are run every year, shoreline is draw^n, light-houses and buoys located, 

 and new maps are made or old ones brought up to date. 



The localities in which work is now actually under way are Chesapeake Bay, 

 Puerto Rico (where three vessels are employed), San Francisco, Seattle, and 

 the Hawaiian Islands. Under the shadow of Haleakala, the largest extinct 

 crater in the worltl, lies the beautiful harbor of Kahului. This is the outlet 

 for much of the sugar from the rich plantations of Maui. The Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey steamer P.ithjiu'ler is now adding to our maritime knowledge of 

 this port by hydrographic surveys and otherwise. The coast charts of Hawaii, 

 often unsatisfactory and always less accurate than the commercial importance 

 of the place would justify and demand, will now be steadily perfected. It is 

 hoped to continue surveying operations in the.se vessels until the principal parts 

 are completely charted. 



It may not l)e generally known that the work of the British Hydrographic De- 

 partment is done by a civilian force under the direction of the Admiralty. In 



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