"The Council communicates to the Signatory Powers without delay the Regulations adopted by it. It furnishes them with an annual Report on the Labours of the Court, the working of the administration, and the expenses. "ARTICLE XXIX. The expenses of the Bureau shall be borne by the Signatory Powers in the proportion fixed for the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union. "CHAPTER III.-On Arbitral Procedure. "ARTICLE XXX. With a view to encourage the development of arbitration, the Signatory Powers have agreed on the following Rules which shall be applicable to arbitral procedure, unless other rules have been agreed on by the parties. "ARTICLE XXXI. The Powers who have recourse to arbitration. sign a special Act (Compromis'), in which the subject of the difference is clearly defined, as well as the extent of the Arbitrators' powers. This Act implies the undertaking of the parties to submit loyally to the award. "ARTICLE XXXII. The duties of Arbitrator may be conferred on one Arbitrator alone or on several Arbitrators selected by the parties as they please, or chosen by them from the members of the permanent Court of Arbitration established by the present Act. 66 Failing the constitution of the Tribunal by direct agreement between the parties, the following course shall be pursued: "Each party appoints two arbitrators, and these latter together choose an Umpire. "In case of equal voting, the choice of the Umpire is intrusted to a third Power, selected by the parties by common accord. "If no agreement is arrived at on this subject, each party selects a different Power, and the choice of the Umpire is made in concert by the Powers thus selected. "ARTICLE XXXIII. When a Sovereign or the Chief of a State is chosen as Arbitrator, the arbitral procedure is settled by him. "ARTICLE XXXIV. The Umpire is by right President of the Tribunal. "When the Tribunal does not include an Umpire it appoints its own President. "ARTICLE XXXV. In case of the death, retirement, or disability from any cause of one of the Arbitrators, his place shall be filled in accordance with the method of his appointment. "ARTICLE XXXVI. The Tribunal's place of session is selected by the parties. Failing this selection the Tribunal sits at The Hague. "The place thus fixed can not, except in case of necessity, be changed by the Tribunal without the assent of the parties. "ARTICLE XXXVII. The parties have the right to appoint delegates or special agents to attend the Tribunal, for the purpose of serving as intermediaries between them and the Tribunal. 66 They are further authorized to retain, for the defense of their rights and interests before the Tribunal, counsel or advocates appointed by them for this purpose. "ARTICLE XXXVIII. The Tribunal decides on the choice of languages to be used by itself, and to be authorized for use before it. "ARTICLE XXXIX. As a general rule the arbitral procedure comprises two distinct phases; preliminary examination and discussion. "Preliminary examination consists in the communication by the respective agents to the members of the Tribunal and to the opposite party of all printed or written Acts and of all documents containing the arguments invoked in the case. This communication shall be made in the form and within the periods fixed by the Tribunal in accordance with Article XLIX. "Discussion consists in the oral development before the Tribunal of the arguments of the parties. "ARTICLE XL. Every document produced by one party must be communicated to the other party. "ARTICLE XLI. The discussions are under the direction of the President. They are only public if it be so decided by the Tribunal, with the assent of the parties. "They are recorded in the procès-verbaux drawn up by the Secretaries appointed by the President. These procès-verbaux alone have an authentic character. "ARTICLE XLII. When the preliminary examination is concluded, the Tribunal has the right to refuse discussion of all fresh Acts or documents which one party may desire to submit to it without the consent of the other party. "ARTICLE XLIII. The Tribunal is free to take into consideration fresh Acts or documents to which its attention may be drawn by the agents or counsel of the parties. "In this case the Tribunal has the right to require the production. of these Acts or documents, but is obliged to make them known to the opposite party. "ARTICLE XLIV. The Tribunal can, besides, require from the agents of the parties the production of all Acts, and can demand all necessary explanations. In case of refusal, the Tribunal takes note of it. "ARTICLE XLV. The agents and counsel of the parties are authorized to present orally to the Tribunal all the arguments they may think expedient in defence of their case. “ARTICLE XLVI. They have the right to raise objections and points. The decisions of the Tribunal on those points are final, and can not form the subject of any subsequent discussion. "ARTICLE XLVII. The members of the Tribunal have the right to put questions to the agents and counsel of the parties, and to demand. explanations from them on doubtful points. "Neither the questions put nor the remarks made by members of the Tribunal during the discussions can be regarded as an expression of opinion by the Tribunal in general, or by its members in particular. "ARTICLE XLVIII. The Tribunal is authorized to declare its competence in interpreting the Compromis' as well as the other Treaties which may be invoked in the case, and in applying the principles of international law. "ARTICLE XLIX. The Tribunal has the right to issue Rules of Procedure for the conduct of the case, to decide the forms and periods within which each party must conclude its arguments, and to arrange all the formalities required for dealing with the evidence. "ARTICLE L. When the agents and counsel of the parties have submitted all explanations and evidence in support of their case, the President pronounces the discussion closed. "ARTICLE LI. The deliberations of the Tribunal take place in private. Every decision is taken by a majority of members of the Tribunal. "The refusal of a member to vote must be recorded in the procèsverbal. "ARTICLE LII. The award, given by a majority of votes, is accompanied by a statement of reasons. It is drawn up in writing and signed by each member of the Tribunal. "Those members who are in the minority may record their dissent when signing. "ARTICLE LIII. The award is read out at a public meeting of the Tribunal, the agents and counsel of the parties being present, or duly summoned to attend. "ARTICLE LIV. The award, duly pronounced and notified to the agents of the parties at variance, puts an end to the dispute definitely and without appeal. "ARTICLE LV. The parties can reserve in the Compromis' the right to demand the revision of the award. "In this case, and unless there be an agreement to the contrary, the demand must be addressed to the Tribunal which pronounced the award. It can only be made on the ground of the discovery of some new fact calculated to exercise a decisive influence on the award, and which, at the time the discussion was closed, was unknown to the Tribunal and to the party demanding the revision. "Proceedings for revision can only be instituted by a decision of the Tribunal expressly recording the existence of the new fact, recognizing in it the character described in the foregoing paragraph, and declaring the demand admissible on this ground. "The Compromis' fixes the period within which the demand for revision must be made. “ARTICLE LVI. The award is only binding on the parties who conclude the Compromis.' "When there is a question of interpreting a Convention to which Powers other than those concerned in the dispute are parties, the latter notify to the former the Compromis' they have concluded. Each of these Powers has the right to intervene in the case. If one or more of them avail themselves of this right, the interpretation contained in the award is equally binding on them. "ARTICLE LVII. Each party pays its own expenses and an equal share of those of the Tribunal." Convention for the Peaceful Settlement of International Differences, The "It is with satisfaction that I am able to announce the formal notification at The Hague, on September 4, of the deposit of ratifications of the convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes by sixteen powers, namely, the United States, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Spain, Sweden and Norway, and the Netherlands. Japan also has since ratified the convention. "The administrative council of the permanent court of arbi-. tration has been organized and has adopted rules of order and a constitution for the International Arbitration Bureau.” President McKinley, annual message, Dec. 3, 1900, For. Rel. 1900, XXIV. For the list of members of the permanent court, see id. 795–797. "It will be observed that the conditions upon which powers not represented at the conference can adhere to the convention for the peaceful regulation of international conflicts is to form the subject of a later agreement between the contracting powers.' This provision reflects the outcome of a three days' debate in the drafting committee as to whether this convention should be absolutely open or open only with the consent of the contracting powers. England and Italy strenuously supported the latter view. It soon became apparent that under the guise of general propositions the committee was discussing political questions of great importance at least to certain powers. Under these circumstances the representatives of the United States took no part in the discussion, but supported by their vote the view that the convention, in its nature, involved reciprocal obligations; and also the conclusion that political questions had no place in the conference, and must be left to be decided by the competent authorities of the powers represented there. "It is to be regretted that this action excludes from immediate adherence to this convention our sister republics of Central and South America, with whom the United States is already in similar relations by the Pan-American treaty. It is hoped that an arrangement will soon be made which will enable these states, if they so desire, to enter into the same relations as ourselves with the powers represented at the conference." Report of the American delegates to The Hague Conference, July 31, 1899, For. Rel. 1899, 513, 520. The convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes was signed by sixteen delegations, as follows: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Greece, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Siam, Spain, Sweden and Norway, and the United States. Adjoined to the signatures of the United States delegation there was a reference to their declaration made in open conference on July 25th and recorded in the proceedings of that day. (For. Rel 1899, 513, 519.) With reference to article 1 of the programme of The Hague Conference, proposing the limitation of land and sea forces as well as of war budgets, the American delegates were instructed that, in comparison with the effective forces of other nations, those of the United States were so far below the normal that the question of their limitation could not be profitably discussed, and that the initiative on the subject should be left to the powers to which it might properly belong. The committee of the conference to which article 1 was referred, reported that the proposals on the subject presented by the Russian representatives for fixing the amounts of forces and of budgets, military and naval, for periods of five and three years, could not be accepted, and that a more profound study upon the part of each state concerned was to be desired. The American delegates, while concurring in this conclusion, declared that in so doing they did not express any opinion as to the course to be taken by the States of Europe in relation to a matter which practically concerned them alone. For. Rel. 1899, 511, 512, 513-514. The Hague Conference adopted a resolution expressing the wish that the Governments therein represented, taking into account all the |