THE PEACE CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1423, 8 June 1899, Page 48

THE PEACE CONFERENCE.

AMSTERDAM, Tuesday. The Russian and British representatives at the Peace Conference are now co-operating in their efforts to bring about the establishment of a permanent tribunal for the settlement of international disputes. Professor Martens, the eminent authority on international law, who with M. de Staal (President of the Conference) represents Russia, lias drawn up a scheme which incorporates tho mam features of that put forward by Sir Julian Pauncefote, the senior British representative, and this is now receiving consideration. AMSTERDAM, Wednesday. Some details of the scheme for international arbitration submitted to the Peace Conference by Sir Julian Pauncefote, one of Great Britain’s representatives, have been made public. His proposal was that an international Council should be established, which 9 should have its headquarters at either Berne, the capital of Switzerland, or the Hague, the political capital of the Netherlands. The functions cf this Council should, ho suggests, be to arrange for arbitration whenever either of two countries between which a dispute has arisen should apply for friendly intervention. The disputants would under the proposal he allowed to choose the arbitrators from a list of diplomatists and jurists which would be drawn up by the States that were parties to the Arbitration Convention, unless, indeed, they were prepared to agree between themselves as to the statesmen who should deal with the matter under the auspices of the Council. The speedy decision by the arbitrators of the question in dispute is to be an imperative feature of the scheme. In the discussion of the matter Signor Nigra, one of the Italian delegates, has proposed that, pending the decision of a dispute, the parties be allowed to mobilise their military and naval forces. At the Peace Conference to-day, the American delegates supported Sir Julian Pauncefote’s proposal to set up an arbi tration tribunal. • AMSTERDAM, Thursday. The Armaments Committee of the Peace Conference has vetoed the use of explosive bullets and the discharge of explosives from balloons. The British delegates defended the use of dum-dum bullets, and determined to retain the right of liberty of action in the matter of the Russian proposal to prohibit the adoption of tmproved rifles for the use of artillery.