PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 37, 14 September 1905, Page 5

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

HOW THEY ARE

The end of the war between Russia and Japan and the arrangement of the terms of peace have "been the chief items of public interest during the past- tort night. In view of the unexpected settlement arrived at between these two nations, a few Motes on the methods and procedure followed by the representatives of belligerent Powers at a .peace conferenlce will be of special iinttarest at the present time :— Some people seem to imagine that when the representatives of the blelLigienent -nations come tag-ether as the ' High, contracting parties,' as they are called, to a treaty* of peace, they can make what terms they like asi Ibetween themselves-, but fhis is not entirely the case. Here, e)s in the case of tho waT, they have to pay strict resipeet to the canons and traditions of international law. One of the most delicate pioints for settlement in cases of this sort, where the theatre of war is so vast am-d when no armistice is concluded befoceh'anid, is to determine the exact time at which the treaty of peace- slhfall become operative at certain places to which the news may be difficult to con»vey. Careful calculations are made and these various times aro settled, and until Hie official news arrives the heHi'fje'rciTts at these places are justified in waging war, oven though they know Uh/a-t at (headquarters peacd has been proclaimed. The reason for this principle of International Law is that if a comlbatant officer were to be expected to accept information of this kind from any one except Ms own Government he would lay himself open to be "deceived in the most serious manner, awd in somo extraordinary cases his conduct in continuing warlike acts, even though certain that peace had been agreed lupon, has b<een justified by internfatiomal tribunals, whO halve only made the reservation that his country shall reap no advantage from these acts, and that any land or spoils that he may gain 'by them shall be given u ( p afterwards. The Leading Case in The Matter, and that which is always quoted when disputes! arise, is Ihat which is known as the case of the ' Swineherd.' This was an English ship which was provided with letters of marque, amd which sailed from Calcutta for England before the end of the period of five months fixed by the Treaty of Amiens for the terminaition of hostilities in the Indian seas, but after the news of peace had arrived at Calcutta land after a proclamation of George 111. requiring his subjects to ajWstain from hostilities from the time fixed a/nd mentioned in this proclamation had tteen published in a Calcutta oaper. The ' Swineherd ' htad a copy of this proclamation on board, but soon after she had left port she was captured by a French privateer, the ' Bellona.' She could offer no resistance, as, talarag peace for /granted, she hatii only enough iptowder on board for signalling purposes.Notw, the capiiaim of the ' Bellona ' had Ijeen fciiormod by ot/her vessels that peace had beon concluded, he was shown the proclamation, and 'he "had bo room to doubt tbatl the intentions of the ' Swineherd ' were

peaceful.. Howe.vcr, the ' Swineherd ' was considered in France as ai good prize, and international law ufpheld ■ the decision for the reasons already given, so that tho casa stands as a standard to the present time. It is also held by international I'aw that when peace has once jbeen signed the late combatants are bound to look upon it as a fresh beginning, a point behind which neither side may look. There are not allowed to be officially any recriminations as to what took place before the war, and war cannot su'b^c^iently bis raiewed on the same grounds. If it were there would be international interference to support this principle. The Law of Nations pays particular attention to the inteiests of private and commercial persons, subjects of the Powers that were at war, in the now and happier static of Idlings that arises when peace is appreed unon. Contracts onteied into between business houses in the rival countries before war broke out were necessarily suspended during its progress, b<ut the law has it that, unless they are of a land that lenewal is impossible, they are renewed after peace is signed just as \i nothing had happened in the meantime. Thus, Tchito of Japan, who fi\e years ago agreed to sol rice to Plovski of Russia for uen years/, will after Iho fett lament of the treaty bog in again to do so from tho point where, he left off when his co.untiy\s torpedoboats begun operations an the Russian fleet at Port Arthlur. In the meantime Plovski may have forgotten all about the contract, and even, in these hard ttimes in Russia, gone into another line of business, but Tchito cam force him to keep on buying tho rice. Another Leaiding Case Shows an Odd Point. During ithe Franco-Prussian War of 1 870 the Gorman Government entered into contracts with certain French persons for cutting wood in French foijests. After peace was settled the Germans claimed that the French Government slhould allow them to complete the cuttrng, inasmuch as the German Government ha-d acted within its rights in masking the contract. The French G'o^ernment'held that the restoration of its authority over this territory had automatically concluded this contract and eventually Germany acquiesced that this was a correct statement of the international law upon the subject. _