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LEFT ARBITRATION 226 ARBITRATION of both parties to accept the award of an independent tribunal. Such a court may be special or general, temporary or permanent, open or restricted. In the gravest cases the tribunal works under a special treaty — in the case of the United States, made by the Senate. Financial claims of a private nature are based usually upon executive agreements. The Hague Convention of 1399 intro- duced a provision "that in case of ques- tions in dispute affecting neither the vital interest nor the honor of the nations involved international commis- sions of inquiry shall be appointed to examine and report upon the local cir- cumstances" — such reports to serve "either as the basis of diplomatic settle- ment or of formal arbitration." A commission of this character was appointed in 1904 in the dispute between Great Britain and Russia on the firing upon British fishing vessels in the North Sea by the Russian fleet, and its findings were accepted as final. The powers of such commissions were extended through a proposal of the Secretary of State of the United States in the year 1913, to all international questions; war not to be declared in any event pending a decision. Arbitration, which is the flower of civilization, can only be utilized by civil- ized countries. It was freely employed among the Greeks in questions of bound- aries, commerce, and even religion. The foreign policy of Rome pointing to uni- versal dominion forbade arbitration, but during the Middle Ages it again came into use, under the authority _ of the Church. The popes and other high dig- nitaries of the Roman Church became natural arbitrators in cases of private in- terest and internal policy, and were often called upon. Pope Alexander VI., acting in such a capacity, traced "an imaginary line from pole to pole in his decision of all lands, discovered in the New World, between Spain and Portugal." Pope Clement XI. was umpire in the treaty of Ryswick between Louis XIV. and Leopold I. Arbitration naturally de- clined with the Reformation, and the es- tablishment of absolute temporal king- doms. The great progress of civiliza- tion with the new area of scientific discovery, especially the invention of steam transportation that brought all nations into such close relation, brought about a return to arbitration methods. There were more than 130 courts of ar- bitration for grave international ques- tions and as many more for financial claims in operation during the 19th cen- tury. The Unit«d States and Great Britain have been foremost among the nations in showing the world the way. Most important among these was the Treaty of Washington, constituting a Joint High Commission, which, sitting at Geneva in 1871, settled the "Alabama" claims. The frequent disputes between the Latin-American States during the past half century have been for the most part peacefully determined by arbitra- tion. During the last century and a quarter the United States has figured largely in this field of diplomacy. The Jay Treaty of 1794, negotiated by John Jay, as chief representative of American interests, with Great Britain, called for one commission to settle the identity of the St. Croix river on the northeastern boundary; for another to determine between certain of the States aad British creditors whose debts had been repudiated or dishonored in violation of the treaty; and a third to settle the rights of neutrals, questions of contra- band, and the penalty of the decisions of prize courts. The Treaty of Ghent in 1814 between the United States and Great Britain likewise provided for three commissions, all relating to boundary questions along the Canadian border, and the right to certain islands in Passamaquoddy Bay and the Bay of Fundy. The next important question culmi- nated in the year 1818, and required Great Britain on the part of this country to restore slaves in the British possessions at the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The Czar of Russia, who was chosen as arbitrator, decided in our favor, and a sum aggregating about a million and a quarter dollars was finally paid. In the arbitration between this country and Great Britain in 1827 for the settle- ment of the northeastern boundary, the King of the Netherlands as arbitrator failed to provide a settlement, and the matter was finally compromised in the Webster-Ashburton treaty. Important matters with France were settled in 1831 including claims for private depredations at sea during the Napoleonic wars, the French Beaumarchais claim, and claims for special commercial privileges under the Louisiana cession treaty — in all amounting to an indemnity of more than five and one half millions. The right to take fish in Canadian waters adjoining unsettled territory again came up in 1855 between the United States and Great Britain, and was only finally set- tled in 1866. The Treaty of Washington between the United States and Great Britain, in 1871,