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The Green Bag

and foreign languages, he was peculiarly equipped to perform the duties which his position imposed. Believing that the most important service which the Conference could render would be the establishment of a judicial system more fully de veloped than the one which had been created by the First Hague Confer ence in 1899, Mr. Scott devoted him self to a thorough study of the principles, history, and possibilities of international arbitration as a uniform means for the settlement of controversies between nations through the application of rec ognized principles of justice and equity to all questions which might arise. The conclusion which he reached, as to the place occupied by the tribunal created by The Hague Conference of 1899, and confirmed by that of 1907, in the evolution of an international juridical system, is the chief contribu tion which he has made to the literature of the subject. It is brought out in his exhaustive work published in 1909, en titled "The Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907," in which he analyzes and compares the proceedings and accom plishments of these two great assemblies, introducing the various subjects dis cussed with reviews of the historical events leading up to and affecting the action of the Conferences. Soon after completing this critical analysis of the work done by the two Conferences Mr. Scott, who had re turned to Washington and resumed his duties as Solicitor of the Department of State, was appointed one of the Government's counsel in the North At lantic Coast Fisheries Arbitration. The tribunal to hear the case was consti tuted under the provisions of The Hague Treaty of 1899. It assembled at The Hague early in June, 1910, and three months later rendered its award.

He thus obtained practical experience in the conduct and efficiency of an arbitration before the Permanent Court as now constituted, which impressed upon him the defects as well as the benefits of the system. But prior to this actual experience Mr. Scott had become convinced that the world required a court of justice composed of a limited membership which should sit permanently, rather than a special tribunal selected in each case by the parties from a large panel of judges as provided in the treaties estab lishing the Hague Court. To accom plish this change the first step had already been taken by the United States, which had proposed to the principal powers that there should be conferred upon the international court of prize, with its limited number of permanent judges, a general jurisdiction over justi ciable questions, or that there should be created a court of arbitral justice with the same numerical limitation of mem bership and permanency as the court of prize. Either course would result in the establishment of a world tribunal whose constitution would not be subject to contract between the parties. Mr. Scott was charged by his Govern ment with the conduct of this delicate negotiation, and for that purpose he visited Europe and conferred with states men of the leading powers. He per formed his mission with ability and success, although the agreement which he succeeded in negotiating still awaits its final ratification by the contracting governments. With his subsequent experience in the Fisheries Arbitration confirming him in his belief that the Hague Court should be always composed of the same judges, in order that there should be the stabil ity requisite to give to its decisions the force of law and to induce the nations