Another sweeping proposal for the virtual abolition of warone of a verydifferent orderhoweverfrom that just considered by memust have comeunder the notice of most of usIt is said that there is always an alternativeto a contest in armsNations fight because they cannot go to lawThe oldidea that the disputes of states are referred by war to a supernatural arbitramentis now abandonedbut though there is no international tribunal which canentertain as of right the controversies of nationsthere is a substitutefor it in international arbitrationLetthereforeevery dispute be referredto an arbitrator or to a body of arbitratorsand let civilised communitiesdefer to the award with no more demur than they exhibit in submitting tothe decision of a court of justiceA belief in this remedy for war is beingwidely extended in our dayIt is held by persons worthy of ail respect andpromoted by powerful voluntary associationsI should be the last personto deny that arbitration in international affairs has often been very happilyappliedNations very oftenlike menadhere to their view of disputed pointsmore from pride of opinion than from any real interest in itSome of thesedisputesagainturn on questions of factwhich have not been solved becausethey have not been properly investigatedbut which are easily disposed ofwhen thus looked into by fresh and discpassionate minds.
But before this or any other country commits itself to arbitration asa universal remedy for warone or two of its defects ought to be speciallynoticedIn the first placethough arbitration in individual disputes iswell known and frequently triedit is very unlike the arbitration proposedby its advocates for international differencesThe arbitration with whichall lawyers are familiaris merely a displacement of the structure of anordinary court of justiceThe parties agree to refer all or part of thematters in dispute between them to the decision of an arbitratorwho takesthe place of the judge or of the judge and a juryand they at the same timeagree that his decisionunless impeachable on certain grounds of lawshallbe enforced by the court as would be its own decreeIt is a very convenientcourse when the questions of fact to be adjudicated upon are numerous andcomplicatedand the principal objection to it is that it is apt to be veryexpensiveWhat I wish to point out is that arbitration as in use betweenindividuals in England does not exclude the one great feature of a courtof justicethe force which underlies its operationsThere areno doubt,arbitrations which come nearer the arbitrations contemplated by the enthusiastsfor universal arbitrations between disputant sovereignsA skilful man ofbusiness in British commercial citiesan eminent specialist in the practicalapplications of sciencewill sometimes obtain a sort of celebrity for justand wise adjudicationand nothing like the process of a court is found necessaryto secure obedience to his awardIt ishowevermany centuries since suchauthority was attributed to any man or class in international mattersthecurrent of opinion in our day runs distinctly against the assumption thatany exceptional knowledge is necessary for the solution of great politicaland international questionsand therefore the arbitration of which we hearso much would in the long runand if tried on a great scaleprove to havethe defects which would soon show themselves in a court of justice whichthe State had failed to invest with irresistible coercive power.
The want of coercive power isin factthe one important drawback whichattends all attempts to improve International Law by contrivances imitatedfrom the internal economy of statesby something like legislationand bysomething like the administration of law by organised tribunalsStillnobodywho understands the subjectand has observed the course of eventswilldeny a certain measure of success to international arbitrationsand thereis much reason to wish them an extended sphereBut there are some practicaldefects in themas they standwhich should be observed uponbecause theymay possibly admit of being remediedIt is well known to English practicinglawyers that a certain class of litigants areso to put itunpopular inEnglish courtsso that there is considerable difficulty in obtaining forthem a full measure of justiceAmong theseto give instancesare insurancecompaniesand to some extent railway companiesIn the same way there are states bringingtheir controversies before bodies of international arbitrators who are inthe same sense unpopular litigantsandif inquiry were practicableI shouldnot be surprised to find thatin the opinion of English diplomatists andstatesmen in charge of our foreign affairsour own country is not a Popularlitigant in arbitrationsThe truth is our country is thought to be verywealthyand to be able to bear the burden of a money award against it betterthan any other communityIt is believed to be comparatively careless ofits foreign policyand not to show much sensitiveness under a judicial rebuff.
Lastlythere is a general impression that it has so contrived its internationalrelations as to escape from its fair share of the anxieties and sufferingswhich fall upon other states through warapprehension of warand preparationfor war.
