HOLLS, holz, George Frederick William, American lawyer and statesman: b. Zelienople, Pa., 1 July 1857; d. Yonkers, N. Y., 23 July 1903. He was graduated from Columbia in 1878, and from the law school there two years later. He was admitted to the bar and estab lished a large law practice in New York city, becoming senior member of the firm of Holly, Wagner & Burghard; in his later life he visited Europe frequently and became widely known there, especially m Germany where he estab lished a branch of his law firm. He was prominent in philanthropic work, being for years an officer of the Legal Aid Society and a director of the Charity Organization Society. He was also an active member of the Republi can party, and much in demand as a campaign speaker, especially as he could address the Germans in their own language. In 1893 he was a delegate-at-large to the New York Constitu tional Convention, where he was chairman of the committee on education, a member of the committee on cities and author of several amendments. His frequent visits abroad gave
him a wide and intelligent interest in interna tional questions, and at the time of The Hague Conference he was very influential in arousing interest and obtaining a large delegation from the United States. He was secretary of the American delegation at the Conference (1899), was the American member of the committee which drafted the arbitration treaty, and author of the clause on "Special Mediation?' He was afterward appointed a member of the permanent international court of arbitration. A few months before his death President Roosevelt asked him to umpire the adjustment of claims between Germany and England and Venezuela, but he declined. He has written 'Sancta Sophia and Troitza' (1888) ; 'Compulsory Vot ing> (1891) ; and 'The Peace Conference at The Hague and Its Bearings on International Law and Policy' (1900).