In the same period there were many me morials and petitions presented to Congress on the subject of international arbitration. In 1874 a resolution in favor of general arbitra tion was passed by the House. In 1888 the President and Congress received a communi cation signed by 233 members of the British Parliament urging the negotiation of an arbi tration treaty. In 1883 Switzerland proposed to the United States the inauguration of inter national treaties providing for arbitration. The President of the United States assented to the proposal. In 1890 the Senate (the House con curring) adopted a resolution in favor of arbi tration. Negotiation between the United States and Great Britain for a general and permanent treaty of arbitration soon followed, and in 1897 a treaty was concluded and sent to the Senate by President Cleveland. President McKinley also urged its ratification, but it failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote. Meantime a general treaty of arbitration for American re publics, drafted at the first Pan-American Conference of 1889-90, lapsed and never was ratified. The United States, however, became a party to The Hague Convention, adopted at The Hague Peace Conference 29 July 1899, which resulted in the establishment of The Hague permanent court—the crowning event of the 19th century in arbitration.
II. The creation of The Hague Court marked the beginning of a new period of in creased interest in arbitration. To this tri bunal reference (voluntary or compulsory) of all questions of claims for arbitration was favored by the second Pan-American Con ference (at Mexico, 1901-02). Its first case, the controversy between the United States and Mexico over the famous Pious fund of the Californias, was satisfactorily settled in 1902 and gave dignity to the court, attracting the confidence of other states and resulting in the early submission of other international disputes for its decision. Its next important case was the Venezuela trouble of 1903, in which four nations were involved, and which was sub mitted to arbitration through the influence of President Roosevelt, who had prevented Ger many's plans of using force against Venezuela. In 1910 it settled by arbitration the claims of the Oronoco company resulting from conces sions annulled by President Castro of Vene zuela — claims which had been arbitrated in 1903 but were resubmitted on the ground that the umpire had disregarded the terms of the protocol submitting the case for his decision and award. In the same year it made a satis factory award in the Anglo-American North Atlantic Coast Fisheries controversy, involving an interpretation of the treaty of 1818, sub mitted to it by special Anglo-American agree ment of 1909.
The second Hague Conference (1907), called at the initiation of President Roosevelt, enlarged and strengthened the convention of 1899 for the settlement of international dis putes. It provided that, in case either govern ment party to a dispute should decline to arbi trate when requested to do so, the other party might go directly to the bureau of The Hague Court and publicly request arbitration of the controversy. Through the influence of the American delegates it also drafted a convention which prohibited the use of force for collection of contractual debts from debtor nations be fore an attempt at arbitration. It also strength ened the provisions for the creation of commis sions of inquiry and approved the principle of obligatory arbitration. The American proposi tion for a form of treaty for obligatory arbi tration,, stipulating that certain classes of con troversies should go spontaneously (automati cally) to The Hague Court, received the vote of 35 of the 44 delegations, but was opposed by Germany and four other powers (Austria, Greece, Rumania and Turkey). The confer ence also took another advanced step in voting unanimously for a regular international court of justice with judges in permanent service and holding regular sessions, but it failed to find a method of appointment of judges satis factory to all the powers, great and small.
A Central American Conference which con vened at Washington in 1907, largely through the influence and initiative of President Roose velt, resulted in the foundation of a Central American court for the arbitration of questions of an international character affecting the rela tions of the five republics.
New efforts for treaties of obligatory arbi tration with stipulations for reference of con troversies to the new Hague tribunal were remarkably successful — although Secretary Hay's general treaties of 1904-05, providing for arbitration of judicial disputes and questions of treaty interpretation by The Hague by special agreements by the executive without reference to the Senate, failed because of Senate amend ment. No less than 51 such treaties were signed before June 1907, and the number after 1907 was, increased by 1910 to about 80, of which 24 were negotiated by Secretary Root before January 1908, each providing for approval of special agreements by the Senate, and in Feb ruary 1909 were all ratified by the Senate. These treaties, terminating after five years, provided for reference of questions of a judi cial nature and those regarding the interpre tation of treaties, but excluding questions affecting vital interests and honor.