All the Central American countries sent delegates to a conference held in Washington, D. C., 14 Nov. to 20 Dec. 1907. As a result of their deliberations eight conventions were signed, in relation to a general treaty of peace and amity, the establishment of a Central American Court of Justice, of an international bureau, of a pedagogical institute also inter national in design, etc. The Central American Court of Justice was opened at Cartago, Costa Rica, 26 May 1908 in the presence of repre sentatives of the five Central American nations, of the United States and of Mexico. This international court is now established at San Jose, Costa Rica. On 20 Jan. 1909 a meeting at Tegucigalpa, Honduras, was attended by delegates of the five nations and an agreement was framed to secure the unification of the monetary systems, customs duties, weights and measures, fiscal laws and consular service. This was the year of the Zelaya episode (see NICARAGUA - HISTORY). Other happenings served to concentrate attention upon Nicaragua, which during the latter part of the summer and the entire autumn of 1912 was in a state of revolution which imperiled the lives and property of foreigners and so led to interven tion by the United States. In January 1914 another conference took place, which carried even further the recommendations of the con ference of 1909 and added plans for agreements as to international highways, postal and tele graphic regulations, and coasting trade, as well as the founding of a central pedagogic insti tute and a central, mission of foreign relations. Although no united action had, to Febru ary 1917, been taken to put in operation the plans of these conferences, good influences were at work making for a better understand ing of the essential community of interests and responsibilities and bringing nearer to realiza tion the stabilization of financial and political conditions. Thus, the convention between the United States and Nicaragua, proclaimed 24 June 1916, served to call attention to the need of increasing eventually the solidarity of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica; while the establishment of banks in Central America, with the aid of capitalists in the United States, has proved the power of such organizations to aid regular and orderly development throughout all that region, wherever transportation routes can be main tained with reasonable economy. Consult
'Nicaraguan Canal Route) (Treaty Series, No. 624, Washington 1916) and 'Proceedings of the First Pan American Financial Conference' (es pecially pages 583-87, Washington 1915).
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