(6) A convention for the establishment of an International Central American Bureau (see inclosure 10).

(7) A convention for the establishment of a Central American pedagogical institute (see inclosure 11).

(8) A convention concerning future Central American Conferences (see inclosure 12).

(9) A convention concerning railway communications (see inclosure 13).

Of these the general treaty of peace and amity, and the convention creating the Central American international court of justice, represent the chief work of the conference, while the second of these represents an entirely new and important advance in international obligations, and is the realization, in the form of a convention, of the efforts that have been made in the past to find a judicial method by which the peaceful and right settlement of international disputes could be assured. The two undertakings are to a great measure interdependent, and were so intended. Indeed, this fact in many ways constitutes their strength.

Both the treaty of peace and the convention creating the court run for a similar term of ten years. When the new court begins its functions it seems difficult to see how compliance with the terms of both undertakings can be avoided. This appears especially true when the unusual obligation in Article XXVII of the convention creating the court is considered. This states "That on no ground nor in any case will they (the signatory Republics) consider the (present) convention as void." It is certain that the intent and purpose of the signatory Republics was to insist that in every possible event the court shall remain as a piece of international machinery that can be relied on to adjust disputes.

The following are briefly the chief features of the different treaties and conventions:

THE TREATY OF PEACE AND AMITY.

(a) Its absolutely obligatory character for a period of ten years. (Articles I and XIX.)

(b) The declaration (Article II) that any disposition or measure tending to alter the constitutional organization of either of the Republics shall be deemed a menace to the peace of all.

(c) The excellent and in many ways the treaty's most important clause (Article III), making the territory of Honduras neutral in conflicts that arise between the other four Republics, so long as Honduras remains neutral. It will be seen by a reference to the map of Central America that the position occupied by Honduras is such that if this neutrality of Honduranean territory is carried out, war between the signatory Republics is practically made impossible.

(d) Article VI, by the terms of which all Central Americans are mutually recognized as citizens, a principle embodied in several of their constitutions.

(e) The recognition of the right of asylum on ships and the prohibition against taking anyone from such asylum except by due legal process and on an order from a competent judge.

(f) The provisions of Articles XVI and XVII, by which political refugees and disturbers are not to be allowed to reside near the frontier of either of the five Republics.

(g) The unusual obligations assumed in Articles I and II of the convention additional to the treaty, by which each Republic binds itself not to recognize in another a Government resulting from a coup d'etat nor to intervene in favor of or against the existing government of another Republic in cases of disorder therein.

(h) The stipulation in Article III of the convention additional to the treaty, by which they agreed to use their efforts to secure constitutional reforms that will prohibit the election of a president for a second term.

FOLLOWING ARE THE CHIEF FEATURES OF THE CONVENTION CREATING A CENTRAL AMERICAN COURT OF JUSTICE.

(a) Three forms of jurisdiction: The first (Article I) embraces the obligatory submission to the court of all questions arising between them which can not be adjusted by the respective foreign offices of the contracting Republics. The second (Article II), the power to determine cases involving alleged violations of treaties or conventions where denial of justice is alleged by a citizen of one Republic against the Government of another. The third, the power to determine any question mutually submitted by two of the signatory Governments, or by one of them and one of its citizens or a citizen of another. The court (Article XXII) determines its competency and in considering a case (Article XXI) is to decide questions of fact by its own criterion and questions of law by the principles of international law.

(b) The court is to consist of five judges, to hold office for five years. The congress of each signatory Republic is to designate one judge and two alternates, who shall take their oath of office before the congress. With the exception of the judge appointed by the country in which the court is to be held, the judges receive an equal salary of $8,000 per annum, to be paid by the treasurer of the court out of a common fund, toward which each Republic is to contribute $10,000 yearly (Articles VI, VII, VIII). The court is to be located in Cartago, Costa Rica.

(c) The judges are prohibited from holding other office or engaging in other work. They must elect a president and vice-president from among their number at their first sitting. A judge is not barred from sitting in a case in which the government that appointed him is a party.

(d) A defendant country must submit its answer to the demanding country within sixty days. The court may, however, grant an extension of twenty days (Articles XIV, XV, XVI), and can grant reasonable delays in order that all facts and evidence may be submitted. (e) The court must hand down its decision within thirty days from the date upon which the case has been finally submitted by both parties.

(f) The decision is final. It must be in writing and must be a majority decision. A dissenting opinion must be in writing and both must be signed by all the judges (Articles XV, XXIII, XXIV). Provision is made by calling in the alternate judges for cases in which the judges fail to agree.

(g) Interested parties may be represented before the court by counsel (Article XVII).

(h) The court may appoint special commissioners to carry out its orders or may apply directly to the executive of a Government or to a tribunal of justice, but in every case the court's orders must reach their destination through the ministry for foreign affairs of the country.

(i) The signatory Republics bind themselves to faithfully carry out the court's orders (Article XX).

(j) The most effective authority given the court is the provision made in Article XVIII. By the terms of this article the court can fix the statu quo in which both parties to a controversy submitted for its decision shall remain pending the consideration and decision of the case. This is intended to prevent the purchase of arms or military supplies or the moving or massing of troops by either of two contending States.

(k) The decisions of the court are to be communicated to each of the signatory Republics, which severally bind themselves to aid in every peaceful way to have the decisions of the court faithfully complied with in every respect (Article XXV).

(7) The stipulation in Article XXVII which provides that

แ on no ground nor in any case will they (the signatory Republics) consider the present convention as void; and that therefore they will consider it as being always in force during the term of ten years." Provision is made for the possible union of two or more of the Republics; in that event it is agreed that the court shall be suspended ipso facto and a conference at once called to adjust the court to the new order.

(m) Finding it impossible to fully agree upon a more extended scope of the court's jurisdiction than outlined under (a), above, an article was annexed by which a country approving this article would for itself agree to submit to the court internal disputes arising between its executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

This court, which marks such an advance in methods for the peaceful adjustment of international disputes, is an outgrowth of the efforts made by Secretary of State Root in his instructions to the delegates of the United States to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague toward endeavoring to secure a "world's international court of justice."

THE EXTRADITION CONVENTION.

This differs but little from the extradition convention now in force between Mexico and the United States. Its terms, as regards the definition of crimes and the time within which extradition can take place, were carefully drawn, in order that they might conform to the existing penal legislation of the several Republics. While citizens need not be delivered, provision is made that if not delivered they shall be tried by the courts of their own country for the crime with which they are charged. Especial care was taken in drafting the convention to prevent the possibility of its use in political offenses.

CONVENTION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTRAL AMERICAN BUREAU.

This convention is based on one of the conventions signed at San Jose de Costa Rica September 25, 1906, between Costa Rica, Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The purpose of the bureau is to encourage and develop the final union of the Central American Republics through general education, uniformity of civil laws, customs laws, monetary standards, and

commerce.

The bureau is to be located in the city of Guatemala. It is to publish a regular bulletin and to be equipped with a clerical force sufficient to enable it to carry out the above purpose. Its expenses are to be paid by the five Republics in equal parts.

THE CONVENTION

CREATING A CENTRAL AMERICAN PEDAGOGICAL
INSTITUTE.

This is also based on one of the San Jose de Costa Rica conventions of September, 1906.

It creates a Central American normal school at San Jose, Costa Rica, the purpose being to bring about a common system of schools and education in Central America by the development and fitting of Central American teachers, both male and female, in this central school who will take charge of the schools of each of the five Republics.

The administration and control of the school is vested in the Costa Rican Government, the other governments having the right to designate a member of the executive committee which is to manage the school. Each of the Republics can maintain 100 students, 50 of each sex, in the school, and must maintain at least 20 of each sex.

The cost of the buildings and equipment and of the staff of teachers is to be paid in equal parts by the signatory Republics.

The duration of this convention is fixed at fifteen years.

The delegates to the conference looked upon this school as a work of the utmost importance, believing that the greatest good would come to Central America through the education in this manner of teachers who would hereafter direct the schools throughout the different Republics.

THE CONVENTION CONCERNING FUTURE CONFERENCES.

This convention, like the two preceding ones to which reference has been made, has for its object the preparation of the people of Central America for ultimate political union in some form.

It provides for the designation by each of the signatory countries of one or more commissioners to study the relations borne by the monetary systems of their respective countries to their foreign and internal commerce, and to carefully consider their customs, laws, and regulations, weights and measures, and other economic questions affecting the relations of the Republics toward each other, the object being to have these commissioners endeavor to agree upon uniform measures in each regard, so that these can be considered at a conference of plenipotentiaries to convene in Tegucigalpa on January 1, 1909, and thereafter yearly for five years, to consider all economic matters affecting the relations of the Republics toward each other and toward foreign countries.

THE CONVENTION ON COMMUNICATIONS.

This convention deals with the project for a Pan-American Railway. It stipulates that the signatory Governments shall designate commissions to study and report suitable measures that can be adopted in each country, so that the work of connecting the several Republics by railway may be carried out. These measures are to embrace recommendations as to subsidies of land, special privileges, and guaranties that might be given by each Republic to secure the building of railways that will unite Central America from south to north with Mexico and the United States. The interesting and valuable report of the committee which drew up the draft of this convention will be found herewith as Inclosure 13-a.

THE CLOSING DAYS OF THE CONFERENCE.

At the last session, held on December 16, the following motion, presented by the Nicaraguan delegation, was unanimously approved:

That the conference solicit an audience with His Excellency the President of the United States, in order that the conference in a body might thank him for the great services he had rendered in the interest of order in Central America and for the generous hospitality that had been extended the delegates.

That with the same object the delegates should call on the Secretary of State, Hon. Elihu Root.

That a special committee be named to visit the City of Mexico and in a similar manner express the thanks of the conference to His Excellency the President, Gen. Don Porfirio Diaz, and to his minister for foreign affairs, Señor Don Ignacio Mariscal.

Further, that there be included in the minutes of the closing session of the conference a vote of thanks on the part of the conference to his excellency the Mexican ambassador, Señor Don Enrique C. Creel, representing Mexico in the conference, and to Mr. William I. Buchanan, representing the United States of America in the conference, for their efficient cooperation in the work of the conference.

In response to the above, the President informed the conference. that he would be glad to receive the delegates on such day as might best suit their convenience. At the close of the final business session of the conference, which took place on the morning of December 20, the delegates in a body called on the President and on the Secretary of State to inform them that the work of the conference had been happily concluded and to express to each, in accordance with the resolution of the conference, the deep sense of obligation felt by the delegates for the aid and encouragement they had received through the interest and good will that had been shown by the President in their work and for the constant and more than helpful efforts that had been daily extended them by the Secretary of State.

The President in response to the words of the president of the conference assured the delegates of the satisfaction with which the Government of the United States had followed the excellent work done by the conference in the interest of the peace and development of Central America, and of his deep and cordial interest in the future of their several Republics and his confident belief that the results of the conference would be for the lasting and permanent good of each of the Republics.

In addressing the Secretary of State when received by him at the department, the delegates were most cordial in their references to