cause, even particular national ideas seem hostile to those of the majority of the other nations, should one hesitate to have them tested in an international forum of some description lest an adverse judgment should result? Again, it is a positive gain to civilization to have a question submitted to The Hague Court even though one party or the other may feel assured that such submission will be attended by want of success.

"Repeated references to The Hague Court and other like tribunals have a tendency to render fixed and certain the now somewhat nebulous science known as international law. At present nations clash upon their varying views of the duties of states toward each other, and even resort to arms to sustain them. When the law has, therefore, itself become fixed and its limitations and boundaries defined in the most authoritative manner through frequent resort to The Hague Court, we may expect international disputes to lessen in number and in severity, and nations finally learn that even in so-called questions of national honor they are not themselves the proper judges.

"In discussing The Hague Court one must not lose sight of the essential fact that the very existence of a court has an important effect upon the relations of nations. Neutral powers may always remind those whose passions are rising that the court is open, while nations disposed to resort to war are commencing to feel that a case justifying appeal to arms before an attempt to obtain a judicial settlement must be very strong, and even if cannon are made the arbiters, the moral sense of mankind must be satisfied and want of resort to The Hague excused something rapidly growing impossible.'

Senor Velasco said in part:

"The idea of international arbitration is not the creation of one man nor of any set of men, however eminent they may be, but it is the result of universal sentiment. International arbitration has at the present time three forms: (1) Arbitration in its nature transitory and for determined matters; (2) compromisory clauses inserted in treaties to decide the questions which the interpretation and execution of the treaty may give rise to; (3) permanent and obligatory arbitration. Treaties of arbitration in these three forms have increased in number progressively,

especially in the first two forms. The last form is the one which offers the most resistance, and various attempts made to establish permanent arbitration have proven failures.

"There are two difficulties which beset arbitration in these present times, the resistance on the part of some governments to permanent arbitration, and the difficulty of giving judicial form to questions of political nature. The tribunal of The Hague created by the collective action of the nations with its character of permanency and with rules of procedure previously defined, has in its support a great moral force, and presents all the advantages and all the facilities which constituted tribunals offer. It is a tribunal open to all who ask its judgment, and its examples and its practices will be an inducement to all the nations to intrust to it their difficulties for settlement."

The following resolution, on which the committee of nations had reported favorably, was adopted by the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists today with unanimity and applause:

"Resolved, That the Universal Congress of Lawyers and Jurists, sympathizing with all movements to bring about peace among nations by international friendly agreement, welcomes the announcement of the President of the United States that he proposes to call a new conference."

The congress voted down a resolution on which the committee had reported unfavorably, to the effect that the emperor of Russia be requested to call the new conference.

It is understood that the work of the committee of nations, composed of fourteen members, is extremely difficult, and, to a certain extent, unsatisfactory. This is due, as Hon. Wallace Nesbitt, justice of the Supreme Court of the Dominion of Canada, and chairman of the committee, stated, to the fact that there is no one language that any four of the committee can speak with fluency, and the work must be accomplished indirectly and with a certain degree of uncertainty.

Then followed an interesting discussion of the Subject of Private International Law, otherwise called Conflict of Laws, and especially concerning the establishment of an International Divorce Code, participated in by representative lawyers and judges and professors from many nations-and in the course of which discussion Justice Douglass, of North Carolina made some pertinent remarks. After a very interesting series of sessions and of course an eloquent banquet, this congress adjourned.

Associate Justice David J. Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, president of the Congress, expressed at the close the sentiment that the hopes of the prime movers of the Congress in its success had been fully realized.

The opinion was expressed generally by the distinguished delegates from every nation represented that the Congress marked an epoch in the relations existing among the lawyers of the world, which relationship would be farreaching in finally establishing a complete understanding between nations, leading to eventual extinction of war.

A resolution was adopted that this Congress request the American Bar Association to take such steps as are necessary to organize a permanent association of lawyers representing the different countries of the world, which shall meet at intervals to discuss legal questions of public interest.

The Congress also adopted a resolution expressing its profound grief over the death of one of its most distinguished members, United States Senator George F. Hoar. These sketches of the proceedings are gathered from the reports in the daily press, principally the Washington Post.

General Matt W. Ransom.

We chronicle with unfeigned sorrow the death of this distinguished son of North Carolina-distinguished alike as lawyer, statesman, soldier, citizen.

We avail ourselves of an article prepared for the Morning Post by F. H. Busbee, Esq.:

"Matt Whitaker Ransom, the oldest son of Robert Ransom, was born in Warren county, October 7, 1826. His mother, Priscilla Whitaker, was a member of the Whitaker family of Halifax, which has always been prominent in the history of the county.

"After an academic education in Warrenton, he entered the University of North Carolina, and was graduated in the class of 1847, being a class-mate of Gen. J. Johnston Pettigrew, Senator John Pool and other men of note. The commencement was the notable one attended by President Polk, and the English salutatory address of the young graduate was one of the features of the occasion.

"Soon after graduation he entered upon the practice of law in Warrenton, and at once attained marked success. While a very young man, about 1853, he was a candidate for attorney-general, and although a Whig he was elected by a legislature which contained a small Democratic majority. As a prosecuting officer he was eloquent, forcible and successful, but never vindictive or implacable. Among other notable cases he secured the conviction of the wife murderer, Parker Perry, in Wake county, despite the efforts of the strongest lawyers in the State to save him.

"He resigned before the end of his term and removed his residence to the county of Northampton, having married Miss Pattie Exum, of that county. From that time he was largely engaged in planting. In 1858 he was a mem

ber of the House of Commons from Northampton as a Democrat.

"When the clouds that had long been hovering over the land, in 1861 broke into the storm of war, the lawyerplanter was among the first to volunteer. He became colonel of the thirty-fourth North Carolina, the present chief justice, Walter Clark, being at one time the adjutant of his regiment. He was afterwards promoted to be brigadier-general, and distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry in many engagements. At the capture of Plymouth he was second in command to General Hoke, and was greatly commended. At Fredericksburg he held the line at Marye's Heights with matchless courage, and at Five Forks and other historic fields, his reputation as a skilful and fearless soldier was forever established. After the close of the war General Ransom resumed the life of a planter and lawyer, and had a large and lucrative practice, especially in Warren, Halifax and Northampton counties. When the hired minions of Kirk held the truest men of the State in custody, and the State courts seemed powerless to relieve, General Ransom applied to Judge Brooks for the writ of habeas corpus, and in co-operation with the veterans of the bar, Bragg, W. H. Battle, B. F. Moore and others brought about the release of the prisoners and the restoration of the reign of law.

"In January, 1872, when the senate of the United States had declined to admit the great tribune, Zebulon B. Vance, to a seat in that body, because his disabilities had not been removed, General Ransom was elected by the General Assembly of North Carolina as Senator of the United States. He remained, by successive re-elections, a member of that body until March 4, 1895, having had the longest term of service of any North Carolinian.

"His services for nearly a quarter of a century are a part of the political history of the country. He entered the Senate when the passions engendered by the war were