The only speeches made at the dinner were by the President of Switzerland
and by Count Sclopis, president of the tribunal of arbitration, in
response thereto. I transmit herewith a translation of their
remarks.
[Translation.]
Mr. Welti, President of the Swiss Confederation, said:
“The festival which you honor by your presence is associated with a
work whose importance corresponds to that of the incidents which
gave rise to it. The governments of two great nations, animated by
that moral courage which resists the prejudices and the “excesses of
public opinion, and inspired by the noble idea of withdrawing the
solution of serious differences which had arisen between them from
the blind arbitrage of force, have established a precedent which
marks an essential progress in the political relations of nations.
This precedent, while it does not do away with war, will diminish
the occasions of war, and materially increase the responsibility of
those who dare to undertake it without previously attempting a
solution such as has just been so fortunately accomplished at Geneva
by the tribunal of arbitration.
“It is not necessary that I should state how happy Switzerland feels
herself, not only in being chosen as the place for the meeting of
that tribunal, but in having been honored with the confidence of
having one of her citizens associated with the great men who
constituted it.
“The circumstance that Geneva should, for the second time, be
selected as the cradle for weighty and salutary innovations in the
law of nations, fills us with lively joy and satisfaction. These are
innovations which the civilized world warmly welcomes.
“The formation of an international telegraphic administration,
extending over most of the countries of the earth, in conjunction
with these occurrences, can hardly be regarded as a mere accident.
It will rather be allowed us to conjecture that an inner connection
exists between these facts and our general political situation.
“It is certainly with us a cherished idea to believe that the
existence of our little Swiss republic is not only a necessity for
ourselves, to the development and maintenance of which we will
constantly dedicate all our strength, but that, still more, it
responds to an actual need of the general political system.
“You, Messrs. Arbitrators, have inspired me with this idea, you, who
by your knowledge and judicial discrimination have brought the
pacific aims of the governments to so happy a conclusion. Permit me,
Mr. President and members of the tribunal of arbitration, and all
who have taken part in this great work, to offer you the heartiest
congratulations of the federal council, and to drain my glass to
your health.”
Count Sclopis, president of the tribunal of arbitration, responded as
follows:
“Mr. President and Members of the Federal
Council: I have more than once asked myself why the treaty
of Washington, to which the tribunal of arbitration owes its
existence, provided that we should assemble in Switzerland. I
discovered directly the reason: it was designed to place us amid the
most favorable circumstances for the performance of our duty.
“The land of the most assured and settled liberty was chosen, where
order and security reign, and where the traditions of a beautiful
past serve for the foundation of the present and the guarantee of
the future of your republic. We were to occupy ourselves seriously
with principles and questions of international law, and for this
purpose, what better place could have been selected than here, where
recently the rights and the duties of neutrality have been so
admirably maintained and defended? Switzerland, with one hand
grasping the sword, held the other open for the alleviation of
misfortune, and has deserved well of Europe. At a time when the
sentiment of nationality was not yet so fully aroused as at present,
those soldiers were sought here whose valor and fidelity were
proverbial. Since then, you have wisely resolved that the blood of
your fellow-citizens shall only be shed for the fatherland—for that
fatherland which has condensed the principle of its unity, the
community of interests of all its children in the device, ‘One for
all, all for one.’
“In complying with the invitation with which you have honored us, we
have had an opportunity of seeing a beautiful part of your country.
Everywhere we find the evidences
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of a generally diffused prosperity.
Agriculture, that foundation of a people’s wealth, manufactures,
availing themselves of all the advances in the sciences and arts’
flourish simultaneously in Switzerland, notwithstanding the
obstacles which nature seems to have placed in their way. Railways
intersect your territory, and bring to you myriads of strangers, who
find here agreeable and salutary relaxation and a cordial
welcome.
“But the hospitality which you, Mr. President and members of the
federal council, extend to us to-day, has an especial character; you
desire to manifest to us, in the most striking manner, the interest
you have taken in our labors. You associate yourselves with us, in
the desire that the efficacy of our exertions may extend everywhere
through the power of example. When, in the future, our work is
judged, when it has borne good fruits, you will find a satisfaction
in saying, ‘This occurred in Switzerland’
“Accept, Mr. President andmembers of the federal council, the
expression of our warm, respectful, and sincere thanks, and permit
me to give as a toast, ‘The prosperity of Switzerland.’
