ns should agree not to
increase their military or naval forces for a certain limited period,
not to add to their annual expenditure of money for military purposes,
and to consider means by which later on there might be an actual
reduction of armaments. It was necessary to avoid the jealousies which
might arise among the great powers if the capital of one of them were
selected for the conference, so the Czar suggested that the meeting take
place at The Hague, the capital of small, peace-loving Holland.

THE FIRST HAGUE CONFERENCE.--The conference called by the Czar met on
May 18, 1899. All the great nations of the world sent delegates, as did
many of the smaller nations. In all, twenty-six governments were
represented, twenty of which were European. The United States and Mexico
were the only countries of the New World which sent representatives. The
queen of Holland showed her appreciation of the honor conferred upon her
country by placing at the disposal of the conference, as its meeting
place, the former summer residence of the royal family, the "House in
the Woods," situated about a mile from the city in the midst of a
beautiful park.

DISARMAMENT.--Although the menace of the tremendous armaments of
Europe had been the chief reason for the conference, absolutely nothing
was accomplished toward solving that problem. This failure was largely
due to the opposition of Germany, which, as the strongest military power
in Europe, would listen to no suggestion looking toward the limitation
of military force. At one of the early meetings of the conference a
German delegate brought out clearly and unmistakably his government's
opposition to any consideration of the subject. In a sarcastic and
arrogant speech he defended the German system of compulsory military
service and her expenditures for military purposes. While it is
extremely doubtful, in view of the difficulties in the way of any
general policy of disarmament, that much could have been accomplished by
the conference even under the most favorable circumstances, this stand
on the part of the German government meant the immediate and absolute
defeat of the suggestion. The other nations of Europe had established
their large military systems as a measure of defense against Germany, so
that in the face of that government's refusal to agree to the policy of
limiting armaments, no neighboring country on the European continent
could adopt it. In the conference, the matter was di