LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL August 28, 1933. THE HONORABLE SIR: CORDELL HULL, Secretary of State. I submit herewith my report as Agent for the United States in the general arbitration of the pecuniary claims of this Government and of the Government of Panama, under the General Claims Convention which was concluded by the two Governments on July 28, 1926. A somewhat more detailed report than usual is being submitted in this instance for several reasons among which may be mentioned the following: First. Although the process of international adjudication is in its formative stages and both the substantive and adjective law to be applied by tribunals is still immaturely developed, very little of the benefit resulting from the practical experience of those most directly involved in such proceedings in the past has ever been preserved in such a manner as to enable those who come after them to build upon such practical experience and thus improve the process. That has been a serious loss to the cause of international arbitration. It is my hope to preserve in this case, for the benefit of representatives of this Government in similar cases in future, some of the practical lessons gained from this arbitration. Second. The methods adopted by the United States in this instance constituted material departures in several respects from those followed in previous general arbitrations of this kind. Heretofore, responsibility for the conduct of general arbitrations has 3 usually been assigned to persons engaged in the private practice of municipal law who have frequently been selected without reference to previous training or experience in the field of international law. Such training and experience are of vital importance in the handling of this technical and specialized line of work. To Mr. Green H. Hackworth, Legal Adviser of the Department, is due the credit for a departure from that practice in this case and for the assignment of the work to men long trained in the field of international law and international arbitral procedure, most of whom were regularly trained members of the legal staff of the Department of State. It is therefore well to record some of the advantages resulting from this change of method. In this respect it may be stated here that this arbitration was successfully completed with an economy of both time and expense probably never before equalled. A schedule of the pleadings, arguments, and decisions, showing the expedition with which the work was conducted, will be found, post, p. 852. Third. The substantial development of international law finds its main support in sound decisions of international disputes. Not the least of the benefits derived from such arbitrations as this is the aid found in the arbitral decisions in determining the rights of this Government and of its citizens in future cases. It is advantageous therefore that all such decisions should be published as soon as possible and preserved in a permanent manner for the general benefit. If, however, such decisions are to be properly applied, as precedents, it is very necessary that they be considered in connection with the general settings of fact out of which the claims arose and the legal contentions made in support and in defense of the respective claims, since, read in the abstract, the decisions are sometimes not fully informative or perhaps misleading. Inasmuch as the decisions in this arbi tration were rendered under great stress of time they, of necessity, contain, in some cases, meager indications of the facts and legal arguments developed by the pleadings. It is of importance therefore that these be brought more fully to light, along with the decisions. It is hoped that the statements of facts, the extracts from the legal briefs, and the comments which accompany the texts of the decisions and opinions in each case may be helpful in this respect. Having in mind the foregoing, this report is prepared in the following order: (a) Brief history of the arbitration (b) The claims convention of 1926, its advantages and defects (c) The awards, reported in the following manner: (1) Syllabus of decision It is hoped that this report may on many occasions justify its existence by the aid it may afford those who shall have the responsibility of devising ways and means of bringing about equally economical and equally expeditious results in the future. I have had in this arbitration the benefit of the untiring efforts and loyal support of the following members of the regular staff of the Agency: 'In the interest of economy the two Governments dispensed with stenographic reports of oral arguments as might well be done in a large percentage of cases in future. |