In  the  third  session  of  the  First  Commission,  October  4,  1907,  the
articles  as  they  came  from  the  Comite  d'examen  were  read.  M.
Beldiman  of  Rumania  recalled  the  revision  obtained  at  the  First
Conference  by  Rimiania,  Greece  and  Servia,  when  "they  pleaded  the
cause  of  defective  administrations,"  and  observed  that  the  principle
of  optional  resort  to  the  commission  was  accepted  at  the  present
Conference  by  all  the  projects  brought  before  it.
M.  de  Martens  of  Russia  complained  of  the  optional  provision  of
the  reference  article  (9).  "The  Powers  are  sovereign,"  he  said,  "and
their  right  to  have  recourse  to  Commissions  of  Inquiry  is  subject
to  no  limitation.  However,  Art.  9  is  edited  in  a  way  to  make  it
seem  that  the  Governments  interdict  for  themselves  recourse  to  the
International  Commissions  in  the  case  where  honor  and  essential
interests  are  affected.  Is  this  phrasing  really  happy?  Does  it  re-
flect on  the  state  of  things  after  the  inquiry  on  the  Hull  incident  where
the  essential  interests,  if  not  the  honor,  of  two  great  powers  were
affected?  .  .  .  The  Conference  seems  to  wish  to  ignore  the  most  re-
markable historical  lesson  of  this  celebrated  case.  After  the  Hull  in-
quiry, it  did  not  wish  to  declare  useful  and  desirable  recourse  to  the
Commissions  of  Inquiry  in  every  occurrences^  The  accomplished
Russian  did  not,  however,  feel  justified  in  delaying  the  work  of  the
Conference  by  introducing  an  amendment,  and  Art.  9  was  passed
by  the  commission  without  change.  For  the  rest  of  the  section  the
reading  brought  out  nothing  new.
